Roswell's missed opportunities
Nov. 1st, 2004 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retro_eidasAgainst my better judgement, I ended up ordering "Roswell: Season One" from Amazon during a Fox boxed set DVD sale (75% off, I paid $15.00 for it). Had it not been so cheap, I probably wouldn't have invested... because the latter seasons kind of ruined the first for me. But $15.00 for a set that normally goes for $50? And I did like the show once. Even if I'd forgotten why.
I was rewatching some of the eps last week and I came upon a few revelations. Things I probably wouldn't have stumbled on until I left the insanity of the fandom.
Tess and Isabel should have hooked up: Isabel and Tess had chemistry that would have put Willow and Tara to shame, yet absolutely nothing happened between them. Only the occassional suggestive scene or double entendre. Unless you count that bizarre "Surprise" episode from season two... and anything in season two is hardly worth counting. Granted, the two cute blonde girls suddenly fornicating on some WB show might have seemed too pandering to the Maxim-subscribing crowd... but they *did* have chemistry, moreso between them then any of the other folks (males) they tried to hook-up either of those two with. The characters also seemed to have an almost instantaneous understanding of one another, beyond we're both hot aliens. Isabel and Tess always struck me as particularly lonely characters (with what little real characterization they had anyway). Even sadder to think about the romantic misfortunes those two ended up with in the course of the show.
Michael and Liz should have had sex: Watching "Missing", I can't help but get the impression the writers, the S1 writers, were toying with the idea of hooking up Michael/Liz in some form during the duration of the show. They did have a sort of antagonistic chemistry, but that might have been because I heard the actors hated each other. Whatever works I suppose. Not some LiZ-n-MaX SouuullMatesss 4evah type relationship (because they had that incessantly, saturinely covered) and not the Michael/Maria love/hate thing either (also more covered than it needed to be), but I could have seen them have sex. The We're Sick of Getting Shit On by Max Evans club. Maybe it's all sorts of cliche (Seriously, I can hear "When I'm Gone" by Three Doors Down playing as I type), but they would have been that misunderstood bad boy / shallow good girl type storyline a la Claire/Bender to. the. letter. Of course, I could also be seeing the Michael/Liz because, aesthetically, those two wouldn't have looked bad together. Quite aesthetically complimentary actually.
(manip by Dimensia)
They should have tied Liz's 4-generation Roswellian family into the alien mumbo jumbo somehow: Which is where I thought they were going prior season two ignoring all of season one. Barring the royalty bullshit, I got the impression in some of those eps Liz seemed more tied into the alien insanity than she first appeared. Kid!Max always seemed like he recognized her in those bleachy flashbacks. What was up with all that light speed constellation crap Liz saw every time she touched Max in "Sexual Healing"? I understand season three tried to explain that, but considering how well they explained things in season two, I doubt it was all that consistent (or remotely clever). There was also that weird shit from that "Balance" ep when Michael got sick and they did that Navajo / alien healing circle thing... and Liz had been excluded, but eventually stepped in alone. Which, barring the squishy Max/Liz moments, also felt like another bit of Mike/Liz-forbidden-fruit foreshadowing. Liz couldn't take part in the initial healing because she was too emotionally attached or something (it was implied for Max, but it could have been for Michael...or both). Both Max *and Michael* looked at her when she stepped back into the healing circle. You can't tell me the writers were at least considering going that direction... before they started smoking the bad shit in season two that is.
Maria and Alex should have kept the band together: They should have done something with that storyline, maybe hooked those two up later on. All the characters in the show were grossly underdeveloped, but Maria didn't really seem to have a function beyond Liz's whacky friend and Michael's whiny girlfriend. Her music aspirations would have at least been something. Keeping the band together could have also been used as a means to remove Colin Hanks from the show when he needed to be (not having to kill Alex off). "Where's Alex?" "Oh, he's off with the band touring." yada yada Since most of us probably guessed, even before the show really started to suck, he was probably the one in the cast that was going to definitely get work beyond Roswell. Kept Maria and her music storyline consistently in the show and maybe also kept her initial fear of the aliens in tact. Have one human character (besides S1 Valenti) who never quite got over the aliens among us thing might have been refreshing. Having everyone all buddy buddy just never seemed all that realistic (heh, using that word loosely) to me.
