Anla

Oh, I know. That was so sweet. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Anla

I found Michael's whole character arc throughout Season 2 to be interesting. Michael is the protector of the group. When he found that out, right after killing Pierce, he freaked and thought that meant the same thing as being the killer of the group. But it meant more than that. Yes, Michael is a warrior, and he fights to protect his family. But he also grows to learn to take care of the people he loves in other ways, too, like being there for Maria or taking care of Laurie during the Hybrid Chronicles. It was important for Michael to realize that he was more than the violent alien he thought he was after Destiny (his "You're good and I'm bad" line to Max still hurts me, no matter how many times I watch that episode). Michael reacted to loss in the group by trying to take care of the person who was most important to him, whether by trying to find her food she'd eat at the memorial or being there to protect her when she and Liz went after Leanna-is-not-Leanna.

I see a lot of similarities between Michael and Valenti, actually. The motto "To Serve and Protect" could really apply to both of them in their positions.

sadhbh

hello! [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img]

Doubt alot of you know me, it's been quite a while since I've been visiting the candy thread. It's lovely to see that it's still going strong [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] A general shout out to everyone, hope you're all keeping well.

I've a couple of weeks off college and I'm not working at the moment so I got to watching all my old Roswell episodes-it's been so long since I did that. It was like putting on an old favourite jumper though-you forget how cosy and comfortable it is and how it always seems to fit perfectly.

It's seriously been ages since I watched my tapes since season 3 left me all disillusioned. Heatwave, crazy, independence day to name a few of the season one highlights. To go back to my jumper analogy, I'd forgotten how cosy and comfortable and perect Rosewll fits me. The candy is glorious there. One of my favourite snippets of season 2 is when Michael and Maria are by the pool in the Dupree mansion in HTOHL and are living it up. It such a great moment.

It's great to see you guys are discussing the plot lines still. I'd sort of forgotten how big some of the holes are. Anla, I love readig your theories [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] They've always made me smile!

I'll be back. Sooner rather than later. Right now I'm off to watch a little more candy goodness. Gorge myself on M&M [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Sad [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Anla

Hey! [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] Welcome back! [img]smilies/pinkie.gif[/img] How have you been?

I feel the same way about most of Seasons 1 and 2 Roswell. I think of them as "comfort tv". [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] No matter how many times I watch 'em, they never fail to entertain and make me feel better (as long as I can deal with the plot holes, but you even get used to those after awhile, and the theorizing becomes part of the experience [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] ).

[img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] It's the slippers. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] Because they're nice to read, or because they're just so ridiculous? [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Either way works, I guess. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

[ 01-13-2004: Message edited Anla ]

sHobhnA GuerIn CRAZY CANDY

[img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] Candies!!

Fly by post today!! Gotta rush!!!!!!

[img]smilies/cat.gif[/img]

Anla

Good morning, Candies! [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] Well, I have rewatched Departure. I simply haven't had the time to write up my thoughts on it yet. I never do seem to have as much time as I'd like. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] But I'll get to it as soon as I can. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Anla

[img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] Okay, but just to warn you, I might not have time until the weekend. [img]smilies/look.gif[/img] Well, that's only a day or so away, so I guess it's not that long after all. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Lewisa

PoP NoT SoDa: Oh, what lyric/song is it? [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

swedish fan

Ooooh great LJ icons!!

Does anyone know where I can find the actual picture from this one??

swedish fan

Thank you SO much!!

Anla

Good morning, Candies! [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] Just a quick stop this morning. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Lewisa

PoP NoT SoDa: I kinda like them all [img]smilies/smirk.gif[/img]

sHobhnA GuerIn CRAZY CANDY

[img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] Candies!!!

Dana!! Love the icons!! Especially the Michael one! That was "Here without you" by Creed, right? God, how i love that song!! [img]smilies/in_love.gif[/img] i even wrote a michael fic on it recently! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

hallo all!!

[img]smilies/cat.gif[/img]

Anla

Some thoughts on Departure:

I was unspoiled for this episode, so much of it came as a total surprise to me. Some of it was a good surprise (Michael staying for Maria, Alex's appearance) and some of it was not so good (the discovery of Tess as killer and traitor). Overall, I liked the episode very much. However, I have some problems with it, most of which only became hugely obvious to me afterwards, when I realized that things I expected to have dealt with in Season 3 were not going to be addressed.

