Type of Series: teen angst; romance; sci-fi; conspiracy;

    Similar Shows: Roswell is a hybrid of many shows. The easiest comparisons are with Dawson's Creek and Buffy, since the two central characters in Roswell are teenagers trying to come to terms with their romantic feelings for one another, and all the characters in Roswell are a gang of teens who share a secret and team up to combat the forces of evil.

    So, at first glance, the show does look like a rip-off of Dawson's Creek and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.

    Superficially, Liz & Max look, act and feel like Joey & Dawson. Except that where the lovers at Capeside are pompous and self-important (without any real reason), the teens in New Mexico have genuine barriers in their way and their love is a love that must be fought for. In many ways, Max was the most romantic character ever depicted in a TV series. It's the first time we've seen a man in love, try to quash and deny that love because to act on it, will end his life, her life, and the lives of those around them. Damn, but those are high stakes.

    In real life, there are many reasons to not to act on a romantic impulse. An employee might fall for the bosses daughter, a teacher might fall for a student, a man might fall for his best friend's wife. In real life, these are horrible dilemma's. In fiction, they do not always have the same amount of weight. If the romantic lead is afraid to act because his job might be taken from him, you don't sympathise, you dismiss him as a wimp. In the realms of make-believe, we have a constant diet of lovers risking all to get together.

    Well, not all.

    Seldom do the lovers risk their very lives.

    Until Roswell.

    For weeks, Max hesitated.

    And we could see why. We understood. We believed the dilemma.

    And when they took the plunge. We cheered.

    So, that's one comparison out of the way. Roswell isn't a Dawson's Creek clone. It's better.

    Now, on to Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.

    The gang on Buffy choose to be heroes. Every week, tough and all as it is, they choose it. Even Buffy, for all the pain she's suffered, has had the chance to walk away. Fact is, when her powers disappeared, and the life of a Slayer seemed about to slip away, she was highly distraught. The group on Buffy are proactive. They are on the attack. The world they live in is a dark sinister one, and they have taken the decision to stand up and fight to change it. They are heroes with their hands on the steering wheel of their destinies. For me, the toughest moment on Buffy came at the end of Season Two, when Buffy stood face to face with her one true love and choose to end his life to save the world. It was awesome. Her pain was extraordinary. But, at no time did the audience feel sorry for her. Instead, you were in awe of her, of her guts, of her raw courage. No image better encapsulates Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, than that moment in the opening credits when the gang (in whatever incarnation) bursts from the library (or whatever sanctum), weapons at the ready, fire in their eyes, ready to make the tough choices and keep fighting whatever the consequences. Superheroes in battle.

    The gang on Roswell don't choose to be heroes. Every week, they strive to live uneventful lives. Max, Isobel and Michael can't walk away from their woes. Their existence is their woe. They are under siege. Constantly. No image better encapsulates this, than those times in the closing episodes when the six would gather beside the cliff, with the great expanse of the desert opening out behind them. Unlike the library on Buffy, which is a safe nurturing haven, the meeting place on Roswell isn't a place of choice. It looks like a place they have been driven to, against their will. The group on Roswell are reactive. They are under attack. The world they live in is closing in on them, and their backs are to the wall. They have to fight. Or die. And you cannot help but feel empathy for them. These aren't superheroes in battle. These are ordinary people in pain.

    So, Roswell isn't Dawson't-Creek-In-The-Desert. And it's not Buffy-The-Vampire-Slayer-With-Aliens.

    What is it?

    On closer inspection it becomes apparent that this show has more in common with My So-Called Life and The X-Files. Not surprising, really, since some of the people behind Roswell, were the ones behind those show.

    Every week, on the Roswell opening credits, over an image of Liz standing in her school hallway was emblazoned the credit. "Developed By Jason Katims." The perfect place for that credit, really, since Katims was behind My So-Called Life, one of the truly great TV shows of all time.

    And Roswell, particulary those first 16 episodes, was very much a study in teen angst. And, while the dangers were magnified to extreme proportions, it was still a glance into somebody's life. A look at a young woman (and a young man) wrestling with incredible feelings. Feelings of love, loyalty, attraction, rejection, confusion, jealousy, lonliness and fear. Above all else... fear.

    Fear of discovery. Paired with an incredible urge to reveal.

    Complex stuff.

    And Roswell nailed it.

    Not quite as well as My So-Called Life did, but still.

    Roswell nailed it.

    So, that's one comparison found and approved of.

    What else is there?

    Why, The X-Files, of course?

    X-Files takes the fantastic and makes it scientifically plausible. And even when it goes too far and presents us with all-out sci-fi yarns, the show still behaves as if it's Law And Order. And every thing is a "Just-The-Facts-Ma'am" recreation that would do Jack Webb proud.

    Roswell took its subject matter very seriously indeed.

    Not for this show the rollicks of Buffy. No, instead, everything was painstakeingly revealed week-after-week, as if it was a real life investigation of what might happen.

    What might happen.

    Buffy is cool. Awesome, actually.

    But nothing on it might happen. Nothing. Zip. Nada.

    X-Files is different.

    Totally cool, of course. High Quality, of course.

