- This page is for the 2019 TV series character. For the 1999 TV series character, see Isabel Evans. For the book series character, see Isabel Evans (books).
- "Everything I do is a cover-up. I don't know how to feel about my husband because I don't know how he feels about me. Because he doesn't know me because I don't know me, because everything I do is an act."
- ―Isobel[src]
Isobel Evans-Bracken is one of the main characters on The CW science fiction series Roswell, New Mexico. She is an alien but keeps her true identity secret by living her life full of grace and enthusiasm. Isobel is portrayed by Lily Cowles.
Character[]
History[]
In 1997, Isobel awoke from her pod along with Max and Michael. The three of them were found walking down the road. At the group home at the approximate age of 7, she and Max were adopted by the Evans couple, while Michael was left behind in foster care. She and Max were raised as twins, but they both still considered Michael to be their brother.
In 2004 at the approximate age of 13 or 14, Isobel, Max, and Michael went camping for their birthday. Isobel was attacked by a drifter and let out a psychic scream that woke Noah, allowing him to crawl into her psyche. Max and Michael rushed to help and Max killed Isobel's attacker. Michael used his telekinesis to bury the body. Isobel was traumatized from the attack and began to have blackouts.[1]
In 2008, Noah Bracken controlled Isobel's body during her blackouts and formed a relationship with Rosa Ortecho. He also would skip school, jeopardizing Isobel's plans of attending prom. When conscious, Isobel had no memories of Noah's actions during her blackouts. In June 2008, Noah (using Isobel's body) killed Kate Long and Jasmine Frederick as retaliation for their racist graffiti on Rosa's car. He also revealed his romantic interest in Rosa, who didn't feel the same way. Rosa was horrified by the murders, and he killed her too, leaving a handprint on her face.
Michael and Max discovered Isobel with the girls' bodies. When Isobel awoke, she was confused and had no idea what happened. Unaware of Noah's involvement, Michael took the blame to protect her. Isobel, Michael, and Max covered up the deaths as a car accident.[1]
After high school, Isobel met and later married Noah Bracken. She has never told Noah the truth about herself.
Season 1[]
When Max wants to reveal their secret to Liz, Isobel is concerned about the information getting into the wrong hands. She and Michael try to warn Liz away.
Isobel begins having blackouts again, worrying Max and Michael. Eventually, Isobel goes to Roswell Community Medical in the hopes of protecting everyone. Isobel influences Kyle so he will inject her with the alien power suppression serum. This blocks her powers but also starts killing her. Liz starts working on an antidote and they put Isobel in a pod to buy time.
In I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, Liz's antidote is ready. Liz uses it on Isobel and it works. The antidote also begins to give Isobel memories of what happened during her blackouts. An extra dose of antidote allows Isobel to remember the murders. She and her friends realize that she may be innocent because another alien may have been mind-controlling her during the murders.
Isobel dancing with Noah
In Champagne Supernova, Isobel is eager to use her powers to uncover the truth, though Noah tries to make her promise to stop using her powers. At a party, Isobel enters Noah's mind and discovers that he is the mind-controlling murderer. But he takes over her body and lies to Max about his innocence. But Liz calls and tells Max that Noah is the murderer. Noah uses Isobel's body to attack Max, then kidnaps her in his car. Her friends and brothers rush to save her. They knock out Noah, inject him with the serum, and store him in a pod.
During Creep, Isobel and Max feel Noah leaving his pod. Isobel decides to question him in her mindscape, since in there, he cannot lie. He says they can go back to the way things were. She also brings Max for another questioning session, in which Noah claims that killing makes aliens stronger.
When Noah is at large during Recovering the Satellites, Isobel says she thinks she knows where to find him and leads Max into the desert. Then Max realizes that Isobel was under Noah's control and this is a trap. Noah believes the alighting is coming and wants to use the other aliens as leverage for a ride home. When Max attacks Noah, Isobel draws Noah into her mindscape. Noah realizes he is about to die and Isobel lies and says she never loved him. After Noah's death, they find Rosa's body in a pod. Max wants to resurrect her, but Isobel and Michael say no. Isobel practices her powers at home, shattering a picture frame of her and Noah.
