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Roswell (TV series)
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Roswell is an American science fiction television series created by Jason Katims. The series debuted on October 6, 1999 on The WB and moved to UPN for the third season. The last episode aired May 14, 2002. In the United Kingdom, the TV series aired as both Roswell High and Roswell.
The series pilot is based on the Roswell High young adult book series, written by Melinda Metz and edited by Laura J. Burns, who became staff writers for the television series.
Plot summary
Roswell focuses on four teenage alien-human hybrids living in Roswell, New Mexico.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
Roswell is an American science fiction television series created by Jason Katims. The series debuted on October 6, 1999 on The WB and moved to UPN for the third season. The last episode aired May 14, 2002. In the United Kingdom, the TV series aired as both Roswell High and Roswell.
The series pilot is based on the Roswell High young adult book series, written by Melinda Metz and edited by Laura J. Burns, who became staff writers for the television series.
Plot summary
Roswell focuses on four teenage alien-human hybrids living in Roswell, New Mexico. They are survivors of the 1947 UFO crash popularly known as The Roswell Incident. Max Evans, Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin and Tess Harding were sent to Earth as cloned replacements for the royalty of Antar, an alien planet. Their counterparts died in a war, and the "Royal Four" will one day return to Antar to save their race.
Central to the plot are the relationships between the hybrids and their human companions, particularly the one between Max Evans and Liz Parker. The three seasons follow the hybrids as they attempt to survive as humans and hide their alien sides, while trying to learn more about their alien powers, as well as figuring out how to get home.
Cast
Main
Recurring
Guest Stars
Season one
Liz, Maria, and Alex are high school students and best friends residing in Roswell, New Mexico. While waitressing at her parents' restaurant, the Crashdown Café, Liz witnesses an argument between two customers and is accidentally shot. Max rushes to her side and heals the wound simply by placing his hand over it, bringing her back to life. Liz later discovers a silver hand print on her stomach. During a biology class experiment the next day, Liz sneaks a sample of Max's saliva and examines it under a microscope, discovering that Max's cells look nothing like human cells. She confronts Max, who then admits that he, his sister Isabel and their friend Michael are aliens whose spaceship crashed at Roswell in 1947. Max divulges that he saved her life because he has strong feelings for Liz. She is immediately drawn to him, even though she is dating the sheriff's son Kyle Valenti.
Liz is initially sworn to secrecy, but she soon tells Maria and later Alex the truth. The group of six reluctantly become friends as they struggle to protect the alien trio from mysterious government agents, curious UFO seekers and Sheriff Valenti, who is suspicious of them. Michael and Maria engage in a heated romantic relationship, though they continue to always bicker, with Maria sometimes terming Michael as "the worst boyfriend ever". Meanwhile, Alex develops a crush on Isabel, but because of Isabel's wariness, they have a hard time getting off the ground. Early on, it is revealed that the aliens had emerged from incubation pods long after their spaceship crashed. They were able to survive as they were not yet born. When they hatched from the pods in 1989, they emerged as human six year olds.
Toward the end of the season, they learn of another alien named Nasedo, who is a shape shifter. He has a violent, murderous past and nearly causes Max's demise at the hands of a vengeful alien hunter who had lost his wife and unborn child to Nasedo. The gang initially believes that Tess, the new kid in town, is Nasedo as she seems to have a strange effect on Max, but it is revealed that she is a fourth alien hybrid just like them. However, unlike them, she possesses knowledge of their past lives and the concept of their supposed destiny.
At the end of the season, it is learned that Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess are clones of the Royal Four of Antar and that Max is the king, Isabel his sister, Michael his second in command and Tess is Max's wife. The four learn that they are alien-human hybrids: their alien DNA was mixed with human DNA in order for them to assume human form. Their mission is to one day go back to their home planet Antar and retake the throne from Kivar, Max's enemy. As a result of this revelation, Liz distances herself from Max, as she believes that she can't get in the way of Max's destiny.
Season two
The second part of Max and Liz's love story involves Liz's insecurities about getting in the way between the destined love between Max and Tess even though Max assures her that his heart only beats for her. This causes a rift between Tess and the rest of the gang, as she always feels unwanted. Right when Liz finally starts to believe that Max will deny his destiny of being with Tess, the "Future Max" appears to Liz claiming that they must find a way to get Max to fall out of love with her in order to save the future and the lives of everyone they know. This leads to a relationship between Max and Tess, even though Liz still has hope that she and Max will one day be together.
