reviewed by Charity Bishop
 

Roswell, New Mexico is infamous for the mysteries surrounding the "alien crash" of the late 1940's. UFO hunters and conspiracy theorists flock there by the thousands but it wasn't until the late nineties that the WB decided to capitalize on a franchise and purchase the television rights to a yet-unreleased young adult book series set in the small town. The result was an explosive fan following and after literally watching the entire first season over a four-day period, I can see what all the fuss is about. Either you will like Roswell or you won't, but I'm betting most of you will.

The most exciting day in the life of sixteen year old Liz (Shiri Appleby) was when she died. It happened quite by accident one afternoon while working after school in her father's alien-themed restaurant. Two customers became enraged with one another and pulled a gun. It went off, striking her in the stomach and sending her crashing to the floor. And if it hadn't been for the intervention of Max (Jason Behr), she would have died there. But pushing aside horrified onlookers, he pressed his hand to her waist and the bullet -- and the wound -- vanished. What was left behind was a shimmering silver handprint that convinces Liz there is more to the shy, mild-mannered boy than first appears. Her investigation leads to the confession that Max, his younger sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl), and their friend Michael (Brendan Fehr) are all aliens who survived the initial crash, and remained in a stasis pod until the mid-eighties.

Fearing for their lives should anyone discover their secret, the two more cautious members of the trio are not terribly pleased to bring Liz into the ranks of those who know the truth, especially when her friend Maria (Majandra Delfino) is not far behind. Worse, Max's impromptu actions at the restaurant have alerted the suspicions of the local sheriff, Valenti (William Sadler). A second generation policeman, Valenti has been attempting to clear his father's tainted name from alien associations and conspiracies for most of his adult life, but now wonders if there really are extraterrestrial beings in Roswell. Banding together to throw him off the trail and attempt to learn to trust and respect one another, this unusual group of misfits soon discover they need one another for more than mere friendship. Mysteries and clues unravel as Max, Isabel, and Michael search for the truth of their origins and attempt to discern whether a fourth being is friend or foe.

This show hit the airwaves before I was a sci-fi junkie and so it flew under the radar until recently, when a friend got hooked on it and told me I would love it. She wasn't wrong. Within four episodes I was hooked, and by midseason adored all the characters. The primary focus in the first season revolves around the love story between Max and Liz, who start out rather shy and insecure and by the conclusion have matured both as a couple and as individuals. There is no other word for them than "adorable." Their relationship has some of the customary angst but is pretty much free from pathetic complications. Yes, there are flickers of jealousy but the actors have an incredible chemistry with one another that allows them to sail through weaker moments. The entire cast is quite good and I really enjoyed the plot arc, which widens and takes on a new, different purpose in the final half-dozen episodes. I also appreciated that one character made a complete transition from beginning to end. He wasn't who we thought he was when all was said and done, which is unusual for a teen drama.

While for the most part, Roswell avoids the content that normally taints the genre, there are a few episodes that come dangerously near to inappropriate. Max and Liz are extremely affectionate toward one another, and in "Sexual Healing" engage in some seriously heavy making out. They intend to go further than that but in each instance are interrupted, but not before heavy breathing and horizontal positions transpire. Maria and Michael give them a run for their money in this and several subsequent episodes, making out on the couch and in an eraser room at school. Michael experiences a brief hallucination about sweeping a new girl off her feet at school and going at it on the professor's desk. Michael and Isabel experience dreams in which they are "with" one another. Isabel expresses concern that she might be pregnant because of it. It's uncertain from dialogue whether Michael and Maria have gone all the way; she tells her mom that she is not "having sex," but intimates to Liz that they have gone "a bit further than making out." In one episode, she and Liz return home to find her mother fooling around with the sheriff (unseen).

While these scenes are frequent in certain episodes, overall the series is worthwhile. There are a handful of mild profanities and several violent sequences in which people are shot and/or killed, tortured for information by a corrupt government official, or threatened in various ways. I was surprised how some story arcs were very serious (such as Michael being abused by his father) and others were loose metaphors for life -- the "buzz" Liz gets from kissing Max, for example, or the fact that Isabel fears pregnancy. There were several times when I smiled and thought, "That's not what they are really talking about," which is interesting for a show of this caliber. It is not going to appeal to everyone and younger audiences should avoid it for the sensuality, but I thought it was a very sweet, well-written drama that went in unexpected directions. I appreciate creativity and there has never been anything quite like Roswell.