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Roswell, New Mexico: Say It Ain't So

“Effort doesn’t equal control.”

Each of our main characters spends this episode caught between the person they are and the person they want to be (with the noticeable exception of Michael). But getting from point A to point B is harder than they thought. And most of them discover that Isobel is right, effort does not equal control.

Rosa is forced to choose her family or her life. I realize that sounds melodramatic, but it’s the truth. If she wants to stay with her father and sister, then she has to leave Rosa Ortecho behind. Unless she wants to spend her life hiding out above The Crashdown.

While Liz and Isobel see it as an opportunity for a fresh start, Rosa views it as another prison she must confine herself within. That is until she meets Iris. Iris represents the life Rosa could have lived and a life she might yet have.

And what to make of our mythical friend? Like Rosa, she had dreams of becoming an artist. She realizes she loves curating art more. Is this Rosa’s unconscious pointing her in a new direction? Or is Iris’s understanding that the image “Rosalinda” is projecting has little in common with the actual person wish fulfillment? Is it Rosa’s desire to find someone who sees the best in her instead of her faults?

Regardless, Rosa’s take away is it's a possible future if she weren’t such a screw up rather than a goal to attain once she works through her current problems. And Lord knows she has plenty of problems to work through considering her addictions, underlying mental illness and her newly acquired “alien” abilities. Now that she has Maria’s necklace and her relapse is out in the open, maybe she can get the help she needs. And become the Rosa she was meant to be.

Alex feels as trapped as Rosa. Which is why his attempt to move on is met with mixed results. On paper, Forrest is perfect. Handsome, intelligent, a fellow veteran, a good shot. What’s not to love? Turns out the problem isn’t Forrest. It’s the decades of Jesse Manes' destructive commentary ringing in Alex’s ears. I love that Alex is honest with Forrest, but it breaks my heart to realize how ashamed of himself he still is.

Speaking of Jesse, has his stroke truly broken him? He apparently idolized his uncle. Confessing he failed to meet Tripp’s expectations to Max and Alex are unexpected displays of weakness. And mixing alcohol with pills speaks to depression if not outright suicidal tendencies.

And yet, I find it hard to believe that he’s given up trying to protect the human race when he knows there are three aliens in Roswell. Even if he’s not up to the task, he could call whatever’s left of Project Shepherd and/or Deep Sky. How else would the “paramilitary group” know where to grab Cam or how to contact Charlie?

After a season of teasing, we finally get to meet Charlie. An older, equally badass version of Cam, but with science. Very impressed. After years of flying under Deep Sky’s radar, Charlie was willing to work with them to save Cam and bring them down from the inside. Thanks to Max, she’s accomplished the first goal. Will her attempt at the second, ensnare him?

Like Charlie, Max is caught, not between the life he has and some possible future, but the life he once had. Being a cop is who he is. So is protecting the people he cares about. Making allowances for a weak heart doesn’t fit with his self-image. Which is why I think he’s going to need whatever concoction Liz was whipping up.

In some ways Liz appears to have exactly what she wants. She got the guy, and he has no problem with her chasing after the science. Her sister is alive and her dad is finally pursuing citizenship. But now that she’s regrown an alien heart, will she be content with experimenting on rats?

Michael doesn’t seem to think so. Which is why he’s reluctant to ask for her help with Maria. That said, I don’t really understand the problem. Maria is her best friend. And Liz has already proven she can keep a secret. If she didn’t rat out the Pod Squad when she thought Isobel had murdered her sister...

Maria’s search is less of an either/or and more of an and. She wants to feel whole. That means exploring the full range of her psychic abilities, hopefully without the attendant brain damage.

Michael would love it if she never used her powers again, Isobel sees an opportunity. If Maria can see the future, why not the past? After all, Maria isn’t the only one itching to know about her history.

Unlike Rosa, Maria’s abilities were something she was born with. I can understand not wanting to set that aside. However, after telling Michael she’ll know when it’s time to stop, bloody noses prove otherwise. And now that she’s given her necklace to Rosa... I have a bad feeling about this.

Old Man Sanders is Walt! That puts a whole new spin on why he was willing to take Michael in. Did he feel responsible for what happened to Michael’s mother? Or was he just trying to look out for Michael the way that Nora had looked out for him?

We are more than halfway through the season and I don’t have a clue what or where this is going. What is Deep Sky and is Jesse a part of it? What’s with the bright lights and the lightning burn on Cam’s neck? How much does Walt know about our trio of aliens? Will Iris make a return appearance and was she real or imagined? And in case you forgot, there’s still the Alighting.

Bring it on.

4 out of 5 tin windmills

Parting Thoughts:

This title is brought to you by Weezer’s 1992 release.

Is Iris a figment of Rosa’s imagination, a memory, an alternate personality, or something more extraterrestrial in nature?

Michael is trying so hard to be open and honest with Maria. And we know it’s not his normal state of being. It’s bugging me that she’s hiding things from him.

An alien killed Tripp? Was it Louise? They took Nora to Caulfield. They don't mention what happened to Louise.

No Kyle or Steph this week. Is it bad that I didn’t miss them?

Quotes:

Rosa: “You’re asking me to wear a costume every day for the rest of my life.”

Max: “Turns out debt collectors don’t care if you’ve been half dead in a glowing pod for a few months.”

Liz: “I’m coming with and don’t you dare say I have to stay cause it’s ‘police business’ ya bar wench.”

Forrest: “Cowboys vs. Aliens, huh?”

Isobel: “Look, if I had a little lucky charm that could stop people like Noah from messing with me, I would have that surgically implanted in my decolletage.”

Charlie: “Anything that scares people is inherently dangerous, no matter what your intention is.”

Liz: “My days as an alien scientist are officially over.”

Maria: “It’s not working. And I don’t feel great going through this stuff without Michael knowing.”
Isobel: “Why not? One day this palace might all be yours.”

Rosa: “I’m not, like, an artist. I’m just a person with a coping mechanism.”

Forrest: “There’s nothing like a dad voice to mess up a perfectly good date.”

Shari loves sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, and anything with a cape.

2 comments:

  1. I really disliked Isobel in season one, and now she's my favorite character. I know she was possessed and all, but it still feels like a massive change.

    And I'm not sure how I feel about Rosa. It feels almost like they're spending too much time on her when I'm more interested in Liz and Max and Michael and Isobel. Unless this Rosa thing is going to end tragically. Is this Rosa thing going to end tragically?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rosa's storyline is vastly different from the books and her character never appeared in the original version of the show. So Anything goes. That said, things did not end well for Rosa in the books so...maybe?

    ReplyDelete

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