This week’s episode of Roswell, New Mexico highlights the importance of women’s emotions, their feelings and their choices. We finally get to see flashbacks to the aftermath of the 1947 crash and the beginning of how Michael’s, and possibly Isobel and Max’s, mothers protected them. Cam helps Liz relieve her pent-up anger towards Max. While Mimi is finally back home, Maria is now faced with the fact that her friends have been lying to her. Rosa’s still struggling to cope with everything as she takes a deep dive into alcohol. The most important piece of this episode, though, is Isobel’s choice to self-abort her baby and the consequences of such actions, which highlights a real world hot-topic issue.
A Mother’s Protection
There’s nothing a mother won’t do to protect her children. We see this unfold as more details are revealed about the 1947 crash when Alex exploits his father’s vulnerability to get more information. According to Sgt. Manes the night didn’t go smoothly. Just when Tripp, an army medic there that night, has Michael’s mother in his grasp, a friend of hers, presumably Isobel and Max’s mother, comes to her rescue with the use of her powers. Both women get shot but manage to get away in one of the army trucks and their children (in pods) in the back. In the present, Alex and Michael learn that Michael’s mom disappeared for a year before getting captured, leaving Michael wondering where she went and why neither woman (there’s no evidence of the other surviving) came back for them. In a flashback at the end of the episode, though, we see the two women come upon a house where a man comes out and offers them help. I can’t wait to see this story unfold. 😊
“Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms”
A few episodes back, I believed that Liz was past the anger stage of grief, but now it’s clear she’s doing her best to hide her emotions. Instead, she’s focusing on the science of saving Max and helping Rosa cope. That is until Cam comes back to town and learns of Max’s death. Sensing that Liz could use some “unhealthy coping mechanisms”, she takes her somewhere to blow off some steam by shooting a gun and drinking whiskey (Cam) and wine (Liz). They bond over mocking Max’s habits, mannerisms and bad Spanish. Liz gets emotional after she recalls a story and Cam notes that he was trying to impress her. “I wish he’d known he didn’t have to do that. He was enough.” – CUE ME CRYING! – That emotion then turns to anger as Liz wonders why he didn’t ask her before reviving Rosa. “There are some choices people should never have to make,” Liz says after Cam questions if she would’ve stopped him. This anger towards Max’s brash decision seems to be a common theme as Isobel voices her anger about it in this episode as well.
Good Liars
One thing that Teen Wolf reiterated is that “it’s always better when they know”, meaning don’t leave your friends/loved ones out of the loop. Michael and Liz (and, I’m sure, Alex and Kyle) are learning this lesson the hard way this week as Maria learns the truth when she finds Rosa digging for booze at The Wild Pony. Needless to say, she’s angry, hurt and disappointed in her friends. Liz tries to assure her that they were just trying to protect her, but Maria quickly argues that she never feels safe in Roswell anyways. She even sleeps with a knife under her pillow. And here she was thinking she had drunkenly made a fool of herself at the gala (last season), but it was really her friends making a fool of her. Now, she needs time. Who can blame her?
The cherry on top of this? Mimi is found safe and sound standing in the middle of the road by the Roswell sign. Cam nearly runs her over, but thankfully, she takes her to the hospital to get checked out. Since Mimi believes she was only gone one night (it was a month) and has no clear answers as to where she was, except that she’s safe and unharmed, it raises the question of if she was abducted by aliens. When Maria confesses to her mom that she’s feeling lost, Mimi assures her that she’ll never get lost like her. She’s protected, seemingly by her necklace. Maria takes the necklace off and places it on her mother. This story arc is a slow one, and I can’t wait to find out what’s going on with Mimi.
Figment of Imagination
Even though Roswell, New Mexico is very much a fantasy/sci-fi show, one thing the writers don’t shy away from are hot button, real life issues. This episode is no different as it discusses a grim reality that so many women face: unwanted pregnancies and not having the option to have an abortion the healthy way. As we’ve seen in the last few episodes, Isobel is pregnant with Noah’s baby. Having no option to go to a doctor, she’s started micro-dosing the alien-killing serum to self-abort the baby. However, when she notices that the micro-dosing isn’t working, she takes more, which brings forth “a figment of her imagination” – Max. He attempts to talk some sense into her, saying that this isn’t safe. It could kill her. But Isobel argues that she’ll be fine once she takes the antidote after the baby is gone. Still, Max isn’t on board.
I know there’s a lot of heated arguments concerning pro-choice and pro-life, and I’m not about to get into one of those here, but the reality is that if a woman doesn’t have the professional/medical options to end an unwanted pregnancy, she will most likely resort to possibly life-threatening options. Fantasy show or not, Isobel is resorting to her only option, which is very life-threatening for her. This isn’t about not wanting to be a mother for Isobel. It’s about not wanting it “inflicted upon” her. It’s about the way Noah manipulated his way into her mind and body. It’s about being able to recover from the damage he caused. It’s about being the only one who will love her and come to her own rescue.
As powerful and emotional as Isobel’s speech to Max is, the dangerous reality of self-abortion quickly shows as she starts bleeding profusely. Max tells her to get the antidote, but she’s too weak. She falls to the floor and passes out. Unable to do anything else as “a figment of imagination”, Max calls upon Rosa to get help. Thankfully, Liz is able to get to Isobel and give her the antidote. When back on the mend, they discuss Isobel’s anger at Max for leaving her, but Liz assures her that he hasn’t. She informs Isobel that Michael has rigged something to help Max improve while in the pod and how he was able to communicate with Rosa that she was in trouble. It’s then that Isobel realizes that, if it weren’t for Max, she’d have died and become a statistic.
Notable Mentions
- There’s a faceless man over Michael’s mom’s shoulder before things went haywire in 1947.
- “This whole platonic acquaintance thing is new to me, so I can’t just flip a switch from tortured lust to “sup bro” overnight.”
- A few cute Maria/Michael scenes before her world implodes made me giddy.
- “I am officially out of ideas on how to comfort my dead boyfriend’s ex-lover.”
- “Do you think I want to come back to a world without you?”
- “I lose you 100 times a day.”
- Valenti is still investigating Noah’s death.
- “I fell for him after I knew the truth.”
- “I love you. I am so happy you’re here. We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to be okay.” – Liz to Rosa
Roswell, New Mexico airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW!
Featured Image: IMDb