Has it really been more than a year since the second season of Resident Alien? What were these Hollywood execs thinking, believing delaying a show as good as this would make us side with them during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes? In any case, RA is back with what is sadly its shortest season to date, so let’s savor it even further – and savor it we shall!
1. Ah, Lone Wolf, Got It
Appropriately for Valentine’s Day, season three kicked off with Asta deciding to go on a date with Joseph, the hybrid grey alien spy who got himself hired as Patience, Colorado’s new co-deputy sheriff. Harry declines to tell her and D’Arcy the truth about him, taking the opportunity to spy on them via a “make-up kit” he gives to Asta, which descends into further awkwardness when she leaves it at home.
Part of me wondered if Harry was wary about Joseph finding out Asta and D’Arcy knew his secret, or had simply struggled to find a discreet place and time to tell them. But regardless, the point of his arc in this episode was him realizing he can’t save the world by himself, that he can’t treat his friends or colleagues in McCallister’s taskforce like children who slow him down, and do everything by himself – as Harry remarks by the end of the episode, even Superman needs Lois Lane.
2. World’s Most Off-Putting Mug
Following last season’s final reveal that Mayor Ben Hawthorne and his wife Kate are alien abductees, the premiere picks up quickly with the couple experiencing flashbacks to the greys’ ship, and Kate becoming haunted by an owl. Asta’s family warns her the bird is an omen of death in Native American cultures, leading her to decide to sell the house. It’s dark stuff, but fortunately the show’s creators didn’t forget to inject some comedy here with Ben’s incredibly bizarre mug, which features the ultrasound image of Max before he was born. I love that the writers probably wondered how Kate’s flashback of her second, unborn child being kidnapped would be triggered, and then came up with an ultrasound of her first child… on a mug.
It’s not his fault, but Ben is so weird.
3. Max, the New Alien Tracker
Speaking of said child, Max’s alliance with Harry becomes frayed again after Sahar gets suspicious about the late Peter Bach’s disappearance. Harry’s his usual unconvincing self about the poor man’s demise, leading the duo to believe he did murder him. Sahar retrieves the cattle prod Peter used from Harry’s home, and Max takes it up as if he were a young King Arthur pulling out the Sword in the Stone, and Bach’s title of Alien Tracker were a superhero mantle like Spider-Man being passed to the next person destined to battle his archnemesis (which is ironic given Harry sees himself as Superman.) I guess Max is old enough to take a more proactive role in events now right?
4. They Grow Up So Fast/Max the Lone(ly) Wolf
That brings me to how Max and Sahar’s actors, Judah Prehn and Gracelyn Awad Rinke, are definitely older now, which is funny as I’m not sure a year’s even passed since the first episode in-universe. I feel this may’ve factored in the idea behind Sahar’s revelation that she won a place at a prestigious academy in California, forcing Max to confront the fact she’s the only real friend he’s ever made (Harry’s friendship being dubious at best.) Regardless of whether Sahar’s actually being written out of the show or not (it would be hard for her to relocate knowing there are aliens and all), the point she raises with Max, that he needs to make new friends, is an important one, and hopefully it’s a realization he’ll reach like Harry does in this episode.
5. What?!
After Harry reveals Joseph’s secret to Asta and D’Arcy, he comes to a rather… stunning conclusion: he decides that if protecting Asta means he cannot save the world, he must kill her! Fortunately, when he shows up in her bedroom, he breaks down, unable to do something so drastic. I still can’t believe it: every time I think I’ve got used to how not-human Harry is, his completely amoral logic floors me. It’s a good thing Asta is, because I don’t think I would be that ready to console someone who decided the best course of action would be to murder me, no matter how peacefully and painlessly! Goddamn I’ve missed this twistedly wholesome show.
Continued belowBonus Thoughts:
– Yeah, I don’t have much to say about Judy’s role here: she just seriously needs to learn some boundaries, stat. Likewise, Sheriff Mike and Deputy Baker’s storyline was fun and all, but definitely one of the show’s slower-moving ones.
– That said, D’Arcy wants a cat, and Judy has one: maybe she’ll offer it in exchange for continuing to use the bathtub?
– Here’s a freebie for a spin-off mobile game: hover the abducted human back home without having them flop off the bed like Ben Hawthorne!
– “He wants to see you in the shower” is such a brilliant euphemism.
I’m so glad this show is back, and hopefully it’s finding a whole new audience on Netflix so it’ll stave off the cancellation sharks a little longer (knock on wood, knock on wood!) See you all next time for “The Upper Hand.” (High five.)
