‘Roswell’ Rockets To Sparkling Finale

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From New York Daily News:

From: Arts and Lifestyle | Television |
Monday, May 15, 2000

‘Roswell’ Rockets
To Sparkling Finale

ROSWELL. Tonight at 9, WB.

y the time tonight’s season finale of “Roswell” is over (the WB at 9), the teen protagonists of the show express amazement to have gotten as far as they have. Still, they have lots of uncertainty about their future — although it’s likely that the series has survived its own brush with cancellation.

This first-year drama, a sort of “Dawson’s Creek” with a sci-fi spin on “Romeo and Juliet,” began quietly but impressively last fall with an introductory episode that established Max (Jason Behr) as a love-struck teen and Liz (Shiri Appleby) as the object of his initially unspoken affection.

Star-crossed lovers Liz (Shiri Appleby) and Max (Jason Behr) in ‘Roswell’
As in “Romeo and Juliet,” these young lovers were robbed of their future by sudden death — in this case, a robbery that claimed Liz as a fatal gunshot victim. Where “Roswell” parts from any Shakespearean inspiration is in making its Romeo an extraterrestrial alien in human clothing.

Max has the paranormal ability to heal, and, to revive Liz from the dead, does just that.

That one very unusual act of love, however, unleashed a domino effect of dangerous consequences.

Local authorities, especially the local sheriff (William Sadler), began to ask questions; soon, so did the FBI and other government organizations. Max came under intense scrutiny from those looking for Earthbound aliens — and so did Max’ similarly unusual friends, played by Katherine Hiegl and Brendan Fehr.

Liz, alive again and in love with Max, soon shares his secret — and shares it with her own best friend (Majandra Delfino), who becomes part of the group trying to help the alien teens learn about their origins while avoiding the increasingly large posse out to expose and capture them.

In recent episodes of “Roswell,” the chief adversary of the teen aliens has been identified as Agent Pierce, a threatening man with paranormal abilities of his own (think Lt. Girard from “The Fugitive,” except he can shape-shift). Other faces have joined the cast as well, including beautiful Emilie De Ravin as Tess, a fellow alien teen who finds Max — and instantly throws herself between Max and Liz.

Tonight’s season finale packs all that exposition, and tons of action, into one very dense hour of drama. By the time it’s over, the allegiances, the pasts and the futures of the alien teens all seem irrevocably changed.

The teens have one showdown with the sheriff, and another with Pierce; they also, in a climax that steers the narrative in an entirely different direction, discover not only their origins, but their expected fate.

The cliff-hanger ending gives the alien teens of “Roswell” a past and a future, which is quite a present. It also, at the last moment, introduces a new set of villains and an unexpected moment of heartbreak.

Fans who have made the series the subject of an emotional campaign for staying around next year should take heart. Their show has earned a fall renewal on its merits, as well as their support.