The second season introduces the Skins, another alien race from Antar who have been searching for the alien hybrids since they hatched. Their mission is to locate and turn them over to Kivar, who is now king of Antar. It is revealed that Liz's new boss, Congresswoman Whitaker, is a Skin and her brother Nicholas is the leader of the Skins. Along with a renegade Skin Courtney, a Crashdown Café waitress, who believes that Michael, not Max, should have been in charge of Antar, the group travels to the town where Congresswoman Whitaker is from and discover that the entire town is inhabited by Skins and that they are ready for the "Harvest". Skins unlike "The Royal Four" do not have a mix of alien and human DNA. In order to survive Earth's climate they create husks (fake bodies) which last around 50 years. Skins are so called because once their husks start to reach the end of their shelf lives they shed their skin.
Nasedo, the shape shifter who was protecting the teens as well as acting as a father to Tess, is killed by Congresswoman Whitaker at the beginning of the season. As Tess has nowhere to go, she moves in with Sheriff Valenti and his son Kyle. Shortly after, the "pod squad" destroys the Harvest. It is revealed during the "Harvest" that Isabel was named Vilandra on Antar. Vilandra was in love with Kivar, Max's enemy and rival, and she betrayed her family in favor of Kivar. This haunts Isabel so much that it creates a rift between her and Max when they find out that another set of clones of the Royal Four were created. The clones, known as the "dupes", are exact copies of Michael, Max, Isabel and Tess, only they grew up in the sewers of New York City. Their names are Rath (Michael's clone), Zan (Max's clone), Vilandra (aka Lonnie, Isabel's clone), and Ava (Tess's clone).
Rath, Vilandra, and Ava come to Roswell after killing Zan to convince Max to return with them and represent the family at a summit meeting of the families of the five warring planets. Max and Tess go with Rath and Vilandra to New York, while Ava stays in Roswell because she is haunted by the death of Zan. Nicholas returns as a voice for Kivar, and it is revealed that the owner of the UFO museum, Brody Davis was used by an alien many times to communicate on Earth, acting as a puppet, explaining why he believes he was abducted by aliens although he has no memories of the incident. Rath and Vilandra tell Tess and Max that if they give Kivar the Granolith they can go home to Antar. Max remembers what Liz told him before he left—that "the Granolith could be dangerous if in the wrong hands" and turns down Kivar's deal. Lonnie betrays the others when she meets Nicholas in secret to discuss her desire to return to Antar, as she remembers more about her past life and wants it back, regardless of whether Kivar gets the Granolith. Nicholas tells her that can be arranged as long as Max is dead. The assassination attempt fails and Rath and Lonnie "disappear". Ava, still in Roswell, goes to live a "normal" life and is also not mentioned again; however, she does reveal to Liz that since Max healed her and brought her back she has "changed" and will be different from now on.
For most of the second season, Alex is on a trip to Sweden. However, shortly after coming back and getting Isabel to see him as something more than a friend, he dies in a car accident. The death of Alex has a dramatic effect on Liz, as she is devastated by the loss of her best friend. She finds a photo with Alex's head missing, causing her to suspect that Alex was murdered. Her investigations lead her into trouble with Max and the others when she accuses an alien of killing Alex. Through her investigation, she discovers that Alex never went to Sweden and that he had actually been to Las Cruces College. Just before she boards a flight to Sweden, Liz gets a phone call by which she discovers that a picture of a building seen behind Alex in the photo was in fact torn down before, thus making it impossible for Alex to have taken the picture in front of the building during the time period he was said to have been there. She goes with Maria and Michael and they find out that Alex had been working on the translation of the Destiny book. Even though they find the translation, they are unable to discover the identity of Alex's killer. It is first believed that the women in his pictures from Sweden may be an alien and the one responsible for Alex's death. However, Liz figures outs that the girl that Alex was with, is human thus she could not have been responsible. It is later revealed that the killer is Tess.
