In the aftermath of the events of last week’s episode, Max is still signed off work and Liz doesn’t want much to do with him, throwing herself into her work instead. A visit from Alex reminds Liz there’s more to life than work. Max and Michael worry what to do about Isobel. Cameron struggles with whether or not to take Manes up on his offer.

Last week, Roswell surprised me with some twists I didn’t see coming that made for a genuinely compelling story. Now that it’s let those twists out of the bag, though, it needs to rely on decent writing and making the most out of its core concept. Happily, it manages this quite well.

I was hopeful early on in the episode when Liz finally let rip at Max as to why she was so angry with him and for the first time I felt that the parallels in narrative between the Max and his siblings and the current state of play in the USA vis a vis immigrants was actually being put to a good and interesting use. But it turned out from there it got better.

Alex arrives in Liz’s office to remind her that there’s a life outside her own problems, and that leads to a fascinating parallel story as we see Liz and her friend Maria hanging out with Maria’s mother Mimi, who it seems is not at all well, and it contrasts nicely with Michael and Max’s struggles as to what they should do about Isobel. This is a story about how sometimes loving someone isn’t enough – how sometimes steps need to be taken to get help from others and that seeking that help isn’t in any way giving up but rather embracing reality.

En route to that conclusion (on both sides) we get some heart-wrenching conversations, some touching interactions and a whole bunch of acting that makes me think either I was seriously hoodwinked earlier on in the series or at some point these actors and writers really started upping their game. Either way, there’s genuine, raw emotion in almost every scene and it’s a pleasure to see.

And there’s Cameron, who is torn between her affection for Max as a partner as well as an occasional booty call and the offer from Manes that might get her back into the sort of life she’s used to. A random discovery points her in a direction she hadn’t expected and also perhaps hints for the audience’s benefit at what exactly happened during Isobel’s recent blackout but what Cameron will do with this revelation remains to be seen.

Verdict: I give in, I’m hooked. It had a shaky start but this show has really found its groove all of a sudden and I for one am here for it. 8/10   

Greg D. Smith