Isobel continues down a risky path in her search for some feeling of control over her life. Jenna returns to town and shakes things up in more ways than one. Rosa’s increased drinking and risk-taking blows up in a big way.

Starting with a flashback, we get slightly more of an idea this week just why it is that the army in general and Master Sergeant Manes in particular nurse a particular hatred of aliens. That flashback alone gives us more information about the 1947 night of the crash, though it still leaves us with plenty of questions as well.

Back in the present day, a large chunk of the episode is taken up by Isobel continuing her amateur attempts at using the anti-alien toxin to perform her own abortion and get rid of Noah’s child once and for all. Oddly, having sort of lightly danced around the subject last time out, here Roswell goes all in, with Isobel having a conversation with what may or may not be a figment of her imagination about the wrongs and rights, and the wider context of the real-world political debate on the matter. I won’t say it’s clumsy – the show handles it as well as it can and Lily Cowles does an excellent job with what can at times be slightly leaden dialogue, and it gets broken up in the middle by an encounter that shows for all her current grief and struggle, Isobel is still whip smart and possessed of a quick brain and not a little sense of humour.

Elsewhere, Alex continues to try to find out more about Michael’s mother, probing and manipulating his father in hopes of revelation. This leads to an expansion of the opening flashback and a feeling that maybe things back in ’47 weren’t quite as clear cut as we might have been led to believe all this time. Interesting stuff indeed.

Rosa’s increasingly erratic and self-destructive behaviour – goaded let’s not forget by the fact of her sister’s dead alien boyfriend communing with her (and there’s a sentence no reviewer probably ever expects to write) meanwhile, is only ever headed for one destination. It’s not a surprise that she ends up being found out, but it’s pretty awkward who it is that finds her and what implications that has for our cosy little collective of true-believers in this sleepy New Mexico town.

Jenna’s return proves just how good a character she is, and how much we’ve missed Riley Voelkel’s portrayal of her. She and Liz talking about Max should be the most awkward thing ever – instead it’s something which bonds the two women, Jenna too smart and world-wise to stoop to jealousy or the like, Liz too honestly invested in her work and way too emotionally honest to even consider feeling threatened by her lover’s ex. Watching the two of them share stories reminds the audience once again that, for all that this is a show about aliens and their fantastical powers, it’s also a mature look at human relationships and interactions. And a very welcome one, in these troubled times.

Verdict: Surprisingly human for a show about extra-terrestrials. 9/10

Greg D. Smith