A Quick Update

I don’t have many readers on here, but I just wanted to give a quick run-down of what I plan on doing here over the summer months. 

Roswell 1.22 Destiny (Part 2)

As great as the past few episodes have been, one thing that’s been bothering me has been the lack of human presence in the show, particularly Liz’s; something made even more obvious by the fact that Liz is the driving force of the series. It’s easy to lose that in all the alien hunter madness, but one of the reasons this finale works so well is that it balances Liz’s human side with Max’s alien one. It felt like the perfect blend of the show’s original, mellow stories and the new, more exciting ones.

Roswell 1.21 The White Room (Part 1)

Agent Pierce has been a malevolent force for some time now, so the moment when his true colours were shown had to ensure that he was someone to fear. Max’s capture and subsequent treatment were as disgusting and inhumane as you would have come to expect.

Roswell 1.20 Max to the Max

Considering how many moving parts there are to this season’s concluding arc, it goes without saying that an opportunity to lay out the clear enemies in all of this is a necessity. Max to the Max took apart any preconceived notions of murder and made sure that the true antagonist is revealed, but not before it’s too late.

Roswell 1.19 Four-Square

This episode was all about awakening. Just as Max is touching a darker part of himself that he doesn’t want to know, Michael and Isabel are fighting their own inner selves as they both suffer dreams that bare some startling news for them both. It’s an interesting spin on this show’s thesis of identity and feeling different from everyone else. Change is a part of life, and this awakening is only a branch of that, and it’s something we all have to go through in one way or another.

Roswell 1.18 Tess, Lies and Videotape

That forward momentum established last week continues here, as the alien mythology that took a backseat during Crazy, goes hand in hand with the governmental conspiracy story already established. It may have been met with extreme fan hostility, but as a show centred on the love story of two young people, any roadblocks introduced, like an alternative love interest become par for the course, and I kind of welcomed Tess’s addition to the cast.

Roswell 1.17 Crazy

Crazy is Roswell going at full speed. It’s the start of one of the show’s greatest runs of episodes that showcased all of the positive attributes it had in the most advantageous way. The dialogue was sharp, the writing almost perfect (for this show anyway), and the excitement the best it’s ever been. This episode kick-starts that arc in appropriately brilliant fashion, as storylines of the past 16 episodes caught up with the new and present ones.

Roswell 1.16 Sexual Healing

Underneath all of the sexual angst, Sexual Healing is another interesting exploration of teenage identity through this whole alien metaphor. Liz and Max want to pursue their feelings for one another, but each feels like they’re abusing or being abused by the other. A lot of the scenes with our guys going at it feel a little less exploitive here, instead feeling like a satisfying expression of this episode’s theme.

Roswell 1.15 Independence Day

Here we’ve got an episode that follows suit to The Toy House and tackles the intricacies of the aliens living situations, and this time it’s just as, if not more, powerful than its predecessor. Independence Day sees the first major deconstruction of Michael’s character. So far we’ve seen glimpses of a more sensitive and lovable young man, but this is the first time his walls have been almost completely smashed, revealing a devastated and scared boy, desperate to find where he belongs.

Roswell 1.14 Blind Date

Light on plot, heavy on filler, Blind Date succumbs a little too much to its teen genre roots, favouring disposable filler over substantial serial developments. As an episode that stands against the previous few weeks, which have been consistently decent, it fails to keep the ball rolling, but a sharp script helps to keep things afloat.

Roswell 1.13 The Convention

For the past few weeks the Sherriff has been straddling two sides of the fence. On one hand, he’s been so desperate to get answers that his search has ruined the lives of 5 young teenagers, to the point where it’s affected his role as their protector. On the other, he’s been searching for those answers to clear his own father’s name, and to make things better for his own family. The Convention is where he finally decides which side he belongs to, and it’s also one where things are changed for Max, Michael and Isabel, too.

Roswell 1.12 Into the Woods

And we’re back to normality. Into the Woods slams us back into alien heritage land as a mysterious sighting givens Max, Michael and Isabel the hope that maybe they’re not as alone in this world as they think. It’s an episode that takes things further by hinting at something bigger on the way, but it’s one that also remembers the more banal lives of these teens at the same time. It’s another fun balance between the ordinary and the extra ordinary, even if it gets a little vague in parts.

Roswell 1.11 The Toy House

For Max and Isabel, one of the most painful parts of keeping their existence a secret is hiding who they are from the two people that love them more than anything; their parents. The Toy House is a sweet and heart-breaking exploration of that deceptive bond and it also takes the time to examine how different Max and Isabel are when it comes to keeping the truth form their mother, and how starkly dissimilar they are when the situation calls for them to do more than just hide the truth.

Roswell 1.10 The Balance

Michael’s abrasive and rash behaviour becomes the catalyst for his own downfall here, but it’s also puts the aliens firmly on the path towards finding out where they come from. Alongside some strange Indian nuttiness, Michael’s condition allows for a little reflection on his place within the group, and how much he means to all of them.

Roswell 1.09 Heat Wave

A lot of Heat Wave descends into one big make-out session, but once you get beyond that, it becomes another solid piece of Roswell paraphernalia. The storylines that came to a head last week continue to bubble over here, with Liz’s “betrayal” of Alex remaining a huge issue. Can he be trusted? There’s a number of interesting spins being put on Alex’s morals here, but the most interesting comes from Isabel, and how much a threat she views him as.

Roswell 1.08 Blood Brother

Blood Brother appropriately ties all of the various plots that were introduced during the past few episodes around this one personal catastrophe. Max’s accident spurs a series of events that forces Liz to confront yet another consequence of her involvement with him, causes Topolsky to get closer than ever to the aliens’ secret; and, like last week, allows everyone to realise the gravity of the situation they’re in.

Roswell 1.07 River Dog (Part 2)

We’re at the point in Roswell where the big reveals are a little too enmeshed between weird mumbo jumbo. Despite the strangeness of the execution, it’s satisfying to be actually getting some answers this early on. It’s fine to piece together puzzles like this gradually, but they always work best when the answers that we get aren’t a big question themselves.

Roswell 1.06 285 South (Part 1)

Probably to offset the lovey-dovey, written in the stars pairing that is Liz and Max, Maria and Michael were created. 285 South introduces them as a completely different couple to the show’s titular one. But even though they have a completely opposing dynamic to Liz and Max, there’s an equal amount of chemistry and passion between them from the second they share their screen-time here as they’re shown off in all their dysfunctional glory.

Roswell 1.05 Missing

This episode is one that falters not on its ideas, but the execution of those ideas it takes on. Liz losing her journal forces her to take inventory on her life, and assess where she stands now that everything’s been changed. But is it the world that’s different, or is it just her? Now that she’s aware of everything that goes on behind the scenes, does she envision everything in a completely different way?

Roswell 1.04 Leaving Normal

Now that Liz has entered into a world full of magic and rule-changing mystique, it’s this one truly human event that forces her to come to grips with just how different her life has now become. Leaving Normal tackles this issue with a surprising rawness that puts everything into perspective. The episode itself deals with some strong issues, but a few misplaced plots make it less than perfect.