Have you caught your breath yet?
Talk about one hell of a cliffhanger! Roswell, New Mexico Season 3 Episode 13 left viewers with a plethora of questions and SHIRI APPLEBY! That’s right, the OG Liz was on-screen, and the reveal gave me goosebumps!
Here is part two of my conversations with EP Christopher Hollier and Michael Vlamis, which takes a closer look at the finale and peek at what’s ahead.
There was a tremendous amount of information dumped on the audience throughout those two hours, with Roswell, New Mexico Season 3 Episode 12 being the softer of the two, with a greater focus on the quieter moments between characters.
Hour two was heavier on the action but still gave us some beautiful scenes as well.
When asked about the importance of including those moments into a science-fiction show, Hollier remarked, “It’s very important. We always break from a place of character, right? And we were also looking too, like what are all of our final battle moments?
“Because if Jones is so big and bad, then someone might not come out of it. What are the things that you want to say that are left unsaid so that you understand what you’re fighting for? Explosions have to matter. We always joke. But that being said, we also wanted to challenge ourselves with a big father-son fight.
“And so we actually shot that even though it’s only three minutes’ worth of time, it took us two nights to shoot that. And it took us several weeks to actually map it out, storyboard it, discuss it. And so we wanted to do both. We felt like the episode’s not complete unless people were crying and gasping.”
And I think he accomplished his goal, alright.
There were also some cool pairings in the hour (and throughout the season), like Max and Alex, that fans will undoubtedly love. Much as they loved seeing Rosa and Michael hang out earlier in the season.
As Hollier told it, “I love that as well. And part of that was born out of the pandemic and getting actors in and really looking at the great people we had and being like, “How can we give them something new and how can we keep this fresh?”
“And one of the ways to do that is to do these pairings. Like for example, Amber Midthunder had never stood in the junkyard for a scene before. So, we’re like, “You know what? We’re going to put her there, and we’re going to give her some work to do with Michael.”
“So that was one of our favorites. We loved watching Kyle and Isobel interact with each other. You mentioned Alex and Max. It came up in the room. I’m like, “Those two guys have never had a scene together. We got to give them one.”
“That was one of my favorites as well.”
Both hours were framed around one singular focus, which was to finally break the bond between Jones and Max so they could eliminate Jones for good. And in the end, the good guys got their wish.
Though, is this the last we’ll see of Jones? By far the best villain the show has seen to date, and played to perfection by Nathan Dean, Hollier spoke about whether there was ever a plan to keep the dictator past this season.
“Here’s the thing. He is so fun, and Nathan crushed it playing it. I know it’s tiring doing that. And also, we as writers, and I think the audience, even though he’s delicious, will want something new. He was great for what he was.
“Again, we might not have seen the last of him. We do tell a lot of flashbacks, and we do jump to the home planet. So, for those people that are big Jones fans, you might get to see a little bit more of him, but he’s not the main villain of next season.”
That climax with Jones was also a bit of a labor of love for the cast who got to all film together, with Hollier remarking, “We spent so much time last year being away from each other.
“It brought such joy, I think, to our actors and selves to be able to do scenes like that. So hopefully, that translates to our audience wanting to see them together as well.”
While Jones didn’t make it through the finale, many of our couples ended the season in a great place which was a considerable departure from the end of Roswell, New Mexico Season 2.
When asked about that departure, Hollier replied, “We had two goals when we said this, that we, given what was going on in the world, we didn’t want to end in doom and gloom. We wanted to end with people happy.
“We wanted hope ultimately to win out. And so that was important for us as a message to put through, as our world is very complicated. So that was the goal. The other thing that we wanted to do is we wanted to give the audience and ourselves other places to write to.
“Just because you fall in love and get that that person to stand with you doesn’t mean that things are easy, doesn’t mean that you’re built to go the distance. And so, it gives us a whole new section to open up complications for each of those couples, and we would get to root for them in different ways now.”
For Liz and Max, their journey was always at the forefront for the writers.
“It was really looking at our poster couple first and saying like, “Where have we left and what have they wrestled with for two years? And if they really are going to go the distance, how do we get them to ask those tough questions and grow towards each other? They need to grow up and then to each other.”
“So, that’s where we started. And then we also started with a little romantic comedy fun of like, let’s delay that kiss until episode 13.”
Fan-favorite couple Malex got to walk away together on their own terms, and it was a moment many years in the making. Speaking about their reunion this season, Vlamis was excited to go on this journey with such an available scene partner in the other half of Malex, Tyler Blackburn.
“I think it’s so cool. I would’ve loved to have more scenes with him in the first six episodes. I mean, we didn’t even get together, we didn’t even have a scene till episode 3. But I think that probably just kind of created a little bit more hype. But I mean, I’ve loved it so much.We’ve gone through every emotion.
