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.
In almost every series there’s one character that doesn’t really get a huge role, is relegated to background 90% of the time, but who also changes all the other characters’ lives in different, equally profound ways. In Roswell, that character is Alex (Colin Hanks). He’s someone who immediately inspired a strong fan fallowing, and deservedly so. In Blood Brothers he represents the massive lie that Liz has been living, and unlike Maria, he hasn’t been privy to this life changing secret, a secret that has changed Liz as a person, and in Alex’s eyes, as a friend.
There’s harshness and coldness to Alex’s treatment here. He’s been brushed off for the past few weeks, been accused of theft, and has lost two of his closest friends. It’s a horrible position to be in, and to be asked to lay his own fate on the line for people who treat him like a doormat is more than a little aggravating. This episode makes it easy to side with Alex, and to see why there’s a reason for Liz to break her agreement with Max and his alien brethren, and let people in.
Along with Alex, a lot of the obstacles that these guys face don’t necessarily total pure evil, falling somewhere in that morally grey area that Sheriff Valenti (strangely absent this week) resides in. After Toploskly was ousted, she mentioned that they didn’t just help themselves. It’s a moment of forewarning that’s both strange and scary, and gives the show even more fuel for further exploration.
Blood Brother is a nice break from the heavy alien mythology of the past few weeks, that takes apart all of the internal dynamics of Roswell in a fun and exciting way.
8/10
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