While I'm only half-way through the second season (thank you, Netflix), the most interesting (and by interesting I mean the most emotionally gut-wrenching) episode for me has got to be "End of the World." Before that episode, it would have been "The White Room." What I enjoy most about Science Fiction is how it provides a space apart from human kind to look at human kind - and humanity. It's a great mirror, not of this culture or place or sometimes not even of this time, where we can see ourselves like never before.
The White Room gave us the line, "Who's inhuman now?" from Max to Pierce, as Pierce begins torturing Max emotionally and physically. While the Roswell fans watching the show in real time in 2000 could still see the Twin Towers in New York standing, we fans today have lived through some hard times. I'm sure many of us remember the water boarding "torture or not torture" discussions of the Bush administration. Somehow, this piece of fiction makes that reality even more real. Where do we draw the line in the sand when it comes to our treatment of others, even when we feel the most threatened and the most vulnerable? When do we start losing our humanity, and what does that look like, and how can we recognize it when it's happening? The White Room painted a painful picture for us of those questions.
But The White Room wasn't, in my opinion, the most interesting story to me after I saw The End of the World. Perhaps that's because I like to explore what's positive and constructive about our humanity more than the dark side. At any rate, I don't need to tell anyone reading this board that The End of the World is all about love. And I don't just mean romantic love. But selfless, unconditional, self-sacrificing love.
There is nothing and no one that Liz's heart loves more than Max. At the beginning of the series, to be perfectly honest, this was of the puppy-dog eyed variety that was sometimes nauseatingly sweet. But all that changed with this episode.
I'm a Unitarian-Universalist, and not so into bible-speak, but I know there's a story in there where a man's faith is tested by a command to sacrifice what he loves most in the world - his son. In this episode, Liz is asked to sacrifice what she loves most in this world for the lives of others. Not only that, but she learns that, not only does she get the man of her dreams if she just continues along with her life, but she experiences the most fulfilling, loving relationship one can hope to experience. In short, it's revealed that it's not just a hope - but a guarantee - that the fulfillment of her hopes and dreams in the best possible way lies just ahead. Just within reach.
There's just one catch. In exchange for her hitting the highest of the highs, in exchange for her most soulful wish coming true, everyone she loves dies. And to stop it, not only does Liz have to turn her back on her dreams, but has to actively fight against them, and drive who she knows to be her soul mate into the arms of someone she cannot stand. AND, just to make it even more unbearable, has to hurt Max in the process - repeatedly - to "make it stick."
This is incredible stuff. I don't know if I would have been THAT strong, though I'd like to think I would be able to do it under the exact same circumstances. But would I? Would I believe future Max? Would I be able to hurt the love of my life so deeply that he turned away from me, based on the prophesy of what is essentially a ghost from the future?
What does it take to be able to do that? What morals and what strength of character? And how selfless must one be to pull it off? After the first few episodes of season 1, I didn't see any depth to Liz's feelings toward Max. To me, she seemed like a kid with a crush. Pretty normal, but pretty surface. And then, by the 27th episode, I realize Liz doesn't only have depth, but a selfless sense of love and sacrifice that is rarely asked of any of us these days. And when it is, and people rise to the occasion, they are heroes to us. They are the best fruits of humanity and the brightest hopes for us as a civilization, a society, a culture.
Why do I so desperately want to see Liz tell Max what has happened so he can see the depth of her feelings for him and for those she loves? For all these reasons, and the way End of the World has left me with soul-searching questions that beg answers that define me, and what it means to be human, End of the World is, to me, the most interesting episode.
But then again….I'm only halfway through the series!
I'm a totally dreamer..
