Review: 'Roswell' -10/06/1999

High school is hard. Just ask Max Evans (Jason Behr) - like every other kid, he's got midterms to worry about, popularity issues, and a new girl he's in pretty deep like with. Of course, unlike most high school students, Max is also from outer space.

On "Roswell," the new drama series from the WB, high school and science fiction collide. Humans rub shoulders with little green men, aliens become partners with alienation, and the whole thing is set against the dusty backdrop of the first purported extraterrestrial crash landing fifty-two years ago in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

Since the crash when they were mere children (their kind age more slowly than human folk, accounting for their high school appearances), Max and his two fellow UFO-riding compadres have clung together, their only remaining allies following the alien diaspora. And they've actually managed to assimilate pretty well; they've slipped under the radar of the locals in Roswell, living a low-key existence, desperate to find out what happened half a century ago while keeping their presence as mum as possible. But now it's Crash Anniversary time, and freaks are coming out of the woodwork. Armchair conspiracy buffs and full-on weirdos the world over are making the pilgrimage to the interplanetary point of contact, and needless to say, it's a little tougher for the non-natives to hide.

Even tougher when Max blows their cover. While at a diner, teenaged waitress and fellow West Roswell High student Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) takes a stray bullet fired during an argument between two visiting patrons. Death is certain for lovely Liz, but breaking every code he and his brethren have sworn to live by, Max uses his alien powers to save her, drawing the bullet from her abdomen and out of harm's way. But he leaves behind a telltale mark - a silver handprint. And now everyone in Roswell knows what they've suspected all along . We are not alone.

Of course that's just what Max's friends never wanted to have happen. But it doesn't stop there - Max further attracts the attention of the local sheriff (William Sadler), whose son coincidentally happens to be Liz's ersatz boyfriend, who's seen the silver handprint, and seen Max with Liz. Not knowing all the facts, but still thirsty for an alien auto-da-fe, the sheriff puts the squeeze on Max - how much does he know about what's going on? For the others, it's time to fly. But Max recognizes the value of standing their ground - if they leave, they prove everyone right, and their lives will never be the same. But if they stay and weather the storm, they have a chance of survival.

Liz, naturally, wants some answers. She knows she was shot, yet somehow she didn't die. And she knows Max was responsible. Backed into a corner, he levels with her: let's just say he's not from around these parts. Fortunately, Liz isn't an ordinary high school girl, she's… different. (As Lou Grant would say, she's got spunk.) Max finds he can trust her. Together they organize a plan to divert the attentions of the increasingly paranoid Sheriff, culminating in a climax at the trippy Crash Festival. But they know it's only a matter of time before he'll be back.

Based on a series of young adult novels, "Roswell" was created by Jason Katims (who also created the short-lived Gen-X series "Relativity") and David Nutter (late of FOX's "The X-Files"). Both know their respective territories pretty well, and it turns out that teen angst and creepy not-of-this-world science fiction aren't the strange bedfellows one might think. The pilot crackles with intelligence; the teen characters are realistic in a way the kids on "Dawson's Creek" will never be, yet at the same time they can rise to the challenges before them with adult-like seriousness. Appleby in particular stands out among the cast. It's clear that Liz is intrigued by this new wrinkle in her relationship with Max, but she's not buying everything wholesale. She's curious and wants to know the truth, but she's still a young girl. And Max, at once grateful to have someone to open up to and fearful that he's endangering his precarious way of life, finds in her a kind of delicate soulmate. Their time onscreen is what makes the show come alive. Being chased by sheriffs and suspected of alien origins is certainly what makes the show go forward, but the core remains the bond growing between these two.

How long the stories can remain interesting will be the real question; even "The X-Files" takes a break from Mulder's sober quest for close encounters once in awhile. But fortunately for this show, it has a deep reservoir of high school life to draw from in order to keep it going: proms, finals, SAT's. Can't you just see it? MTV's "Spring Break Roswell: Alien Getaway."

Now that's creepy.