Max impregnates Tess while Liz investigates Alex's death. At the end of the season, Max and the others decide to leave Earth after Tess tells Max that their son is dying due to the Earth's atmosphere. Everyone has 24 hours to say their goodbyes. Max and Liz make a last ditch effort to find Alex's killer. Isabel dances with Alex's spirit at his grave. Tess calls Jim Valenti "Dad", and Michael and Maria make love for the first time. As the aliens are about to leave, Kyle remembers how Alex died and Michael decides at the last minute to stay on Earth with Maria. He has found a new home, and, much to everyone's surprise, it's not in outer space. As Michael exits the Granolith, Liz rushes in to tell Max that Tess was the one who killed Alex. Tess reveals the reason she had to brainwash Alex to get him to translate the book. Nasedo and Tess made a deal with Kivar: Tess can return home safely as long as she's carrying Max's child, but she must turn over Max, Isabel, and Michael to Kivar. Max lets Tess go and the gang watches as Tess leaves Earth via the Granolith. Maria realizes that Michael stayed for her. Max tells Liz that he loves her, and that now he must save his son.
Season three
The third season opens with Max's quest to save his son. He and Liz are arrested in Utah after holding up a convenience store. They both end up getting out of jail, but their actions have serious consequences for the rest of the season. Max, during the holdup, found an alien ship that was being stored in the basement, but when he goes back, the ship is gone. While they are in a Utah jail, Michael searches for evidence Max tossed in a field while being chased. A man approaches him and warns him and the others to stop their search. This man is mysteriously murdered in L.A. by a fifth alien. Knowing that the alien is a shape shifter and in the film industry, Max tries out acting and auditions for a role in Star Trek: Enterprise. The fifth alien is, in fact, a very successful film producer who is also Max's protector. Max, against the fifth alien's wishes, forces him to help him find the ship, which is at a military base. They attempt to fly it but the ship is too damaged from the crash in 1947. Max leaves L.A. disappointed and he feels as though he has let down his son.
Isabel is revealed to be haunted by Alex's ghost, but it is actually a figure of her subconscious. She begins a relationship with Jesse Ramirez, an attorney who is several years older than her and works with her father. As the season unfolds, Max and Isabel's father is diving deeper into the past of his children, due to Max not giving him a satisfactory reason as to what happened in Utah, or why Max was even there in the first place. Midway through the season, Isabel gets married, much to the disappointment of her parents, Max and Michael. While on her honeymoon with Jesse, Isabel comes in contact with Kivar. He awakens Isabel's past self, Vilandra, who betrayed Max and Michael in their previous life for her love with Kivar, which is the reason the four of them died in their first life. Kivar tries to compel Isabel (now reawakened as Vilandra) to travel through a portal back to their home world, while Max and Michael attempt to stop them. In the end, Isabel pushes Kivar into the portal.
Michael and Maria are having trouble with their relationship, especially when Maria feels that the whole "alien thing" is ruining her life and decides to take a break from the gang so she can try to live out a "normal" life. Michael takes a job as a security guard during the night at a local pharmaceutical factory. But little does Michael know, the owner of the company has been going through the trash to obtain Michael's DNA, and the owners find out that he is an alien and kill one of Micheal's co-workers "Munk" to see if he is "the healer" which is Max's power, so Munk dies. Michael and Sheriff Valenti find a room with all of Michael's things and realize what the company has found out; Valenti, however, is captured. Michael enlists the help of Max and Isabel in order to rescue Valenti. Max is taken and coerced into healing the dying millionaire. Max is, at first, wary of doing so, as the millionaire has lived out his life and will die of natural causes, but he tries anyway. Max ends up transferring his age, and the millionaire's body transforms into Max's body, killing Max. While Michael and Isabel try to come to grips with Max's death, a patrol of guards come. Michael and Isabel use their powers to destroy their vehicles, but Isabel is shot. The millionaire is at his house in Max's body when he receives a memory of Liz. He can't stop thinking about her, due to having Max's soul inside him, so he decides that he must kill her in order to get rid of Max. Michael inherits Max's powers after his death, which he then uses to heal Isabel. As the millionaire is about to kill Liz, they both fall from a building window. Seeing that Liz is about to die, Max takes control over the body and uses his powers to save her life while he hits the ground. The millionaire's soul dies and Max miraculously survives after Liz kisses him. The group heads back to Roswell.
The FBI has been studying the group for many months and is closing in on them. Liz begins to exhibit alien powers, including premonitions, towards the end of the season, which later causes her to become a target. When Tess returns with Max's son, Zan, the gang has to group together and try to escape Roswell. Tess' arrival causes the FBI to find more evidence of the aliens, including a video revealing Isabel's powers. Everyone is angry with Tess and at first tries to kill her, but instead end up helping her. Because of Liz's forgiveness, Tess decides to sacrifice herself by turning herself in and blows up the military base. The baby is revealed to be fully human, as only Max's and Tess' human DNA produced the baby. Max, realizing that the baby can have a normal life, gives him up for adoption. He uses his father's help to get the baby into a good family.
