Have you ever believed in "soul mates"? You know, the idea that somewhere out there in this world is your "perfect match". Now lets say you somehow found that "soul mate", but there were HUGE obstacles in your way. In fact, what if your "soul mate" wasn't of this "world" or even this "galaxy"? Yet, somehow, by some miracle, you found each other, and you knew in your heart that no matter what, your love would find a way for you to someday be together.
That, in a nutshell, was the essence of "Roswell". Well....it may have not been what everyone saw in "Roswell", but for myself and many other fans of the show, it was what hooked us in and kept us watching.
The series was based on the real life 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico where rumor had it a spacecraft containing aliens crashed to earth. Of course, this rumor was strongly denied by the government who insisted it was only a weather balloon. However, suspicion has always persisted of a massive cover-up.
Flash forward to 1999. "Roswell" the television series begins with the premise that aliens really did land in Roswell, New Mexico. In fact three of the lead characters in this series supposedly are these aliens. They were apparently in some sort of "pre-birth" state until 1989 when they were "hatched" from pods that had been hidden in a cave. They emerged in the form of 6-year-old children. Two of them (Max and Isabel) were adopted by a couple who had found them wandering in the desert. The third (Michael), was placed in foster care.
The three realized they were "different" than others. In fact, they even had special "powers". Eventually Max and Isabel met up with Michael and they developed the theory that they were the "Roswell aliens". They didn't know much about their past or where they came from. The one thing they did know was that if anyone found out about their "secret", there could be disastrous consequences.
Well, that "secret" is soon put to the test. The pilot episode begins with Max using his special "healing" powers to save the life of Liz, a classmate and waitress at the "Crashdown Cafe" who was accidentally shot by two customers having an argument. Max's second "secret" is that he has been in love with Liz since they were in the first grade. He risks being revealed as an alien because he just can't bear to watch her die.
Of course this is only the beginning of the end of the alien secret. Although Max begs Liz to tell everyone that she was not really shot, but only spilled ketchup on herself, many are suspicious including the local sheriff as well as the FBI to whom he had made aware of the incident. Liz's friends Maria and Alex are also suspicious. Michael and Isabel are furious at Max for exposing them and feel there only choice now is to leave town.
Well, they do eventually leave town...but not until 3 years later. In the meantime, fans are taken on a roller coaster ride with so many ups and downs, that only the truly brave remain in their seat to the very end.
In the beginning....
Well, there was nothing like the early episodes of "Roswell". At least nothing like anything I had ever seen before. They seemed to have just the right mix of sci-fit and romance. The actors who played Max and Liz (Jason Behr and Shiri Appleby) had amazing on-screen chemisty. In fact, all the characters on the show were unique and interesting to watch. They were innocent and unaware of their past as well as their future. You the audience would discover that with them. They were normal teenagers facing normal teenage problems, all in the midst of this HUGE secret hanging over their heads. You couldn't help but wonder what would happen next.
I often think about why I was so hooked right from the beginning. I believe the answer lies in the fact that although the show was far from perfect, it had tremendous potential. For some reason, you the viewer could see the see that, and immediately fill in the lines to the next step. It was SO clear to you where the show could and should be going. You could live vicariously through the characters convinced that as long as the show stayed on the air and you kept watching, everything would eventually come together exactly the way you envisioned.
Well...in my opinion, this wonderful potential that seemed like such a good thing, was really a very bad thing. When a show is really top notch, fans tend to accept the way things are going, and kind of follow along for the ride. When things are not so perfect, people tend to have more room to fill in the gaps...and fill in the gaps they will. You almost feel that if you had a piece of paper, a pen, and an hour, you could write out the rest of the season. Problem is there is too much room for everyone to see that season in a different way.
So, while you saw Max and Liz as the central focus of the show and were happily humming along waiting for them to share their first kiss, someone else thought Max and Liz were totally boring and were waiting for Michael and Maria to get together, or Alex and Isabel to get together (or you were a guy that just wanted to see more of Isabel's cleavage.) There were also people who wanted nothing at all to do with the romance and wanted the show to focus more on the sci-fi aspects.
