S02.E04: What If God Was One of Us?

[shapeshifter]

Air date April 6, 2020

Quote

On the verge of a breakthrough in her quest to save Max, Liz turns to Kyle for one last favor that could potentially land him in hot water. Meanwhile, Michael and Alex’s investigation into Nora leads them to a farm, where they meet a historian named Forrest. Elsewhere, Cameron confronts Jesse Manes about her sister’s whereabouts, and Isobel uses her powers for good.

plus all the mindwarping and Rosa resurrecting. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by shapeshifter

[jewel21]

I wasn't feeling this episode. 

First off, no Maria. WTF is up with that? Girl just learns half the people she knows are aliens and we don't even get to see her react to the information?

I don't like that Rosa and Liz's father knows that Rosa is alive. I mean, now what? Is Rosa going to start walking around town and no one is going to question her resurrection? Or is she supposed to stay in hiding but have her father know she's living in Max's house? 

I wanted the cake Kyle bought for his mama. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

So I'm guessing Stephanie is half (or quarter Alien), and her Dad is Gaius (how I loved his work in FNL).  Which means, maybe that she's Max/Isabel's cousin/aunt?  Also, how is the town going to react to Rosa being alive (and not the other girls who were in the car with her) is beyond me. 

Lily Cowles did a lovely job tonight.  I was very impressed.

Another episode where I felt like there was no urgency. 

I realize that the cast is large (too large, I think), their budget is small and so characters can't be in can't be in every episode, but it does feel like Maria is getting the short end of the stick here. 

If I were Michael I would be pissed off that Alex had the big hunk of space ship all this time and didn't say anything. 

Isobel's life was in danger in season one, Max's life is in danger now, so I'm thinking Michael's life will be in danger for season three (if there is one).

 

[ellieart]

There will be a season 3 at some point after the world stops burning...

I have so many problems with this show, but my biggest problem this season is how boring it is.  I LOVE having Jason on my screen again, but there isn't nearly enough of him and I'm having a hard time staying focused. 

Shiri did an awesome job directing this episode, but unlike last time, there weren't any glimpses of that magic.

I feel like Isobel's extra-ness and kindness comes across as a ploy for her to get something she wants, it doesn't feel genuine. 

Kyle over here again proving he's the only one with much sense and it sucks that he's being walked all over and knows it.  I'm glad he's finally standing up for himself. 

And Arturo, don't get me started on Arturo...that man is a treasure.

[Bloga]

37 minutes ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

So I'm guessing Stephanie is half (or quarter Alien), and her Dad is Gaius (how I loved his work in FNL).  Which means, maybe that she's Max/Isabel's cousin/aunt?  Also, how is the town going to react to Rosa being alive (and not the other girls who were in the car with her) is beyond me. 

Lily Cowles did a lovely job tonight.  I was very impressed.

Another episode where I felt like there was no urgency. 

I realize that the cast is large (too large, I think), their budget is small and so characters can't be in can't be in every episode, but it does feel like Maria is getting the short end of the stick here. 

If I were Michael I would be pissed off that Alex had the big hunk of space ship all this time and didn't say anything. 

Isobel's life was in danger in season one, Max's life is in danger now, so I'm thinking Michael's life will be in danger for season three (if there is one).

 

          It was a slow episode, it felt like they needed to sort of take a breather and set a lot of different plots to be developed in future episodes. 

         I agree the cast is fairly large, they have a short season compared to other shows, so it feels like they have to sacrifice some characters´development and story arcs in order to keep the main plots moving forward, it sucks it´s always Maria the one that goes away, although to be fair, she has her reasons to need time away from all the liars in her life, and her mom just came back.

            There will be a season 3, it´s already been renewed, The writers are already working on it.

[Bloga]

         Ok, first things first: Bronson and Max and Isobel´s mom had a thing!! So it wasn´t Michael´s mom, so it´s safe to say Maria is related to Isobel, that´s why she felt Isobel´s pain at the yoga retreat, I was sure the showrunner would make Michael and Maria related, I´m glad she didn´t go that route, whether they are half sisters or aunt and niece, that really depends on who Mimi is. Maybe she was put in a pod after she was born and she came out decades later, maybe Mimi is the daughter of the child Bronson and Louise had...by the way, did we know Max´s and Isobel´s mom´s name before this episode? I feel like we didn´t know, and they just said it without much explanation.

     I didn´t understand the Nazi POWs/ aliens in hiding plot...it was too convoluted. Again, brilliant ideas but the execution is poor. I was surprised we saw Nora being captured so soon...I wonder if that would have worked better had they chosen to include other flashbacks prior to her capture, and leave the fire and capture for a later episode. 

     So Jenna was abducted?! What the hell was that? The episode felt so slow, but I feel like they had a lot of exposition to do and decided to fill up this episode with a bunch of information we are going to forget about by the time it becomes relevant. 

    So Jenna´s sister was working on some kind of bioweapon that would target only certain people...Manes was interested because it would work on aliens? Also, he´s always going on and on about hostile dangerous aliens and the imminent threat, but left Max walk because he wanted to see what happens, what?

     I guess Michael tampering with the pod was not a good idea after all. 

     Max is alive! No heart no problem! Dude opened his eyes when the pod went dark.  That is the only exciting thing about this episode. What´s going to happen now? Was his eyes opening just a reflex? Is the new heart even ready?

     Good for Kyle, he really needed to stand up for himself...I´ll forgive his atrocious Spanish pronunciation...

