So I was over at a friend's house last night, telling her all about the brilliant and woefully underrated show "Roswell", when she suddenly says: "Roswell. I think that's out on DVD." I nearly fell off my chair, recovering long enough to check. Yes, it's true! One of the all-time greatest teen shows, and a magnificent sci-fi show to boot, is finally out on DVD.
Based on the terrific book series, "Roswell" chronicles the lives of a group of teens living in Roswell, New Mexico. Some of them are human, some of them are not. You see, it turns out that a spaceship really did crash-land in the New Mexico desert in the 1950's, and after a period of incubation, three kids popped out: Beautiful, head-strong Isabel (Katherine Heigel), proud, rebellious Michael (Brendan Fehr) and quiet, gentle Max (hopelessly gorgeous Jason Behr). One day Max saves the life of Liz Parker (the radiant Shiri Appleby), setting off a chain of events that will change their lives forever. Rounding out the cast is Liz's best friend Maria (Majandra Delfino, providing much of the comedy relief) and geeky Alex (Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks). There is also a semi-evil Sheriff and assorted parents and schoolmates.
The strength of this show is two-fold: Excellent, heart-felt writing and spectacular chemistry between the leads. The first season is easily the best; later seasons became painful to watch as the characters we had come to care about were tossed about in all the wrong ways. The show always stayed compulsively watchable, though, never losing its poignancy. The first season's the only one I'll be buying, but if you're a newcomer you'll probably be totally hooked and want to see the whole thing through to its satisfying conclusion. Favorite episodes this season include "Blind Date", where Max sets impossible-to-match standards for boyfriends everywhere, and "Independence Day", which has a wonderful scene of intimacy between a teenage boy and girl that for once isn't all about sex. The rest of the episodes are equally grand, making the set worth every penny, and yes, worth the wait. If you've already seen the show, you've probably got this on order already, but if you're a newbie, take a deep breath and buy the whole first season. You won't regret it.
GRADE: A+
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