Roswell, New Mexico Review: Tearin’ Up My Heart (Season 1 Episode 3)

Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 Episode 3, “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” has me prone to adore it from the get-go because the title happens to refer to my very favorite *NSync song (excepting their holiday album, naturally).

The episode does indeed tear up my heart, in the best way. 

It is a big surprise to me that one of the strongest aspects of the episode is Isobel and Noah’s relationship. I was not expecting that! 

And it’s the best kind of unexpected because I am surprised how much I love and soften towards Isobel. I really thought I was going to dislike her for a while. But, The Land Before Time date night really does the trick to enamor me to her. 

Noah is a dream husband and the kind and assertive way he reassures Isobel makes me feel sure that he can take whatever news she may come to deliver. Obviously, she has the news that she is an alien, but I suspect that she also has a secret history with Rosa. 

It is significant to me that in Isobel’s relationship with Noah, Isobel is more sexual and sees sex as a way to come together on an issue. This defies what toxic masculinity tells us about men needing to have sex all the time and always prioritizing sex. Noah expresses, to my heart’s delight, that what he wants most is meaningful time with Isobel where she is present. 

That is a fantastic message and I am very hopeful that Roswell, New Mexico is going to continue to portray a sexy, healthy marriage.

The mystery of Liz turning into Rosa during Isobel’s mind control is completely engrossing. Not only is the cinematography beautiful and dreamy, the speed of the shots and the ambiguous tone really heightens the intensity of the moment. 

Viewers are left gasping with intrigue. Well, this viewer is! 

Also, can I just say that I love Lily Cowles and Karan Oberoi’s faces? They are attractive, of course, but it’s more than just good looking. They have two of the most exciting faces to look at and I could just look at them all day. 

“Tearin Up My Heart” showcases Isobel’s character and her relationship with the other leads in a tender and almost whimsical way. I far prefer this approach to Roswell, New Mexico, Season 1 Episode 2, “So Much For the Afterglow,” where Isobel was dark and brutish. I hope we continue to see the more nuanced touch for Isobel. 

Echo

I love everything about Echo’s (Max and Liz) development on the episode, except that they don’t kiss. But, also, now at this point, I’m into the burn of anticipation. 

The chemistry between these two is just unreal. It is more than humanly possible, so it must be alien!

The eye sex that occurs between the two when Max tells Liz that his heart isn’t racing because he’s scared of her, MY GOD! 

Then Liz looks so longing and long at his lips and I am undone.

This ship is painfully good. 

And, it’s not even the only ship on the series that has Top Ten, diehard, OTP forever and ever status. 

But, we’ll talk about Malex in a little bit. For now, back to Echo. 

I’m so glad we didn’t have to wait for more than an episode for Liz to call out Max on his lie and to get some clarity between them. 

It doesn’t get a whole lot more clear than, “I’ve loved you every day of my life,” and Max delivers this news in a way that is both shy and smoldering.

It’s aw shucks and oh f*ck. Nathan Parsons is so very good in this cowboy librarian role. 

I appreciate that the show is respecting the distrust between the pair, rather than having them give in to their desire to make-out.  Neither of them wants to be with the other until there is trust between them. 

That is really nice to see. And at the same time, it is completely maddening because all I want is for them to find their own airstream and make it happen! 

Kyle and Maria

Kyle is a stand out character who has the most fun and fresh lines on the show. I love how he calls out the love triangle between him, Liz, and Max. I also love seeing him be sassy with Jesse Manes about his interval training. 

He’s serious, but also provides some comic relief. He’s the character I’d most want to hang out with if I were to visit Roswell. 

It is pretty incredible that he calls his mom a bigot, but also stays around to hear her response. That’s a mature conversation between an adult mother and son. We need to be seeing that kind of discourse right now. 

Maria, the other shipless lead character on the show, is more featured on the episode, but I am disappointed by how little we learn about her. She is clearly very bright and good at reading people. She is also still situated almost exclusively as a support to the other characters. 

I look forward to seeing her developed more and becoming more a character in her own right, rather than a narrator for Rosa’s character. I’m also still holding out a bit of hope that Maria might provide some asexual and/or aromantic representation. 

Malex

Malex (Michael and Alex) are tumultuous and still on that hot, hot “God of Wine” rollercoaster. I am completely invested. 

Michael’s exuberant happiness when he sees that Alex stayed the night gives all the warm fuzzies. Alex walking away out of fear burns hot too.

It seems that it is going to be a bumpy road for the pair, but the angsty bump and grind is so delectable to watch. 

The firey angst in Malex balances nicely with the more poetic angst in Echo. 

As Michael, Alex, Papa Manes, and Kyle get more and more enmeshed, there will undoubtedly be more than one coming out scene. I am very excited to see how these play out and how the different characters align and battle in unexpected ways. 

Also, always, more airstream sex. 

This Land is Our Land

Roswell, New Mexico is taking on the issue of immigration. I love that. 

However, the show has not yet addressed the fact that New Mexico was Mexico well before it became part of the United States. The white folks who are in New Mexico are actually immigrants. 

I would like to see Kyle or Liz make this very clear at some point very soon.

The indigenous and Mexican families that have been in New Mexico for generations have a claim to Roswell land, and I think to authentically and thoroughly take on the issue of immigration, this needs to come up. 

I want to see more Mexican American characters and Native American characters who can speak to belonging, history, and entitlement in the small town. 

Right now, the message is that Roswell is a white town where non-white Mexican people immigrate to, either with papers or without. That is only a small part of the complex story of La Raza in the South West towns of the United States. 

If the show does explore this in an informed way, which I truly hope it does, I will be deeply moved and appreciative. 

It is a powerful thing to be seen, as Liz learns from Max’s letter. For Roswell, New Mexico to really allow borderlands non-white people to be seen would mean everything to many. 

Diner Dish

• Maria figuring out the clues in like two seconds flat is amazing. She reminds me of Veronica Mars, the highest compliment ever.
• For being a small town, Roswell sure has a ton of people at events. 
• Max’s sonic boom was so cool and I love seeing a man emote. 
• Max’s library is drool-worthy. Maybe even more drool-worthy than him shirtless. Maybe.
• Liz is an assertive, not afraid to cockblock, scientist. But, I do take issue with her dismissal of emotions-based evidence as science. Emotions are observations/evidence too. 
• The nail polish remover explanation is cool, but it still grosses me out to see. I liked that hot sauce still is a relevant substance on the episode. Clever!
• I am inspired to make my own 90s playlist. Thanks, Roswell, New Mexico.
• How are we going to possibly wait an entire week for another episode! I am THIRSTY! 

What did you think of this episode of Roswell, New Mexico? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Roswell, New Mexico airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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