[reparis]

im getting so frustrated at this show leaving Maria's character development out! And I suspect its because she's black (the only black character on the show with the least amount of screentime) Yes I went there! You mean to tell me, Rosa has had a whole character development within one episode, but we can't see Maria, Liz and Alex work on their friendship? We can't get a follow up episode to Maria's reactions about finding about the aliens? She can't find a better love interest instead of being in a triangle? Like give her something!

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Bloga said:

There will be a season 3, it´s already been renewed, The writers are already working on it

Yes. But until the extent of the economic impact of the virus is known, in my mind everything is past tense + “but …,” like: “was renewed, but…” 🙁  
I vaguely recall some shows disappearing during the writers strike of 2007-8. This has got to be a bigger impact, right?
 

**********
 

6 hours ago, jewel21 said:

First off, no Maria. WTF is up with that? Girl just learns half the people she knows are aliens and we don't even get to see her react to the information?

I guess we are supposed to accept that Alex and Maria have swapped roles from the OG Roswell. 🙁

 

*********
 

more later after I go watch the sunrise and am not so 🙁

 

[Cristofle]

There can't be an excuse of scheduling conflict with Heather this time, because she WAS onset shadowing Shiri - she just wasn't in the episode. Carina just does not seem to know what to do with Maria, or to care to try to make her a more integral part of the story. I think she WILL become more centered on when we find out how Mimi is connected to the aliens, but she should have been more central prior to that in order to show more of an impact. 

So Louise and Bronson were in love. There was something both sweet and sad about their scenes. Louise would have had no concept of how their being in love was dangerous at that time, since she looked like a white woman. I hope we see more of what happened between them. But I do sort of wonder about Max, Isobel, and Michael's biological fathers? Louise didn't appear to be missing any sort of significant other, heh, and Nora said Michael had her "whole heart" and made no mention of another partner. 

I am not sure this was the best way to have Arturo find out Rosa is alive, but I always enjoy his scenes; the actor brings an innate kindness to the character. 

I feel like Rosa and Isobel skipped over Rosa being at all upset at Isobel's role in the cover-up of her death, since she was so angry at Max two episodes ago.  But it's clear Liz is right that Rosa is bipolar. 

The best but also most unsettling moment was Max opening his eyes at the end as the pod went dark. They need to bring Max back - this part of the plot is really dragging on. 

[Bloga]

37 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes. But until the extent of the economic impact of the virus is known, in my mind everything is past tense + “but …,” like: “was renewed, but…” 🙁  
I vaguely recall some shows disappearing during the writers strike of 2007-8. This has got to be a bigger impact, right?
 

 

 

          I mean, sure there will be an impact, but tv channels will still need content come next season...I think no pilots have been filmed, so that will have an effect as in it´s quite possible some networks will order extra episodes for some shows, or shorten seasons...at the end of the day, networks and digital platforms alike will need to come up with solutions in the coming months, I think it´s a good sign the writing room is up and running, we are still months away from filming for most tv shows... a lot can happen, but I choose to be positive, there´s enough negativity around as it is.

[peachmangosteen]

9 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

So I'm guessing Stephanie is half (or quarter Alien), and her Dad is Gaius (how I loved his work in FNL).  Which means, maybe that she's Max/Isabel's cousin/aunt?  

Who is Stephanie? That name isn't ringing a bell for me.

OK, so Stephen Amell's wife (Louise?) is definitely Max/Isobel's mom then? I feel like they just kinda dropped that in there like we already knew it but I don't remember knowing it for sure. But, again, I feel like I never understand at least half of what's going on so!

I don't understand why Tripp only captured Nora and not Louise as well. 

I am so annoyed by the continued lack of Maria. 

This episode was pretty boring, but I did love Kyle in it. He just might be my fave character tbh. Kyle was my fave in the original as well. I'm not feeling the new girl or their chemistry at all though.

[Cristofle]

Stephanie is the new girl, the one we all suspect probably caused Jesse's seizure.

I feel like I missed a lot in the 1947 stuff, lol. I watched Nora's capture three times to be sure they really gave no indication of what happened to Louise, or that she somehow slipped out before they arrived, but she didn't, she was standing there when Tripp came in. 

I wonder if they'll ever chem test Kyle and Isobel, since they were close in the OG series. Isobel deserves some kind of relationship with someone who isn't horrifically violating her, and since her OG book and show main love interest is Alex, who in this show has never indicated he's attracted to women and only refers to himself as gay, she's gotta get someone else, lol. 

[tennisgurl]

Poor Alex, its like every single person on his dads side of the family is a huge genocidal asshole. Alex makes bad choices too (like keeping the part from Michael) but he is a good well meaning person, if one that makes mistakes. 

So Gaius and Isobel and Max's mom were a thing? Well if they do go with them having still living decedents, I am guessing that it will be Maria, and thank GOD she might be related to Max and Isobel and not Michael. No matter how distantly they might be related...thats just too weird. Its sad that Nora and her boyfriend were so tragically separated, him dying and her being locked up for 70 years until death (God what a depressing existence) so what happened with Louise? Did she manage to escape and got caught later? Where are Max/Isobel and Michael's fathers? Nora hooked up with Gaius pretty quickly and Louise only mentioned having a son and not any other family. Do the aliens not really do couples in their culture?

Speaking of, where the hell was Maria?!? She just found out that her kind of boyfriend and half of her friends either are aliens or knew about aliens, and didn't tell her, and we dont even get to see her follow up reaction? I know that there is a lot going on and a lot of characters, but I would think we could have some more time for such a big character moment. I was really hoping that Maria being in the know would mean she could get more involved in the plot and get more screen time, but I guess we will have to keep waiting. 