Season 2[]
Isobel's confidence is shaken after realizing that her husband had been manipulating and lying to her the whole time.
At Noah's funeral, Isobel struggles to give a positive speech about him, since he knows he was a manipulative murderer. Finally, she gives a speech about a good man, letting people assume it is about Noah when it is really about Max.
Isobel learns she's pregnant and agonizes for a time over the idea. She fears giving birth to a baby that will turn out like Noah. In Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Isobel steals a syringe from Liz and decides to terminate her pregnancy in order to be free of Noah's manipulation for good. She decides she may want to be a mother someday, but on her own terms, and without remnants of Noah involved.
Isobel hallucinating Max during her at-home abortion
In Good Mother, Isobel microdoses with Liz's anti-alien serum as a DIY abortion. She becomes extremely sick and hallucinates that Max is with her. She asks the hallucination if he knew he would die when he resurrected Rosa. He assures her he would never leave her on purpose, which she remarks is just what a vision from her brain would say. She delays taking the anecdote until she is sure the at-home abortion has succeeded, which nearly kills her. Luckily, Rosa has a vision of Max, who warns her Isobel is in danger. Rosa gets Liz, who injects Isobel with the antidote. When Liz assures Isobel she is not alone, Isobel dryly remarks that she isn't, since many women resort to DIY abortions due to restrictive laws.
- Liz: "Wait, I thought only Michael could move things."
- Isobel: "I'm diversifying my portfolio."
By the time of What If God Was One Of Us, Isobel has progressed with her telekinesis skills and is able to lock the door at The Crashdown Cafe. She talks with Liz and offers to use her suggestion powers to influence Arturo Ortecho to believe in miracles so he can reunite with Rosa. Since Liz has been working hard to save Max, Isobel wants to do something nice for her. Liz agrees. Isobel visits Arturo's mindscape and helps him forgive himself for his guilt over Rosa. Finally, Isobel's plan works and Rosa and Arturo reunite.
In I'll Stand By You, Isobel enters Rosa's mindscape to talk to Max, who tells her that he can't take the pain of being dead in a pod anymore. Max tells her that after absorbing ten years of darkness from Rosa's death, he could come back as a monster. Isobel agrees to let him go, but Max knows she is lying. When they resurrect Max, she goads him into attacking her so he can release this dark energy and return to normal.
In Sex and Candy, Max is out of control with dark energy, and Michael joins to help Isobel until Max tires himself out. When they discover Max can't remember Liz, Isobel does her best to be helpful, including picking out an outfit for his first date with Liz. Isobel begins regaining confidence and flirts with Blaire at Planet 7 (a gay bar), eventually kissing her and disappearing into the bathroom together. Later, she meets Max at his house, wearing an "I got probed at Planet 7" shirt and eager to tell him about her fun night. When Max is too tired to chat, she calls out "Max! I'm not leaving. I haven't even told you about the lesbian part yet!"
Isobel supports her friends and family in Como La Flor. She hangs out with Michael and later goes graffiting with Rosa, writing "In Pod We Trust." Later, Isobel drinks at a bar with Michael and asks if Noah chose her because she was already broken. Michael assures her that isn't true. Isobel decides she wants to learn more about their past and Michael says he does too.
In Say It Ain't So, Isobel gives Rosa a makeover so she can go out in public. Later, Maria asks Isobel to help her train her abilities. Isobel is reluctant for fear it could harm Maria, but she admits to being curious about her past. Isobel encourages her to "let it go" and Maria is able to show her a vision of Louise at the farm and a boy giving her a toy windmill. But Maria gets a bloody nose. Later, Isobel tells Michael what happened and apologizes for going behind his back. Michael finds the windmill and they realize the boy is Walt Sanders.
Season 3[]
Isobel and her brothers debate what to do about Jones in the cave. Isobel learns about the past from Jones, but stays wary of potential manipulation.
While Maria is in a coma in Bitter Sweet Symphony, Isobel enters her mindscape to figure out what's wrong. When she struggles to reach Maria, she asks Rosa for help. Rosa gets overwhelmed at first and Isobel helps her focus. Together, they discover that Maria was attacked by Jones, who is controlling Max's body.