Kyle should have been in the first season more: He was always grossly underused in the show. Season Two sucked for many reasons, but it did give Kyle a bit more time... even if he had to share it with blue jellyfish and boring soapy debacles. He added levity to the show none of the other characters managed.
Ditto for Agent Pierce, Nasedo and River Dog: Pierce was only really convincing, threatening villain of the entire show. David Conrad could act too. Nasedo was sort of like Mr. Sark from "Alias"... snarkily amusing and evil (although lacking David Anders pretty. Jim Ortlieb acted around that handicap). Maybe River Dog's storyline was politically incorrect and kind of wallowing in stereotype... but it was an interesting story thread that should have *at least* had *some* sort of closure. Where the fuck did River Dog go after "Destiny" exactly?
More stronger, older female characters: SpyMommy worked wonders for season two "Alias", they needed someone similar for "Roswell". The young females (the fictional, but a decent female role model wouldn't have hurt for the youngins in the audience either) needed a character to look up to, to cheer for. The men had Valenti and in some respects, Nasedo, River Dog, Pierce, etc. All strong (allbeit poorly written, but they all were) older male characters. Where is the alien SpyMommy? And I don't mean alien angel-mommy either. Her three seconds of screentime blew for it's horrific cheapness and she brought in possibly the weakest major story of the entirety of the show (which is saying something... pretty much every bad story that followed revolved around Alien-Angel's royal orb message).
Max should have stayed in the White Room: Sure I'm tainted from King Maxogynist in season two... but frankly, he was showing some of that behavior even back in season one. I still don't get why every female, barring Maria, seemed to want to tap that ass. You'd think he sweat ambrosia or some shit. They were *all* hot for him, even some of the guys (or just Kyle). Bah.
I was rewatching some of the eps last week and I came upon a few revelations. Things I probably wouldn't have stumbled on until I left the insanity of the fandom.
Tess and Isabel should have hooked up: Isabel and Tess had chemistry that would have put Willow and Tara to shame, yet absolutely nothing happened between them. Only the occassional suggestive scene or double entendre. Unless you count that bizarre "Surprise" episode from season two... and anything in season two is hardly worth counting. Granted, the two cute blonde girls suddenly fornicating on some WB show might have seemed too pandering to the Maxim-subscribing crowd... but they *did* have chemistry, moreso between them then any of the other folks (males) they tried to hook-up either of those two with. The characters also seemed to have an almost instantaneous understanding of one another, beyond we're both hot aliens. Isabel and Tess always struck me as particularly lonely characters (with what little real characterization they had anyway). Even sadder to think about the romantic misfortunes those two ended up with in the course of the show.
Michael and Liz should have had sex: Watching "Missing", I can't help but get the impression the writers, the S1 writers, were toying with the idea of hooking up Michael/Liz in some form during the duration of the show. They did have a sort of antagonistic chemistry, but that might have been because I heard the actors hated each other. Whatever works I suppose. Not some LiZ-n-MaX SouuullMatesss 4evah type relationship (because they had that incessantly, saturinely covered) and not the Michael/Maria love/hate thing either (also more covered than it needed to be), but I could have seen them have sex. The We're Sick of Getting Shit On by Max Evans club. Maybe it's all sorts of cliche (Seriously, I can hear "When I'm Gone" by Three Doors Down playing as I type), but they would have been that misunderstood bad boy / shallow good girl type storyline a la Claire/Bender to. the. letter. Of course, I could also be seeing the Michael/Liz because, aesthetically, those two wouldn't have looked bad together. Quite aesthetically complimentary actually.
