A lot of 'Heat Wave' descends into one big make-out session, but once you get beyond that, it becomes another solid piece of Roswell paraphernalia. The storylines that came to a head last week continue to bubble over here, with Liz’s “betrayal” of Alex remaining a huge issue. Can he be trusted? There’s a number of interesting spins being put on Alex’s morals here, but the most interesting comes from Isabel, and how much a threat she views him as.
Isabel’s sudden interest in Alex seems like much more than just a desperate desire to pair off all the characters before it’s too late. There’s clearly something that Alex can give Isabel; security and comfort in knowing that someone wants more from her than her looks and her body. Isabel is still being largely ignored, but Heat Wave was the first to bring her centre, or at least close to centre stage. It’s cool that this realization came as part of her dream walking ability, too. It’ an interesting gift that I wanted to see more of, and it’s great seeing her use it in a similar way to assessing Maria’s stance on the big secret.
Liz telling Alex the truth seemed like the only logical way to go after we learned what goes on in his head. He’s clearly the most trustworthy of the people they’ve encountered, and he’s shown more than plain superficial interest in Isabel. His role can only become more important from here on out. It’ll be interesting to see how a newcomer will affect the dynamic that the show has already settled in to, but I’m hoping it will give the writers the chance to use Is more, now that there’s someone for her to console in, who isn’t too busy sucking face with one of their human companions.
There’s a few side plots here I actually kind of liked, like Valenti and Amy DeLuca sharing some past history. It’s a fun spin on the use of adults in teen dramas, where they tend to get written into the dirt, but I quite enjoyed these two. The rest of the episode seemed a little exploitive, an excuse to get more skin on camera, but as a teen soap that’s so far shown very little on the provocative side, it’s partially necessary.
Plus
We finally got to meet Maria’s infamous mother. She seems kind of cool, in a kooky way.
Liz and Max finally kissed. It was pretty sweet, too, that they waited until after the heat wave. Makes it seem like it was on their terms on not just out of jealousy of everyone else’s sudden libido kicks.
Loved the call-back to the pilot with Liz telling Alex the same way Max told her, with the finger pointing thing.
He Said, She Said
Liz: “Why is it okay for them, but it’s not okay for us?”
Isabel: “Were you afraid to let someone in, to let someone see who you really are?”
Liz: “Yeah, of course I am.”
Isabel: “Well, multiply that by about a million.”
Liz: “Suddenly there’s this heat wave, and everyone is just going for it.”
2.5 out of 4 heat waves.
Previously posted at PandaTV.
I actually remember this one! It was probably all of the smooching. :)
ReplyDeleteThere was certainly a lot of smooching, but it worked for me. I liked the way the stories evolved; it felt real and earned.
ReplyDeleteI thought the idea of having Alex skeptical of Liz's story was great. I'm looking forward to his seeing the truth.