Roswell, New Mexico (TV Series) Pilot (2019) User Reviews

I've watched the entirety of seasons one and two- it's a solid 8

[loveovel · 7/10 · 27 June 2020]

It seems a ton of people watched the pilot or the first few episodes of the first season and wrote the show off. I loved the original and was excited to give this a try. Personally, I liked the pilot alright, but on my first watch of it was still skeptical. It certainly wasn't perfect, 9 some of the writing was underwhelming and cheesy, though the same can be said for the original series. I was open to changes to the characters- the fact that the show is about young adults rather than high school students, that the cast is more diverse than in the original show- and I was tentatively optimistic that sticking with the show would pay off. It did.

This is a really fresh take on the basic story of the original show, and I am loving it. I won't say that the two shows can't be compared, but I will instead argue that they should be considered for what they are. Roswell, New Mexico is a reboot of the ideas about the original, not a copy. They're both great, but they're not meant to be the same. The characters are complex and dynamic, as with 9 original. The alien lore is just as intriguing. I appreciate that the creators of the reboot aren't allowing themselves to be boxed in and limited to merely following the course of the original. They've created something unique and worthwhile in its own right that still captures a lot of the spirit of the original and offers a lot of fun nostalgic moments with its 90s music and easter eggs. It was great seeing Jason Behr in the second season, and I hope we'll have more nods to the original in the future.

Good Start

[cicelypearson · 8/10 · 22 January 2019]

We cannot ignore what's happening in our world, therefore the SMALL bits of political strife is understood. I like the chemistry between Liz and Max - reminds me of the original series. I am a a little on the fence about the other characters but I'll watch along to see how it all transpires.

Good beginning

[jmlohner · 8/10 · 27 January 2019]

I loved the original and this is a good reboot, not perfect, but a good start.

You see all the 1 star ratings? those are from people who are scared of opinions that differ from their conservative ideology.

Loved every second of it.

[natalieannefranklin · 10/10 · 16 January 2019]

Solid cast with already great chemistry. I am beyond happy with the pilot episode and hope we can get a few seasons out of this show. The writing was great and I really enjoyed the effects used in editing. Also can I get a "heck yes" for all the male hotties from my past fav CW shows!? This is exactly what this 30-something year old needs on a Tuesday night.

Absolutely Love!!!

[americandrag · 10/10 · 17 January 2019]

The old Roswell echos in this spinoff. It's absolutely perfect. This spinoff has the right twists and such. I rewatched it 3 times already. Try not to judge it hard core at first sight. Yes, it's not the original Roswell, but, the original echos through this one. Give it a chance. It's going to be amazing. Plus, Shiri Applyby (the original Liz) is helping to make this show happen, in addition keeping it authentic to the original. Give it a chance.

Ouch. #hardpass

[Pixanaut · 1/10 · 16 January 2019]

Ham-fisted SJW garbage writing. Zero chemistry between the leads (any of them).

This isn't even a pale version of the first go round, it's a hollow 'echo' (as Max puts it). I don't know why it won't let me give this show a zero rating.

If you to watch a decent show, watch the original.

As for this one, #hardpass

Simply loved it.

[shiromi_j · 10/10 · 22 February 2019]

People are trying to compare with the old show. That was unique and so is this. Great show.

Next iteration

[blkhwk41 · 5/10 · 16 January 2019]

The last 'Roswell' version was far better and didn't last. I really would like to like this, But: Within the first few minutes we have the idea of poor illegal aliens being harassed by the government. 70 year mystery of real aliens landing is given away in the next few minutes. Then we move on to the 98% female protagonists. so popular now. Only planetary alien Max is shown favorably . This is just more typical millennial pap created for the 'mememe' generations Pity. but it will not make it.

Roswell for adults

[hirogryn · 8/10 · 20 May 2019]

First of all, saw the original show. I kinda liked it. But THIS first episode, i loved it! The some what grown up, political correct version of Roswell. I understand that alot of people(Trump supporters, right winged people) might hate the first episode due to it's courage to bring up problems with Trumps politics. And I think it's those people who gave this episode such a low rating. The episode itself is not bad, I guess it's just really scary for people to see PC stuff if you're not used to it. So if you disagree with Trumps politics and like scifi, this seems to be the show for us!

Ooooooh, all these young twenty somethings with secrets.....soooooo mysterious....NOT!!!!