    And, get this, strangely plausible. Mostly. Forget for a second the all-out shenanigans of body-swapping, time-travel and shape-shifting. Instead remember that lots of Mulder and Scully's cases involve medical anomalies, scientific peculiarities and bizarre murders/plots. All presented with a deathly straight face.

    Which is what brings me back to Roswell. High school kids with mild powers (seldom used), hiding from half-glimpsed probable enemies.

    All presented with a deathly straight face.

    And there we have it: Roswell.

    Nothing like Dawson's Creek or Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

    Quite a lot like My So-Called Life and The X-Files.

    Typical Episode: Depends. The first 16 episodes placed emphasis on the unrequited romance between Liz and Max and everything else was secondary. The final six episodes of season one revamped the show so that Liz and Max were now a couple and the alien conspiracy side of things took precedence.

    Early episodes tended to open and close with Liz acting as narrator. In many ways we were seeing life in Roswell through her eyes. She was Angela from My So-Called Life and the milestones in her life were her various encounters with Max, the guy she was hopelessly in love with. The fact that he was an alien was secondary. What mattered was: she wanted him and there was a barrier preventing them for getting together. And it made for excellent television. Max was a truly fascinating character. He wanted Liz, but to show that meant (from his perspective) setting in motion a chain events that might end his life, her life, the lives of the people closest to him. Yet, the writing avoided closing in too much on that. Instead, what mattered was the love story.

    That changed with the revamp. Yet, remarkably, the show did not suffer, it merely changed. Liz no longer narrated the episodes. Max and Liz became a couple. Openly. And, as Max had feared, all hell broke loose. Previously, the alien hunters and sundry forces of evil had kept to the shadows in Roswell, New Mexico. That changed. Suddenly, there were black limos harassing their friends, mysterious strangers in town and life-or-death situations on every street corner. The immediate stakes went up. No longer were we (the audience) wondering whether Max and Liz would ever kiss, now we were wondering how the could possibly stay alive through another episode.

    And it worked.

    In many ways, it was a logical extension of what had gone before.

    And, God damn, but it made for excellent television.

    The Inner Light: Destiny versus free will. Can true love win out? (Don't know. We'll have to wait until next season to find out!!).

    Strengths: Clever concept, excellent scripts, genuine romance, nail-biting suspense, several appealing characters, heartbreaking theme tune, a tear-jerking season cliff-hanger.

    Weaknesses:

    Impressive Characters: Michael, the Sheriff, Max, Maria.

    Impressive Actors:

    Impressive Episodes: "Leaving Normal" is which Max helps Liz communicate with her dying grandmother. "Missing" which does wonderful things with the character dynamics and creates a surprising bond between Liz and Michael. "285 South" ups the stakes considerably, throws Michael and Maria together in splendid fashion and ends on a gripping cliff-hanger. "The Toy House" is grim and lonely as Isobel and Michael differ greatly over whether to tell their mother. "Blind Date" is crazy and funny as Kyle and Max team up.

    And...

    ...then there was the rollercoaster ride that masqueraded as the concluding six episodes.

    In these there appeared what I hope will be the Roswell of year two: everything that was wonderful about the opening sixteen, coupled with a faster-paced, more up-front sci-fi twist.

    Impressive Writers:

    Less-Than-Impressive Characters:

    Less-Than-Impressive Actors:

    Less-Than-Impressive Episodes:

    Less-Than-Impressive Writers:

    Continuity: Strong. Particularly in the final block of six episodes, where each episode's cliff-anger tended to be the opening scene of the following episode (taking things as close to Doctor Who as you possibly can, without actually showing us a close-up of Tom Baker hanging off a cliff!!).

    Rewatchability: I'm curiously stuck for an answer here. Despite this being the Must See TV Show of the winter for me, I didn't actually tape the episodes to keep.

    Episode Guide: EpGuides.Com is the best place to go for Episode Guides.

    Reviews:

    Other Info: Season One Roswell aired Wednesdays at 9 (later Mondays at 9) on the WB in the US. In the UK (airing as Roswell High) Sky One ran it Thursdays at 8, with BBC2 following later in the year on Thursdays at 6. Finally, Ireland joined the party with TV3 airings on Fridays. At 8. Taking over from Charmed.

    Miscellaneous Comments:    July 8th 2000

    Additional Comments:    February 23rd 2001

    Roswell was my Must See TV Show of the winter. It gripped me the way Stargate, Buffy, Voyager and some other do.

    For Season Two I want to see more of what concluded Season One.

    I want to see Tess take an active part of the proceedings. I don't want to see Liz written out, but I imagine she'll be de-emphasised somewhat.

    I want to see more of the bond between Valenti and Max. I'd like to see Valenti mentor Max and keep him in the light. With, maybe, Michael being mentored by Naseto, who is bringing him over to the dark side.

    Anyway, whatever.

    Whatever actually happens in Season Two, isn't it great to see a Season Two. Roswell, really, was too good to survive. It had prematurely-cancelled-classic written all over it.

    And yet, it beat the odds.

GRADE: A

Review by Michael Leddy

Comments are welcome: rikerdonegal@hotmail.com

This page hosted by Get your own Free Homepage