rbrtck

This video is amazing! It had me transfixed--it's as though I had "lost time" there.

Damocles

Thanks for posting that!

saorievans

Great analysis of season 3 rbrtck my biggest issue with this season is that I wanted to see Max fight for Liz and it seemed that Liz was the only one who did everything for their relationship, ok to be fair, in those first episodes.

azure angel

@rbrtck pretty much I agree with you :-) Just for me the first episodes did not happen, s3 started with ch-ch-changes lol

rbrtck

For me, I think that it was more about Max redeeming himself, not only for Liz but for Dreamers and general fans, and those few moments he had amid the Isabel & Jesse domination of much of the first half of the season did make a difference. He seemed like a different person after that--like his old more humble and caring self, but also more mature.

As for fighting for Liz, she still loved and wanted Max. I wish we got more courting from him, but at least there was their swim in the recent flashback (albeit it ended not so well), the time when he manipulated the murals in the Crashdown to lure her into a hot kitchen make-out session (defying her dad and using his powers in public ), and that cornball but cute Superman & Lois flight (from the good movie) they did with the red hang glider (plus Max's powers)--these were just in the first few episodes. And over the first half or so of the season, Liz grew up some, too, and Max had to be mostly redeemed before Liz could face and overcome her broken heart, so it wasn't a total waste. I just tend to ignore anything not related to Max & Liz in this season.

I for one really needed Max to crawl out of my own doghouse from that season 2 mess he made, and I felt a lot better about him by the time Ch-Ch-Changes came up. Arguably Max being so much better and lovable to Liz was what brought on or triggered her changes and the issues with her broken heart coming forward. For instance, it was when he was trying to help her with her Harvard interview, entirely focused on and devoted to what she wanted, whatever it might imply for him (such a contrast to how he selfishly tried to control Isabel in this regard before), that she had an outburst of power, setting a book on fire. Liz knew that she should completely and freely embrace and love him, but found that she still could not because of her lingering issues, based on the fact that Max had slept with Tess.

Personally, I think that their character and relationship development were done very well and logically, as long as we don't take everything completely literally--the producers remembered the things Max did in season 2 that weren't so nice, and had him atone for every one. In Chant Down Babylon there was even a strange sort of parallel between Clayton & Meris and Max & Liz in how Meris told Clayton about all of the things she had done and the sacrifices she had made for him, much like what Liz did to Max in The Departure. Clayton (who now had Max's physical essence) was being unfaithful to Meris because Max's soul was in there, too, so he felt Max's overwhelming love for Liz. This was sort of like how King Zan's memories of Ava/Tess inside of Max had, in part, made him unfaithful to Liz. In that case, Zan wasn't inherently stronger than Max by any means, but sadly Max willingly allowed him to take over, having lost faith in Liz and his own heart. Now Max would have to redeem himself once more by overcoming Clayton and taking over his body (which had essentially become Max's new body anyway), using the strength of his faith in and love for Liz. It was Liz who brought him back when Max/Clayton died again in the fall (after Max saved Liz with his powers and sacrificed his own life for her), and that's when Max finally defeated and killed Clayton, which was represented by Clayton's face coming back for one final gasp before his soul was expelled. This was kind of a reversal of what happened when Max was unfaithful to Liz, and thereby he was redeemed by his love for Liz (and as I always like to point out, having Liz makes Max strong). And of course it was this and the broader perspective that Liz got from leaving Roswell and losing Max entirely for a while that healed her broken heart--her heart now understood how and why Max failed when his faith in her was weak, and that with his faith restored he truly loved her enough to fight his way back even from death to be with her.

Now that's what Liz's broken heart really needed! Max had said earlier, before she left for Vermont, that they needed to talk about her issues with him having slept with Tess, but Liz knew that she needed more than words. She needed, at a deep level, to have faith in Max's love and devotion to her, and he managed to restore that to her. The fact that he had slept with Tess was no longer important or relevant after that--Liz knows what happened and why, and more importantly she believes in his complete love for and devotion to her (Liz) once again.

rbrtck

The last part of that quote always chokes me up so badly! I think in addition to hearing Liz refer to Max as her husband, the weirdness of his origin simultaneously reminds me of how much I love the show as a whole, as well, warts and all. And also at the same time, I think of how Liz's father must feel reading all of this--viewing the show as though Liz were my daughter (which is the only time I do so). All of this together never fails to get to me--it's doing that right now, yet again, as I type this.


You're not alone here, although I have my own reasons. Ever since Max did the deed with Tess, I lost all interest in Max & Liz doing so during the show's entire run. I took solace in the knowledge that had Future Max not happened and screwed everything up, Max & Liz would have "cemented" their relationship forever months earlier, but from that point on it held no meaning for me. In fact, I actively hoped that they would NOT make love until after they were married, if we would be so lucky to get that (and we got it! ).

I guess I wanted Max & Liz to be special in some way, and waiting for marriage--as Liz had originally intended anyway--would be that, and it just feels right for them in any case. Not that sex in any way takes away from love, but since for me there was nothing special in them consummating anymore, I'd much rather that they focus on love alone instead of doing what everyone else on the show had done anyway. So I'm actually glad that post-proposal scene was never shot. It wouldn't have bothered me much, but I prefer the outcome we actually got, and I'm sure that after the end of the show that poor van's old suspension was thoroughly put to the test.

Additionally, I like that Max & Liz married without going for a test drive first, since it kind of implies that it's all about love, and if anything it makes what Max did with Tess even less meaningful. Can you tell that I'm bitter?

saorievans

I loved that they were married in both timelines, they were just meant to be.

Damocles

I still love that too

rbrtck

Good point. If there is any real kind of destiny in this show at all, it is that Max & Liz are meant to be together, and ultimately no alien "destiny" or implanted memories from a previous life, or any other obstacle could stand in their way. Like gravity, their destiny is a mysterious and relentless force of nature that bends space and time to bring them together.

By the way, although I'm not sure of the date, it may well be that Max & Liz actually got married earlier in the show's main timeline than in the timeline of Future Max (when they were both 19). I think in that other timeline they might have been in no hurry for years, while in the main timeline they were running for their lives much sooner, which obviously pushed them to commit and generally live faster.

azure angel

IT WAS HER

yeah they even got married 1 year early

saorievans

destiny

azure angel

totally

Amaranto

Im back

Amazing video!!! the feels!

podmom

great comment and me too

Roswell 10/2/00

Yes I love how Liz did get her Wedding dance!