After three seasons of alien teen drama, the original Roswell series came to a close – here’s how season 3 episode 18 ended the series. Roswell was recently rebooted by The CW as Roswell, New Mexico which – like the original series – was adapted from the young adult book series Roswell High by author Melinda Metz. Unlike the original series, the characters in Roswell, New Mexico are in their late twenties rather than their teens, but the changes don’t seem to have hurt the reboot which is expected to air its second season in 2020.
For TV viewers of a certain vintage, however, the original Roswell is still a fond memory despite its recent rebooting. The series aired between 1999 and 2002 and followed Max Evans (Jason Behr), his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and their friend Michael (Brendan Fehr) – three teens who are trying to keep the fact they’re the aliens who crash-landed in Roswell in 1947 a secret. With the help of their non-alien friends and sometime love interests Liz (Shiri Appleby), Maria (Majandra Delfino), Alex (Colin Hanks) and Kyle (Nick Wechsler) the extra-terrestrial trio manage to keep their true identities largely under wraps – or at least for the first two seasons of the show.
In the show’s third season the FBI was hot on the teen aliens’ collective tail and it all came to a head in Roswell season 3 episode 18. Titled “Graduation”, the finale saw Liz starting to possess alien-like abilities when she found herself able to predict the future. More worryingly, one of Liz’s premonitions features herself, Max, Isabel, and Michael all getting shot to death by special agents.
Accordingly, the gang makes plans to leave town after their high school graduation which leads to some emotional farewells between Michael and his girlfriend Maria, as well as Isabel and her husband Jesse (Adam Rodríguez). Unfortunately, it turns out the FBI has arranged a set up at their graduation but thanks to a dramatic intervention by Michael on the back of a motorcycle, the group is able to escape.
At the end of Roswell season 3 episode 18, Jesse supplies the gang with a VW and Maria and Kyle decide to ditch their relatively normal lives behind to go on the run with Liz, Max, Michael, and Isabel. They escape into the night with the help of Kyle’s dad Sheriff Valenti (William Sadler) and a flash-forward ends Roswell on a happy note that sees the group living happily on the lam as Liz and Max tie the knot.