Roswell, New Mexico Review: Steal My Sunshine (Season 4 Episode 1)
It’s accurate to say that Roswell, New Mexico Season 4 Episode 1, “Steal My Sunshine,” literally crash lands onto our screens.
With a six-month time jump, you’d expect a soft landing back into the lives of our favorite alien-human friend group. But instead, we’re thrown directly into many relationship conflicts without enough insight into the months we’ve missed.
For a show with a stellar cast and a wide array of fascinating characters, it still struggles to get it right after all these years.
All the missed opportunities are killing me here.
Let’s start with Michael and Alex. My heart is bursting with love for this couple. Michael Vlamis and Tyler Blackburn have electric chemistry, seamlessly shifting from soft to sexy as the couple navigates moving in together. They share their love for each other in every glance, every interaction.
It’s not shocking that Michael is scared about this next step. He has spent his whole life feeling alone, without a real place to call home.
And then he met Alex, who made him feel like he had a place on this planet, but getting what you’ve always wanted is still scary.
My issue is that I wanted more of them, especially in their final scene. Roswell, New Mexico struggles to balance too much exposition and glossing over things without an explanation, but these two deserve more focus and dialogue.
I want to see more of what their relationship has been like these past six months. How did they come to this decision to move in together? We know that they are happy and domesticated, which needs more focus before the chaos starts.
And while Max gave Michael awful relationship advice, Dallas got through to him in a beautiful conversation about home and love. Dallas is a great addition, and his understanding of Michael’s trauma is essential, as is Alex’s understanding, who has the perfect response to Michael’s spiral.
However, we need more Alex on our screens. Roswell, New Mexico feels like five different shows with how little some of these characters interact with their friends.
Now, onto Max and Liz. I’m feeling a bit of whiplash from their journey on “Steal My Sunshine.”
Everything seems great until Liz decides it’s not, and I struggle to understand where the disconnect is coming from. If Liz is feeling on edge, and if that relates to her relationship with Max, it needs more focus.
The proposal feels a bit too soon since we are only reconnecting with them now. Also, this development needs more time to breathe, considering how big of a step it is for Liz, who tends to run from commitment.
I honestly think it’s best that Max is interrupted at the gazebo. Public proposals are cringeworthy, and Liz deserves something more intimate.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the Echo proposal is meant to throw us off. If anyone is making it down the aisle this season, my money is on Malex. There are clues that we should not ignore.
As for Isobel and her relationship drama, it feels way too soon for an “I love you.”
Roswell, New Mexico cuts off Malex’s first present-tense love declaration last season to have Isobel blurt it out to someone we have barely seen her date? No, thank you!
We know virtually nothing about this relationship. They were shoved together in the last ten minutes of Roswell, New Mexico Season 3 after Anatsa hit it off with Max. It makes you wonder how well planned this storyline is.
Based on what we see, Anatsa is lovely, and these two are very sweet together, but we all know Kyle and Isobel are slow-burning it to the endgame.
This is a repeat of Roswell, New Mexico’s use of a woman of color as a placeholder in another relationship, which is really frustrating and upsetting. Plus, it makes Kyle look like a sad, lovesick puppy. He deserves more than always giving everyone free therapy.
And how is he still single? He is the most eligible bachelor on the planet. I gladly volunteer to keep him company if he’s so lonely.
Outside of romance, “Steal My Sunshine” focuses heavily on the new mystery, which is more intriguing than initially expected.
Jenna Cameron is a welcome return, and her dynamic with Max works so well. She’s a perfect investigative foil to him, so it’ll be interesting to see how they work together on this new alien mystery.
The introduction of more aliens is a fun move for the show’s mythology, and the reference to “The Alighting” calls all the way back to Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 with Noah.
However, it is no secret that this show fumbles the landing in the second half of almost every season, so I’m remaining neutral about how this will be handled.
As long as we lose the fake science that absolutely nobody is watching the show for and the new storylines allow these characters to actually be friends, then I think I’ll be okay. Let them all work together to solve this last mystery.
Overall, “Steal My Sunshine” is an episode bursting with missed opportunities, throwing us into what feels like the middle of storylines instead of the start of them.
The pacing is off, leading to confusing developments throughout the hour.
The awesome characters and relationships that we watch Roswell, New Mexico for, deserve better as the show enters its final run.
Stray Thoughts
- If the writers want to mention Mindy Manes and her bond with her son, then they better show her.
- Maria and Dallas are outserving Maria and Greg, even if Greg will always be our favorite Manes brother.
- Why even have a party if we see none of it and everyone leaves? Also, Alex and Kyle need to be in more of these group scenes, plain and simple.
- Michael immediately trying to fix the garbage disposal is on-brand for how he shows love.
- Do we deserve to see what happened with Malex on that couch? We absolutely do.
- I think we needed an Isobel and Michael scene. They ground the series for me, and she gives him better advice than Max.
- I guess Rosa is still at art school?
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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 8/7c on The CW.
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Julia Paino
Julia is a TV and pop culture enthusiast who gets too emotionally invested in her favorite characters. She loves making people laugh and is always down for a Taylor Swift sing-along. She is firmly on Team Stefan and has been since 2009. Follow her on Twitter @juliampaino!