Liz Ortecho, a tough, smart Latina woman who has spent the last decade working in the big city on bioresearch returns home to the small town of Roswell, New Mexico for a reunion and gets a lot more than she bargained for.

Confession: although I grew up fascinated by tales of the UFO landing at Roswell, I never read the Roswell High series of books this show is derived from, nor watched the 1999-2002 television show based on them. So I came to this completely clear and anything I have to say has no reflection on its relation (if any) to either.

The show sets out its stall fairly early with regards to how heavily it’s going to lean into current events as a metaphor for its own premise, when Liz gets stopped at a roadblock on her way into town and, seeing ICE vans nearby, goes into a rage at the officer who’s pulled her over for (she’s sure) ‘being Latina’ before she is brought to an abrupt halt as she recognises the man behind the flashlight. It’s the first of several overt jabs in the direction of the current occupant of the Oval Office, and whereas I’ll give it credit for trying, and I’m not averse to politics bleeding into my entertainment (especially genre), it never really quite sticks the landing, feeling like someone wanted to get it in there to make the show more appealing to what they imagined will be its core demographic.

Judging from the title, and what it’s based on, it’s not a spoiler to say that yes, in this show aliens are real, although in this case they look just like the rest of us, are prone to many of the same vices, fears and qualities as humans, and largely have had to learn about their own abilities via trial and error as they have grown up on Earth trying to simply blend in.

That right there is an interesting idea, and set against a contemporary backdrop and the current huge conversation occurring across the Atlantic about immigration and ‘illegal aliens’, it could have been made into something really quite sophisticated. Unfortunately, it shows no signs at this early stage that it really knows how. Most of the exposition is done in the form of clunky dialogue exchanges, characters behave in ways that don’t make any sense whatsoever for actual people and the FX work is sub-par at best.

There are some nice touches. Amber Midthunder (of Legion fame) puts in the occasional flashback appearance as Liz’s late wild-child sister Rosa, in a role that wastes that actor’s talents (seriously, I would have switched Midthunder with lead Jeanine Mason who really lacks the screen presence or charisma to carry her role), there’s a relationship that’s nice to see and would be more of a surprise if the show wasn’t falling over itself with glee to signpost it a good ten minutes prior to the ‘big reveal’ and honestly I like the idea of a show about Aliens who fell to Earth and are just trying to fit in and be as ordinary as possible while being possessed of fantastical powers.

If anything, the episode feels like it’s been made by people who aren’t sure they’re going to get a full series order. It’s too dense with reveals, with too much being thrust upon our protagonists (and the viewer) too quickly, so that nothing really feels organic or like it’s got time to breathe, more like everything’s being rushed out to the table as quickly as possible. It’s a shame, because it does seem like there’s potential in the concept, but early signs are, this is one to miss.

Verdict: Falling over itself to be relevant without ever really feeling like it grapples with the concepts with which it flirts, and packed full of clunky dialogue and way too much happening too quickly. Needs to start pacing itself, and fast. 4/10

Greg D. Smith