Roswell, New Mexico Review: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (Season 2 Episode 2)

We’ve hit some turbulence, folks.

Hopefully, the bumpiness on Roswell, New Mexico Season 2 Episode 2, “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space,” will smooth out for the rest of our Season 2 journey. 

But for now, the fasten seatbelt light is on. 

The strongest aspects of the second episode of the season are the supporting characters Kyle, Alex, and Rosa.

It is wonderful that these three are getting serious screen time; they would make excellent pilots on this spaceship. 

Rosary

Rosa provides the poetic voiceover for the episode and it pushes us to consider the deeper meaning of our characters’ decisions. 

All of Rosa’s wrestlings with her ghost-like status in Roswell are wonderfully done.

It’s fascinating because she is so much younger than her sister and the other characters, but she is far more advanced in her work coping with her pain. 

Rosa recognizes her healthy coping mechanism, art, and uses it to destress. She even explicitly explains the importance of this tool to Liz. 

It is also a sign of her personal insight and strength of character that Rosa listens to Wyatt’s tirade, totally out of context for a person who died during the Obama era, and immediately calls it out for what it is: a lie. 

Even there, she wonders what happened to Wyatt rather than return hate with hate. 

That is evidence of serious efforts to heal that we haven’t seen on this show other than her brother Kyle.

Rosa shoots right into the heart with her arrow of dialogue.  

ROSA: I’m an expert at quieting voices. 

I gasp. I tear up.

It’s the way Rosa steps back and breathes it out so simply but surely. It’s the Radiohead. It’s one of those little lines of dialogue that is part poetry, part plot advancing, and wholly brilliant. 

It’s a little bit of everything all rolled into one. 

There is no way Rosa can leave Roswell. She is entirely visible to us and we want to see more, much more, of her. 

What it Means to be a Manes

Alex also has a profoundly characterizing moment on the episode. Where Rosa has a line of dialogue, the visual imagery is the main source of power for his scene.

It begins with Flint in the negative space behind Alex’s face, admitting to his brother that he did not have much of a choice other than becoming like his father. 

Flint hovers there for a second before Father Manes has an attack and Flint runs off for help. 

Both sons are framed by the window of the hospital room. This symbolizes how both of their lives have been entirely framed by their father. 

Alex never looks away. 

Michael has made it clear that he is not interested in being with someone who he can’t be good to. That is not going to be Alex until he faces his past. 

Of course, it is not just his cosmic connection that leads to Alex facing his father. However, Michael is the catalyst.

And, as I mentioned on Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 Episode 1, “Stay (I Miss You),” Michael is right to set these boundaries. It is the loving thing to do. 

Alex reacts to some very harsh rejection from Michael by facing his greatest fear, who he is because of his father. It is positively gangster. Self-care gangster. Romantic self-care gangster.

Back to the hospital window scene. 

Tyler Blackburn absolutely nails this scene. His styling is excellent; the impact wouldn’t be as great with wisps on his forehead. 

Mainly, though, it’s his face. 

 He fiercely stares at his father, his monster, his villain, his creator, and he doesn’t back down.

His face communicates that Alex is not going to let his emotions be dictated by his father anymore. As Radiohead’s “High and Dry” swells (this song is magical) we sense an overwhelming release, mixed with more than a touch of anxiety.

Alex Manes is facing his fears and that is scary as hell. 

Point, Kyle

On one single episode, Kyle Valenti shows up in big ways for Liz, Rosa, and Alex. And he manages to fit in a surgery observation. Oh, and the genesis of a new ship (#Style?)!

Kyle is the quippy good guy with the sexy biceps that we all need in our lives. 

The thing is, Steph is right: Kyle worked hard for all of it. 

She refers to his muscles, but it is equally true of the friendship he provides to Liz, Rosa, and Alex. He has put in the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to become a better person. 

When he is in the church with Rosa, Kyle is honest with his sister, without making any judgments. He wraps it in a witty bow, but it is not lost on us that this is a very difficult conversation.  

People who are willing to take the risk of not being liked, of hurting other people because the truth hurts, are people who have figured their ish out. 

Kyle isn’t perfect, but he is a really good friend. 

And finally, FINALLY, he has the attention of someone who does not have a history with Max! As far as I’m concerned, Kyle is running ethical circles around Liz.

I’m not sure if that is what we are supposed to be taking from the show, but that’s what I’ve got so far.

Also, I don’t really understand what is happening with Kyle’s facial hair, but I love every strand.

Turbulence in Space

It’s time to talk about those bumps.

