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fandomhigh_ooc2008-12-21 06:12 pm
izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2008-12-21 06:12 pm
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Spotlight on Fandoms - Roswell
Warning! This post may contain spoilers.
Overview
Roswell was a television series which played on the WB and then UPN between 1999 and 2002. The pilot of the TV series was based on the Roswell High series of books by Melinda Metz.
Taking place in Roswell, New Mexico, the series tells the story of three alien-human hybrids, survivors of the Roswell crash of 1947. In incubation pods at the time of the crash, Max, Michael and Isabel finally hatched in 1989, looking like they were six year old children. Max and Isabel were adopted by Phillip and Diane Evans. Michael wound up with an abusive foster father, Hank Guerin.
The series begins when they are sixteen and sophomores in high school.
The Characters
Max Evans – Quiet and reserved, Max is the de facto leader of the alien three. He works at the UFO museum in town in a half hearted attempt to find out information about where they came from. He's also been in love with Liz Parker since the first time he saw her in grade school. Make a note of that fact, it's important later on.
Michael Guerin – Michael is just as quiet and reserved as Max. But where Max would take the time to think things through (at least normally), Michael tends to act first and think later. Given his home situation, Michael is the alien that most wants to find out who they are, where they're from and how the hell do they get back there.
Isabel Evans – While Max and Michael stick to the background, Isabel is your typical pretty and popular teenager. She's actively involved in her community. She loves her parents dearly, and is fiercely protective of Max and Michael.
Liz Parker – In her spare time, Liz works as a waitress in her father's alien crash themed diner, The Crashdown. She's brainy and nice. Oh god is she nice. (And boring, but that could just be my POV.) Funnily enough, she's also got a crush on Max Evans since she first saw him. Isn't it weird how these things work out?
Maria Deluca – Maria is Liz's best friend. Quirky and amusing, given to inhaling cypress oil at the first sign of stress, she also works part time at the diner.
Alex Whitman – Alex is good friends with Maria and Liz. He's smart and a computer hacker. This comes in useful down the road.
Sheriff Jim Valenti – Suspicious of the alien three throughout the first season of the show, the Sheriff eventually becomes their good friend.
Kyle Valenti – The sheriff's son, Kyle is also Liz's ex-boyfriend. He's jealous of Max and causes some trouble for them before eventually finding out the truth and becoming a good friend to everyone. (Personally? I would love to have a Kyle in Fandom.)
Tess Harding – Tess is another alien. She was in the pods with Max, Michael and Isabel but left them late. She was raised by Nasedo and eventually fell victim to the biggest case of bad writing/need for a bad guy ever.
Nasedo & Langley – Alien shape shifters. On the ship when it crashed, they were responsible for hiding the pods in the desert. Eventually it was discovered that Nasedo tried to betray Max, Michael and Isabel to their enemies in a case of WTF? Where did that plot twist come from? (The writers were rather fond of them. Bastards…) Langley gave up on the alien thing, moved to LA and became a movie producer. But he did help out Max in the third season, and made an appearance in the final two post-series books.
The Dupes – Spare copies/clones of Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess, the Dupes are pretty much their exact opposite. They grew up in the sewers of New York City and are immoral and vicious, looking out only for themselves. They also dress in lots of leather with punk make-up. They appear to cause trouble in several episodes in the second season, and feature in the last two of the post-series books.
Season 1 – How it all began…
The show opens with Max and Michael at the Crashdown where Max can moon over Liz without actually talking to her just like he does regular basis. (It's a lot like Twilight, but at least he's not watching her sleep.) But it's not a normal day. Two customers get in a fight. A gun gets pulled and a shot is fired, seriously wounding Liz. Unwilling to let her die, Max uses his special alien powers to heal her. This act ignites the suspicions of the Sheriff and he starts to poke about, trying to discover exactly what happened.
The first half of the season deals with Liz, and eventually Maria and Alex finding out the truth about Max, Michael and Isabel and how the relationships between the characters grow. Yes, three guys, three girls. You do the math. (Personally I found Max & Liz boring as hell. There was way too much simpering, declarations of true love, swearing off one another 'because it's safer, you deserve a normal life", and just plan sap. I watched for Michael & Maria. In between making out like crazed weasels, they fought like hell. It was lots of fun. Sadly the romance between Isabel and Alex suffered due to Isabel being fickle and Colin Hank's availability for filming. Just when things finally got back on track, well…Remember that WTF plot twist? thing I mentioned? Yeah, I'm still bitter.)
