Roswell

We watched the first two seasons when they come out on TV, back in 2000/01. For some reason the third season, on DVD (and with the name "Roswell" rather than the book series and UK broadcast name "Roswell High"), has been languishing on our "to watch" pile until recently. We said, okay, let's watch an episode, and if it's no good, we can move on to something else. Despite a 9 year hiatus, halfway through the first episode, as Max and Liz engage in an armed holdup and get arrested, we were hooked again on this everyday tale of teenage alien angst.

The main arcs are Max moping about his lost son, Liz gaining powers of her own due to Max having healed her, Isobel getting married to unsuspecting lawyer Jesse, and sinister government agents getting closer to uncovering their secret. There are good sub-arcs, too, such as Michael's job as a security guard, Max in Hollywood (including an audition for "Star Trek:Voyager"), Maria refinding her music, and Max and Isobel's father's suspicions. There are a few episodes played (mostly) for laughs mid season, including "Interruptus" (a sort of "bedroom farce" set during Isobel and Jesse's honeymoon, as Isobel's alien lover Kivar tries to get her to return with him, and Max and Michael try to stop him) and "I Married an Alien" (where Isobel imagines her life with Jesse in the form of a 1960s "Bewitched" style sit com). But beginning and end of season episodes have some quite dark moments -- particularly as the alien trio are hounded towards the climax.

A good rounding off to the series. I don't know why we waited so long to watch it. (As a result, some of the tech looks a bit clunky -- my, weren't mobile phones big back then!)

Rating: 3.5
[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 26 June 2011