Of course there is nothing wrong with people identifying with different characters on a show. Good shows make room for everyone and have the ability to satisfy all their fans in the process. There are also ways to make sci-fi and romance peacefully coexist. Unfortunately, Roswell never learned how to do that. For some bizarre reason, they tended focus on one element at a time while totally abandoning another. Whatever they chose to abandon was done in such a way, that in would completely alienate the fans in favor of whatever they sacrificed. Like I said, each fan had their own picture of where the show should be going. You were often given a perfect moment that was a taste of what could be, only to be shattered the next week when the show decided to go in another direction. Yet, you kept thinking that someday the powers that be would come to their senses and follow in the path that was all SO clear to you. Or so you thought....
In my opinion, although the show had an ensemble cast, the main focus was and should have always been on Max and Liz. Their soulful and dreamy stares kept you hanging on for nine episodes until they FINALLY kissed. Watching them together brought back memories and feelings of those wonderful crushes you had when you were a teenager. Of course those romances never worked out, but you just couldn't help but think that it would work out this time for Max and Liz. Their love was so pure and innocent, and all the obstacles in their way made it all the more worthwhile. So what if Max was an alien and Liz was human! You knew that someday they would be together, get married, and even have children. So what if the FBI was on their tail! They would face that danger together and they would win. So what if the writers of the show were always finding ways to keep them apart, they were only teasing us to make way for the big moment when they would finally get together, right? Right????
Ummm...no unfortunately we were not. Though technically they did end up together, it clearly became a case of the end not justifying the means.
Early in the first season, things between Max and Liz were just perfect. The dreamy looks and the wonderful first kiss were simply amazing. Although they broke up shortly after, we were later given wonderful episodes such as "Blind Date" where Max becomes jealous of Liz winning a blind date contest. He "accidentally" gets drunk and expresses his love for her. That was soon followed by the episode called "Sexual Healing" where Liz has visions with clues to Max's alien ancestry every time she kisses him. Of course the must kiss frequently to find out more clues to his past, which basically results in an entire episode of just the two of them making out. Certainly this is an interesting combination of sci-fi and romance.
O.K. , I have to admit that the above paragraph makes the show seem somewhat childish and immature. Who among us though, has not wanted to feel young again and experience those things that only happen then?. Early Roswell gave you that chance.
What went wrong...
All seemed well, and then the problems began. About half way through the first season, the writers brought in a competing love interest for Max. This was a character named Tess. As it turned out, Tess was a fourth alien from the Roswell crash that was unknown to Max, Michael and Isabel. Fans caught wind of her arrival several months before she appeared. It caused complete and utter chaos on the message boards. As far as the fans were concerned, Max and Liz already had enough obstacles and it was too soon for this type of love triangle to be put in place.
Also around this time, the show began to focus more on its sci-fi elements. This would have been fine if the sci-fi was actually good. It started on semi-good but quickly turned somewhat cheesy and almost laughable.
Early in the series, the group was focused on another alien that supposedly roamed the area around the time of the Roswell crash who came to be known as "Nasedo". They discovered that Nasedo was a shape shifter, and also seemed to have an evil side. I thought this storyline in itself had alot of potential and seemed to be reasonable from a sci-fi perspective, but apparently it wasn't enough.
Nasedo ended up being linked to Tess. He apparently had watched over her while she was growing up. Along with Tess came the bizarre storyline that Max was really a King on his alien planet. Tess was his intended "bride to be". Isabel was Max's sister who was betrothed to Michael who was Max's second in command.
The realization of this storyline brought another major obstacle to Max and Liz. Should he follow his "destiny" and be with Tess, or should he make his own "destiny" and be with Liz? In a heartwarming speech shortly before the end of the Season One finale, Max declares his love for Liz and says that his destiny is to be with her. Unfortunately, by the end of the episode, Liz witnesses a cheesy hologram vision of Max and Isabel's mother re-declaring the alien group's supposed destiny. Liz feels she cannot interfere with that path and leaves Max.
Of course, fans think this is just a temporary setback, and that in Season 2, Max and Liz will once again be together. Well not so fast…
The show held on only by the grace of the fans who valiantly fought to keep it alive. There was a huge campaign to send bottles of Tabasco sauce (a preferred alien condiment) to the WB network with the request to keep the show on the air. After all, it had to stay on in order to ultimately fulfill the “destiny” each fan saw in their own mind. So they were given another chance….
