Fearing that his identity will be uncovered, Max is conflicted when a town-wide power outage leaves patients at the hospital in need of help. Liz turns to Kyle after learning details about the night Rosa died. Isobel and Michael come up with a plan to deal with Liz. Master Sergeant Manes seeks help from an unlikely source.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of The CW's Roswell, New Mexico.
"Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" was written by Sabir Pirzada & Christopher Hollier and directed by Lance Anderson
There was the sense that Max knocking out all of the power in the town would lead to devastating consequences throughout Roswell. It would showcase just how toxic his feelings for Liz have become. And yet, there really isn't a whole lot of that on display throughout this episode. There is really only one major side effect to the power outage. There is a kid in the hospital who will die unless the power comes back on. Max doesn't use his powers to heal this young boy. However, he doesn't intervene to get things back up and running at the hospital. He has the power to do so. He can do more than simply offering supplies. However, he ultimately ends this episode truly believing that it was a mistake to tell Liz about his true identity. He only believes that because he has learned that Kyle also knows the truth. He sees the doctor as competition for Liz's love. As such, that's fueling a lot of his decisions as of late. Of course, he is casually okay with Isobel using her powers to get Liz out of town and stop asking questions about the night that Rosa died. There is still so much mystery and speculation around that night. This hour only inches that investigation forward a little bit. More details are coming out about what everyone was actually up to during that tragedy. Rosa was hiding from Isobel for some reason. That appears to be the reason why Maria hates her in the present. She blames her for Rosa's death even though she knows absolutely nothing about the alien connection to all of this. And yet, she is also able to pinpoint Isobel's deepest insecurities of not being able to give her husband exactly what he wants out of life. She doesn't wish to subject someone else to this secretive and oppressive life that she has with her makeshift family. She can't be honest about that either. That's an internal struggle that is currently keeping her from fully embracing her powers as well. She is testing things to see how far she can go but is only confronted by the horrors and mysteries of the past. The same can also be said of Liz as she talks with more people who can offer some sense as to what was happening in Rosa's life during those final weeks. She meets Rosa's ex-boyfriend who was also a drug addict and who is currently working the program. He reveals that Rosa was planning on running away the night she died apparently because of the guy she was secretly seeing at the time. Liz compares the handwriting of a note to her old yearbook and learns that it was likely Kyle's father. That's not something that Kyle wants to accept at all. Of course, the accusation doesn't stop the two of them from having sex with each other. That is a manipulative moment where they are trying to be what the other needs while still masking their pain. It's certainly a whole lot easier to buy into that argument though than what is currently motivating the romantic yearning between Liz and Max. That pairing still seems incredibly toxic and destructive. Liz knows that Max is hurting and probably caused the power outage. She is choosing to stay in Roswell in order to take care of her father. But all of these questions will remain a priority until some clarity comes into focus. That may fix the problems she has been running away from for a long time. It just means there is that empty tease at the conclusion of the hour with Michael saying he'll confess to killing the girls because he was the one who actually did it. The show wants that to be a bombshell final line for the hour. However, it still appears to be vague enough so that the show can ultimately walk it back in saying that Michael killed the girls everyone assumed Rosa did but not Rosa herself. Again, clarity is what's necessary in order for all of this to snap into better focus.
