Jenna and Liz’s time together was full of gems, from Jenna’s Max imitation and Liz’s much-needed acknowledgement that her sister needs help. Most importantly, with Jenna’s “I think it’s safe to say that we are different kinds of smart” line, Roswell sidestepped any kind of Liz vs. Jenna showdown. It’s so much more interesting to revel in the weird that is Liz trying to comfort her dead boyfriend’s ex-lover over wine, whiskey, and shooting practice. Here’s to the return of Jenna and her excellent sense of humor. I didn’t order a blonde, but I’m glad she’s here.
However. This meant that practically everyone in Roswell knew about aliens and Rosa being alive and homicidal Noah Bracken and about a million other important developments before one Maria DeLuca. Maria’s reaction to Rosa felt appropriately frightened – of course she would think she was following in her mother’s footsteps – while her reaction to Michael was devastating animalistic in its anguish. She has every right to be hurt and betrayed by the whole lot of them, and frankly she’ll probably end up saving them all. Five bucks says the kind man who wants to help the alien women at the end of the episode is somehow related to Maria, because in these flashbacks all personality traits are hereditary.
Finally, there’s Isobel, who continued microdosing herself with alien death serum as means to abortion – and actually said “abortion,” something many shows and movies refuse to do. Lily Cowles was phenomenal throughout this episode as Isobel, reminding us how much we miss the Evans sibling bond and how fast on her feet Isobel is. But her crowning moment was the beautiful speech she made pushing back on the version of Max in her own mind, who tried to convince her not to risk her own life for an abortion because she would be a good mother. Isobel rightly told him that yeah, she would be a good mother – on her own terms. This reflects realty: two-thirds of all people who get abortions plan to have children in the future while more than half already have at least one child. Motherhood isn’t what this is about. As she says, “I might want to be a mom someday, but not like this, not when it’s been inflicted on me.”
Isobel has had one of the most intense journeys on the show already, yet its clear she’s going to do even more and better before the season’s through. But she said something critical in this episode: “The only person who will always love me and come to my own rescue is me.” While that may be an awful realization, it’s also the first time we’ve heard her see herself outside of her bond with Max. While of course he’s coming back at some point (after all, Guerin’s work on the pod is working), Isobel needs to stand in her own considerable power, and this episode was a huge part of that.
I’m glad Liz was there for Isobel. Another part of growing beyond Max is expanding her support system apart from him. She needs to have relationships independent of him or a romantic partner, as hard as that is for her. here for isobel right now. Isobel putting Liz’s arm around herself was a small moment, but truly a big one for someone as used to being self-sufficient (or co-dependent) as Isobel. I only wish Rosa could have been there for Isobel, too. Hopefully they will have a reunion soon.
