It's been a hot minute since I wrote one of these reviews (what with school and everything) that I decided to ease myself in with the series premiere of Roswell, New Mexico (2019-). As a special disclaimer, I will say that the original series - inspired by the book series "Roswell High" - Roswell (RIP), which ran from 1999 to 2002 on the CW's predecessor (aka the WB) holds a place in my heart. It is, in my humble opinion, the golden standard from which this new series has to live up to. Now, I realize both series' are adaptations of the aforementioned book series; nevertheless, I maintain fond memories of Roswell of which this series pales in comparison to.
I can't say I held high hopes for Roswell, New Mexico (RNM) upon learning about yet another potential reboot of a childhood favourite series of mine. I don't subscribe to the train of thought that believes this is a way to get a new generation into a series that a previous generation has loved. It's B.S. The earlier rendition is still out there and - with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and the litany of other online sources available for television viewing - readily accessible, in some form or another. So, I did not have high hopes for this series to begin with.
That being said, I was semi-excited to see how the showrunner and writers were going to take this series when I realized it was premiering tonight. I expected a solid nod to its predecessor while still treading new ground, RNM being set roughly ten years after the previous series ended - aging up its main characters to adults. And although this does provide new breeding ground - plus an additional political element regarding il/legal immigrants - sadly, RNM did not meet (or beat) my expectations.
Let's begin with the cast. Jeanine Mason is lovely as Liz, who is returning home to Roswell to honour a sister that has been dead ten years now. My issues with this series is through no fault of her's, and I hope this show improves if only for her sake because I really feel this is a character she could get attached to. Nathan Parsons, our male lead, plays Max, an alien and police deputy who may have had some part in Rosa's (Liz's sister) death - though a secret here is only hinted at the end of the episode. Parsons here acts better with his eyes than he does the rest of him; there is no gravitas here, and I really can't help but compare him to Jason Behr because Behr played Max much better. Time will only tell if Parsons improves.
With regards to the rest of the cast, Michael Vlamis as Michael holds his weight as the cocky, macho alien. He's not Brendan Fehr, and I'm a little disappointed nothing is going to go on with him and Maria, but I recognize that really is just me holding onto Roswell more than anything. Michael Trevino isn't awful as Kyle Valenti - I can't quite tell yet if he's nuanced enough for me to see him outside of The Vampire Diaries, but I can give him the benefit of the doubt. Same can be said about Tyler Blackburn as Alex; he's not Colin Hanks, but I didn't see enough of him to gather much of an opinion. Maria (portrayed by Heather Hemmens) was more of a blip than anything, so I'll move on to my biggest cast issue.
I never thought I would see the day where I would miss Katherine Heigl as Isabel. This isn't any big thing about thinking she's got an ego or whatever, it's more that I really didn't like Isabel much in the original series, especially in season three when she had far too much storyline that it pulled from Max and Liz. RNM has me missing Heigl's Isabel. That's just because Lily Cowles is just not good as Isobel. Now, I've never knowingly seen her in anything else, so I can't speak to her acting talents elsewhere, but in this pilot episode she was not good. Parsons wasn't great, but he had his moments; Cowles simply does not read as believable in her part. All I can say with regards to this is complete miscasting opportunity right here.
Moving on to the episode as a whole. I found there to be a very large overuse of close-ups. When I'm sitting in front of my TV - which is big enough - and I'm wishing I could back up to get away from the largeness of the faces on the screen, it's time to shoot some medium shots. Maybe I just came fresh out of seeing Aquaman, with its beautiful tracking shots and solid use of the camera, that I just wasn't ready for amateur cinematography, but that's how these excessive close-ups felt. Plus, the angles were rarely well-utilized. This is network television, I expect something a little more professional appearing.
Aside from that what bothered me was the overall story and dialogue. The dialogue felt incredibly disjointed, as if it would come out of nowhere - or, at least, it did not feel organic. The progression of what characters were saying did not come across as altogether realistic. Yes, I know, this is not a real situation, this is television, but the quality of the dialogue can still feel realistic. I'm not asking for some French New Wave here, just organic dialogue that has a natural-seeming progression.
Which leads me to my concluding point having to do with the overall storyline. This, really, is more of an extension of the inorganic dialogue the pilot episode appeared to be plagued with in that the storylines seemed accelerated. By this, I mean something like the jump from Liz discovering what Max is to just being completely okay with it. Or everyone in the town hating Liz and her family, but not getting all uppity when she dances it out with Maria at the end. And Kyle going from being a surgeon to informing the military - and them just letting him into their top secret facility. These things only make sense when there's a progression; they can't just be thrown in and resolved without issue, life doesn't work that way - and I don't want Surrealism either.
Going into this episode, I was cautiously optimistic about its potential. Having now completed its premiere episode, I'm bleakly hoping it improves, but not holding my breath. I'll give it two more episodes to catch me, to see if it irons out its missteps - something I did not give to the likes of the Charmed reboot (*cough*atrocity*cough*) - but I expect this one to not meet my standards. At that point, I really will just move back to my Roswell DVDs.
Anyways, I give this episode a 5 out of 10, and hope there are Roswell newbies out there that get a bigger kick out of this than I did - even with the Crashdown familiarity.
No soundbites from this episode stood out to me. This is Miranda signing off.