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.

The day when Liz and Max were finally torn apart had to happen; it became even more unavoidable when Tess came onto the scene. Now that the moment has finally arrived it’s one that feels totally unexpected even though we knew it was coming. Max wanted to fight his destiny, Liz even accepted it, but when she heard this message from Max’s own mother, it suddenly overshadowed her love for Max. It’s something that she feels she can’t compete with. All season long we’ve seen Max struggle to balance his human side, one he feels more attune with when he’s with Liz, and his alien one, a part of himself that he still doesn’t understand. Here the alien side won out.

It feels fitting that this season would end with Valenti finally witnessing the exact event he was investigating when this season started. Max saving Kyle was the moment when he and his father finally went from disposable to invaluable, story wise. With Kyle about to go through the same thing that Liz did, it feels that much more important to see him deal with it in his own way. Kyle hasn’t really been a character in his own right really, more a plot device, but this change seems like it will alter him for the better. And with the Sherriff now in on the full story, it seems right that he have more of a reason to stick around.

Michael killing Pierce was fittingly dark. He’s always been the most volatile of the aliens, so it makes sense that he would be the one to lose control and hurt someone. It’ll be interesting to see how this death will affect Michael in the long run, or if it will at all. Maybe it could be just an excuse to get more intimate with his alien side, to become a killing machine like Nasedo. Or maybe it will force him into reclusion, make him afraid to even know his own abilities. Either way, it feels like Michael’s life will be a lot different now.

Destiny used its role as season closer well, wrapping up all of the season’s stories while also setting things up for an interesting second one. Pierce’s death may put an end to the alien hunters’ quest for the truth, but now these kids could face even worse, with their location now broadcasted universe-wide. Even though things feel broken now that Liz and Max are separated, it’s an exciting place to finish a mostly great first season.

9/10