Anla

Okay, so the Pilot: I really loved this episode. It's not my favorite Roswell ep ever, but it is one of my favorite pilots. And I don't often like pilots, especially of sci-fi/fantasy shows. I realize that these types of shows take a while to build up, so I don't go in to the pilot with unrealistically high hopes. But Roswell caught my interest right from the first scene. In fact, I was interested in it even before seeing it. I remember hearing a commercial for it on the radio, and hearing Liz's voice-over about how so-many days ago she died, and after that things got really strange. That caught my attention right away. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] And by the end of the healing scene, I was totally hooked on the show. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Yes, it's a bit embarassing to admit on a Candy thread, but I wasn't all that interested in Michael and Maria the first time I saw the episode. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] I know - but my attention was totally on Max and Liz. And even now, watching it for I don't know how many times, I still get caught up in their story. It reminds me of how much I loved Max and Liz together in Season 1. I believed in Max's sincerity, believed that he really did think that Liz was important enough to risk everything for. His "It was you" line is one of my all-time favorite TV lines. It's the way he delivers it, so perfectly matter-of-fact, like he can't even imagine not saving her. Max being Max, he didn't think he did have a choice. He couldn't just stand there and watch Liz die. And I really liked Liz, the way she was trying so very hard not to become overwhelmed and freak out, how she was trying to stay rational in the face of learning that there really were aliens in Roswell and that one of them had saved her life. I absolutely loved the fact that she wrote out a list of questions to ask Max. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] From the look on his face, Max seemed to think that was cute too. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Michael. Well, we got to see Michael in protector role even this early on. He tries to stop Max from doing something that he thought was stupid and a risk to the three of them - saving Liz. But when he realized that he wasn't going to be able to stop Max, Michael moved to damage control, trying to keep people back so that they couldn't see what Max was doing and getting the keys to the car so that they could make a quick get-away. And then later, he puts himself bodily between Max and Isabel and the perceived threat of Liz and Maria.

Maria. We get to see Maria's concern for her friend. And then we see her loyalty when she agrees to help the aliens for Liz's sake, even though she was terrified of them. And her running out of the Crashdown screaming always does amuse me. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

Not much actual Candy in this episode, although we do have Michael putting the silver handprint on Maria. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Oh, and because it had been pointed out to me on Stargazer threads, I paid special attention this time around, and yes, Isabel is the one to initiate the brief conversation with Alex at the Crash Festival. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] And I wonder how long Alex was kicking himself for his response. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

Valenti was very threatening and creepy in this episode. I still get slightly disturbed watching him threaten Max at the Crash Festival. Strange how I found the human enemies of Valenti and Pierce to be so much more frightening than the aliens.

The ketchup story was actually pretty good thinking on Max's part, especially since he was working fast.

I have to admit, I never really liked the idea of Liz getting "alien" powers as they developed it in Season 3. Before that, I thought that it was the reverse connection with Max that somehow caused a connection between them, allowing her to get the flashes she got later on in the season. And then when Nasedo explains to Michael that their powers were advanced human powers, that just tied in nicely with that idea. I figured that Max somehow jump-started a part of Liz's brain that was usually not used by humans yet, and that was why she was able to do things like get flashes and project her astral self to New York. At any rate, I liked the reverse connection scene.

Let's see, what else? Oh, I think the shot of Max, Michael, and Isabel watching the reenactment of the crash has to be one of the saddest scenes in the show. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

[img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] I've never fully understood the details of the plan at the end (Maria was hit by her own car? Was it supposed to be being stolen by someone?) but that didn't really matter. I guess that things were happening so fast and it made things confused enough to cast doubt on the Sheriff's certainty that Max was the alien. Enough doubt at least to buy Max some time. Although Valenti was still going to be watching him.......

[ 02-11-2004: Message edited Anla ]