Maxwell "Max" Evans is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. He was portrayed by actor Jason Behr in the television series. In the CW reboot he's played by Nathan Parsons.
Max made his first appearance in the Roswell pilot episode and remained a core character throughout the three seasons of the show."Max Evans (Character)". IMDb. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
Fictional character summary
In a previous existence, Max was Zan, king of the planet Antar. After Zan's death, his people used his DNA and the DNA of human donors to create two sets of alien/human hybrids or clones of him and the rest of the Royal Four of Antar. These include Isabel Evans (Vilandra, Zan's sister), Michael Guerin (Rath, Vilandra's betrothed husband and Zan's second-in command), and Tess Harding (Ava, Zan's bride). The clones were sent to Earth to hide them from their enemies especially Kivar who killed Zan & co back on Antar.
The craft carrying Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess crashes in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. In the series, the U.S. Army finds the alien pods and takes them to a base for study. The four are saved by an Air Force pilot and stashed in a new ship hidden in a rock formation. About 40 years pass before the clones emerge in 1989. Max, Isabel, and Michael leave the pod together, looking like human children about 6 years old. The three characters are blank slates with no memories of life on Antar, nor of the fourth hybrid, Tess (who is separately rescued by an Antarian with an agenda). Max and Isabel are found together by a couple of lawyers, the Evans, who adopt the two and make a loving and stable home for them. Michael hides when this happens and is later discovered and placed with an abusive foster father.
Characteristics Max appears to be shy and introverted, though this is not his true disposition. Being a hybrid often forces him to hide his true self. Because he must conceal his true identity, Max is a complex character, very timid at times, yet passionate and carefree at others. Even before he knew that he was the clone of the king of Antar, Max emerged as the de facto leader among his friends.
Portrayed as the deep thinker of the group, Max sometimes is nevertheless shown spurred to bold action by his protective nature. This sometimes manifests as a character flaw, as his protective nature leads him to make conservative choices. However, fitting into the archetypal leader role, he always takes responsibility for his actions and choices, and is never beyond offering apologies to those he hurts. Max also stands out in the group because of his unique healing powers.
Powers and abilities Max is capable of molecular manipulation and telekinesis, just like the rest of the hybrids, although he is not as well-practiced with either of these abilities as the others. His unique power is healing through physical contact, most notably used to save Liz Parker from a bullet wound in the first episode and a group of children with cancer in the second season. From the second season on, he is also able to produce a force field (visually resembling a thin wall of green gel) that can protect himself and others. Tess assisted him in developing this ability.
In the first season, he is also able to project the soul of Liz's grandmother (while she is in a coma) in order to give her the chance to say goodbye. However, this power is not used again in the show, and the character does not acknowledge this ability nor does the viewer understand if it is a different power or a variation of his other existing powers. It appears that when he heals certain people - or at least the people he's emotionally close to - they start to develop alien powers, as he healed Liz Parker and she later developed powers; it is also hinted that Kyle Valenti will develop them. It is possible that his healing ability sets off some sort of genetic chain reaction that enables those he's healed to access more of their brains' evolutionary potential – it was established that the "alien" powers he and the others possess are in fact abilities inherent in the human brain.
Relationship with Liz Parker An important premise of Max's character (and the show itself) is that he's been in love with Liz Parker since the first time he saw her at school when he was just six years old (shortly after emerging from the pod). He keeps himself distanced from Liz, primarily because of his concerns about being an alien and her being a human. This secret ends in the pilot episode when she gets shot at the Crashdown Cafe and he saves her life, risking everything for her and starting the lead plot of the show.
Max intensely loves Liz, sometimes he cares about her even more than he cares about his fellow alien-human hybrids or even himself. He shares a deep, mysterious connection with her that never finds a rational explanation. It is with her involuntary help that he starts to find more clues about his origins. Also, Liz is able to feel whether Max is in danger or hurt (season three) and they save each other's lives more than once. For this powerful connection between them and their deep and natural affinity and compatibility they're considered soulmates by both the characters of the story and the creators of the series.
The relationship with Liz Parker is considered a very important aspect of the show and this character.Ronald D. Moore, Co-Executive Producer, October 8, 2000, Q&A. Crashdown.com .
Recurring themes Due to the nature of their relationship and the difference between an alien boy and a human girl Max and Liz relationship is considered another modern example of forbidden lovers with many references to Romeo and Juliet through the series by both the characters and the writers/producers. Most notable examples are when Maria De Luca called them "modern Romeo and Juliet against the world" Maria DeLuca In the Episode "Control", season 3. or when Liz Parker herself used the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet into one her own tragic speech in the episode "The end of the world" from season two. The producers and writers of the series weren't unaware of the parallelism.The Executive Producer David Nutter Talks In the DVD Commentary from the Episode Secrets and Lies.
