20 Years...
I really wanted a cool subtitle, but I couldn’t decide on one, so here are a few options...
“The bigger your world gets, the bigger your problems get too…” ~1x05 “Missing”
“What’s so great about normal?” ~1x14 “Blind Date”
“It’s all just magic…” ~1x14 “Blind Date”
“The future is to be determined…” ~2x05 “The End of the World”
It’s such an interesting time to be reflecting back on 20 years ago today, when Roswell (of the OG variety) premiered on WB… a network that doesn’t even exist anymore. A few weeks ago I was looking through my livejournal archives, and I stumbled across my post from 10 years ago today. So I’d like to start by sharing that.
That was a decade ago now, and it sort of feels like nothing has changed, but at the same time everything has changed. I still look back on that day 20 years ago as one of the most formative days of my life. It put my on the path of my adult life and led me to where I am today. I’ll be forever grateful for that. No regrets.
But at the same time, in the last decade, I’ve lost some of those people that I was referring to above. It was incredibly painful and put me in a place where I questioned a lot of my life choices for a long time. I really had to battle through some dark times in the last 5 or so years, and it was rough. I’m incredibly grateful to be in a better place today.
And where am I today? Let’s start with happy. Also retrospective. I found some good quotes to reflect my headspace today as I reflect on this anniversary... More photos…
It’s been a little less than 10 months since Roswell, New Mexico (which we used to call the Roswell Reboot) premiered. I don’t think I was prepared for it, really. I certainly never thought that Roswell would ever get remade. I closed the door on that part of my life a long time ago.
When I heard that they were remaking it, I was a little angry at first, and skeptical that it would really go to series. But then it did. I think going in my main feeling was nervous energy. I think I wanted to like it, but I was afraid I was going to hate it.
I definitely didn’t expect the reimagining of the series to be so damn compelling for me.
In the end I’ll say that it’s really damn hard to compare the two shows because they’re so different, and I’m so different. OG Roswell was the perfect show for me when I was 18, just out of high school, depressed, lonely, and in need of a new beginning.
This was that girl, by the way... out in the world having Roswell adventures when she was 19-21.
Roswell, New Mexico is the perfect show for me at 38, during a career and life transition, when I really need some inspiration and something to make me feel again after years of heartbreak. Not to mention a distraction from work because I have some serious workaholic tendencies.
Still, when I really truly love a story like Roswell, I often say that I wish that I could experience watching it for the first time all over again. Because the reaction and response is so pure and exciting the first time through. And it is truly impossible to have that experience a second time.
Except in a lot of ways, even though they're so different, that's sort of what Roswell, New Mexico feels like. Maybe it's more of the feelings around the show than the content of the show itself. Except for the pilot, which is generally the same story with a few tweaks and changes. But it's also the relationship and shipping Max and Liz. Because even though the characters are very different, their relationship is very reflective of the original show. And my God, even 20 years and a new cast hasn’t changed the fact that the way Max Evans looks at Liz make me feel all sorts of feels (pun intended).
Or maybe it's just my amazement at how thoroughly Liz Ortecho won me over in the first act of the new show, between the fight she had in her when she mistakenly thought that a racist cop was pulling her over to check that she was legal for ICE, and how that fire melted away when she saw Max's face. Her relationship with her dad, and the way she adorably danced around the cafe to Counting Crows while cleaning. Dryly cutting down Trump and the wall and its impact on her life in her first extended conversation with Max.
But a little while later, when this happened? That's when I knew I was in trouble.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoijeCkLSs
So it feels like history repeating itself. Like deja vu. Like I have unfinished business with this story. The past has come back around again. And it is strange… so similar, yet so different. And I'm loving every moment of it.
To close it out, I'll use an OG quote…
“We try to live responsible, logical lives. But we can't tell our hearts how to feel. Sometimes our hearts lead us to places we never thought we wanted to go. And sometimes our hearts can be the sweetest, gentlest things we have. Sometimes our hearts can make us feel miserable, angry, excited, and confused, all at once. But at least my heart is open. And I'm writing again. I'm feeling. I'm breathing.”
~2x16 “Heart of Mine”