The second half of the first season continues the aliens' search for answers. At the same time they must evade the Special Unit (alien hunter unit) of the FBI. The season ends with a dramatic rescue and answers that lead to more questions.
Season 2 – Where things get weird
The second season saw a change in the focus of the show. Instead of the primary focus being on the relationships between the characters, it became more alien-driven. Actions in the first season have alerted various other alien factions on earth of who and where Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess are so they all come looking for them. Particularly entertaining are the episodes where the Dupes appear. Never has so much scenery been chewed so energetically.
The last few episodes of the season include that big WTF twist I mentioned. The less said, the better.
Season 3 – What season 3?
The series was cancelled by the WB at the end of the second season. Thanks to a very persistent fan letter writing campaign that involved sending thousands of bottles of Tabasco sauce to the network executives, the series was picked up by UPN.
Honestly? It was one of those cases of be careful what you wish for. The storylines were ridiculous. The characters where out of character. Michael's hair was hideous (yes, I have my priorities). Isabel gave up college and got MARRIED! (WTF writers? WTF?) and Max became a selfish idiot.
The season/series ended with the military attempting to kill them all. So of course Max, Michael, Isabel, Liz, Maria and Kyle piled into a van and fled town into the sunset.
Like I said, be careful what you wish for.
Post Series Books
There were eight books written after the series was cancelled. The first four books served as a bridge between seasons two and three, the last four are set after the end of the series. Of particular note are the very last two books, Pursuit and Turnabout. They were intended to be the definitive end to the series, by wrapping up all the loose ends and hopefully getting everyone back to Roswell again. Copies of Pursuit can still be found fairly easily at used book dealers online. Turnabout, not so much. Sales were so low most of the printed copies were destroyed. The few copies that made it out can be found for sale online for up to $300 a copy or more.
In an effort to help fans out, the authors have posted a detailed summary of the plot of the book here. Read it and laugh. It's like bad fanfic.
Why should I watch it?
It's fun. Especially the first season. The characters are honest and believable. The storyline is bit clichéd but you care about the characters so you want to see things work out. Plus Brendan Fehr still had the spiky hair and was hotter then hell.
The second season lost a bit of the magic but it still wasn't that bad. If you can find it? It's worth watching.
Season three? What season three?
Watch it and then you can answer this burning question, Twilight vs. Roswell? Are aliens more romantic than vampires?
Where to find it?
Season 1 on Hulu
Amazon
Questions? Comments? Naked icons?
Overview
Roswell was a television series which played on the WB and then UPN between 1999 and 2002. The pilot of the TV series was based on the Roswell High series of books by Melinda Metz.
Taking place in Roswell, New Mexico, the series tells the story of three alien-human hybrids, survivors of the Roswell crash of 1947. In incubation pods at the time of the crash, Max, Michael and Isabel finally hatched in 1989, looking like they were six year old children. Max and Isabel were adopted by Phillip and Diane Evans. Michael wound up with an abusive foster father, Hank Guerin.
The series begins when they are sixteen and sophomores in high school.
The Characters
Max Evans – Quiet and reserved, Max is the de facto leader of the alien three. He works at the UFO museum in town in a half hearted attempt to find out information about where they came from. He's also been in love with Liz Parker since the first time he saw her in grade school. Make a note of that fact, it's important later on.
Michael Guerin – Michael is just as quiet and reserved as Max. But where Max would take the time to think things through (at least normally), Michael tends to act first and think later. Given his home situation, Michael is the alien that most wants to find out who they are, where they're from and how the hell do they get back there.
Isabel Evans – While Max and Michael stick to the background, Isabel is your typical pretty and popular teenager. She's actively involved in her community. She loves her parents dearly, and is fiercely protective of Max and Michael.
Liz Parker – In her spare time, Liz works as a waitress in her father's alien crash themed diner, The Crashdown. She's brainy and nice. Oh god is she nice. (And boring, but that could just be my POV.) Funnily enough, she's also got a crush on Max Evans since she first saw him. Isn't it weird how these things work out?
Maria Deluca – Maria is Liz's best friend. Quirky and amusing, given to inhaling cypress oil at the first sign of stress, she also works part time at the diner.
Alex Whitman – Alex is good friends with Maria and Liz. He's smart and a computer hacker. This comes in useful down the road.
Sheriff Jim Valenti – Suspicious of the alien three throughout the first season of the show, the Sheriff eventually becomes their good friend.
Kyle Valenti – The sheriff's son, Kyle is also Liz's ex-boyfriend. He's jealous of Max and causes some trouble for them before eventually finding out the truth and becoming a good friend to everyone. (Personally? I would love to have a Kyle in Fandom.)
