As Liz, Michael and Isobel each grieve for the loss of Max in their own ways, they must also maintain the pretence of sorrow at Noah’s death and cover for Max’s absence. Meanwhile Liz must deal with the duelling emotions of regaining her big sister at the same moment as she lost the love of her life.

Roswell ended its debut season pretty spectacularly, even if it did slightly overstuff its finale. Season 2 hits the ground running, with the fallout of Noah and Max’s deaths and the resurrection of Rosa powering much of the drama.

For Isobel, there’s the challenge of putting on the face of public mourning of her husband, while covering the very real and raw grief she feels at the loss of her brother. The ways in which she chooses to deal with this are not exactly healthy, and this isn’t helped by the fact that she can’t get her husband Noah out of her head for some reason.

Michael meanwhile deals with things the way he tends to, by drinking heavily, getting into fights and generally being as self-destructive as possible. His relationship with Alex – who seems intent on carrying on his work digging into his father’s project – is about as good as his relationship with Maria. Both are reaching out to him, but he’s in the frame of mind for neither.

Then there’s Liz, literally torn between heartbreak at the death of Max and joy at the return of Rosa. Having elected to leave town and start a new life somewhere else where her sister won’t have to hide, she’s basically on her way when fate starts to intervene. Turns out that her sister’s constant nightmares might not simply be a product of her resurrection.

If anything it starts to feel a little like it’s straining at the seams a little like the last episode of the previous season, but somehow this episode feels a little more balanced, even as it’s throwing exposition and new ideas and twists at the viewer as it goes. One thing is certain – anyone who worried about what they might do with these characters after the maiden season’s arc concluded needn’t have been concerned, on the evidence of this season opener.

Verdict: Emotional, surprising and genuine. It’s a real pleasure to welcome this show back. 8/10

Greg D. Smith