Another recurring theme is the Soulmates created by their irrational connection and deep affinity and/or compatibility.
Fictional biography
Season one Viewers first see Max watching Liz work as a waitress while eating at the Crashdown Café, which belongs to Liz's parents. Fellow waitress Maria De Luca is the one who points out Max's infatuation to Liz. Liz then witnesses an argument between two customers and is accidentally shot. Max rushes to her side and heals the wound simply by placing his hand over it, bringing her back to life. Liz later discovers a silver hand print on her stomach, a mystery she becomes determined to solve. During a biology class experiment, Liz sneaks a sample of Max's saliva and examines it under a microscope, discovering that Max's cells look nothing like human cells. She confronts Max, who then admits that he, his sister Isabel and their friend Michael are aliens from the planet Antar, whose spaceship crashed at Roswell in 1947. By telling her, Max breaks the ultimate taboo that he, Isabel, and Michael have kept their whole lives. Liz becomes the first human to know the secret of the "Pod Squad". Overwhelmed by the secret, she asks Max why he'd risked everything to heal her. Max replies, "Because it was you." This sets the tone for the series: Max will break any rule (including his own) for Liz.
In order to gain her trust, Max creates a connection with her so she can see into his soul. Liz experiences all his inner feelings, especially the love Max has for her. After seeing Max's true character, Liz makes the decision to protect Max and his friends. Liz also begins to feel very drawn to Max in return, despite her current relationship with the sheriff's son Kyle Valenti. Liz confides in Maria about Max and the others, a transgression Max forgives. As the season progresses, Max and Liz's relationship and their struggles with his secret take center stage.
Liz later begs Max to use his healing powers to help save her aged grandmother, Claudia. Max reveals that he can not stop a natural death, but does help her have a final conversation with Claudia. Her grandmother's insights give Liz the clarity needed to break up with Kyle and pursue a relationship with Max.
The hybrids' search for answers about their own existence is a recurring theme of the show. Max comes to the conclusion that there is a fourth alien on Earth after he gets a job at the local UFO center. There he discovers that the silver hand print that Max had left on Liz had been spotted on a number of murder victims in the 1950s. During a Roswell crash convention, Max is nearly killed by an alien hunter named Hubble. Hubble is intent on revenge because an alien killed his wife and unborn child. Sheriff Jim Valenti saves Max's life.
The three hybrids and their romantic partners are portrayed as chaste throughout the first season. However, sexual themes are explored. In the episode "Sexual Healing", repressed passion explodes between Max and Liz. Liz finds that when they kiss, she gets flashbacks of Max's past. They later find an orb from his planet thanks to these visions.
Tess Harding arrives mid-season. At first, they suspect she is a shape-shifting murderous alien named Nasedo. After Max has hallucinations about her, he confronts Tess. It is revealed that she is an alien-human hybrid like them. Nasedo is actually Tess' father figure.
Nasedo is both a murderer and their protector, a conundrum that leaves the Pod Squad undecided about what to do. Nasedo then kidnaps Liz by shifting into the image of Max, leaving the true Max with a clear mandate to save Liz and terminate Nasedo. In the effort, Max is abducted by a special branch of the FBI headed by the elusive Special Agent Pierce. Max is tortured for information but rescued by Nasedo and Michael before he reveals anything significant. In turn, they manage to kidnap Pierce. In the subsequent confusion, gunfire erupts and the sheriff inadvertently shoots his son, Kyle. Michael kills Pierce while Max saves Kyle using the same method that he had used on Liz at the start of the season. Thankful, Sheriff Valenti gives Max his word that he will protect him, Isabel and Michael.
It is the ship hidden in the caves that eventually is the key to the hybrids' history. An image of Max and Isabel's mother comes up and tells them that they are the clones of the Royal Four of their home world Antar. Tess and Max were married, Isabel was his sister and a promised spouse of Michael, who was Max's second in command. Upon hearing this Liz runs away as she realizes that his destiny and responsibility are far bigger than her. He loves her and is reluctant to let her go but she says that there is too much in their way and leaves.
Season two
The second season of the series finds Max as "reluctant king". The others now awkwardly defer to him, except for Michael who still acts out and does things his own way. At the beginning of season two, Max's relationship with Liz is awkward. He still loves her and declares to her that he will keep fighting for her and will never give up on them. His role as the leader also proves to be an obstacle as he finds out about power he never knew he had and the responsibility that comes with that power. But he is rocked when Nasedo is murdered and before dying, he proclaims that one of their worst enemies has arrived in Roswell: the skins. Worried by this, he and the gang agree to sit tight. They target Liz's new boss, Congresswoman Whitaker, who had a relationship with Special Agent Pierce, and do some reconnaissance on her. It is later revealed that the Congresswoman was in fact a Skin.