Roswell 10/2/00

I know it's so sad you can't be heart broken if you didn't care. Tess was not evil she had a heart!

starryeyesxx

Emilie did do so well in those episodes, there wasn't much focus on her, but when you saw her in the background, she always had tears in here eyes - makes me think that she didn't know what we gonn ahappen at that point

Diva Duckling

Not going to lie, I have seen some weird **** said about Tess by Dreamers. I just don't understand the need to completely vilify a 17-year-old female character, nor the need to reduce her to this comic book villain. She was always so much more complex.

But because I'm kind of used to seeing that, that's why I appreciate SO MUCH, people who ship Max and Liz and yet they don't hate on Tess. Like I've said, you are precious.

Diva Duckling

See, I used to have a few screencaps of Tess on my previous laptop from those episodes. Because Emilie's acting choices are... very interesting. And I always wonder if she did know Tess killed Alex or she hadn't known yet.

Because... Tess is hella upset in those episodes. Which is kind of strange, considering she and Alex were never that close. And Tess usually covers up her emotions anyway... Like even when Nasedo died, she didn't show most of the time how sad or alone she felt. And even in these episodes, you mostly see her being upset when no one is really watching her.

It would be nice to think that was because Emilie did know that Tess accidentally killed Alex. (Which... is canon. Even for those who hate her, it is 100% confirmed that she didn't mean to kill Alex.) I mean, just imagine how devastating it must be for Tess to know that she killed someone, when she truly didn't mean to. To see their friends mourning and know she is responsible. And at the same time knowing that if they find out the truth, she would never be forgiven. She had been alone her whole life, and now she is truly doomed again. And then there's the fact that Tess wasn't thrilled exactly when she found out that Nasedo killed people. She judged him for that. She was scared. And now she had become a murderer too. I know we see that she hardens up later a lot, but killing Alex must have been devastating for her.

I always headcanoned that in the scene when Max goes to the van and we actually see Tess watching him and look very upset and she just looks alarmed when the van moves... I always thought in that moment Tess herself couldn't decide if she wanted Max to succed or not. If Alex is alive and tells the truth, she would be hated by the group forever. But if Alex was alive... It would mean she is not a murderer. It would mean Max did fix her mistake. It would mean she did not take a life after all. I always thought she must have had so many conflicting emotions in those few seconds. Ultimately, I do think she wanted Alex to live. But I also think she was very scared.

But in the end... Who knows what the writers told Emilie by then? The whole plot twist they pulled seemed very last minute and very badly written. (Which is a shame, because... It's not like there wasn't potential there...)

starryeyesxx

I always thought the 'twist' seemed really last minute, I doubt Emilie knew until they were filming the finale

LilMouse

I feel like Tess wouldn't be the type of person who's first thought was to mindwarp Alex to get him to decode the book. Not even taking into account how dumb it was to not have Nasedo teach Tess their language / already have the book decoded, couldn't Tess have just flat out asked Alex for help? He would've done it if it helped Isabel in the long run.

JournalingJedi

No, the whole Alex arc does not make sense. They all wanted the book decoded so for Tess to think she had to do this in secret is crazy. I agree Alex would have helped. The major mistake the writers made and it’s been a big issue I’ve had since these episodes originally aired.....how the heck did Tess minewarp someone for so long so far away? Even if she minewarped him in bits several times she would have had to be there with him or somewhere close. The guy Maria and Liz meet says Alex was always alone and we know Tess remained in Roswell. We know from the conversation between Max and Is that the university was at least a couple of hours away. Any other time she has used that power the time limit has been very very limited, think the white room rescue, or changing Pierce’s bones, or even when the skins were after them and they hid in the restroom. Granted it was Nicholas and he was powerful, but she never held it for more then mere minutes. With Nasedo dead she would not have suddenly developed this extended mine warp power. I believe she developed a more powerful minewarp like what she did to the skins, but again she had to be close and it was a quick use of power.
For my story I think I have found a way to explain both Tess and Max’s erratic behavior, I really want to keep the show as canon so instead of dismissing something I don’t agree with I’m really trying to get it work with what we already know. Recently I’ve rewatched these episodes for details and I forgot how Max really turned on Isabel in the school hallway to get her to stay in Roswell. I get he was overwhelmed, but looking at the two of them and how they were suddenly behaving something else was going on. Tess is a complex character and she had so much potential on the show.

As my story begins with Tess and baby Zan on Antar, the planet is not what it seems....

JournalingJedi

I don’t think the writers knew from one episode to the next in season 2. The whole season was all over the place.... interesting thought about Tess being conflicted on whether Max could or couldn’t fix what she did. Didn’t think about that. I just saw she was heartbroken seeing Max hurting, her entire life was Zan/Max and she was reborn so they could find each other again. It hurt her to see him upset. For me Tess did hide her emotions, but she was the most vulnerable with Max.

starryeyesxx

You're right, we had never seen her power work like that before, where she had a hold over someone 24/7, over a period of few weeks, when they were miles away from her. If she could really do that, then there are so many other things she could have done to have Max knock her up & then go home to Antar, so getting Alex to decode the book was pretty pointless. Plus, she mindwarped Amy to change just a few hours of her memories when they were held hostage, & that didn't really work properly. No consistency at all

Diva Duckling

I'm so happy I've only discovered Roswell in 2013. Those things would have made me so angry as a Tess fan if I had to endure that while the show aired. Since I've watched it years later, I knew what to expect.

starryeyesxx

That is lucky, good to be prepared

More from this scene

Roswell 10/2/00

Love it!

starryeyesxx

It was so good to hear that story of how they first met

JournalingJedi

Yes, good scene. Larek is so excited so he must remember Zan being really smitten!!

Diva Duckling

Ava and Zan must have been such a cute couple. And they had such a tragic story.