A year has passed since the climactic events at Roswell which culminated in the death of Jesse Mains, but has everyone successfully moved on?

It’s been so long since I saw the season finale of the second series of Roswell New Mexico that I had honestly forgotten a lot of what had happened, and this opener to season 3 doesn’t give the viewer a lot of time before thrusting them headlong into all sorts of groundwork for what I suspect are the main plot threads to come.

Liz is now in LA, working as a researcher doing work that might help paraplegics learn to walk again. Only, the people she’s working for are more interested in money than anything else, and she quickly finds that her scientific principles aren’t matched by them, leading to all sorts of adventures with hunky co-worker Heath. Has she forgotten all about her Roswell-based paramour Max, after he destroyed all her illicit research? Well, no, as is clear from a conversation she has with Kyle, Max is never far from her mind, and though the anger at what he did is there, it seems to have been replaced by something much more corrosive – resentment that he didn’t come to LA to try to win her back.

Turns out he may have a good reason though. Not only is there the little matter of his doppelganger in the cave, which he and his siblings have managed to contain for now, but Max is carrying a much bigger secret which he’s hiding from everyone he loves. The heart he took from Noah isn’t all he might have hoped, and Max may well not be very long for this world.

Michael is still apparently single and lonely, and that’s not helped when Alex comes back to town and immediately hooks up with Forrest. But Forrest is interested in more than jus a booty call – he’s been recruited by a top secret outfit doing dangerous work, and they have an interest in his boyfriend. But is Alex interested in joining (again) after spending the best part of a year clearing up the mess left behind by his father and local town hero’ Jesse Mains?

Maria is still refusing to wear her special bracelet, meaning that she’s suffering more visions and getting a bit worse with each one. The latest one terrifies her because it’s of a funeral, with many of her friends and loved ones in attendance, but who’s in the casket, how did they get there, and why is one of them lamenting a specific thing which sounds fairly familiar?

And Rosa has an unfortunate encounter with none other than Wyatt Long at her art therapy class which it turns out he’s been court mandated to attend. Of course he recognises Rosa when he finally spots her, and perhaps her bluster and lies won’t work this time.

Yes, there’s an awful lot going on in this first episode, and a lot of questions being set up to which we will hopefully get some answers. One thing is for sure – it’s not going to be dull and there’s going to be a lot of heartache to come for everyone. But then, that’s why we love it!

Verdict: Barely pauses for breath setting up a lot of new stuff while assuming you basically remember everything that happened last season. I recommend at least a re-watch of the last episode of Season 2 before getting into this, to make life easier. Still solid stuff though. 8/10

Greg D. Smith