I still think that Isobel should stop messing with peoples brains, even if now she is trying to use her powers for good. Her intentions might be good, and things seemed to have worked out alright with Arturo for now, but messing with peoples heads could lead to severe consequences she cant foresee. Plus, its just creepy, get out of peoples heads! I did enjoy her and Arturo talking about using social media more for his business, I just like the guy who plays Arturo a lot, he has such a warm presence, and he seems so grounded in reality, especially next to all these alien soap opera shenanigans.  

Kyle was great this week, even though I dont care much for his new possible love interest.

[anamika]

Maria is not in this episode like Kyle was missing in the previous one. Actors playing Maria, Kyle, Alex and Rosa are contracted only for 10 episodes because they are more expensive. They will be missing 3 episodes each season.

If Maria has to take a break, I guess this is the right place to do it. Give her time and space away from everyone to process all the information. And apparently she is still talking to Rosa.

I am more baffled by the fact that the new historian and WWII expert that Alex and Michael meet seems to think that a black man and Nazis were collaborators in the 1940s. Does the historian know that Nazis don't like black people and persecuted them?

10 hours ago, Bloga said:

So Jenna´s sister was working on some kind of bioweapon that would target only certain people...Manes was interested because it would work on aliens? Also, he´s always going on and on about hostile dangerous aliens and the imminent threat, but left Max walk because he wanted to see what happens, what?

I think he was lying to her? From what I recall, he was hatching some plan with his son Flint in the hospital where they set off a terrorist attack and blame the aliens. He maybe planning on doing that with this new bio-weapon.

Louise just randomly disappeared at the end there.

Liz has a tendency to use her friends for information or work and Kyle rightly called her out on it like Maria did last episode.

I did enjoy the barn scenes both the past and present. And apparently the aliens smell like rain and the river - water mixed with mud?

[Cristofle]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I don't understand why Tripp only captured Nora and not Louise as well. 

I'm confused about this as well, but perhaps Louise is capable of some sort of mind influence? Although that begs the question of why didn't she save Nora. So far we know Louise has a Black Canary-esque sonic scream and the ability to move things with her mind, and Nora was somewhat capable of convincing Tripp to lower his gun before she used her mind to knock it out of his hand. Well, and apparently Nora can make crops grow in a day, lol. 

[RachelKM]

Add me to the list of people annoyed by the absence of Maria.  And I realize that I'm starting to resent scenes with Michael and Alex. 

Good for Kyle telling Liz that he will help her, but then he needs to step back.  However, as we discussed about Liz's relationship with her friends generally, Liz leaving for a decade harms the dynamic with Kyle too.  How much contact did they have since high school when Liz arsed out of town?  Even if they communicated, Kyle being hung up on his HS girlfriend as a 28/29 year old doctor is weird.

I had the same issue with Max and his lingering obsession a decade later.  I understand the goal was to keep them with the relationships they had in HS... but, unlike Max, Isobel, and Michael's early childhoods, the characters were not in stasis for a decade and they should have moved on and developed other relationships.  The fact that they haven't makes them all seem emotionally stunted. 

It's like the show is treating Liz like she's Emma Swan from OUAT.  But there wasn't a spell.  Everyone just apparently chose to wallow in the emotional and social states from HS until Liz decided to come back... Cool. 

5 hours ago, Cristofle said:

I'm confused about this as well, but perhaps Louise is capable of some sort of mind influence?

I was confused by all of it.  Did the kid die?  They made a point of having Nora tell him to say inside no matter what until she told him it was okay. And where did Bronson and Louise go?  I missed it entirely. If I'm honest, I wasn't all that focused by the time the raid on the farm occured.  I registered Jason Behr and the kid going into a trunk or something.  And then things were blowing up. 

I'm also confused how it was confirmed that Louise was Max and Isobel's mother. I mean, it was strongly implied that she and Nora were both mothers.  But I missed them specifically connecting Louise to the twins. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by RachelKM

[Lady Calypso]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Who is Stephanie? That name isn't ringing a bell for me.

I'm assuming that is Kyle's new love interest, who was shown with the nail polish bottles in her purse last episode? Not that I knew her name either before right now. I just called her New Chick AKA Kyle's Love Interest, since they're clearly getting together this season.  I don't mind her, but I have no idea what her role will be and whether she'll be an ally or an enemy. I mean, for all we know, it's not Maria who's related to Louise but this new girl. 

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

OK, so Stephen Amell's wife (Louise?) is definitely Max/Isobel's mom then? I feel like they just kinda dropped that in there like we already knew it but I don't remember knowing it for sure. But, again, I feel like I never understand at least half of what's going on so!

Well, it was speculated last episode because she was paired up with Nora and the three pods were in the back of the truck, but I guess we got confirmation in this episode that she is? I mean, unless they're going to say that Louise is NOT Max/Isobel's mom....but Alex said that Louise was Max/Isobel's mom so I'm guessing, just like the other reveals this episode, such as Tripp being a Manes, it's true?

2 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

I was confused by all of it.  Did the kid die?  They made a point of having Nora tell him to say inside no matter what until she told him it was okay. And where did Bronson and Louise go?  I missed it entirely. If I'm honest, I wasn't all that focused by the time the raid on the farm occured.  I registered Jason Behr and the kid going into a trunk or something.  And then things were blowing up. 

I...think they killed Bronson? But they really skipped a whole sequence between Tripp shooting Bronson and them taking Nora out to set the barn on fire. There's at least a couple of minutes missing that we didn't see (or I wasn't paying attention to).

I'm pretty sure that the kid is still alive. Since it seems like Louise somehow managed to get out of there, I guess she got the kid out too. Or she has some other power that protected them or something. Who knows, but I have to believe that Walt isn't dead, just because the show wouldn't pass up the opportunity to bring him into the present day scenes to actually answer the question on what happened.

