Roswell, New Mexico Review: Where Have All The Cowboys Gone (Season 1 Episode 4)

Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 Episode 4, “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” finds its perfect pace, which allows the characters, Liz, Kyle, and Cam especially, to act like the adults they are.

Once again, Liz clears the air, but significant mysteries remain and more mysteries are introduced.

Most pressing is definitely what in the heck is going on with Isobel’s relationship with Rosa and Maria (please let it be gay, please let it be gay, please let it be gay)!

Even though Malex is notably absent from the episode, their relationship is still tangentially involved as we see sparks fly between Michael and Maria.

I’m not concerned because I think adults can just be friends, even when there is loads of chemistry and connection between them, but it does imply a precariousness to the Malex union that fits the beginning of a series.

I’m on board for the ride.

Bent Triangles

“Where Have All The Cowboys Gone,” asserts that it is a show with adult characters who do adult things.

KYLE: There are downsides to being adults, like taxes and parents having flaws. But there are perks too.

Indeed, Kyle and Liz do something very adult when they are together in her bedroom, but it’s not hook-up.

The adult thing they do is have an honest discussion about what they are to each other. Liz trusts Kyle and she feels safe with him.

She feels this way at the same exact time that she has more intense and more epic-love type feelings for Max. Importantly, Kyle knows this and his first reaction is never to change Liz’s mind or to become something different to Liz.

This is maturity and I need it on my television screen.

The love triangle we have seen hinted at and Kyle explicitly calls out on Roswell, New Mexico, Season 1 Episode 3, “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” is bent by this adult approach to relationships.

No person is everything to another person.

Right now, Liz wants to feel safe and she wants to have sex. Kyle wants a sex distraction and has deeper feelings for Liz.

None of that takes away how they may feel for other people.

These aren’t actual love triangles because there isn’t a single line connecting them. Liz and Kyle’s relationship isn’t as basic as that.

Echo’s (Liz and Max’s) relationship is also more messy and wavy than the straight lines of a triangle.

The scene between the two guaranteed-to-be-lovers is fraught and I adore it. It bends the typical tropes of similar star-crossed relationships because Liz is bold and honest.

Liz, for the second time, hallelujah, comes clean about what who knows what about Max.

Liz’s choice to answer all of Max’s questions so honestly, with zero emotional manipulation or fear (ironic considering she is terrified of her feelings for Max), is different.

Women, Latinx women especially, are often treated as tricky and emotionally manipulative.  Liz embraces her Latinidad and her scientist’s heart. She knows that she is never going to discover what really happened to Rosa, and what her naked heart really needs until she faces the evidence head-on.

Jeanine Mason continues to bring Liz Ortecho a balanced and powerful characterization. She is strong and flawed. She is willing to see and admit her faults as she does with Kyle about immediately assuming Kyle’s dad is a perpetrator.

She is brave, she is wild, she is book smart, and she is beautiful. Perhaps most importantly, she is willing to change forward, to grow.

Max is far less willing and far less honest.

He jukes and shadow boxes (Shadowboxer by Fiona Apple would be a great 90s song to feature during a Max scene) around topics, but comes back to the only thing that matters to him, that Liz knows he loves her.

GROWL!

Max fails to hear what Liz is actually saying: her feelings are so strong and fierce for Max that they terrify her. What Liz wants most is to be able to trust Max. Instead of focusing on that and establishing his trustworthiness, Max sinks back into his martyrdom and decides to walk away from the conversation, satisfied with the fact she knows how he feels.

Granted, he thinks her feelings for him will be wiped and that she’s on her way out of town.

But, still.

When Liz has an opportunity to be vulnerable and honest about things, she takes it.

When Max has an opportunity to be vulnerable and honest about things, he runs. That’s darn cowboy, isn’t it?

The conflict is a delicious brand of frustrating. It is based on more than just plot circumstance. It is based on the heartier and endlessly more interesting conflicts of trust, vulnerability, and hope.

Armor

All the characters on Roswell, New Mexico are wearing armor to protect themselves.

ROSA: There is a reason God put a cage around your heart.

Liz says to Max that her armor is facts and her scientific reasoning. That is true, but her grief and her quest to discover what happened to Rosa are armor too. We see Liz take off her armor for Max, but he doesn’t recognize it or chooses not to act on it.

Max’s armor is his cowboy persona. The “I don’t need anything, I’ll just carry my wounded heart alone,” mentality is how he protects himself.

If he doesn’t ever give someone the chance to accept him and love him, then he’ll never have to feel them fail.

We see glints of Cam’s armor (straight-shooter, but she’s been hurt), Michael’s armor (hello sarcasm), and Maria’s armor (turning the focus onto others).

It’s a splendid exploration that is bolstered by very attractive dialogue.

Officer Cameron especially has fantastic zingers throughout the episode. She is a fantastic character who, like Isobel, I didn’t expect to love so very much.

Maria is also an expert at slinging barbs, especially at Isobel.

MARIA: This curated pinterst page you call your life.

My heart beats for when Cam meets Maria and they realize they are unstoppable together.

Diner Dish

• I hear SPANISH! Like I requested in my review for Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 Episode 2, “So Much For The Afterglow,” there is much more Spanish on the episode and it is not translated in subtitles. This Chicana is very happy.
• Liz and her dad sharing healthy churro pancakes as they talk about how her life is really going is the absolute cutest. Roswell, New Mexico is consistently giving me Veronica Mars vibes and this father-daughter relationship is no exception. But here Liz is actually willing to be vulnerable about her feelings on her love life. More, please!
• Amber Midthunter as Rosa Ortecho is an absolute star. In the opening scene, the resemblance between Rosa and Liz is almost shocking. Midthunter’s acting is fresh and authentic, avoiding the more typical melodramatic expressions. I hope the flashbacks continue throughout the season.
• Isobel’s a real influencer, not a Fyre Festival fake.
• Love the dig at Trump and his pithy paper towels.
• Love the unintended consequences explored on the episode. Energy in must go out. That feels sciency and like there are real stakes involved in the characters’ choices.
•  Avoiding medical care because of fear of ICE is a very poignant and subtle example of life as an undocumented American.
• HECK YES with the red dress armor.

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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