Liz starts to panic as she notices a significant change within herself. Max and Isobel team up for a rescue mission when they realise who Clyde’s intended target may be. Michael is determined to save Alex no matter the cost.

Now this feels like a penultimate episode. Stakes are through the roof, surprises are happening everywhere – my only question is how on earth they plan to wrap this season, let alone this show, in one remaining hour of television.

Let’s start with Liz, now off the Alien Mist and in the equivalent of a twelve step programme for alien brain-altering chemicals. Liz Ortecho has one certainty above all else in her life – her sister, her father, even Max, all are secondary to one solid foundation she has: her amazing science brain. So, what if that brain was suddenly not as reliable as she’s used to? What if she even started forgetting how to do basic bits of science? What purpose does a scientific genius who has to google basic scientific terminology serve?

Making that question even trickier of course is the fact that Liz and Kyle are supposed to be the brains in Operation Take Down Clyde. No pressure at all then, just an alien madman on the loose and all their friends and loved ones trapped in a pocket dimension. Oh yeah, about that…

Having worked out that Clyde isn’t after what – or rather who – they had assumed, Isobel and Max decide to leap into the pocket dimension themselves and perform a rescue. Max, newly re-powered, is still a little twitchy about his self-control with regards to the Blue Flame, but a quick bit of training gives him just about enough confidence. Trouble is, when they get to the other side, a storm is coming. One of the ending everything in sight variety, and it’s speeding up as it gets closer to them and their friends.

Michael is thinking only with his heart as he drops a bombshell on Alex and then focuses on how to re-power the console with the fruit trees burned. His eventual solution is a typical one for the character, but even with all his brains, can he and the others outsmart Kyle and will there really be a way to ensure that he and Alex get a happily ever after?

All this is without factoring in Shivani, determined to be the fly in everyone’s ointment because of her obsession with reviving her daughter. Having teamed up with Clyde, she’s possibly engineered an even greater danger for the gang than anyone could possibly have realised. When it does become clear, it leaves us looking forward to an epic showdown in the finale, although as the credits roll, it seems like it might take several miracles to get everyone home safely from this one.

Whereas this still feels a little tightly packed, both with action and revelations, the episode as a whole works because of the raw emotion between the characters. Liz and Max, Michael and Alex, Isobel and Kyle – there’s so much going on here with all these couples and on top of that we have Maria, Dallas and Bonnie going through their own stuff, plus the alien siblings and their complex familial relationships. Roswell has always been, at its heart, a show about relationships and connections beyond everything else, and this episode encapsulates that well. I’ll miss these guys when they’re gone.

Verdict: Powering up for a packed finale. 9/10

Greg D. Smith