Michael/Alex scenes still feel more platonic than romantic. I'm not really sure what the deal with the other guy is who was in the scenes with Michael/Alex (besides being played by Michael Vlamis' real life bff), nor do I really care.

I am more concerned with the ending with Cameron and the white light and the presumed possession by another alien or whatever. Poor girl was just trying to find her sister and she gets pulled right back into this mess. 

Also, Jesse Manes has officially become useless and boring, on top of it. I can't say I was thrilled to see his scenes with Cameron, just because he should be a bad guy but has seemed to be washed out. 

I also am disappointed with no Maria. I get that the actress wasn't contracted for this episode, but what an episode to miss out on. I guess it's not bad timing because Maria would realistically want to get away from all of these people to process everything, but I definitely missed her.

Good on Kyle for standing up for himself. 

Once again, did not miss Max at ALL in this episode. Yes, I get that he technically showed up in the pod at the end, but the one bright spot to this season is the many interactions we get to see from various characters. Isobel and Liz get to interact more, which is fun to see, and we got Isobel/Arturo scenes. Now, I'm not thrilled with the magical fix of Arturo accepting Rosa's return because it's too easy...but I guess there was no other way to plausibly work around the fact that Rosa still looks 21 when she should be in her 30s. And, short of Rosa never ever entering town without a hoodie to cover her face, how else would they be able to use Rosa in other scenes? 

[phoenics]

16 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I wasn't feeling this episode. 

First off, no Maria. WTF is up with that? Girl just learns half the people she knows are aliens and we don't even get to see her react to the information?

 

2 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Add me to the list of people annoyed by the absence of Maria.  And I realize that I'm starting to resent scenes with Michael and Alex. 

The above two sentiments sum it up for me.  Maria's being treated like she's less important than Kyle or Alex and I've had it.  Maria is supposed to be one of the top FOUR characters, period.  Even without Michael, she still should be supremely important.  That's why this show's chemistry is SO off.  Carina blew up Maria/Michael in favor of her OTP ship - so much so that most of the show's promo is centered around them now - and she blew up Maria/Liz too so we don't even get that from her.  And we were told she was besties with Rosa, but we don't even get THAT - Rosa hasn't even MENTIONED MARIA.  And now we get a whole damn episode with Isabel/Liz and Isabel/Rosa.

It's like Liz gets whole episodes to be besties with any woman except Maria.

I'm mad the show will likely get a 3rd season - it doesn't deserve it after the way it treated Maria.  I knew based on my GUT that a protege of Julie Plec could be non-racist but I was wrong.  Carina may not mean to be racist but her writing marginalizes the one racebent character on the show, who happens to be black. 

She doesn't have anything better for Maria.  She has no real plan for her at all.

It's obvious that weird Stephanie alien girl from the hospital is the descendant of the black guy from 1947 and Max/Isabel's mom.  Maria fans don't even get Maria tied into the narrative more tightly that way.  No - that goes to the newbie I'm extremely put off by.

I wish this was some other show not named after Roswell.

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, Cristofle said:

I wonder if they'll ever chem test Kyle and Isobel, since they were close in the OG series. 

I'd like them to do this. I at least wish they'd become friends. I loved Kyle/Isobel in the original.

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

So Gaius and Isobel and Max's mom were a thing? Well if they do go with them having still living decedents, I am guessing that it will be Maria, and thank GOD she might be related to Max and Isobel and not Michael. No matter how distantly they might be related...thats just too weird. Its sad that Nora and her boyfriend were so tragically separated, him dying and her being locked up for 70 years until death (God what a depressing existence) so what happened with Louise? Did she manage to escape and got caught later? Where are Max/Isobel and Michael's fathers? Nora hooked up with Gaius pretty quickly and Louise only mentioned having a son and not any other family. Do the aliens not really do couples in their culture?

I think you have the names confused as I'm pretty sure (although not positive since, again, I get very little of what's happening lol) Michael's mom is Nora and Max/Isobel's mom is Louise.

4 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Did the kid die?  They made a point of having Nora tell him to say inside no matter what until she told him it was okay. 

They also had Nora saying, as Tripp dragged her out, that there were people still in there and then she was all 'the boy!' I'm just gonna assume that Louise and the kid got out but Nora somehow didn't realize it. By the way, what was the kid's name? I'm thinking Wyatt but isn't that the racist guy? I'm so confused lol.

1 hour ago, phoenics said:

It's obvious that weird Stephanie alien girl from the hospital is the descendant of the black guy from 1947 and Max/Isabel's mom.  Maria fans don't even get Maria tied into the narrative more tightly that way.  No - that goes to the newbie I'm extremely put off by.

I started to think that the new girl was going to end up being the descendant of Gaius Charles too but I really hope that doesn't end up happening.

They really do seem to be giving all of Maria's potential stories to other people. I'm with @RachelKM on starting to actively resent scenes with Michael/Alex. I don't mind Michael/Alex and I actually want to like and root for them but it's hard when it is so clear TPTB are marginalizing Maria at least partly because they're obsessed with the Michael/Alex relationship.

[UNOSEZ]

I don't have a history with the previous show or what it was based off of.. Bit from the comments of seems Maria was more important as a character in previous iterations... That said seeing the black characters sidelined on a sci-fi/ Genre show has basically been my entire life experience and most definitely if we are talking about anything from Julie Plec ( or her creative "family ") .. Who destroyed Bonnie Bennett.. Consistently needed Marcel and Vincent... Killed like all of Elijah's black girlfriends... And let's not get started on Rafael.... 

