Best TV Couple #5: Liz Parker & Max Evans

Liz (Shiri Appleby) and Max (Jason Behr) were the definition of cute on short lived Roswell.

"September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker and five days ago, I died. After that, things got a little weird."

Break out the Lifehouse music.

Ever since third grade, solid student Max Evans had loved future biologist/valedictorian Liz Parker. It is during sophomore year of high school that their lives change forever. When the bullet went off and sent her spiraling down on the ground of Crashdown Cafe, he didn't hesitate, racing over to perform an astonishing miracle. He rips open her dress uniform and pleads with Liz to look at him, haunted wisps of Sarah McLachlan's "Fear" describes "never ending hunger." An abrupt soul-stirring connection forms as Max and Liz join eyes and parted breaths. He presses a glowing palm on the wound, healing the girl moments from death. Afterwards, the exchanged looks between the two are filled with raw vulnerability and guttural yearning.

One of the top moments of the entire series.

"You broke the bottle when you fell and spilled ketchup on yourself. Don't tell anyone. Please."

The next day, in the high school bandroom, Max confesses to Liz that he, Isabel, and Michael are aliens that survived the infamous 1947 crash. They were kept alive in incubation pods, coming out at age six, adopted by respective families. By saving Liz's life, Max put his entire secret life at risk. She is the first human to be told. Eventually, Maria and Alex join into the privileged knowledge circle, helping them at every turn.

Liz is inexplicably drawn to Max, eyeing him in a wondrous, doe-eyed way, waiting to purposely bump into him after classes or send a cherry coke to his table at the Crashdown-- her alien themed family owned restaurant. Is she pining because he saved her life? Or has something more fantastical happened to lure her into the complicated web of good old-fashioned teenage angst?

Maybe a soaring combination of the two.

Despite the obvious attraction, Max doesn't believe they can be together. In the meantime, memorable moments: Max letting Liz say a final goodbye to her grandmother and hugging her in front of the Crashdown (season one, episode four, "Leaving Normal"), Max asks to read Liz's recovered journal and she respectfully declines (season one, episode five, "The Missing"), Max keeps Liz warm by mending the Jeep roof (season one, episode six "285 South"), and Liz comes to Max's bedroom window for the first time and clumsily falls into his arms. Later, he puts the found symbol amulet around her neck and they share an endearing look (season one, episode seven, "River Dog").

After pent up turmoil and teasing attraction, in season one, episode eight's "Heat Wave," Max and Liz finally kiss on her rooftop among the pretty stringed lights and telescope.  And it was well worth the wait.

For remainder of season one, they break up and get back together. Their little bubble is burst by more complex situations like Tess and Nasedo, Agent Pierce, and the true destiny revelation from his birth mother.

It sucked because Liz and Max spilled their guts on an abandoned bus, including beautifully exchanged "I love you."

In "Destiny," a hurt Liz runs off and Max is refrained from following her.

Studious lovebirds always make time for a kiss between books.

Roswell's second season was a harder pill to swallow. Max tries desperately to win Liz back, throwing down his supposed destiny for her. He has come a long way from being a shy, reclusive boy blending into the background. Liz almost caves until Future Max comes in episode five's tearjerker, "The End of the World."  She has to make present Max fall out of love with her and each scene is more painful than the last. Her final act-- pretending to sleep with Kyle-- is the volatile blow to Max's heart. She is beyond despair at her sacrifice. Future Max cheers her dwindled spirits with a dance to Sheryl Crow's "I Shall Believe," spinning and spinning her around until he disappears.

Max is hostile to Liz and doesn't believe for a minute that she slept with Kyle. Liz continues to lie. Things reach a boiling point in "Meet The Dupes." He lashes out at everyone and gullibly buys into Isabel and Michael's doppelgangers, leaving with them to New York City to face the council, Tess in tow. Yet it is Ava (Tess's dupe), that tells Liz that she has a special power thanks to Max's healing. When Max is about to be assassinated in "Max in the City," Liz is able to teleport via through their strong connection and save his life. Max returns and visits Liz. He thanks her and thinks they can try to be friends. Again, he asks if she was with Kyle. Sadly, she slightly (reluctantly even) nods her head.

Max tries to move on with Tess and Liz attempts something with Maria's cousin, Sean Deluca. Max and Liz remain friends, having a few sweet moments. In episode twelve's "We Are Family," Max tells Liz to travel the world and know that he'll always be with her. They hug. In episode fifteen's "Viva Las Vegas," while Liz and Max share a dance, she is almost tempted to confess all. In episode sixteen's "Heart of Mine (before it ends terribly)," Liz asks Max to be her prom date.

Then Tess destroyed everything. Again.

In "A Roswell Christmas Carol," Max comes to the Christmas program and sits next to Liz.

The third and final season-- which moved to UPN-- is weird. Max and Liz are embodying Bonnie and Clyde, robbing a convenience store trying to recover a spaceship so that he could go to Antar, find Tess, and bring his son to earth. While they are back together, with plentiful steamy make out sessions missing from the innocence of season one and the heartbreaking sadness of season two, there are underlying issues. Max's selfishness, Jeff Parker's overprotective father ire, and Liz's developing powers are catalysts driving them apart. On top of that, Max's parents find out that their kids are not human.

Future Max and his prophecy be damned! Liz and Max are husband and life anyway.

In the end, Max and Liz graduate from high school, get married, and likely live happily ever after.

Fans still deserve a film-- not a reboot. Plus, there were so much story to tell. And Liz and Max never had a love scene. 

At a time the WB network was desperately trying to market fresh young faces in an ad campaign marketing to teenagers, Jason Behr and Shiri Appleby's kismet factor struck gold. While Melinda Metz's original book series described Max Evans with blond hair and blue eyes, Behr's unique features had that otherworldliness-- piercing hazel eyes, luscious dark hair, and noticeable outer ears. He played the right keys on Max's fear, naivety, and awkwardness. Whereas Appleby was the appropriate Liz Parker, the belle of the show, whose genuine smiles lit up a scene, especially when glancing over at her beloved. They made a person believe that true love conquered everything.