Isobel smiling at Liz
In Goodnight Elizabeth, Isobel uses mind manipulation to get Pete to slow down Jones. She meets with Liz and confesses, "I can't stop thinking about how it felt to be trapped in a dark prison when Noah was using me. And thinking about Max going through that is just..." When Liz assures her that the serum will get "our Max" back, Isobel asks if she still has feelings for Max. She tells Liz that Max never let her go. They go to the fundraiser with Jones (in Max's body), pretending to be unaware of the truth, but Jones tricks Liz into leaving early so he can kidnap her. Isobel joins some friends to rescue Liz and persuades Rosa to stay behind for her own safety. Jones nearly kills Isobel and Michael, but Rosa shoots him and tells him the police are coming, so Jones leaves.
In Free Your Mind, Isobel joins Maria in her mindscape to learn about the past. "You're not going into hell alone," she assures her.
In Angels of the Silences, Isobel and Kyle introduce themselves to Dallas and talk about being aliens, which goes badly and ends up scaring him. Isobel reaches out to Kyle, who tells her it was a mistake for him not to encourage her to believe in herself. They try again and are able to connect with him
Isobel finds her mother's sword and uses it to fight Jones. Jones eventually shatters her sword, with some pieces flying into Dallas' neck.
In I Ain't Going Out Like That, Isobel helps Kyle perform surgery on Dallas to save his life. They succeed.
Season 4[]
Isobel begins teaching the "Woman as Warrior" classes and enjoys mentoring other women.
Isobel falls in love with Anatsa Mufaro. However, Anatsa's drive to investigate the alien bank robberies despite Isobel dissuading her create a rift in their relationship. Finally, Isobel reluctantly enters Anatsa's mindscape to try to influence her to stop investigating. This fails, since Isobel can only influence people to do things they are already to open to doing, and Anatsa is too driven to uncover the truth.
Isobel keeps lying to Anatsa out of fear. The lies push Anatsa farther away. When Isobel finally finds the courage to tell Anatsa she's ready to tell the truth, Anatsa breaks up with her, saying love isn't supposed to be this hard.
Isobel and Kyle
Isobel goes to Mexico with Kyle. She hooks up with him. He confesses that he is in love with her, which surprises her and makes her question her ability to notice what other people are thinking.
Isobel helps Tezca recover her missing memories. Together, they learn that Tezca was Isobel's childhood mentor who taught her to swordfight and protect herself. When the sounds of screams alerted them that Jones was coming, Tezca told Isobel to hide. Isobel hid, terrified, and watched them fight. She saw Jones defeat Tezca and tell her that he would mind control her so she would be loyal to him.
After this revelation, Isobel decides to free Tezca from the cage. She believes she can help Tezca recover from this world-shattering information and become friends and allies again. She trains with Tezca in a mindscape, encouraging her to fight images of Jones until Tezca can no longer be afraid of him.
In Two Sparrows in a Hurricane, Isobel enters the portal to help the people trapped inside. When they make it to the portal, Clyde confronts them, escapes, and breaks it behind him. Tezca helps Max, Isobel, and the others fix the portal before the world collapses. However, Tezca cannot pass through the portal herself because of Jones' mark on her body. Isobel pleads for a chance to save her, but there is no time. Everyone but Tezca escapes before that world is destroyed.
Isobel and Dallas in the desert
In How's It Going To Be?, Isobel tries to cope with Tezca's death. She shows Max a memory that Tezca shared with her before her death. The blue flame can be used to control crystals that give life to Oasis. Max realizes that his blue flame abilities mean he can revive Oasis. Later, Isobel and her friends confront Clyde. Clyde defeats them all, but Liz secretly injects him with a serum that re-creates his mark, so he dies when he tries to enter the portal. Isobel asks "What do we do now?" and Michael suggests a wedding.
Isobel attends the wedding. When Max decides to leave, she understands.
Powers and Abilities[]
- "It's a place where I have ultimate power. I make a suggestion and someone else's thought or memory just kind of floats to the surface. If I'm strong enough, I can change it. Influence it."
- ―Isobel describing her powers[src]
Isobel is an Oasian with paranormal abilities whose specialty seems to be mental manipulation. Isobel enters a person's mind and is able to control/manipulate a thought or memory, allowing her to influence others.