I'm still holding out hope that Maria is tied to this Louise character and can be a part of the story... I saw upthread someone thought maybe this new lady Stephanie could be the  descendant.. And while she may be alien... I don't see these showrunners touching on blackness in the Latinx community so if there is to be a descendant... Which at least feels like the way it was going... Especially as we didn't actually see what happened to the little boy or Louise or Bronson... I still feel Maria makes the most sense 

[Bloga]

5 hours ago, anamika said:

Maria is not in this episode like Kyle was missing in the previous one. Actors playing Maria, Kyle, Alex and Rosa are contracted only for 10 episodes because they are more expensive. They will be missing 3 episodes each season.

If Maria has to take a break, I guess this is the right place to do it. Give her time and space away from everyone to process all the information. And apparently she is still talking to Rosa.

I am more baffled by the fact that the new historian and WWII expert that Alex and Michael meet seems to think that a black man and Nazis were collaborators in the 1940s. Does the historian know that Nazis don't like black people and persecuted them?

I think he was lying to her? From what I recall, he was hatching some plan with his son Flint in the hospital where they set off a terrorist attack and blame the aliens. He maybe planning on doing that with this new bio-weapon.

Louise just randomly disappeared at the end there.

Liz has a tendency to use her friends for information or work and Kyle rightly called her out on it like Maria did last episode.

I did enjoy the barn scenes both the past and present. And apparently the aliens smell like rain and the river - water mixed with mud?

         I think a lot of shows mess up when it comes to accurate portrayals of different eras. They get one aspect right, but then ignore important issues such as segregation, racism...So yes, having Tripp call the black farmer "boy" is actually pretty accurate...but then he gets all polite...so the whole exchange felt very inconsistent.

          The whole Nazi PoWs story felt really convoluted...I swear I couldn´t understand most of what that new guy said...not what he was saying...he just doesn´t enunciate very well I feel like, maybe it´s just me. He didn´t sound like a historian, that´s for sure. Like you said, Nazis wouldn´t cofraternize with a black American man, that makes no sense...a real historian would be like, yeah, that doesn´t make sense...let´s see what really went on here. It´s really funny he´s related to Wyatt Long, that´s something I actually like.

[Aliconehead]

13 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

By the way, what was the kid's name? I'm thinking Wyatt but isn't that the racist guy? I'm so confused lol

It’s Walt

[Bloga]

9 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

I don't have a history with the previous show or what it was based off of.. Bit from the comments of seems Maria was more important as a character in previous iterations... That said seeing the black characters sidelined on a sci-fi/ Genre show has basically been my entire life experience and most definitely if we are talking about anything from Julie Plec ( or her creative "family ") .. Who destroyed Bonnie Bennett.. Consistently needed Marcel and Vincent... Killed like all of Elijah's black girlfriends... And let's not get started on Rafael.... 

I'm still holding out hope that Maria is tied to this Louise character and can be a part of the story... I saw upthread someone thought maybe this new lady Stephanie could be the  descendant.. And while she may be alien... I don't see these showrunners touching on blackness in the Latinx community so if there is to be a descendant... Which at least feels like the way it was going... Especially as we didn't actually see what happened to the little boy or Louise or Bronson... I still feel Maria makes the most sense 

            This new character Steph is new in town, isn´t she? Whereas Maria and her family have lived in Roswell for at least two generations. I think Maria is the one potentially related to Louise and, by extension, to Max and Isobel...Steph is either an antagonist, or just a love interest, it could go either way...

[RachelKM]

4 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

I don't have a history with the previous show or what it was based off of.. Bit from the comments of seems Maria was more important as a character in previous iterations...

I was a fairly casual watcher.  I was a BtVS fan who occasionally also tuned in to other WB shows.  And even I know Maria was one of the core characters and that her friendship with Liz and relationship with Michael were central. 

And, yeah, the showrunners are over there nearly breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for 1) making the cast more racially diverse and 2) adding in LGBTQ characters, without realizing that what they've actually done is 1) marginalized and have practically written out the character they so proudly cast with a black actor and 2) you don't get devesity points for including one minority whose inclusion comes entirely at the expense of another. 

If they wanted to have LGBTQ characters, they could have made Alex a woman and let her be with Isobel.  Or Maria could have been Mario DeLuca. (Though, that would have still left a hole in the female friendship area, the show screwed that up anyway by messing with Liz and Maria's history and giving their friendship to the erstwhile dead Rosa). 

[peachmangosteen]

12 minutes ago, Bloga said:

The whole Nazi PoWs story felt really convoluted...I swear I couldn´t understand most of what that new guy said...not what he was saying...he just doesn´t enunciate very well I feel like, maybe it´s just me. 

I also could not understand half of what he said. To me, hardly any of them enunciate properly but he really was an egregious case of it. Although, in his defense, for a lot of his scenes I was busy trying to tell if he actually had green hair or it was the lighting.

11 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

It’s Walt

Thank you! I knew it started with a W at least lol.

[Bloga]

2 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I also could not understand half of what he said. To me, hardly any of them enunciate properly but he really was an egregious case of it. Although, in his defense, for a lot of his scenes I was busy trying to tell if he actually had green hair or it was the lighting.

Thank you! I knew it started with a W at least lol.

          Hahahaha, I swear I started laughing when he went on that tirade about Nazi prisoners blahblahblah...through his speech I was like "What is happening? Why does he sound like one of the teachers on Peanuts? Hahahaha...also, who said he was super attractive? It´s a big nope for me. I feel like the blue hair is so that people don´t confuse him with Alex...see that one could have played his brother.

