Roswell New Mexico Review: Stay (I Missed You) (Season 2 Episode 1)

Life and death are as complicated and diaphanous as ever on Roswell, New Mexico Season 2 Episode 1, “Stay (I Missed You).” 

We don’t actually hear the episode’s titular song “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb, but the lyrics highlight and mirror the angst-laden theme the main characters exhume for the Season 2 premiere.

It is all about staying in control.

“Some of us hover when we weep for the other who was
Dying since the day they were born
Well. Well, this is not that:
I think that I’m throwing, but I’m thrown.” Lisa Loeb, Stay (I Missed You)

Our hero Liz Ortecho particularly lives out these lines.

She weeps in the shower for this person who has been willing, practically wanting, to die for the people he loves since the second he was born from the pod. She may think she’s completely in control, but that’s a lie. 

Jeanine Mason’s perfect rendition of Liz’s grief breaching her armor is very moving. It makes us cry, every time.

It also tells us that Liz is not ready to process her loss. It’s sitting within her, dormant and waiting. 

There is a danger in that kind of sadness. Liz wants Max back; she wants him to stay on this Earth. But, that invites the pain and fear to stay, too.  

Liz Ortecho breaking down in the shower is about her unbearable loss. It is also about her unwillingness to let go of her own powerlessness to save everyone. She can not surrender. 

Each character on the show faces some kind of similar conflict regarding whether and how to move forward after all this.

If only it was simply a matter of whether to stay or go. Roswell, New Mexico makes it crystal clear on its stunning Season 2 opener that no one gets to trust such an easy binary. 

Bitch’n Sisters

Amber Midthunder plays Rosa Ortecho with a richness and rebellious passion that infuses the entire show with a new heart. 

Liz is going to need that. The now big sister is at risk of shutting herself off to her pain and immersing herself in her religion: science. Rosa will not let her stay in that pod.

The authentic sisterhood between Liz and Rosa is my favorite part of the episode.

The love, and guilt, and laughter, and pain, and sacrifice, and hope overflow into a gosh darn MESS. Ain’t that the truth!

Rosa’s snark and sarcasm protect her while at the same time provide a lane for Liz to travel on to connect with her. 

ROSA: Next time I die. I swear, bury me with all my stuff. 

While it is not easy to relate to going on a road trip to California because your sister’s boyfriend died saving you and you can’t show your face because you’ve been dead in an alien pod for ten years, musical catharsis in times of trauma certainly is. 

The dialogue is specific to this show but it captures a universal truth about sisters.

Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch,” is the perfect soundtrack for the twisted moment of release.

The beauty of sisterhood, so elegantly captured in the scenes, is that you don’t have to explain the weird. You just get through it. 

Just as poignant is the fire pit scene where Rosa calls her sister out for how she sees her, a 19-year-old drug addict.

Liz is strong, brilliant, and bold. We love her. 

Just like in the song, she’s also a bitch. 

Her persistent patronizing judgment of her sister is uncool. Of course, she is worried about Rosa. That is reasonable. But that worry ignites her controlling nature and, frankly, it’s not a good look. 

Liz is also a completely awful friend to Maria. 

Maria is Rosa’s best friend. Noah entered Maria’s body, effectively raping her, and used her body to kill people. KILL PEOPLE. 

Liz knows all of this. 

Yet, she doesn’t tell Maria anything before she leaves the state with her undead sister. A hug can’t cover up that betrayal. 

And, the thing is, there isn’t any reason for her to fail to include Maria. Everyone else knows. Maria is personally impacted by the knowledge of aliens in multiple ways. She is lonely and facing an ever-growing mountain of challenges that her best friend Rosa could help her with. 

Honestly, the persistent exclusion of Maria from all things alien is inexcusable. This show isn’t getting a five stars review from me as long as this problem persists.

It’s great that Maria is getting more screen time, truly. But, it is still the case that Maria’s trauma and victimization are ignored by all of her friends, Guerin, and the show in general. We see several carefully crafted scenes of Isobel facing what Noah did. 

Not one of Maria. 