[Ed-Shullivan · 5/10 · 16 January 2019]

Just another small town with a bunch of young people that are hot and horny for each other but some of them have to keep their pecker in their pants because their aliens? Did I say aliens? Well yes, illegal aliens from Mexico who could get deported back to Mexico by ISIS because that mean Republican U.S. President is now in charge (they don't mention him by name, but they do mention the wall).

I digress, they are referring to the other form of aliens. You know, the kind from outer space. Oooooooh, mysteries abound and so do their super powers.

What doesn't exist in this re-make of an earlier Tv series in the small town of Roswell, New Mexico though, is any good story writing. This is sort of like Beverly Hills 90201 but not in 1947 Roswell, continually referencing the political divisive climate plenty of SOAP, but no science fiction of any value. The only science fiction is that the Democratic voters still think they are dreaming. Get over it. You lost and so does Roswell, New Mexico.

Aliens.......ooooooohhhhhh. Not!!!!!

Stick with the original

[gjenevieve · 1/10 · 24 January 2019]

The actors were bad. The writing was awful. The original was a terrific show. Don't bother wasting time on this one.

Really?

[mshaffer-2 · 27 January 2019]

So, where you been? Denver, working on an experimental regenerative medicine study. We were on to something special, but of course we lost funding because someone needs money for a wall. And now I'm here...

Really? You're going to use this program to spread lies about funding a wall on the southern border? The program has potential, but not if you keep inserting liberal crap like this?

Cheap and Unsophisticated Agitprop

[adam-leemartin · 3/10 · 24 January 2019]

I've always thought that there was room for a Roswell-inspired television series with the story of Alien-invaders being told in a sophisticated and thoughtful fashion, as I found the original to be pretty disappointing back when it first aired and extraordinarily cringe worthy the last time I attempted to re-watch some of the old episodes of Roswell (which is in complete contrast to The X-Files, a show whose early episodes were running at the same time as the original Roswell and that easily stands the test of time). Unfortunately, this new incarnation appears to be wholly a product of the election of Donald Trump and was re-envisioned as nothing more than pure left-liberal SJW propaganda, as it permits the open substitution of Alien-invaders from another world for illegal aliens from south of the border. The show appears to depict America towards the tail end of Jim Crow rather than as the modern and overwhelmingly non(anti)-racist society that it, in fact, is and never misses a chance to identify whites that oppose illegal immigration as bigoted. The fearful depiction of the invading aliens as ruthless and blood-thirsty killers by a (not-coincidentally) white US military officer, run alongside the images of just how loving and, in fact, human the invading Aliens really are (as if anyone ever doubted the capacity of illegal Aliens to be, on the whole (MS-13 exempt), human), is the propaganda at its worst. The opening salvo against Trump, however, killed me. A promising scientific breakthrough sabotaged because the evil racist Orange Man wants five billion (a veritable drop in the bucket when it comes to actual budget allocations) for border security! All in all, with the increased interest in science fiction, this new incarnation of Roswell is an opportunity that has been well and truly wasted on anti-Trump hatred.

The last 5 minutes killed it for me.

[xxxNomadicxxx · 1/10 · 3 May 2019]

I never seen the original, but if someone told me about the last 5 minutes of this episode, I would have never started this series. That killed this series for me. Won't watch the rest.

Is this really a good idea?

[skteosk · 5/10 · 24 June 2020]

And so, American television's obsession with remaking 20th century shows continues, even though most of them are rubbish and get cancelled at the end of the first season or earlier. Of course, the original series was based on books and the multi-ethnic cast is probably closer to the source material than the all-white line-up of 1999. But apparently teen drama is so 1990s, even though we get a flashback to the cast completely failing to look like teenagers. (Apparently Max's designer stubble is there solely to make him look older in the present day.) The result: A bunch of adults who act like teenagers.

And of course, since it's 2019, we get commentary on the US' immigration policy both as metaphor and as reality. We also have Liz, who made it through the original without losing her virginity, nearly having ex-sex in a car; our first sight of Isobel is her in her underwear about to have kinky sex; Alex (originally a geek) is a crippled war vet who's gay lovers with Michael... (So in order to match up the three aliens with three humans, are Iz and Maria going to be gay too?) And there's a conspiracy, but I guess the original had that too.

Basically, this pilot is less of a story than a lot of set-up which alternates between mirroring the original and trying to pretend it's not it. So on the one hand, we get Liz getting shot in that waitress uniform and healed by Max. And on the other hand, we have a hint that the aliens killed Liz's sister. It might get better but this is not even approaching a promising start.