This week on Resident Alien, Terry O’Quinn’s alien hunter Peter Bach came to Patience to meet with Liv Baker, prompting a game of, er, hide-and-seek with Harry, all while Bach attempted to recruit Max to his side after discovering he can see Harry’s true form. Elsewhere, Ben and Kate made an “agreement” to not talk about the plans for the resort; Asta made sure to let all her relatives know she was OK after meeting her mother; Thompson left a message for Torres; and D’Arcy tried to hide her pill addiction from Elliot.
1. Meanwhile
But before all that, we catch up with McCallister and Bobby, where he causes the general’s ruthless shell to crack slightly, as she refuses to believe the boy is an alien, and tries to force him to give up his “game.” When she starts telling him this is all very real, and begins remembering the trauma of her childhood history with aliens, Bobby forms a psychic connection, allowing him to witness and understand her pain. He then reveals himself to be the Alien Baby, and… that’s it for now folks, see you next time!
2. JUDY!
Anyway, Peter spots Harry, and begins pursuing through him through the street while trying to remain inconspicuous, which was unexpectedly amusing given it’s not often you see such a slow chase. Peter manages to corner him behind The 59 with a taser, but before they can go postal on each other, a drunk Judy emerges out the back, and Harry pretends to be interested in her so they can go back in. Way to prevent violence Judy! Of course, Harry has to break her heart afterwards: aw, I really hope she finds her Prince Charming someday, especially since Liv managed to successfully set up Mike and Lena on a date (despite nearly jeopardizing his answer phone message at the start) this week.
3. The War of the Hawthornes
Ben took passive aggressiveness to new heights this week, first by repeatedly using the coffee grinder when Kayla came over to discuss the restraining order against the resort’s building permission, and then by inviting Thompson for dinner after Kate agreed to not discuss the issue at home. The sheriff is, as always, a hilariously eccentric presence, who sends events into an awkward overdrive when he says the resort could bring more interesting things than a museum with items from a 19th century “whorehouse,” before proceeding to explain to Max what a “whore” is.
This made it all the more hilarious when Thompson complained about Kate suggesting an indecent proposal could be one of the consequences of opening the resort, after an alarmed Max decided to take his dinner upstairs: man, he can be such a hypocrite, but it’s always amusing to see him backtrack as if he didn’t say anything like that before. Also, this quarrel is going to drag in the whole town isn’t it? I just hope when everyone else is pulled in, they’re just as outrageous of a proxy as Mike is.
4. And the Feels Keep on Coming
D’Arcy struggles to hide her addiction from her loved ones: Elliot can tell something’s off, that she’s tetchy, and trying too hard to be her usually casual, charismatic self, while at The 59, Asta and Kayla see her losing her temper at a patron for giving a measly tip. Elliot eventually finds her crashing on the bar’s pool table, but her refusal to come clean causes Elliot to leave her once again. I have to admit, Elliot’s constant dumping of D’Arcy whenever she’s refusing to acknowledge a problem indicates he might not be the one, since he’s unwilling to struggle to make their relationship work, but I fully respect his decision to not hurt himself further.
Asta, on the other hand, uses the wisdom she’s gained from the pain of meeting her mother, and decides to greet Jay in the street to remind her she loves her. It’s amazing what an impact three simple words could have, and hopefully it’ll lead to them reconciling sooner than later. What an amazing turnaround after last week: hopefully D’Arcy can have similarly positive one next time too.
5. But at What Cost?
Continued belowI find Peter Bach a very compelling foe, he’s a deeply sympathetic character, and Harry’s hardly given him reason to believe he’s a good alien. Harry’s not been a good friend to Max too, so I was naturally on the edge of my seat as to whether he would betray him or not. I shouldn’t have been worried, since Max hardly wants to see Harry get hurt either, though for the sake of his conscience, I hope Harry didn’t murder Peter like he promised (he has a bunker, he should use it.) Out-of-universe, I think it’d be a shame if O’Quinn stopped appearing; in-universe, Harry doesn’t need to cause another suspicious disappearance, and call me sentimental, but since this show is too, I’m still holding out hope Peter will find his long lost child eventually.
Bonus Thoughts:
– I have to admit I completely lost it when Harry described E.T. as a “sexy potato.”
– Harry offering Asta a floppy pickle, whatever will they think of next.
– Seriously though Liv, ten babies? How many siblings does she have?
See you all next time for the penultimate episode of the season, “Best of Enemies.”
