Resident Alien (2021) s01e07 – The Green Glow

Something seems off this episode. I tried to ignore it through the opening, which resolves the previous episode’s cliffhanger while also introducing another alien species to the show. The alien species introduction is solid, the cliffhanger resolution is not. In fact, by the time Elias Benavidez’s name shows up as the writer credit… well, it’s good Jennifer Phang’s directing. She can’t save it entirely, but I imagine it could’ve been a lot worse.

The episode manages not to give anyone particularly good material, with some of the cast getting far worse than others. Corey Reynolds, for example, not only doesn’t get to do any great comedic scenes but is additionally so static a character he becomes unlikable for the first time. Willfully cruel. Benavidez’s development on Elizabeth Bowen—deputy to Reynolds’s sheriff—also takes a nose dive. It’s like every plot point the episode needed to hit, it fumbles. Also Benavidez seems dedicated to failing Bechdel, pairing Sara Tomko and Alice Wetterlund for a series of nothing scenes where they talk about one dude or another, until they bring in a third woman to talk more about dudes. It’s a spin-out for Tomko as second lead, but given the episode also whiffs hard on new town doctor Michael Cassidy—he’s useless to have around the show seems to realize—nothing should come as a surprise.

Though the pairing of Judah Prehn and Tudyk—the titular Green Glow is something only Prehn can see emanating from Tudyk’s space ship materials—is delightful. Except it’s not Tudyk, it’s Keith Arbuthnot in the alien mask and presumably Tudyk doing a voice. But Prehn’s great. Even if his character’s a little bit too forgiving when Tudyk (or Arbuthnot) and Benavidez immediately flush some character development from previous episodes just to create three or four minutes of drama here.

The episode does really badly by the other characters who all happen to be women—Levi Fiehler gets to be a man’s man by being shitty to wife Meredith Garretson and the resolution to Elvy’s current arc as Tudyk’s wife should have her telling her agent to negotiate better. It’s rather disappointing.

The cliffhanger sets up what’s got to be the end run to the season (and potentially series) finale in a few episodes. The subplot with Linda Hamilton’s alien-hunting army general gets a lot of rapid, silly expository dump development—even though I don’t remember Hamilton actually having any lines, which would be a heck of a way to keep guest star costs down, nickel-and-diming SAG rules?

Or did something happen behind the scenes to result in such a big opening cop out?

Fingers crossed it’s just a bad script from Benavidez. Because otherwise, if the series is going to stall out so immediately and so badly… well, no second season is better than a garbage second season.

Three cheers for Phang though, especially her direction on the Prehn stuff.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e06 – Sexy Beast

Lots happens this episode, lots of good stuff. There’s maybe the funniest scene so far in the series—based on measuring breath lost to laughing—there’s a montage of great Corey Reynolds acting, there’s deputy Elizabeth Bowen not just getting some character development but a lot of it, there’s the new doctor in town (Michael Cassidy, who’s basically if Martin Donovan and Paul Rudd merged), there’s the murder mystery getting underway (and reminding a lot of the comic), and then there’s special guest star Linda Hamilton.

The episode opens in flashback—fifty years ago Maine, a little girl and her David Harbour-looking dad (it’s not him) seeing aliens—skip ahead to nearer the present and we learn the little girl has grown up to be an Army general played by Linda Hamilton. For a few seconds, it seems like they may be doing a riff of Hamilton as the Connor who survived but then they aren’t. Then it seems like Hamilton might be great. She’s fine. She’s not great. Hopefully it won’t affect “Alien” too much.

She’s in charge of the secret agents (Alex Barima and Mandell Maughan) after the alien. Only it turns out they’re just Army and Army Intelligence and their operation is off the books so Hamilton can get the tech.

Anyway, it’s the C plot. The A plot is Alan Tudyk being irrationally, uncontrollably jealous of new doctor Cassidy and gloriously making an ass of himself at every opportunity. The B plot is Bowen and Reynolds investigating how a stolen prescription pad might figure in to their murder investigation. For what seems to be the first time, Sara Tomko’s just support in the two main subplots—though she does get a great scene opposite ex Ben Cotton, who’s started bringing new girlfriend Jill Nixon around.

Tudyk’s also contending with unexpected wife Elvy hanging around and intruding on his mission, which seemingly should get easier to execute once he’s not stuck playing town doctor—great farewell but obviously not really because it’s a small town scene for Tudyk and Tomko when he leaves the clinic—but Elvy has all sorts of ideas for what they should do with their renewed martial bliss. The threat of that martial bliss leads to the aforementioned funniest scene in the show so far as well as the episode’s cliffhanger. It’s a dramatic, hard cliffhanger, but far less interesting than the softer ones having Cassidy around creates; it’s possible someone’s going to check up on Tudyk’s most self-serving diagnoses.

The episode’s got a new director to the show—Jennifer Phang—and new credited writers—Emily Eslami and Jeffrey Nieves—and they do some excellent work. The character arc for Bowen is the best part of the narrative, while Tudyk and Reynolds really just get to let loose with their performances.

It’s such a good show. I hope it gets renewed. Dang it.