Liz’s arc on the episode fails to cover any new ground or elicit much emotional reaction. She is so stuck on this “science is my jam” thing that she overlooks some pretty problematic behavior. 

It hurts me that she lies so easily to Rosa. 

Liz thinks this is to protect her, but it shows a profound lack of insight. Lying to shield a sibling is exactly the self-centered reasoning that led Max to lie to Liz for years. 

Her obsession with bringing Max back to life is preventing Liz from addressing her grief. The more she runs from her feelings, the higher the wall between her and her sister gets. 

It seems a bit like without Max, Liz doesn’t have a clear purpose. That’s pretty disturbing. Her sister is back from the dead for goodness sake. 

Maria’s mom is missing. Her dad is going through the grueling process of filing citizenship paperwork. 

There are endless avenues that Liz could be going down as a character. The fact that Liz is in a straight-up tunnel towards Max is disappointing. 

I want to suspend judgment a bit because there could be a greater point about losing someone you love. It’s just not coming across with much verve. 

Isobel’s pregnancy storyline is too much and it crowds out more compelling content. 

Honestly, I am zero percent interested in watching a white woman show up to an event with her supportive mom, just to be a condescending jerk to an Afro-Latinx woman who she knows was victimized by her late husband and whose mom is currently MISSING! 

I am even less interested in seeing that white woman center only her own pain and then rely on the  Afro-Latinx woman she ridiculed to support her in her healing. 

That’s a nope for me. 

While the Warrior Woman sessions provide some hilarity (the scream is absolutely hilarious), the sessions are framed as a joke. 

Maria’s comment to Michael and her reactions to people asking about payment indicate the session is a hustle to help pay for investigators. 

Non-traditional medicine and practices are valid and shouldn’t be treated like a scam. Especially with the emphasis on science saving the day, there should be a reverence for the mystical healing that Maria is devoted to. 

This also characterizes Maria as a fraud rather than a serious practitioner. 

All these people who have faced intense trauma are in the lab trying to come up with a zombie potion. They are not in therapy. They should be in therapy. 

Mystical sessions are therapy. 

It is dispiriting to see Maria, once again, pushed to the side in service of another character. Maria’s experiences, perspective, work, and feelings should be taken seriously.

Here, they are not because her sessions are treated like just a hustle, not legitimate. The only other scenes with Maria are about her and Michael’s relationship.

As far as Michael and Maria’s burgeoning romance goes, the actors really sell it.

Heather Hemmens, in particular, manages to make the tearful lead up to the kissing feel authentic. Michael Vlamis brings chemistry better than ever!

The main problem I have with this union is that it is confusing.

The two shared a night of sexy fun and then connected on a deeper level when Michael came to the Wild Pony. 

They have been there for each other and that makes sense as an entry point to romance. 

But, then they are in angry banter land. 

Post ghosting, Michael hooks up with Lindsay to push Maria away? (I very much fancy Maria’s line about no more Lindsays).

There are way too many bumps to land this ship. 

It’s not that the pieces aren’t there. They are. It is just that the episode haven’t put those pieces together in a way that solves the puzzle. 

Perhaps that is because Michael and Alex are really the only pieces of this particular puzzle that fit. 

Also, importantly, Michael and Maria’s relationship is based on a lie.

MARIA STILL DOES NOT KNOW THAT MICHAEL IS AN ALIEN.

She can’t trust Michael. That is no place to start a real romance.  

This sophomore episode of the sophomore season of Roswell, New Mexico is bouncing around.  But, you know what? I don’t know a single person who had a smooth sophomore year. 

I’m sure episode three, the junior year of the season I guess, will find just the right altitude.

Diner Dish

• Just thinking about the Werewolf Warrior guy’s scream makes me lol. And, yay! Another black person!
• We got a Werewolf Warrior, Rosa is a ghost, and Max is a zombie! Maria’s amulet’s extra sense makes me sure she’s a witch. My wish for monsters has come true!
• I ADORE Justina Adorno as Steph and I’m giddy to see more of her alieny story.
• Maria’s outfit at the Warrior Woman session is jaw-dropping. Only Heather Hemmens could pull that off.
• Isobel is surrounded by doctors and scientists learning more every day about alien physiology. And yet, she chooses to self-dose with alien poison to get rid of her baby?  
• MIMI IS STILL MISSING. Noone other than Maria and Michael is taking this seriously enough.
• The little alien graffiti is so cute and subversive. What a Banksy! 
• The shot with Michael leaning against the stone wall is gorgeous. Then he takes the hat off and the curls flow. Someone behind the camera is looking out for us.

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 Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.

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