(manip by Dimensia)
They should have tied Liz's 4-generation Roswellian family into the alien mumbo jumbo somehow: Which is where I thought they were going prior season two ignoring all of season one. Barring the royalty bullshit, I got the impression in some of those eps Liz seemed more tied into the alien insanity than she first appeared. Kid!Max always seemed like he recognized her in those bleachy flashbacks. What was up with all that light speed constellation crap Liz saw every time she touched Max in "Sexual Healing"? I understand season three tried to explain that, but considering how well they explained things in season two, I doubt it was all that consistent (or remotely clever). There was also that weird shit from that "Balance" ep when Michael got sick and they did that Navajo / alien healing circle thing... and Liz had been excluded, but eventually stepped in alone. Which, barring the squishy Max/Liz moments, also felt like another bit of Mike/Liz-forbidden-fruit foreshadowing. Liz couldn't take part in the initial healing because she was too emotionally attached or something (it was implied for Max, but it could have been for Michael...or both). Both Max *and Michael* looked at her when she stepped back into the healing circle. You can't tell me the writers were at least considering going that direction... before they started smoking the bad shit in season two that is.
Maria and Alex should have kept the band together: They should have done something with that storyline, maybe hooked those two up later on. All the characters in the show were grossly underdeveloped, but Maria didn't really seem to have a function beyond Liz's whacky friend and Michael's whiny girlfriend. Her music aspirations would have at least been something. Keeping the band together could have also been used as a means to remove Colin Hanks from the show when he needed to be (not having to kill Alex off). "Where's Alex?" "Oh, he's off with the band touring." yada yada Since most of us probably guessed, even before the show really started to suck, he was probably the one in the cast that was going to definitely get work beyond Roswell. Kept Maria and her music storyline consistently in the show and maybe also kept her initial fear of the aliens in tact. Have one human character (besides S1 Valenti) who never quite got over the aliens among us thing might have been refreshing. Having everyone all buddy buddy just never seemed all that realistic (heh, using that word loosely) to me.
Kyle should have been in the first season more: He was always grossly underused in the show. Season Two sucked for many reasons, but it did give Kyle a bit more time... even if he had to share it with blue jellyfish and boring soapy debacles. He added levity to the show none of the other characters managed.
Ditto for Agent Pierce, Nasedo and River Dog: Pierce was only really convincing, threatening villain of the entire show. David Conrad could act too. Nasedo was sort of like Mr. Sark from "Alias"... snarkily amusing and evil (although lacking David Anders pretty. Jim Ortlieb acted around that handicap). Maybe River Dog's storyline was politically incorrect and kind of wallowing in stereotype... but it was an interesting story thread that should have *at least* had *some* sort of closure. Where the fuck did River Dog go after "Destiny" exactly?
More stronger, older female characters: SpyMommy worked wonders for season two "Alias", they needed someone similar for "Roswell". The young females (the fictional, but a decent female role model wouldn't have hurt for the youngins in the audience either) needed a character to look up to, to cheer for. The men had Valenti and in some respects, Nasedo, River Dog, Pierce, etc. All strong (allbeit poorly written, but they all were) older male characters. Where is the alien SpyMommy? And I don't mean alien angel-mommy either. Her three seconds of screentime blew for it's horrific cheapness and she brought in possibly the weakest major story of the entirety of the show (which is saying something... pretty much every bad story that followed revolved around Alien-Angel's royal orb message).
Max should have stayed in the White Room: Sure I'm tainted from King Maxogynist in season two... but frankly, he was showing some of that behavior even back in season one. I still don't get why every female, barring Maria, seemed to want to tap that ass. You'd think he sweat ambrosia or some shit. They were *all* hot for him, even some of the guys (or just Kyle). Bah.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-02 04:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-02 04:27 am (UTC)So did I. Season two sucked so hard it tore a hole in the space-time continuum... and pulled my fanon into it.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-02 09:50 am (UTC)