The series closes with Liz getting a premonition of her, Max, Michael and Isabel dying in an FBI setup, so they decide to leave Roswell after their high school graduation. With the realization that he will be leaving possibly forever, Michael professes his love for Maria and she makes the decision to be with him no matter what. After Liz, Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Kyle escape from their high school graduation, where the FBI setup is, they hit the road in a bus, where there are several emotional goodbyes, especially between Kyle and his father, Jim Valenti. Isabel decides to leave her husband behind in order to save his life. The final scenes of the show feature Max and Liz getting married and Liz's father reading Liz's journal, chronicling the last three years. The final scene has Liz peering out of the van in her wedding dress saying, "I'm Liz Parker and I am happy".
Episodes
Production
Roswell High was originally developed by 20th Century Fox Television and Regency Television for the Fox network, though it landed on The WB (re-named simply Roswell) thanks to the latter network's offer to extend a full 22-episode upfront commitment. The pilot episode was filmed in 12 days with a budget of $2,000,000. "The Morning After" was the first episode with the title sequence and theme song, Here With Me, by singer Dido.
Film Locations
Although the story is about Roswell, New Mexico, the show was actually filmed in Covina (Los Angeles County, California), including as well the downtown area on North Citrus Avenue. City Hall, Charter Oak High School and several other businesses and residences served as locations for the fictional Roswell, NM.
Vasquez Rocks was also the set for many scenes in the show. The location is a park in Los Angeles County. The Natural Area Park is located in Agua Dulce midway between Santa Clarita and Palmdale. The rock formations were used often in the series. The pod chamber as well as the Granilith are located in a cave which location shots were made in this area.
Airing history and reception
The series premiered on October 6, 1999 in the United States to generally favorable reviews. Although it quickly garnered an outspoken fanbase, the series almost immediately entered a steady ratings decline that would keep the show under constant threat of cancellation.
In response to the ratings problems, the network ordered the relationship-driven standalone episodes of the early first season to be replaced with more science fiction themes and multi-episode plot arcs. Starting with the second season, veteran science fiction writer Ronald D. Moore was brought in to join Katims as an executive producer and showrunner and to further develop the science fiction elements.
Roswell lasted for two seasons on The WB. On May 15, 2001, the network cancelled the series, a move widely anticipated due to the disappointing ratings. Fox was able to persuade UPN to pick up Roswell for a third season; however, it failed to hold onto enough of the audience from its new lead-in, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Roswells final episode aired on May 14, 2002.
DVD releases
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Release date |
|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
|---|
| | 1 | 22 | 1999 – 2000 | February 17, 2004 | April 26, 2004 | April 2, 2004 | | | | | 2 | 21 | 2000 – 2001 | October 5, 2004 | August 9, 2004 | February 7, 2005 | | | | | 3 | 18 | 2001 – 2002 | August 9, 2005 | October 11, 2004 | March 15, 2006 | | | | | 1-3 | 61 | 1999 – 2002 | April 29, 2008 | October 31, 2005 | April 19, 2006 |
Due to licensing issues, the majority of the music from the original broadcasts have been replaced on the dvds. The new music was handpicked by the original music supervisors from the show. In 2008, all three seasons were re-released with new cover art prominently displaying Kathrine Heigl, now famous for her role in Grey's Anatomy. All content in the new sets stayed the same as the previous releases.
Novels
In addition to the original Roswell High book series that inspired the television series, a range of novels were published based on the events depicted in the show. These focused on events that largely went unexplained on screen.
Pocket Books
While Roswell was still on air, three novels were published by Pocket Books. When the show was cancelled, this series ceased publication.
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Loose Ends by Greg Cox (June 2001) No Good Deed by D.A. Stern (October 2001) Little Green Men by D.W. Smith and K.K. Rusch (April 2002)
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
In 2002, Simon Spotlight Entertainment picked up the Roswell range and published eight more novels. Following low sales, the series ended a year later. The first four novels act as a bridge between seasons two and three, and the last four are set after the events of the series.
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Shades by Mel Odom (September 2002) Skeletons In The Closet by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin (November 2002) Dreamwalk by Paul Ruditis (January 2003) Quarantine by Laura Burns (March 2003) A New Beginning by Kevin Ryan (June 2003) Nightscape by Kevin Ryan (July 2003) Pursuit by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin (September 2003) Turnabout by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin (November 2003)
External links
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