"I'm Liz Parker and
five days
ago I died. After that, things got really weird." So begins
a new life
for Liz
(Shiri Appleby) and
her friend
Maria (Majandra Delfino) after they discover that three of their classmates
at Roswell High aren't exactly from "around here." To be more
exact, Max (Jason Behr), Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and
Michael
(Brendan Fehr) are from "up there." Having grown up quietly within the
community,
their alien identities are suddenly jeopardized after Max uses his
powers
to save
Liz's life. Now the
alien trio
must learn
to trust
their human friends even
as they
struggle
to discover
their own true identities.
CRITIQUE
Roswell
starts off interesting, slows down drastically in the middle, and
picks up again towards the end of the season. It begins by
introducing intriguing situations, but the teen drama/romance
aspect limits the show's potential play at mystery. Before any of
the familiar teen angst, first-kiss scenarios, love fests, and
break-ups, the season's first eight episodes are entertaining and
intriguing. Watching the alien trio avoid raising suspicion with
the town Sheriff (Sadler) as well as exposing an undercover agent
at their school kept my interest, but after watching Heat Wave
I thought the quality of the scripts just didn't hold up to those
from the earlier episodes.
The season's middle
section introduces a few new characters, specifically another
alien, but moves on a fairly standard ground. Some of the scripts
place the characters in familiar situations that I just didn't
find interesting. It's only towards the end of the season when the
intrigue picks up again. The first season of Roswell is not
that bad and I enjoyed nearly a dozen episodes of all 22, yet part
of the show is too much like Dawson's Creek and not enough
like The X-Files. Essentially, Roswell is a breed of
both shows and the main premise should be a good factor to
interest new viewers.
In terms of
execution, Roswell is a really nice-looking show. The
cinematography sometimes resembles a film, other times it mirrors
Dawson's Creek. Direction is done quite well headed by
David Nutter and Patrick Norris, among some other noteworthy TV
directors. The writing is not always to my liking as dialogue and
conversations can be quite tepid, but there are certain spots in
the episodes where jokes are amusing and dialogue is well-written.
The acting is not convincing all the time, but the majority of
actors do a good job, with the stand-outs being Jason Behr,
Majandra Delfino and
Colin Hanks. Appleby's performance is a little too fragile and
Brendan Fehr seems not all too gifted. Katherine Heigl and William
Sadler do a good job, too.
Episode breakdown
by disc:
Disc 1: Pilot, The Morning After, Monsters, Leaving Normal
Disc 2: Missing,
285 South, River Dog, Blood Brother
Disc 3: Heat Wave, The Balance, The Toy
House, Into the Woods
Disc 4: The Convention, Blind Date, Independence Day,
Sexual Healing
Disc 5: Crazy, Tess, Lies and Videotape, Four-Square, Max to
the Max
Disc 6: The White Room, Destiny;
Special Features
THE VIDEO
Fox presents
Roswell in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The show is not
that old and therefore the print is in pretty good condition;
there are no visible scratches or lines. Colors are bright and
well-saturated. Detail is clear and sharpness looks good. Black
levels and dark tones are deep and generally consistent. Grain
appears in several areas and at times the presentation looks a
tiny bit soft, but no compression artifacts occur. Overall, this
is a very nice widescreen transfer of the show.
THE AUDIO
Fox presents
Roswell in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Dialogue is
clear and easy to understand with very good channel separation.
Front speakers are active and loud with good positional audio.
The surrounds do an alright job of reinforcing the score and
many songs, while the sound effects sound are loud and clear.
This is not the perfect presentation, but it's pretty good for a
TV show.
An English 2.0 Dolby
Surround track is also available.
THE EXTRAS
Scattered across
the six discs that come in thin keepcases are six select
episode audio commentaries. Executive producer/writer Jason
Katims and executive producer/director David Nutter comment on
the Pilot, David Nutter by himself on Blood
Brother,
Co-executive
producer/writer Thania St. John on The Balance,
actors Shiri Appleby and Majandra Delfino on both Sexual
Healing and Crazy, and lastly Jason Katims
and director Patrick Norris on the season finale Destiny.
The general consensus on these tracks is that they are only
mildly interesting. Appleby and Delfino giggle and comment on
the other actors, which gets tired quickly, but Jason Katims
offers a few interesting notes during his tracks. I think these
tracks are really for the hardcore fans of the show because I
didn't find them interesting.
A deleted scene
from the Pilot can be viewed, but it's only 27 seconds
long and expendable.
Next
are two featurettes.
Area 51: Behind-the-Scenes of Roswell (30:00) is perhaps
the single best thing about the extras. It's filled with clips of the
show as well as many cast and crew interviews. Some really good
information comes out of this documentary, not to mention fun stories
from Colin Hanks. Hanks is probably the most animated of the
participants. Other people who give their thoughts are Jason Katims,
David Nutter, Patrick Norris, Jason Behr, Shiri
Appleby, Katherine Heigl, Brendan Fehr, Majandra Delfino, William
Sadler, Nick Wechsler, and a few others. Some of them don't have a lot
to say, which is fine because it gives Hanks and Katims more screen
time.
Roswell High: The Making of Roswell (10:16) is kind of a
boring featurette on the series of books that inspired the show.
Editor Laura Burns and author Melinda Metz sit down in front of a dark
background to discuss the books and the differences in the show.
Roswell fans might appreciate this more than me as I think it's
boring.
Also
listed are two audition tapes with Emilie de Ravin (3:58), one
with the actress opposite Max in a lab and the other scene with Isabel
at lunch. Again, fans might find this interesting. The "Save
Yourself" by Sense Field music video (3:23) rounds out the extras
on disc 6. That's it for the extras and while the ones available are
alright I would've liked to have seen the scrapped gag reel and third
(unknown) featurette.
You can
select to view the show with optional English and Spanish
subtitles. Each episode runs roughly 44 minutes and is organized into twelve
chapters. A scene selections menu is featured, but no "play all
episodes" option. A paper insert features an introduction by Jason
Katims regarding the newly selected music for this DVD release.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I'm recommending this
first season DVD set because the show is at least intriguing at the
beginning and picks up towards the end despite a slow and barely
decent middle section. Fox's video/audio is quite good, and the extras
are good to have but not wholly informative or very interesting,
except the Area 51 documentary. Roswell fans should pick up
this set without question. For everyone else, specifically those who
like sci-fi and teen dramas, the show is a recommend rental.
