Liz is forced to put her latest experiment on hold after Rosa begins to struggle with her new life in Roswell. Reluctant to face the truth about his mother's past, Michael turns his attention to helping Maria, who is dealing with her own family crisis. Isobel agrees to join her mother for a day of spiritual healing to keep herself distracted. Rosa turns to Kyle to learn the truth about what really happened the night she died.
In 2019, the television industry aired 532 scripted shows across numerous outlets. The way people consume content now is different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, it's less necessary to provide ample coverage of each episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site provides shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of The CW's Roswell, New Mexico.
"Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space" was written by Eva McKenna and directed by Lance Anderson
The mystery of what happened the night Rosa died defined the narrative of the first season. Liz got those answers about halfway through the season. She saw Max and his siblings in a new light afterwards. The trauma she had endured for a decade was now re-contextualized in a way she couldn't possibly have fathomed. It only got more complicated after that too with the introduction of mind control and even more nefarious aliens. And now, Rosa is expected to accept all of that upfront. She doesn't know what has happened in the decade since her death. She still feels like the same young woman. No time has passed for her. She has woken up in a new time. She doesn't understand the world around her. She always felt invisible. Her life was defined by secrets. That once again seems to be true. She has to hide around the city. No one can know that she has been brought back to life. That will only bring up more questions about how it's possible. She is now tasked with the mission of disrupting Liz's plans to revive Max through an alien heart transplant. Max isn't all that persuasive in saying why Rosa has to do that. He just presents in agonizing pain and wants the suffering to be over. That's about it. He is sharing that burden with Rosa though. She has had to endure so much. She wants a clean slate. It doesn't seem like anyone is willing to give it to her. She was told that she is perfectly healthy after coming back to life. She is still tempted by her addiction though. She takes a drink once more by the end of the episode. That is devastating. It's her continuing to withhold secrets from her sister. She believes that Liz is doing the exact same thing. It means this sisterly bond is once again contentious. Rosa wants to expand her world. And yet, she feels limited in what she can do. She only sees the horrors that come from her memory in this town. People are still left reeling from that tragedy. Liz has seen that. She knows how complex the world is. Rosa has a point as well in stating that Max and his siblings propped up this image of her with no real consideration for what the consequences would be. She personalizes that so much because it was her body being used to tell a horrifying story that confirmed all the racial animosity already present. Again, the show can sometimes approach these racial issues in a blunt way that lacks any of the necessary nuance. It can be too focused on the alien allegory to truly understand what it means to want to belong to a community and with a family. It doesn't even seem as if Isobel likes her mother. She is merely tolerating her in order to give herself something to do following Noah's death and awaiting Max's return. She still chooses to take ahold of her life. She won't let her dead husband continue to define what is happening with her. She just potentially puts herself in harm's way to get rid of the baby growing inside of her. She can't share that pain with anyone else. Meanwhile, Michael is a little all over the place. He pushes Alex away only to want the information he has gathered from his mother's files. That's a connection that Michael actually wants to explore. He also believes that a potential relationship with Maria is better than all the baggage that comes with Alex. She is going through a lot with the sudden disappearance of her mother. That is a mystery that only seems to sweep her and Michael up in it. People are concerned but it doesn't present as a priority. The show runs the risk of too much going on without any real evidence the audience should be invested in the various plot machinations. That continues to be a problem. The world keeps spinning. The characters make major moves and decisions. However, it's still a little difficult to care one way or the other because the relationships haven't exactly popped in a meaningful way. It helps when the secrets are out in the open. Right now, things are still too confined and in set up mode for potentially intriguing drama to come.