[peachmangosteen]

2 minutes ago, Bloga said:

I feel like the blue hair is so that people don´t confuse him with Alex...

It was blue? Now I can't even see this show properly apparently!

[Bloga]

10 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

I was a fairly casual watcher.  I was a BtVS fan who occasionally also tuned in to other WB shows.  And even I know Maria was one of the core characters and that her friendship with Liz and relationship with Michael were central. 

And, yeah, the showrunners are over there nearly breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for 1) making the cast more racially diverse and 2) adding in LGBTQ characters, without realizing that what they've actually done is 1) marginalized and have practically written out the character they so proudly cast with a black actor and 2) you don't get devesity points for including one minority whose inclusion comes entirely at the expense of another. 

If they wanted to have LGBTQ characters, they could have made Alex a woman and let her be with Isobel.  Or Maria could have been Mario DeLuca. (Though, that would have still left a hole in the female friendship area, the show screwed that up anyway by messing with Liz and Maria's history and giving their friendship to the erstwhile dead Rosa). 

       I think most people wouldn´t be so bothered by the blatant tone deafness shown by the showrunner if she wasn´t so vocal about being an ally to all things "other", but really she only cares about male-presenting gay characters.  She thinks just because she was raised Muslim, that gives her perspective on what it means to be ostracized and villified, but truly, she doesn´t really know what it means. You can´t just make a character black, and not think of the optics, you have to really ask yourself, who am I really serving by making Maria black, the audience or just myself? Back patting at its finest. This feels like the Michael and Alex show, Liz who?

8 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

It was blue? Now I can't even see this show properly apparently!

         I don´t know, maybe it was green, I´ll have to rewatch #soconfused

[Bloga]

13 hours ago, Cristofle said:

 

So Louise and Bronson were in love. There was something both sweet and sad about their scenes. Louise would have had no concept of how their being in love was dangerous at that time, since she looked like a white woman. I hope we see more of what happened between them. But I do sort of wonder about Max, Isobel, and Michael's biological fathers? Louise didn't appear to be missing any sort of significant other, heh, and Nora said Michael had her "whole heart" and made no mention of another partner. 

         Hopefully we´ll see more flashbacks that will help flesh out the story...the flashbacks are obviously not in order, lots must have happened between the scene at the barn where Bronson somehow managed to treat their gunshot wounds, and the scene where the soldiers come in and Tripp sets the barn on fire.

       The fathers are absent at the moment, I wonder why that is. The firestarter alien from last week´s episode could be Michael´s father, or Max´s, Max could also set things on fire, right? It seems like these new aliens also appear to focus on one particular power, with Louis doing that weird deafening scream

Edited April 8, 2020 by Bloga

[Cristofle]

I'm not sure if Max can simply cause fires? He causes electrical surges, which obviously can cause fires, but I'm not sure I've seen him just straight-up set something on fire the way that guy did. Of course, powers of the aliens on the ship are going to be stronger than anything the Pod Squad can do. 

Part of me wonders if Louise somehow becomes the alien on the Native reservation, if she is also capable of healing (which means she could have saved Bronson from a bullet wound). But Louise is perfectly capable of speaking English and that woman never spoke a word until the day she died. 

[Bloga]

21 minutes ago, Cristofle said:

I'm not sure if Max can simply cause fires? He causes electrical surges, which obviously can cause fires, but I'm not sure I've seen him just straight-up set something on fire the way that guy did. Of course, powers of the aliens on the ship are going to be stronger than anything the Pod Squad can do. 

Part of me wonders if Louise somehow becomes the alien on the Native reservation, if she is also capable of healing (which means she could have saved Bronson from a bullet wound). But Louise is perfectly capable of speaking English and that woman never spoke a word until the day she died. 

            Maybe the trauma of losing Bronson and her friend made her go silent? 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

By the way, what was the kid's name? I'm thinking Wyatt but isn't that the racist guy? I'm so confused lol

It’s Walt

The kid’s name is “Walt?” Like on Lost? No wonder they had whichever of the blonde alien female adults yell “the boy!” instead of “Walt!”  

[UNOSEZ]

2 hours ago, Bloga said:

            Maybe the trauma of losing Bronson and her friend made her go silent? 

And of she's with child.. Whether she knows it or not.. Having a mixed-race/mixed-species kid grow up on a reservation may be for the best.. Isolated away from a wildly racist world.. And in a community that has some deep rooted spiritually which could conceal alien stuff 

[Bloga]

1 hour ago, UNOSEZ said:

And of she's with child.. Whether she knows it or not.. Having a mixed-race/mixed-species kid grow up on a reservation may be for the best.. Isolated away from a wildly racist world.. And in a community that has some deep rooted spiritually which could conceal alien stuff 

         That makes sense... Mimi mentioned growing up with Jesse Manes and Jim Valenti, being their classmate, so it´s safe to say she grew up in Roswell...if Mimi is related to Louise, she has to be her granddaughter, right? the age gap is way too big to make sense otherwise, unless some alien shenanigans took place.

[Whodunnit]

Walt was referred to as a neighbor, but I bet his last name was Long.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

7 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

By the way, what was the kid's name? I'm thinking Wyatt but isn't that the racist guy? I'm so confused lol

It’s Walt

The kid’s name is “Walt?” Like on Lost? No wonder they had whichever of the blonde alien female adults yell “the boy!” instead of “Walt!”  

[anamika]

11 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

That said seeing the black characters sidelined on a sci-fi/ Genre show has basically been my entire life experience

Watch The Expanse. An actually diverse show with an Indian-American showrunner exploring topics like class wars, capitalism, oppression of minorities etc. using a sci-fi setting. Naomi Nagata is awesome and she's black. If you want good science fiction with characters of color, good story telling that subtly explores relevant themes with nuance, then The Expanse is it. It's on Amazon Prime.