Tess Harding – Tess is another alien. She was in the pods with Max, Michael and Isabel but left them late. She was raised by Nasedo and eventually fell victim to the biggest case of bad writing/need for a bad guy ever.
Nasedo & Langley – Alien shape shifters. On the ship when it crashed, they were responsible for hiding the pods in the desert. Eventually it was discovered that Nasedo tried to betray Max, Michael and Isabel to their enemies in a case of WTF? Where did that plot twist come from? (The writers were rather fond of them. Bastards…) Langley gave up on the alien thing, moved to LA and became a movie producer. But he did help out Max in the third season, and made an appearance in the final two post-series books.
The Dupes – Spare copies/clones of Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess, the Dupes are pretty much their exact opposite. They grew up in the sewers of New York City and are immoral and vicious, looking out only for themselves. They also dress in lots of leather with punk make-up. They appear to cause trouble in several episodes in the second season, and feature in the last two of the post-series books.
Season 1 – How it all began…
The show opens with Max and Michael at the Crashdown where Max can moon over Liz without actually talking to her just like he does regular basis. (It's a lot like Twilight, but at least he's not watching her sleep.) But it's not a normal day. Two customers get in a fight. A gun gets pulled and a shot is fired, seriously wounding Liz. Unwilling to let her die, Max uses his special alien powers to heal her. This act ignites the suspicions of the Sheriff and he starts to poke about, trying to discover exactly what happened.
The first half of the season deals with Liz, and eventually Maria and Alex finding out the truth about Max, Michael and Isabel and how the relationships between the characters grow. Yes, three guys, three girls. You do the math. (Personally I found Max & Liz boring as hell. There was way too much simpering, declarations of true love, swearing off one another 'because it's safer, you deserve a normal life", and just plan sap. I watched for Michael & Maria. In between making out like crazed weasels, they fought like hell. It was lots of fun. Sadly the romance between Isabel and Alex suffered due to Isabel being fickle and Colin Hank's availability for filming. Just when things finally got back on track, well…Remember that WTF plot twist? thing I mentioned? Yeah, I'm still bitter.)
The second half of the first season continues the aliens' search for answers. At the same time they must evade the Special Unit (alien hunter unit) of the FBI. The season ends with a dramatic rescue and answers that lead to more questions.
Season 2 – Where things get weird
The second season saw a change in the focus of the show. Instead of the primary focus being on the relationships between the characters, it became more alien-driven. Actions in the first season have alerted various other alien factions on earth of who and where Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess are so they all come looking for them. Particularly entertaining are the episodes where the Dupes appear. Never has so much scenery been chewed so energetically.
The last few episodes of the season include that big WTF twist I mentioned. The less said, the better.
Season 3 – What season 3?
The series was cancelled by the WB at the end of the second season. Thanks to a very persistent fan letter writing campaign that involved sending thousands of bottles of Tabasco sauce to the network executives, the series was picked up by UPN.
Honestly? It was one of those cases of be careful what you wish for. The storylines were ridiculous. The characters where out of character. Michael's hair was hideous (yes, I have my priorities). Isabel gave up college and got MARRIED! (WTF writers? WTF?) and Max became a selfish idiot.
The season/series ended with the military attempting to kill them all. So of course Max, Michael, Isabel, Liz, Maria and Kyle piled into a van and fled town into the sunset.
Like I said, be careful what you wish for.
Post Series Books
There were eight books written after the series was cancelled. The first four books served as a bridge between seasons two and three, the last four are set after the end of the series. Of particular note are the very last two books, Pursuit and Turnabout. They were intended to be the definitive end to the series, by wrapping up all the loose ends and hopefully getting everyone back to Roswell again. Copies of Pursuit can still be found fairly easily at used book dealers online. Turnabout, not so much. Sales were so low most of the printed copies were destroyed. The few copies that made it out can be found for sale online for up to $300 a copy or more.
In an effort to help fans out, the authors have posted a detailed summary of the plot of the book here. Read it and laugh. It's like bad fanfic.
Why should I watch it?
It's fun. Especially the first season. The characters are honest and believable. The storyline is bit clichéd but you care about the characters so you want to see things work out. Plus Brendan Fehr still had the spiky hair and was hotter then hell.
The second season lost a bit of the magic but it still wasn't that bad. If you can find it? It's worth watching.
Season three? What season three?
Watch it and then you can answer this burning question, Twilight vs. Roswell? Are aliens more romantic than vampires?
Where to find it?
Season 1 on Hulu
Amazon
Questions? Comments? Naked icons?