Roswell

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Roswell was a short-lived Science Fiction series that debuted on The WB network in 1999. It was moved to UPN in 2001 in a package deal with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and completed a run of three seasons.

The series was a combination of a Science Fiction/Monster of the Week show and a romantic Teen Drama. Many audience members felt that the show never quite got the balance right.

The three main characters, Max, Isabel and Michael, are Antarian survivors of the Roswell UFO crash, and were adopted by human families. Though Max and Isabel were raised in a privileged, loving family, Michael was raised in a trailer with his abusive foster father. Though the three successfully isolate themselves from the rest of their classmates through High School, their plan is disrupted when Max saves the life of a girl named Liz Parker using his alien superpowers.

Liz's sidekicky friends Maria and Alex add the comedy to this otherwise broody and dramatic lot.

Often considered to have set the stage for (and been superior to) Smallville, which uses a lot of the same themes, but with DCU characters instead of original ones.

Tropes used in Roswell include:
  • Aborted Arc: Upon the discovery of their spaceship's hologram message, the group is met with a projection of Max's mother/the queen. She tells them how their planet has been overtaken, their people are now slaves, and she begs them to save them (presumably the reason they were even cloned in the first place). We expect some resolution of this in the end, but the final episode gives us the happily ever after of between Max and Liz, who seem to have forgotten all about the crisis on their home planet -despite the Skins (the invaders) being repeatedly establish as bad guys.
    • Subverted with The Reveal of Tess' intentions. The whole situation of why the character's Protector would abandon his mission of protecting them and die so Tess could return home, and why the Big Bad would even want Tess and Max's son to be the new heir when he's been trying to kill the Royal Three all series makes no real sense when you think about it.
      • Makes more sense when you realize that there is a resistance who are loyal to the royal four and would willingly accept rule from someone who came from the royal bloodline and who would presumably hold the seal, even if in name only. Stands to reason that if you control the ancient bloodline of the King, you control the throne and it's people. Though it turns out Tess' pregnancy yielded no results on that front.
  • Abusive Parents: Michael's foster father.
  • Alien Among Us: The three kids are raised human.
  • Anchored Ship: Good God, Max and Liz went through almost every variety of this trope and Michael and Maria toy with it as well
  • Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other
  • Applied Phlebotinum
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Michael and Maria ran on this trope
  • Butt Monkey: Alex.
  • California Doubling: The wilderness scenes heavily featured Kirk's Rock. The scenes of the town, including the Crashdown Cafe, were shot in Covina, CA.
  • The Cast Showoff: Dang, Maria can sing. And have an arc devoted to her musical career.
  • Cloning Blues: The main characters are clones of alien royalty, and there's a spare set running around Earth.
  • Cut Short
  • Dawson Casting: Jason Behr was 26 at the start of the show.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Isabel
  • Derailing Love Interests: Tess.
  • Drunk with Power: Michael when he receives Max's royal tattoo.
  • The Empath: All of the aliens, and whoever they heal.
  • Evolutionary Levels: The Hybrids are supposedly designed to be at the apex of human evolution.
  • First-Episode Resurrection: Liz dies at the beginning and is revived by Max, setting off the events of the entire series.
  • Five-Bad Band--> Season 2 - The Skins and allies
  • Five-Man Band: Season 1

Season 2