- This page is for the relationship in the 2019 television series. For the relationship in the 1999 television series, see Liz & Max (1999).
Liz Ortecho & Max Evans is a romantic relationship on The CW science-fiction series Roswell, New Mexico. The characters are portrayed by Jeanine Mason & Nathan Dean Parsons.
Overview[]
Max has long been in love with Liz, and they finally hook up after she learns his secrets and they work together to save Isobel. Their relationship continues to deepen until Max's apparent death in the season 1 finale episode.
History[]
Max developed an interest in Liz when they were children, and flashbacks show Liz sharing her headphones with him to listen to music together, and her being silly to make him smile. They were lab partners in high school biology. He was so into her that one time in April 2008, she wiped hot sauce from his mouth and he caused a school-wide blackout.
Max and Liz dance together in the desert.
Liz began developing feelings towards Max in the latter end of senior year in High School. The two danced in the desert after drinking beer which Liz had obtained using Rosa's fake ID. When the two kiss, Liz reveals that she cannot change her plans for Max, but he tells her that she doesn't have to, that he will leave with her.
Following Rosa's death, however, Liz leaves town without Max. Max is distraught but is convinced by Michael and Isobel that it was for the best; he does not forget about Liz, however, nor does he stop loving her. It is later revealed that Isobel influenced Liz to leave town to prevent Max revealing their secret to her.
Plot[]
When Liz Ortecho returns to Roswell, her meeting with Max is initially brief when he pulls her over upon entering the town. Max later visits the Crashdown Cafe whilst Liz is closing, and witnesses as Liz is shot in the stomach. Unwilling to watch her die infront of him, Max heals Liz using his supernatural abilities, and doses her with ketchup to hide the fact that she was shot.
Liz later questions Max about the handprint left on her chest, and he reveals that he is an alien and shows her the pods he, Michael and Isobel emerged from; Liz promises to keep his secret, and the friendship between the two is solidified.[1]
The relationship between the two becomes strained when Liz questions Max about the night of Rosa's disappearance and Max lies to her. The lies continue, and Liz becomes more suspicious when she finds a letter written in Max's handwriting in Rosa's possession — the letter confesses Max's love for the recipient, wrongly believed to be Rosa. Max reveals that the letter was meant for Liz[2], and it is later revealed that Rosa intercepted the letter left for Liz and thus the reason Max had seen Rosa that night.[3]
Another obstacle arises in their relationship when Liz learns that Isobel was responsible for Rosa's death, and Max helped cover it up.[4] Max explains the events that transpired, and Liz tells him that she needs time away from him to think. This later transpires into Liz working on an alien power-suppresor that places a strain on the relationship between the two and causes Max to have doubts to whether Roswell is the right place for them anymore.[5]
Max and Liz outside of the mine.
After Isobel forces Kyle Valenti to inject her with the power-suppresor, she takes a violent twist and begins coughing up blood. It becomes clear that Liz's serum is killing Isobel; Max turns to Liz to create an antidote, and the two of them work together to put Isobel into stasis until an antidote can be found.[6] Six weeks after Isobel is placed into her pod, Max and Liz visit her and the two kiss outside of the mine.[7]
The two later work together to narrow down the potential alien suspect that has been hijacking minds — including Isobel's — and destroying Liz's lab; the two suspect that there is a fourth alien.[8]
After killing Noah Bracken and finding his pod, Max discovers Noah has been keeping Rosa Ortecho in the pod. He believes that he is now powerful enough to resurrect Rosa — despite the fact she has been dead over a decade — and confers this idea to Michael and Isobel. Michael and Isobel rebuke the idea and tell Max not to tell Liz about Rosa. Despite this, Max attempts to bring Rosa back to life and is killed in the process. Despite having her sister back, Liz is distraught at Max's death and cries over his body.[9]
Liz is unwilling to accept Max's fate and begins researching ways of bringing him back through regenerative medicine. Despite her efforts, Max connects to Rosa and pleads with her to stop Liz and release him from the constant pain he is under. Despite this, the two continue to grow the heart, and Max short circuits the pods power supply in an effort to stop them. He tells Isobel that he is afraid of hurting anyone if he should return. Isobel, Liz and Kyle bring him back regardless with the help of a pacemaker created by Michael.[10]
After Max is resurrected, he is unable to remember Liz despite remembering Michael and Isobel. Liz is heartbroken, but happy that he is alive. Feeling the connection between the two, Max asks Liz out on a date to ride horses, and she agrees. Prior to leaving to ride, Liz prepares Max a "Little Green Alien" shake; he rebukes the shake, remarking that he isn't a fan of mint.
Max and Liz talk after he regains his memories
Max later regains his memories when he stumbles across the bullet Liz was shot with when she returned to Roswell. Max explains that he never liked mint and asked for peanut the first time Liz served him; she misheard and served him mint. Max was later happy that Liz had remembered the shake he never corrected her.[11]
Behind the scenes[]
- Jeanine knew that Max was going to die at the end of the season 1 and that Rosa was going to be resurrected [12]
Trivia[]
- Fans refer to the relationship as "echo" because Liz got an echo of Max's feelings for her through the handprint.
Quotes[]
Image gallery[]
Promotional images[]
.jpg "Pilot (Roswell, New Mexico).jpg (213 KB)")
.jpg "S1E01 Promo (10).jpg (205 KB)")
.jpg "S1E04 Promo (1).jpg (353 KB)")
Other images[]