There needs to be an episode devoted to Maria and her interior emotionality where she can reckon with all of the information that she’s been excluded from knowing. 

Kyle could be just the right bridge between Liz and Maria. 

This guy is just magic. His snark continues to pop but not as much as his grounded wisdom. 

Kyle’s admission that he was a bully when his dad died, so that’s what he’ll always have been to him, hits hard. It’s such a simple share to his half-sister. But it oozes with the truth. 

Michael Trevino is a gift, one that we deserve. 

Kyle actually gets Rosa to consider herself, her journey, and how she’s entitled to her own growth in one little conversation. Liz loves her sister so much. She hasn’t accepted Rosa, though. 

All these sisters are so interesting and powerful to watch. I hope Roswell, New Mexico keeps it up.

Roswellian Gothic 

I am here for the monsters!

In the closing second of “Stay (I Missed You),” an ill-looking Max begs Rosa to stop Liz from bringing him back. It is a juicy warning that foreshadows a very different Max, should Liz succeed in her regenerative efforts. 

My fingers are crossed that we get to see that happen. Max has all of the foundational traits to be a totally grotesque version of himself. I mean, Max is still trying to control Liz and the universe from the literal grave. 

Okay, Frankenstein.

Season 1 laid some thick Gothic foundation that Season 2 can use to build a frightening and powerful tale of hubris and unintended consequences. 

It is enough to make a monster-loving girl giddy!

As I mentioned in my review of Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 Episode 12, “Creep,” Max as a villain makes sense and would do some really interesting character work for the show. 

Nathan Parsons let loose on a spoilt hero character is just a good idea. 

The alighting is coming and Ophiucus still matters. It’s all so terrible and wonderful.

Boundaries

We have been waiting for what feels like light years for Malex to be back on our screens. Now, here they are and it is as good as it ever was. 

Even as he makes some inconsiderate choices with Maria, Michael sets some boundaries with Alex. This is very important for him to do. 

It’s not clear to me that Guerin is right about him always saying yes to Alex. There is push and pull, staying and leaving on both sides of this love equation. 

However, Guerin has been at the mercy of other people to meet his most basic needs since childhood. Everything has been ripped away from him. So, his willingness and ability to set clear boundaries with the love of his life is encouraging. 

He is working on loving himself, first. 

GUERIN: I don’t want to play your guitar. 

Guerin is such a poet at heart. His childish move at the bar is a step in the wrong direction. But, it was always going to be a bumpy road. 

Alex seems to be recognizing that he is going to need to do more than be the man that Guerin needed back in high school to actually earn his love’s trust. 

Alex is not afraid of a challenge. 

He was afraid of who he is. But, his self-discovery has brought him to a place where he is not on the defensive. He isn’t hiding. 

A wonderful way this is shown to us is through Alex’s comfort with his leg. He isn’t wearing his prosthetic in his scene with Michael, and neither of them even blink an eye about it. 

Alex doesn’t exhibit shame and Guerin doesn’t fetishize his disability. 

It’s not enough of a solid ground for them to build a relationship on yet. But, it is promising.

I think this episode sets us up for a journey where Alex learns what it means to fight for a relationship, not just survival.

The very good news here is that if he is successful if he respects Guerin’s boundaries and they both find some healing, their eventual reunion can be next level, long-term level. 

Both of these dramatic cowboy sweethearts deserve that.

Diner Dish

• Mimi DeLuca mentions that sometimes it’s been a century. Could this mean that Max’s death awoke a being or beings that have been dormant for centuries?!
• Kyle and Alex, Kylex, make incredible teammates. I would watch that spin-off religiously.
• Kyle and Rosa together is an unexpected joy. They match each other wit for wit. 
• Rosa and Kyle act alike, but dang Liz and Rosa look alike. They truly look like sisters!
• Isobel’s eulogy for Max is gorgeous. Nearly as gorgeous as all that shattered glass.
• The music on this show is everything. Everything. 
• As if Isobel hasn’t suffered enough! Still, an alien baby opens up a world of story possibilities. Baby Maxine, perhaps (if Isobel decides to keep the baby)?
• Roswell, New Mexico Season 2, you are worth the wait.

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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