Unfortunately , the cheesy sci-fi continued with the writers bringing in a hoard or additional alien characters such as the "Skins" who lived in husk like bodies that had to be shed and changed after a certain number of years. They were a group against Max's rule on their home planet. We were also confronted with the "dupes" who lived in New York and were duplicates of the four alien characters. Apparently they were a spare set that were sent down to earth and just didn't "take" right. Instead they developed into a bunch of hoodlums that lived under subway system. We were also made aware of the "Granolith" which was a spaceship like device hidden in a cave in the desert that could apparently transport the aliens back to their home planet and also allow for time travel.
As if this were not enough, we were also introduced to "Future Max" who was really Max fourteen years into the future. He time traveled via the Granolith to visit Liz in the present. He told her that shortly in the future, Max and Liz would "cement" their relationship, would soon be married and forever be together. This caused Tess to give up on her future with Max and leave town. Because Max and Tess were not together, the aliens eventually lost the fight with their opponents. Michael and Isabel were killed, and the world as we know it was about to come to an end. Because of this "Future Max" told Liz he must break up with "Present Max" so he can continue his destiny with Tess. Liz agreed and set things up so Max thinks she slept with her old boyfriend Kyle. She shared a final poignant moment with “Future Max” as they danced to “I Believe” which was the song from their wedding that would never be.
Now here is where the story takes such an ugly turn that there is no going back. Max of course is devastated after finding Liz with Kyle. He eventually sleeps with Tess AND she becomes pregnant. This breaks the cardinal rule of romance (well romance novels at least). NEVER, EVER under ANY circumstances does the hero EVER go to another woman after he has met the heroine. There could have been a hundred women before, but there are NEVER any after.
After this incident, the character of Max totally changes. Of course the writers want you to think that Max is just a teenager, making mistakes as all teenagers do. To the fans of Max and Liz, however, their romance never represented this type of reality. They could never forgive Max for what he did, and never saw the potential for Max and Liz's love in the same way again.
The end of Season 2 exposes Tess as the evil character she really is. As it turns out, she caused the death of Alex (another unfortunate and foolish event to occur in Season 2). She returns to her home planet via the Granolith while still pregnant with Max's child. It is unclear what the future holds, not just for Max and Liz, but for the show itself.
Unlike the end of Season One, I have no need to see this series continue. It was no longer the show I loved, and clearly, they had no desire or ability to return it to what once was. The WB Network obviously saw this too and cancelled the show. Never the less, group of die hard fans continued to fight for its return and the show was picked up for a third season by UPN.
I managed to summon up the courage to watch the first episode of Season Three. Unfortunately, it proved to be very disappointing. The characters were basically shells of their former selves. Max and Liz were together, but it just did not seem right. The first episode had them assume the roles of a "Bonnie and Clyde" type team who attempt to steal a diamond which results in them being arrested. Oh, and Max also seems to be possessed by some foolish quest to find his son. The innocence of Season One was long gone.
To tell you the truth, I really don't remember the exact details of that episode. I was too busy crying my eyes out. I saw no point in torturing myself further, so I refused to watch for the rest of the season. When I did happen to accidentally catch a scene or two while flipping channels, I quickly turned away.
I did, however, manage to watch the final episode. At that point the characters WERE finally forced to leave town to avoid capture. The closing scene shows Max and Liz getting married. Unfortunately, it was too little and too late for me. Apparently many others had chosen to leave the roller coaster ride as I had, and the show was ultimately cancelled.
I can't say that I am not bitter about what happened. I'm sure the writers continue to cling to the warped idea that they settled everything in the end by finally giving us what we wanted. Sorry, they didn't. In fact, I would rather they had cancelled the show at the end of the first season than have wasted my time watching the mess they gave us in return for our efforts to keep the show alive. I had a good laugh while reading a press release from the producers just before the end of the final season. They triumphantly exclaimed they were returning to what they always thought was the "heart" of the show, the characters of Max and Liz. Yeah right! Now you finally read the letters we've been sending you the past two years! Well, I think you were a little bit too late.
Well, that's all water under the bridge I guess and the past cannot be changed. As I look back now, I try to remember the way things were in the beginning. I’m thankful for the fun I had talking with other fans about the show on the message boards and the friends I made along the way, especially my good friend Julie. I try to remember a period of time when a television show took me away from my busy life for a little while, to a time and place where soul mates did find each other, where true love prevailed in the end, and where the characters of Max and Liz really did live happily ever after.
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