“We’ve gone through every scenario that a breakup or relationship, in general, could go through. We’ve gotten to play just so many moments in my life are put into Roswell. So many real-life moments are put in on-screen when I’m with Tyler, and I know he’s doing the same, and Tyler is available as any actor can be.
“So we’re literally just on this rollercoaster of, oh, we love each other, but we hate each other right now. Or we fully love each other right now, or we’re just friends right now, but we protect each other, and we’re safe around each other.
“Every side of the spectrum, I mean we even had a freaking three-way, you know what I’m saying? Like they give us everything, it’s insane.”
For Vlamis, he watched this season right along with us each week, thanks to a trusty antenna. And he spoke humbly about watching the prior season while in the middle of shooting season 4.
“Oh, you know what, I love it. I know some actors are a little hesitant to watch themselves. I’m not going to lie; I’m the complete opposite. I think I find so much joy in watching myself and seeing what works, what doesn’t work.
“Oh, on that day, I related this scene to this memory of whatever, and oh my God, it’s working so well. Or, oh, I did this, and it’s not, you know. Like you get to learn so much. I can watch something objectively and totally. I can watch something as a viewer.
“But it’s fun because I like watching myself too because on the day I do the take, I do every scene so different that sometimes I think they get a little annoyed that everything’s so different, but I love it because when I watch the episode, it’s so cool to see what they picked.
“And I would say a lot of the time they picked something that I did that maybe wasn’t in the script. But the writers, they set the platform for me to get to that point. I always hit the words, but sometimes they let me go have a little bit of fun, and whether they let me or not, I just do it. And sometimes it makes the episode.
“It’s just really exciting to know that when I sit down to watch something, I’m as surprised as the viewers because I did the take ten different ways, and I have no idea what it’s going to be. So that’s such a thrill. And when you’re watching, for me, it just creates hype. Every Monday, I’ve watched it live with my antenna.
“I went to Best Buy, and I bought a $35 antenna, and that’s how I’m watching the show every week. So, it’s really special for me to have Roswell to look forward to, to watch every week while filming, because I’m such a fan of the show.”
Well, the fans, along with Vlamis, were surely blown away by that final frame, which sets up a plethora of questions and possibilities as we head into the hiatus.
As for THAT moment and what’s ahead, Hollier teased, “I’m excited for people to react. I think they’re going to have a great reaction to that moment and not really be thinking about it or seeing it coming.
“And then I would remind the audience that the very first image and the first window into any story often isn’t where that story goes. So, I’m excited for people to speculate for a few months of what they think is happening and let them come back and see how we turn that whole thing on its head.”
Well, if that isn’t a doozy of a tease!
I didn’t ask Vlamis for any season 4 teases as we were running well over time, but I did ask him what he was most excited for the fans to see in the finale, and this exchange is too pure to not post in its entirety.
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What are you excited for the audience to see in this finale coming up?
Vlamis: Oh man, honestly, I’m so excited to see the scene where my stomach gets stapled. I’m so stoked on that scene. I’m like, did they leave it in? Like, is it in there? Like, is it awesome? You saw it.
I’m not going to lie. I closed my eyes a little bit when I watched it.
Vlamis: I remember one take, there’s no way they did it, but you know, that’s a big wound. She needed to staple me a couple times, probably, to close that.
I think they only show one, but yeah.
Vlamis: Okay. Okay. So, on the day when she stapled me, I yelled. She did it, and then I yelled, “Again!” like super loud. I was just hoping to God like because it would be so funny if they put that in there, but I’m sure it just, you know, there’s time constraints.
All right. We don’t need an extra “again,” we don’t need another staple in the stomach, but I actually am also really excited for the face-off scene in the bunker with Jones and Michael. When Michael all of a sudden starts basically overpowering Jones. I think that is such an amazing moment.
Yeah!
Vlamis: They sent me the scenes last night to watch before these, but you know, we shot till midnight, and then I jumped on a plane to come to a wedding. I got like two hours of sleep. So, I haven’t even seen it.
I’m so excited to see it. But remembering just the beating Michael Guerin takes in these episodes is unbelievable. And I mean, I just cannot wait. The guy’s a machine. He should have been dead like 80 times.
The thing that I know is going to be probably the most tweeted about, the most talked about, is taking that bandana off and holding Alex’s hand and right in front of his dad’s statue. And I hope they left that scene exactly how I think they’re going to leave it, which I’m sure they did.
Lance Anderson, the director, he knows what he is doing. And that’s just a huge moment. That’s been building for three seasons.
Yeah. It really has. It turns out beautifully.
It’s kind of our first date. Oh, great! Great. Yeah, in the same spot where I saw Forrest get off the bus and kiss him.
The whole season comes full circle.
Vlamis: It really does. It truly does.
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And with that, we wait for Roswell, New Mexico Season 4 to come barreling back into our lives and continue the forward momentum of this spectacular season!
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.