TV Rewind: I Was a Teenage Alien: The Unsung Genius of Roswell

Which, speaking of: In America, “alien” has always had a second meaning, an uglier connotation. Roswell, NM’s first real-life inhabitants were the Clovis Indigenous population, and still has highly diverse demographics to this day. Roswell as an ET/UFO hotspot, in actuality and in fiction, does not seem like an accident. Roswell aged well, arguably better than a lot of late nineties and early aughts TV, and is still manages to feel incredibly timely. As a show about aliens (albeit, literal ones) hiding in plain sight and scared to be found out for fear of what’ll be done to them if they’re discovered by the government, it remains painfully relevant to the political landscape of today.

Despite being a show aimed primarily toward teens and young adults, Roswell doesn’t over-explain its messages. It does not thwack you in the side of the head with a heavy hand, sort of like its later reboot does, which marries the alien aspect with that of undocumented immigrants. While there cannot be enough media made about this issue, given its deep roots in the American political landscape, the original Roswell does a less abrasive job, twining the message more subtly into the foundation of the story. (It may be worth noting that although most of the main characters in the 1999 series are white-passing, Appleby is a child of Moroccan-Jewish immigrants, and Delfino was also born in Venezuela.)

Unfortunately, Roswell’s second and third seasons suffered from poor writing choices. Without getting too spoiler-y, some of the plot twists from Season 2 onward almost have a Riverdale flavor in their over-the-top campiness and general narrative incredulity. This is already a show whose premise must be treated very carefully. Certain lines must be toed so that it doesn’t get too absurd. And yet, poorly executed romantic tropes (including a loathsome teen pregnancy!), sudden deaths of beloved characters, and borderline-outlandish storylines involving the teen aliens vs. the Big Bad Government started to grow a bit… tiresome. It is admittedly difficult to make it through the last season, which may explain why the show was ultimately cancelled before it could make it to a fourth season.

Certainly, an often-overlooked character, one that makes up the underbelly of the show, is the natural landscape that engulfs the teens. A mosaic of sand, grit, and dust paints the ground upon which everyone walks, as characters trudge through the disgusting dry heat that boxes them in. Most seem overall used to it, having grown up there, but the setting lends itself well to a sci-fi show. There’s something almost unnatural about the aridness of a desert. Everything feels slightly out of place, and the undulating heatwaves and mirages caused by heat headaches make it all too easy to write off odd occurrences or sightings of something weird and inexplicable.

The relationships—both the romantic and platonic, like—are ultimately what make the show so rewarding, however. At its heart, Roswell is a story about found family. The writing doesn’t fall back on the easy melodrama afforded to heighten drama by the nature of teenagers. Instead, the characters feel authentic, and in the first season at least, common tropes aren’t overused to move the plot forward or further develop (or destroy) relationships. “Found family” is something incredibly crucial to young people, many of whom may struggle with feeling isolated or alienated, no pun intended, from those around them in their real lives.

This is where television, movies, and books can become like oxygen to those who feel like they’re drowning. Watching lonely people find each other; seeing characters create their own, imperfect families, and struggle with the things that audience members might also be going through, might genuinely save someone’s life. Max, Isabel, and Michael are freaks of nature. They’re not like the rest of us¾as aliens, this isolation exists on a more physical, innate level, which perfectly dovetails with that boon of confusion that haunts most of us during our tween and teenage years.

Gillian Bennett is a writer and editor who has been featured in Strike Magazine, Her Campus, and now Paste Magazine. She enjoys watching copious reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and fantasizing about living in London. You can find more of her neverending inner monologue and online diary on her Twitter or her blog.

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