I feel that calling Roswell, New Mexico as science fiction is an insult to science fiction - it's so badly written.  There's no actual exploration of the extra-terrestrial characters on this show, the science is terrible and it's more about romance and love triangles. All the human characters are like - 'Oh, you are an alien? That's cool. What's for dinner?'.  The aliens themselves are boring. There is no urgent threat to any of them despite everyone - including the villains - knowing that they are alien. My expectations are low considering it's a CW show.

 

[Bloga]

1 minute ago, anamika said:

Watch The Expanse. An actually diverse show with an Indian-American showrunner exploring topics like class wars, capitalism, oppression of minorities etc. using a sci-fi setting. Naomi Nagata is awesome and she's black. If you want good science fiction with characters of color, good story telling that subtly explores relevant themes with nuance, then The Expanse is it. It's on Amazon Prime.

I feel that calling Roswell, New Mexico as science fiction is an insult to science fiction - it's so badly written.  There's no actual exploration of the extra-terrestrial characters on this show, the science is terrible and it's more about romance and love triangles. All the human characters are like - 'Oh, you are an alien? That's cool. What's for dinner?'.  The aliens themselves are boring. There is no urgent threat to any of them despite everyone - including the villains - knowing that they are alien. My expectations are low considering it's a CW show.

 

       Roswell could have been the bomb on a different network, or netflix, with a more experienced, better showrunner, and better writers. They actually have good ideas sometimes, but the execution is very poor. You can also tell their budget is quite low, which is nobody´s fault, really, that´s a limitation that all CW shows have to deal with, but  it´s even more difficult and apparent when it´s a wannabe sci-fi show, things that should look grandiose and otherworldly, look downright silly, i.e. the crashed UFO, those white sheets floating looked cheap as hell.

       All the humans are way too chill about the aliens, there´s no fear, no rejection, their reactions are so unrealistic...now with Jesse Manes out of commission for the time being, there is absolutely no threat...I know Jamie Clayton will be playing an FBI agent at some point in the season, she´ll be investigating a disappearance...since we saw Jenna being possibly abducted, I suppose that´s who the FBI will be looking for. There´s also the other aliens who are supposedly hiding or coming for Max once he comes back, but like you said...it´s all very chill, there´s no danger

[UNOSEZ]

The expanse is really good... But I binged it on its premier day... So I guess its back to the cw.... Ah well.. Besides the horrible Spanish.. I was happy kyle said something to Liz.. In fact I wish he had been more forceful with her.. Especially for the kiss... Tv shows too many times make it seem like ppl are oblivious to others feelings... Come on Liz didn't realize Kyle still had some feelings?... If I was Kyle.. Even knowing all he knows about how she feels for max and was still willing to help by stealing and lying ( he's gaslighting his mother for Peters sake)  and she had the nerve to not only Kiss me.. But then act like it was no big deal.. Then act like she was in the dark... Oh man... 

[backhometome]

I thought the main characters were Liz and the 3 aliens. Everyone else was regulars. Alex/Kyle/Maria all miss 3 eps. per season.

 

[Cristofle]

3 hours ago, backhometome said:

I thought the main characters were Liz and the 3 aliens. Everyone else was regulars. Alex/Kyle/Maria all miss 3 eps. per season.

 

I think this is more or less the case, although Nathan barely counts for being in this episode, lol. But Max did open his eyes in the pod. There was a similar thing last season, of Isobel only being seen in the pod in one episode but being in all the rest. Maybe next season will be Michael's turn in a pod, lol.

[backhometome]

9 minutes ago, Cristofle said:

I think this is more or less the case, although Nathan barely counts for being in this episode, lol. But Max did open his eyes in the pod. There was a similar thing last season, of Isobel only being seen in the pod in one episode but being in all the rest. Maybe next season will be Michael's turn in a pod, lol.

Oh lord. I dont find any urgency when they are in the pods. Like Max dying last season of course he would be coming back eventually. Just like when they killed Buffy. They are main characters. They wont be permanently gone. 

I guess Rosa is now a regular too. 

Edited April 8, 2020 by backhometome

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, anamika said:

I feel that calling Roswell, New Mexico as science fiction is an insult to science fiction - it's so badly written.  There's no actual exploration of the extra-terrestrial characters on this show, the science is terrible and it's more about romance and love triangles. All the human characters are like - 'Oh, you are an alien? That's cool. What's for dinner?'

🤣🤣🤣

ETA:
Now that I've gotten up off of the floor and reattached my laughing head to my body:
I suppose the "Oh, you are an alien? That's cool. What's for dinner?" is like those shows from decades ago in which the non-white character(s) just appear in roles like the white characters (albeit not lead roles) in those show runners' misguided (guided by white folks?) attempts at depictions of Rainbow Coalitions. Star Trek did it better (more believable) because of the future setting. Whatever. I'm sure it has a positive impact on some.

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by shapeshifter

[Bloga]

9 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

The expanse is really good... But I binged it on its premier day... So I guess its back to the cw.... Ah well.. Besides the horrible Spanish.. I was happy kyle said something to Liz.. In fact I wish he had been more forceful with her.. Especially for the kiss... Tv shows too many times make it seem like ppl are oblivious to others feelings... Come on Liz didn't realize Kyle still had some feelings?... If I was Kyle.. Even knowing all he knows about how she feels for max and was still willing to help by stealing and lying ( he's gaslighting his mother for Peters sake)  and she had the nerve to not only Kiss me.. But then act like it was no big deal.. Then act like she was in the dark... Oh man... 

