Roswell, New Mexico recap: Liz and Max are finished before they even begin

Liz and Max’s relationship is put to the test on this week’s episode of Roswell as a terrible revelation about Rosa’s death makes Liz re-evaluate everything she thought she knew. 

Only last week on Roswell, New Mexico, we were watching sparks fly between Liz and Max, the CW’s latest unnaturally beautiful star-crossed, fated-to-be couple and yet, how fast those sparks have fizzled.

The anniversary of Rosa’s death is a volatile time in Roswell. The Crashdown Cafe is on lock-down due to recent racially motivated attacks, like the shoot-out from the first episode, and Liz’s father anticipates another attack on this fateful day.

For Liz, it reminds her of how much she loved Rosa and how hard it is for her to forgive her, even after all these years. She concludes that seeing tangible proof of Rosa’s inebriated state through her post-mortem toxicology test will help her find something else to blame rather than Rosa’s own actions.

Even though Rosa made an awful mistake, Liz is still wants to believe another force was at play, one that wouldn’t ruin the few memories of Rosa she has left. If she can simply blame the drugs or alcohol, maybe she can finally forgive her sister and begin recalling her with fondness instead of bitterness.

Instead of finding answers in Rosa’s autopsy, Liz is only left with more questions. Kyle digs up the real autopsy report, as the original one was doctored. Together, they realize Rosa was murdered and given the mysterious handprint left behind on her corpse is awfully familiar, it’s no wonder Liz decides she needs some distance from Max…

…who has his hands full of Cam (I’m not entirely sure of Riley Voelkel’s character name. In the show it sounded like “Kim” but on IMDb her character is listed as Jenna Cameron so I inferred Max may be calling her Cam as a nickname). Someone moves fast.

After Liz lies and tells Max she doesn’t have real feelings for him after all, Max and a newly awakened darkness go to cop barbie’s house for a stress reliever.

For the moment it appears the (Lax, Miz, Ortevans, Evortecho?) Max/Liz train has derailed.

Doctor’s Orders

Sergeant Manes is not having an easy time of convincing his partner’s son, Kyle, to join in his alien hunting brigade. Surprisingly, Kyle is a loyal guy and he isn’t keen on breaking doctor/patient confidentiality to reveal Liz’s hand-shaped affliction.

Can’t blame the guy for being skeptical, how would any normal person react to finding out their dead father was part of a covert extraterrestrial exterminating committee?

This Land is My Land

Michael loves the plot of land where his trailer is because it rests over the spot where he, Isabelle, and Max crash-landed all those years before. It’s his only attachment to his home. No, it’s not much, but it’s Michael’s anchor. Unlike his family, he has never felt a sense of belonging on Earth and the idea that one day, someone may come back for him has kept him tethered to that vey location.

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When Alex informs him to evacuate the premises within 24 hours because the airforce wants the land, it’s no wonder he reacts with emotional devastation. The irony is, the airforce wants to use the land for a “facility” and that facility is likely part of Sergeant Manes’s operation.

Even though Alex doesn’t know about Michael’s alien origins, it’s a little ironic he may be kicking the man he loves out of his home to make way for people who would be happy to experiment and potentially kill said man.

Speaking of Alex, for anyone bummed about the missed love connection between Max and Liz, you should be getting your fair share of warm and fuzzies from him and Michael. After their angsty reunion kiss, Alex vows not to let it happen again.

Which, of course, means it happens again.

“That’s a problem for me Guerin because every time you look at me I’m 17 again and I forget that the last 10 years even happened and then you look away and I remember all over again and it almost kills me every time.” An impassioned Alex reveals.

And Michael responds: “I never look away, not really.”

Who could resist that?!

Odds & Ends

• Any theories as to why Max is now extra broody and volatile due to reviving Liz? Something about messing up the balance of nature, maybe?
• It was kind of weird seeing Jackson Kenner and Freya Mikaelson make-out.
• I’m trying to figure out what is going on in Isabelle’s 50 Shades of Grey sub-plot with her lawyer guy. Right now he seems like an unnecessary addition to the show, and Isabelle feels like a character who doesn’t  have much to do yet. I’m hoping that changes soon because she deserves a story of her own that doesn’t just involve playing peacekeeper between Max and Michael.

A new episode of Roswell, titled “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” will air January 29th on the CW.