[img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] Loved the opening, with Maria and Michael giving their particular perspectives on things. Reminded me of Blood Brothers, with Michael explaining how he managed to find out about Agent Topolsky. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

Even before knowing what Tess was really up to, I found it somewhat concerning how she seemed to have trouble with the baby everytime Max stopped to try and think about what was going on, everytime he hesitated. Max was kept running these last few episodes, unable and unwilling to really take the time and think things through. He was reacting to external pressures. It made sense that he would want to do what he could to save his child, and Tess used that. In the Granolith Chamber, when he hesitated as Michael pointed out they shouldn't leave without finding Alex's killer first (great that Michael would be concerned about that), Tess clutches her stomach and reminds him of the risk to their child. She was managing to manipulate him very effectively.

Poor Isabel. Throughout the episode, we could see how confused she was, how much this decision was costing her. Max and Michael had been the foundation of her life for so long, the people she cared about more than any others, the only two she even let in completely for so long. And now she had to choose between going with them to a totally different planet or staying, alone in a way, with the parents who she also loved. Max had always managed some sort of emotional distance from his parents. Not that he didn't love them - I believe he did. But there was something in his personality, a fear that perhaps unconditional love really didn't exist, that kept him at a distance. Not so with Isabel. It hurt her so much to have to choose between going with her brother or staying with her parents. The scene between her and "Alex" is one of my favorites. So bittersweet. There was so much love there, and so much confusion. I had tears in my eyes watching it this last time.

Another scene I really liked (although further revelations taint it) was the one between Tess and Sheriff Valenti, where Valenti is taking care of her when she feels sick and tells her that she and her baby will always have a place in their family. Very nice father/daughter moment, and despite what they both said about it being weird, I think they liked it when Tess called him "Dad". [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] No matter what, I think that Tess truly did come to care for both Valentis deeply (something which I'll get back to later).

Michael and Maria: Despite not wanting to go and leave Maria, it probably didn't even occur to Michael that he had any other choice. He was Max's second in command. If he wasn't there to watch out for Max, then who would? What other purpose would he have in life? So Michael prepares to say his farewells to Maria. He put a lot of effort into it, and the dinner he set up was so sweet, with food she liked and Scooby dishes. [img]smilies/love.gif[/img] But his real gift to her was allowing her to finally see inside him, with no mental guards up. Despite his fear and shame about the things inside him that he didn't want anyone to see, Michael took that leap of trust and let Maria see who he really was, believing that she loved him enough to stay with him. And the way that he saw her was so beautiful. [img]smilies/love.gif[/img] I know that some people thought that Michael should have told Maria that he was leaving before they slept together, and in a perfect world, yeah, he should have. He did try though, and she stopped him. I could understand why he would want to have this one last moment with the woman he loved. Michael doesn't love easily, but when he does, it lasts. I'm sure he didn't expect to ever love anyone again, or that he would want to. Maria was it for him. And Maria finally said that she loved him, a year after he said it to her in Destiny. Nice. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] But so sad when he told her that he only had one hour before he had to go. You could see the pain on both their faces. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

And on a side note, I love it when Michael and Maria hold hands. Such a simple gesture, but it seems to show so much about the trust they have between them. [img]smilies/love.gif[/img]

Max and Liz investigating Leanna-is-not-Leanna. Now, I think Liz was completely right to stop Max from killing the girl like that. I was very disturbed by the way that Max was going about things in those scenes. I only wish Liz had protested more before leaving him alone to do what he was going to do. But the later conclusion that Jennifer Coleman couldn't possibly have anything to do with Alex's death was yet another part of this investigation that made me scream at the TV. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] Where did this brilliant deduction that because someone is human they must be innocent come from? Yeah, maybe she wasn't the one who gave Alex the destiny book. But that doesn't mean she couldn't have been helping the alien who was behind it, either knowingly or being tricked somehow. Just because she was human did not mean that she was an innocent. Pierce was human, and he was certainly capable of murder. "Leanna" ran away from Liz and Maria and then proceeded to leave the university. Coincidence? It could have been. But on the other hand, maybe not. Yet Liz and Max don't even try to question her and see if she knew anything about Alex. They just say "Oh, she's human. She must be innocent. Let's forget all the ways she was connected to what happened to Alex and move on." [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] Really bugged me.