             Liz said it best herself....she´s very smart when it comes to science, when it comes to personal relationships, girl is dumb, I find it a bit frustrating that Kyle seems to have been stuck on Liz for years, just like Max...there should be mention of an ex-girlfriend or something, his romantic life has been in stasis all these years lol, honestly I don´t know about these new romantic interests, Steph and Forrest, the whole Steph thing feels forced...this Forrest "I´m a historian"guy, I don´t know how they are going to go about establishing him as a love interest for Alex.

[Bloga]

5 hours ago, backhometome said:

Oh lord. I dont find any urgency when they are in the pods. Like Max dying last season of course he would be coming back eventually. Just like when they killed Buffy. They are main characters. They wont be permanently gone. 

I guess Rosa is now a regular too. 

          What if Michael succeeds in building a ship? He´s the only one out of the three aliens who wants to go home, wherever home is...It´s going to be either that or when the aliens make an appearance later this season, when Max is back, Michael is going to end up trading himself for Max or simply asking to be taken home. I think that´s a possibility, Michael really wants to go home, no matter who´s left behind. With Jenna being abducted? I bet the aliens are going to make an appearance pretty soon.

[Cristofle]

3 hours ago, Bloga said:

          What if Michael succeeds in building a ship? He´s the only one out of the three aliens who wants to go home, wherever home is...It´s going to be either that or when the aliens make an appearance later this season, when Max is back, Michael is going to end up trading himself for Max or simply asking to be taken home. I think that´s a possibility, Michael really wants to go home, no matter who´s left behind. With Jenna being abducted? I bet the aliens are going to make an appearance pretty soon.

He might try, but if Carina is as influenced by the OG show as she has been so far, when OG Michael tried to take Max's job/place, it did not go so well, heh. So I feel like it wouldn't for Michael here either. I think Michael idealizes aliens, and he should probably realize if Noah didn't hit home already that they CAN be just as vicious as humans. I think Michael is on an inevitable course to have that realization hit him really hard. 

[Bloga]

21 minutes ago, Cristofle said:

He might try, but if Carina is as influenced by the OG show as she has been so far, when OG Michael tried to take Max's job/place, it did not go so well, heh. So I feel like it wouldn't for Michael here either. I think Michael idealizes aliens, and he should probably realize if Noah didn't hit home already that they CAN be just as vicious as humans. I think Michael is on an inevitable course to have that realization hit him really hard. 

      I watched the old show sporadically, I was a bit too young for it at the time, so I don´t remember watching that story arc you´re referencing...can you explain it a bit? how did Michael try taking Max´s place? what happened?

      Michael never felt loved, he was passed around and abused, so no wonder he idealizes aliens and this mythical magical place where everybody is like him...of course he doesn´t remember anything about what went on there, the war and why they had to escape, but if Max´s childhood nightmares (being chained) are true, Michael really has no home to go back to, but he has to come to that conclusion by himself, I suppose.

[Cristofle]

18 hours ago, Bloga said:

      I watched the old show sporadically, I was a bit too young for it at the time, so I don´t remember watching that story arc you´re referencing...can you explain it a bit? how did Michael try taking Max´s place? what happened?

      Michael never felt loved, he was passed around and abused, so no wonder he idealizes aliens and this mythical magical place where everybody is like him...of course he doesn´t remember anything about what went on there, the war and why they had to escape, but if Max´s childhood nightmares (being chained) are true, Michael really has no home to go back to, but he has to come to that conclusion by himself, I suppose.

Sure, I'll go into the OG Roswell thread and explain the plot.

I think Michael does ultimately just have to find out the hard way that not all humans are as bad as he thinks and not all aliens are as good as he thinks. To some extent, he has vocalized resenting Alex for even making him believe humans can be good. But by all real accounts, he does not have an idyllic paradise to return to in his home planet, and at some point I think that's going to crash down on his head. Granted, he's really seen quite a bit of the worst of humanity, heh, but he's also encountered good people he is not fully letting in, or that he even resents for giving him hope in humanity. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

1 hour ago, Cristofle said:

, and at some point I think that's going to crash down on his head

Crashdown? Pun Intended?  😛

Edited April 9, 2020 by KittenPokerCheater

[Bloga]

On 4/7/2020 at 7:36 AM, ellieart said:

There will be a season 3 at some point after the world stops burning...

I have so many problems with this show, but my biggest problem this season is how boring it is.  I LOVE having Jason on my screen again, but there isn't nearly enough of him and I'm having a hard time staying focused. 

Shiri did an awesome job directing this episode, but unlike last time, there weren't any glimpses of that magic.

I feel like Isobel's extra-ness and kindness comes across as a ploy for her to get something she wants, it doesn't feel genuine. 

Kyle over here again proving he's the only one with much sense and it sucks that he's being walked all over and knows it.  I'm glad he's finally standing up for himself. 

And Arturo, don't get me started on Arturo...that man is a treasure.

             Arturo is a dream, I think he´s a local actor from New Mexico, what a discovery. It´s really amazing to see all these local actors working on shows that film in their home states, it also happens in Atlanta, Vancouver, Toronto, even Chicago has all those Chicago shows that keep the film industry booming everywhere. You don´t have to move to LA to make it as an actor anymore, that´s good.

        I don´t know what they are going to do with Rosa. She cannot live in hiding for the rest of her life...maybe that´s why the mom will make an appearance, to make amends and offer Rosa a way out, moving to another state where nobody knows her. Otherwise they cannot really sustain this story arc for that long,