Roswell

The first season of Roswell was a magical experience. It was about love, about alienation, about self-discovery and learning to trust people. Unfortunately, when the show was faced with cancellation at the end of its first season, the writers took what was a mystical show and made it into a hackneyed and badly written science fiction rip off. The magic of Roswell lay in the three aliens (Max, Michael and Isabel) and the fact that they knew nothing about where they came from or why they were on Earth. All Max Evans knew was that for some reason, he was in love with Liz Parker. They were faced with trouble from the government, who wanted to study them, and strangers who claimed to be related to them, but they were never sure who they could trust except each other. Even after Genie Francis appeared in holo-mom form with a ridiculous tale of inter-galactic royalty and war, the show could have been saved - that hologram should have been revealed as a tactic by the mindwarping Tess, but the aliens made the mistake of not doubting it for a second. When Tess was accepted as their friend (and there was no reason for them to trust her), this show took a plunge that it never came back from. Stick with the first 15 episodes - the rest is a downward spiral.

This interesting story of extraterrestrial alienation is a fascinating metaphor of teen angst -- a topic that has often been treated in movies and on TV, but here it is offered with new and insightful perspective.

The show is a way to symbolize common human fears in an imaginative parable. Issues that are woven into the story line include not knowing who you are, the experience of being a foster child, keeping secrets from parents and other authority figures, the danger of making close personal connections with others, and the isolation of being in or from one's own strange world.

ROSWELL is a clever idea with a fresh, interesting young cast. The show is an imaginative cross between, on the one hand, THE X-FILES and THE FUGITIVE, and, on the other, the odd perspective of ALF and THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN. This is an excellent show in a time when too many shows are carbon-copies or silly assembly-line junk. I give the show an A+.

This show starts out sweet and tenderly as a coming of age teen drama with a SF undertone to keep things interesting and succeeds in this up to mid season 1,than quickly falls apart into teendrama 101 with melodramatic endless loops. Still season 1,some season 2 episodes - mostly those with a story arc spanning two or three episodes -,and very few season 3 episodes are enjoyable to watch.

Never been a fan of Katherine Heigl, but she was ok in this. Such a shame though that we have not seen much of Jason Behr in anything much else. Handsome, intelligent actor that nobody seems to want.

My sister got me hooked on "Roswell" at the beginning, but I kept watching because it was such a fantastic show! The episodes are wonderful, I love the music, and the storylines were incredible (even the often-dreaded Season 3, which I actually liked). I identified most with Max because he had been an outsider all his life, and had been in love with one woman but never had the courge to tell her (I felt like that a lot of the time). All the actors were wonderful, but I wish they hadn't made some of the decisions for Season 2 that they had. Well, I might as well list my favorite episodes, so here goes:

Season 1: Pilot, Leaving Normal, Blood Brother, The Toy House, Max to the Max.

Season 2: Skin & Bones, A Roswell Christmas Carol, Heart of Mine, The Departure

Season 3: Who Died & Made You King?, Graduation