The Magic of Resident Alien

• Created by Chris Sheridan
• January 27 2021 to Present
• Syfy

Main Cast

• Harry-Alan Tudyk
• Asta Twelvetrees-Sara Tomko
• Sheriff Mike Thompson-Corey Reynolds
• D’Arcy Bloom-Alice Wetterlund
• Mayor Ben Hawthorne-Levi Fiehler
• Max Hawthorne-Judah Prehn
• Deputy Sheriff Liv Baker-Elizabeth Bowen

Recurring Cast

• Jimmy-Ben Cotton
• Kate Hawthorne-Meredith Garretson
• Sahar-Gracelyn Awad Rinke
• Jay-Kaylayla Raine
• Abigail Hodges-Deborah Finkel
• Judy Cooper-Jenna Lamia
• Dan Twelvetrees-Gary Farmer
• Nurse Ellen Cho-Diana Bang
• Lisa Casper-Mandell Maughan
• Lt. David Logan-Alex Barima
• Lewis Thompson-Alvin Sanders
• Kayla-Sarah Podemski
• Isabelle-Elvy Yost
• Gen. McCallister-Linda Hamilton
• Dr. Ethan Stone-Michael Cassidy
• 42 the Octopus (voice)-Nathan Fillion

An alien sent to Earth to destroy the human race finds themselves stranded on our world and forced to take human form. The longer they stay the more they become human and struggle with the morality of their mission.

Resident Alien is the Northern Exposure of science fiction. It’s an odd and quirky dramatic comedy or comedic drama or dramedy (take your pick) with odd and unusual characters. More importantly it is character driven. It examines individual human lives with a non-human character to give an outsider’s analysis.

This season has remained mostly strong. The characters got expanded upon and relationships broadened. They became closer to people. For the most part all the mains and even the supporting characters became more complex.

I am bothered though by the mayor’s son Max (Judah Prehn). Stupid for comedic purposes is fine but the level of stupidity needs to be in line with the created fictional universe and honestly Max is really too stupid to live right now. Nobody else is like that here nor is this fictional world set up like that.

Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) is the brains of the operation yet the kid that first divined Harry’s (Alan Tudyk) real nature even if he did have a genetic advantage is barely able to do anything without being pointed in the right direction by Sahar. I am not against a partnership necessarily but why can the two not be equals?

Resident Alien is on the lower budgeted side which helps prevent it from being all about cool shit. Not all science fiction has to be though. Sometimes they do take the CW superhero way out of major development teasers and do the cheapest way to resolve it. For example the psychotic Lisa Casper (Mandell Maughan) who was a carryover from Season One was an unstoppable force and met her end with a decapitation. This negated what looked like an increasingly expensive end to an ever more dangerous character.

The stakes have gone up in Resident Alien: Season Two as now Harry (Alan Tudyk) whose hand has been forced by Asta (Sara Tomko) must figure out how to save the Earth. Harry is continuing to become more and more human during the course of this season and he’s gone from more of an indifferent and rude alien to a straight up dick. But he’s a dick trying to be better as he experiences the good and the bad that the world has to offer.

At its core this is a show about humanity using science fiction to say what it wants about us. It’s about the lives we lead and as well as the lies we tell ourselves. It’s about the secrets we keep from us as well as from others. All the characters are pushing against one thing or another or simply dealing with the consequences of decisions made.

Kate (Meredith Garretson) is faced with the consequences of being a mother and giving up more and more of what she wants. Asta is dealing with the repercussions of giving her daughter up for adoption. Sheriff Thompson (Corey Reynolds) is dealing with what sent him to this small Colorado town. Everyone has something but the baggage is not ridiculously excessive. You don’t get a big biographical dump about each character right away. Things are peeled back and you learn this and that as you would in life about anybody.

Complexity. That’s what happens in the relationships among the characters and in their situations. Things are not as simple or as cut and dry and often it’s the individuals that make it like that. Just like in life.

The mystery of who killed the town doctor from the pilot episode deepens. And it’s beginning to intersect with the alien hunters from Earth. Gen. McCallister (Linda Hamilton) has not made as much of an appearance so far as I would’ve liked. What she has done has been very welcome, but you always want a little more of a good thing.

They did do two episodes with the underline theme that all men were jerks and responsible for the things of other men. I can certainly see the mayor being at fault for the town budget and the pay rate of the female police officer. But Harry also took blame for what human men did. Worse yet this arrogant alien was cowed by the anger of the others. I’m not sure why anger towards him was justified in any kind of context.

All told though Resident Alien remains a strong series. It’s serious enough that you don’t feel like you’re watching a goof but not so serious that this is a hard-core drama.

The season finale had some revelations. And it does look as if more people will get in on Harry’s secret. That episode promised a new and logical direction for the series. Not completely new though. It seems that there is another alien intelligence already on earth planning on conquering it. Or something diabolical anyway.

I was left with a question though. Was Goliath an emissary sent from his species to investigate things about that other species? I’m not sure if the question will ever get addressed but it seems rather convenient that another one of Harry’s species happened to be on earth before him. One can certainly draw the implication that Goliath was sent to investigate and report back but there is nothing really indicating that.

What I’m trying to figure out is why did Goliath come through a portal and Harry come on a spaceship? Maybe I missed something or can’t recall something from a previous episode but if they have this portal technology why couldn’t they just dump the weapon Harry had through the portal and let it go? Why does Harry have to cross the cosmos to drop a bomb?

There are no “Wow!” scenes in Resident Alien. When it comes to effects there is just enough to drive home the otherworldly. My main beef is with the presentation of the UFOs. The graphics look extremely cheap when individuals see a UFO. They look like they belong in a low budget YouTube video production. Other than that I can’t complain.

Resident Alien: Season Two remains strong and I am eagerly anticipating what the rest of the season will hold. If you haven’t checked it out it may be a little late to marathon Seasons One and Two but you should try anyway.