On the third season finale of Resident Alien, Harry and Asta teamed up with a newly reformed Joseph to stop the greys, and prevent D’arcy (whose name we’ve been capitalizing wrong this whole time) from blowing herself up along with their base. Kate also allowed herself to be abducted again to rescue her daughter, leading to the most chaotic rescue mission since the first act of Return of the Jedi.
1. Joseph Redemption Arc!
Joseph turns on his masters after realizing from Peter’s notebook that their plan for Earth’s gravity would render it uninhabitable for hybrids as well as humans. It’s a sudden turn, but like Harry (who is also a killer), Joseph is not a human, so I wouldn’t have expected him to have the most sympathetic change of heart. I just couldn’t stop laughing at how his betrayal was also rooted in his dissatisfaction with the total lack of vacations, or healthcare coverage; it was so great having Harry’s profession as a doctor feed into the dialogue that way, and to see him bouncing off with another alien trying to solve such a (sadly) relatable problem. (The reveal the hybrids get no time off made the way D’arcy distracted them all by playing “Vacation” pretty funny too.)
2. Momma’s Coming!
Kate and Ben’s story ran the gamut from hilarious (the whole pretending to see if Max has lice routine, only to find out he really does), to very touching (Kate explaining she tricked him into getting his chip removed because he’s been suffering abductions his whole life.) Her reunion with D’arcy aboard the ship definitely veered towards the more intense and dramatic, as she used the knife she pocketed in her pyjamas to distract and fight the greys in the nursery, while D’arce rescued the youngest Hawthorne. I was really worried the greys decided Kate wasn’t worth the hassle anymore, and were going to cut her apart with that door, but fortunately they’re a cautious bunch, and now we have a family reunion waiting in the wings. (They really ought to make D’arcy her goddaughter for what it’s worth.)
3. Well This is Awkward
After foiling the greys’ caldera plot and ensuring they won’t be using Harry’s water-manipulating tech again, Joseph returns to the good doctor’s home, only to be apprehended by McCallister’s team, including the cybernetic Peter Bach. Bach’s consciousness reawakens after seeing the alien who killed him, and after capturing Joseph alive, he turns on the general’s troops, before running off to find his son Robert. Quite an awkward turn of events: Peter manages to make contact with Liv, but he’s still stuck in this clunky if admittedly advanced suit, while McCallister has more blood on her hands, and is hardly going to leave Harry and his friends impressed when she explains what happened to Joseph. Still, at least she got the portal tech she wanted.
4. Aliens Are Real!
Mike doesn’t have much screentime this week, which is unsurprising given he’s simply searching for Joseph with Liv, and not involved in the main story like everyone else. Still, he manages to reconcile with Lena, who sweetly turns out to have been looking for him after getting worried, and it turns out she’s as much of a conspiracy theorist who’s somehow skeptical about aliens as he is. (I mean, in fairness, Bach’s transformation is not that far from a gene-splicing plot.) However, at the end, Mike encounters and knocks out a grey who crashed by an abandoned school pursuing Harry and friends, which is definitely going to make him a believer. Problem is, will Lena think he’s as unstable as Liv now?
5. That’s Not Harry… And Not Bridget Either!
Two things: it turns out the greys’ base is actually inside the Moon, which certainly explains how Kate had enough time to fall asleep before Harry found Asta and D’arcy in the brig, as well as why the greys were still running abductions in the middle of an attack. You have to wonder if George Lucas is an alien abductee in this universe, because I certainly thought of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s line “That’s no moon. It’s a space station,” on seeing the greys had basically turned the Moon into a Death Star.
Continued belowMore importantly, it was clear something shady was going on with Harry, Asta, D’arcy, and the infant Hawthorne’s escape from the base in a stolen ship: even if Bridget had somehow died, I don’t believe Harry would be too upset to enjoy pie, he would absolutely gorge himself to extinguish his grief. As Max discovers on meeting “him” at the end, it turns out the greys pulled a dastardly switcheroo, replacing Harry with the creepy carnivorous insect Mantid (Clancy Brown!) Hopefully Robert will free Harry and Bridget quickly enough so Patience won’t have to deal with a shapeshifting murderer for too long, but still, this is definitely some bullshit: I know they can stop time, but the greys are nerds!
Bonus Thoughts:
– “Resident Alien” comic co-creator Peter Hogan cameos as one of the technicians overseeing Peter Bach’s deployment in the field.
– How epic is it Clancy Brown’s now voicing a character? He must be one of my top five favorite living actors, so it’s exciting even in a fairly minimal role like Mantid.
– Harry could’ve easily helped Joseph fight the other hybrids given how strong his kind are, but I suppose if someone’s got it, they’ve got it.
– I’m glad Dr. Smallwood was able to remove Ben’s tracker safely, because that woman is old.
– Seriously, who returns bad candles?
Well, that’s sadly it for season three. Hopefully after the success of the first two seasons’ addition to Netflix, cancellation won’t be a concern with all these loose ends from this truncated season, and we’ll be back in less than a year to enjoy season four. Until then: have a great vacation.