Another thing that really bugged me was the entire Max/Liz interaction when he told her about Tess and the baby. Now, I get that Liz was upset. But really, she'd spent the last year pushing Max away, over and over again, and quite a bit of time trying to get him together with Tess. Now, after Liz kept telling him that he had a destiny to fulfill, she finds out that he did, that he was with Tess. So she really had no right to be so upset. However, that's not what actually bothered me so much. Emotions don't always have to do with logic, and Liz had a lot going on right then, so I could see her flying off the handle about it. She was hurt, so she lashed out. I'm just saying I could see why Max was upset right back at her, especially after her "I saved myself for you" line. But what really gets me is that after she says that, and Max makes the great deductive leap of figuring out that she didn't sleep with Kyle after all, Max doesn't ask her why she lied to him and broke his heart into tiny little pieces like that. How could he possibly not ask her why? Right after she admitted to not sleeping with Kyle, that should have been the first thing out of his mouth. "Why?" Yeah, she probably wouldn't have answered, but why wouldn't he at least ask? Ugh. All the secrets and lies that developed in Max and Liz's relationship in Season 2 (and continuing on through Season 3) drove me crazy. The lack of communication was my biggest problem with their relationship at this point. They just seem to continue on and on, making things worse and worse as they go.

And then Liz runs, majorly rebounding, to use Sean DeLuca again. I can't believe I'm saying this, but poor Sean. At least Liz had the sense to stop before things went too far (which was more than Max managed).

Then we learn that Tess killed Alex. Kyle's horror at learing what Tess did and how he was involved in covering up Alex's death was so upsetting to watch. Poor Kyle. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] He really loved and trusted Tess.

Tess almost seemed to be hesitating for a moment there when she asked Max if he was really sure he wanted to leave and go back to their home planet. But then she found out he had kissed Liz, despite being with her then. And the fact that she got a flash from Max at all was interesting. Michael kept Maria from getting flashes for a long time because he wasn't willing to be completely open with her. So one has to figure that means Max is open with Tess, as well as with Liz. He trusted them both equally. Hmm....

Valenti's farwell to the kids was another sad scene. I always think of Valenti as a father figure to them all.

Then Michael does something I was totally not expecting him to do - he stays on earth to be with Maria. [img]smilies/love.gif[/img] I knew it would practically kill him to leave her, but I didn't know if he would abandon his responsibility to his king to stay. But he did. [img]smilies/pinkie.gif[/img] Michael had the right to make a life for himself, and it was so amazing that he realized his home was here with Maria.

So he leaves, and Maria is right there outside the door, telling him that Tess killed Alex. Another great little moment is that while his instinctive response is to go "What?" Michael doesn't really doubt her or waste time with questions. He trusts Maria enough to turn right around and go running back to protect Max and Isabel. If it had been someone else telling him this shocking news about Tess, I'm not sure Michael would have been so quick to believe. So in a way, Michael and Maria's love ended up saving Max and Isabel. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I like the final scene, of the whole group standing on the mountains. In Destiny, it was just the aliens standing there trying to figure things out. This time around, the humans are there with the aliens, standing as a unified group. It gave me great hope for the next season.

And while some people complained about Max wanting to find his son, that never bothered me. Max wouldn't have been Max if he'd been willing to let his child stay with Kivar and Tess, not exactly the best parental role models. Who knew what they had planned for the child? So, while I had problems with some of the things he did in S3 while trying to find his son, I didn't object to the search in itself. I would have had less respect for Max if he had been willing to just pretend he didn't have a child out there.

[img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] That's probably long enough for now. I have more to say, but it will wait, since most of it is regarding things that I was able to deal with in Departure, because I thought they would be addressed in S3, yet now, knowing they weren't, I am more bitter about.

[ 01-17-2004: Message edited Anla ]

swedish fan

Oh my god, I love what ya'll have written about Departure [img]smilies/love.gif[/img] So beautiful.

I also loved the part in the ending where Maria says or asks something about why he (Michael) stayed. He stayed because of her [img]smilies/sigh.gif[/img]

YAY! I'm gonna buy Video Deluxe in two months, and I'm gonna make lots of video's [img]smilies/pinkie.gif[/img] Candy vids and Zenmaster vids (That'70s Show)