- Mental Manipulation: Isobel is able to enter the minds of others and experience and "influence" their thoughts.
- Mind Influence: When Isobel enters a person's mind, she is able to influence them into doing what she wants. This power is not mind control, just influence, since she can't make someone do something that they wouldn't be open to doing anyway.
- Empathy: When Isobel is inside of a person's mind, she experiences and feels their emotions as if she were them. This stopped her from mind-warping Liz since she could feel Liz's love for Max herself and couldn't bring herself to go through with it. It was revealed that due to abilities being passed down genetically, that just like her mother, Louise Truman, Isobel is an empath, which stated by Jones is a very powerful ability, that when her abilities are amplified, she is able to experience, sense and detect the very feelings of those around her, as she felt Maria's guilt and Michael's self-loathing.
- Memory Viewing: While in someone's mind, Isobel can get them to show her their memories of past events. While mind-influencing Maria, she has her show Isobel the memory of why she hates her. Isobel can also help people recover lost memories.
- Psychic Communication: Isobel and Max are able to communicate telepathically and sense each other, due to their sibling-hood as twins. When she was fourteen, Isobel also used this ability to release a psychic scream that alerted a weakened Noah.
- Telekinesis: Isobel gains the ability to move objects with her mind. She first uses this to destroy a photograph of her with Noah Bracken. She has enough strength to shatter glass and hold back fire, and she has the reaction timing to deflect an object unexpectedly thrown at her.
- Electromagnetic Energy Manipulation: With training, Isobel developed her abilities with electromagnetic manipulation. She can deflect an electromagnetic lightning-like blast from Max, and she can use her ability to power a light bulb. Like with Max and Rosa, Isobel can blow out electrical appliances when she's emotional or startled, although she seems to have gotten this under control.
Abilities[]
- Combat: Isobel becomes skilled with her mother's sword.
- Mentorship: In season 4, Isobel has grown a lot. She helps others realize their potential and confront their issues.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Isobel Evans-Bracken/Gallery
Appearances[]
| Roswell, New Mexico | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 episodes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 2 episodes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 3 episodes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 4 episodes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Trivia[]
- Isobel had kept her secret from her husband for many years.
- Although unknown to her and the others at the time. He was always aware of her secret even before they met due to being an alien too.
- Isobel likes the movie The Land Before Time.
- In the Roswell High books, Isobel’s name is spelled “Isabel.” She is primarily romantically involved with Alex, and there’s no indication that she’s attracted to women. She and Maria have no relation to each other.
- Regarding changing Isobel's name from Isabel, showrunner Carina Adly MacKenzie said:[2]
- Isabel is the Spanish spelling, and the most common in Mexico. I didn't want the Evans parents to have Spanish or Latinx roots. Isobel is the Scottish spelling, and Evans is Welsh.
- Basically I wanted Isobel to be super white because white privilege is a factor in her character.
- Isboel's alien sword is nicknamed "Señora Slicey"
- As of late Season 3, Isobel drives a baby blue 1975 Ford Bronco with the license plate "OBWAN"
Quotes[]
"Safety is so easy to take for granted. Especially when you grow up loved, cherished, protected. Safety is a feeling you only value once it's been stripped from you. When someone you trust spills your secrets. When someone invades your home. Or when you're a little girl staring at the stars in the desert one night, and the Devil tries to drag you into hell. Or, worse when the thing that makes you unsafe isn't an invader at all. What do you do when the evil you fear is inside your own mind? When there may be no way to kill it without killing yourself." — Isobel's narration in Barely Breathing.
"You know, what I really want to do today here is to tell you about someone, who I love very much. He was a man with an unrivaled capacity for love, who could hold you in his heart… despite distance or rejection. He made mistakes, but he was noble. And he dedicated his life to righting his own wrongs, and the wrongs of others. My wrongs. He was my other half. My better half. I don’t think I’ll ever let him go." — Isobel on her brother Max at Noah's funeral in Stay (I Missed You).
[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Episode 6 Smells Like Teen Spirit
- ↑ Tweet from Carina Adly MacKenzie (@cadlymack) on 2 Apr 2019.