Resident Alien (2021) s02e08 – Alien Dinner Party

Well. Here I thought this episode was the season finale. It’s not. It’s the end of “Resident Alien: Season Two: Part One.” Another eight episodes are coming later. Things make a little more sense (though they may have introduced more in this episode than they can resolve in another eight). The episode ends on a big cliffhanger, with all sorts of future connotations, after an episode where everything’s got different connotations for the future. Starting with the first scene, which introduces another alien species on Earth, seemingly protecting aliens from Linda Hamilton’s evil general.

Though maybe not, based on some of the later revelations in the episode.

Some developments are even more impressive with the episode not being the finale. They got a lot done in eight episodes, giving numerous cast members full arcs. Much of the episode involves Levi Fiehler and Meredith Garretson getting annoyed with one another at Alan Tudyk’s impromptu surprise birthday party. Tudyk and Sara Tomko are just back from a trip to New York, with an (unbeknownst to them) hatching alien egg in tow.

Garretson’s freaking out about a possible pregnancy, with Alice Wetterlund her only confidant. Unfortunately, Wetterlund’s keeping some secrets from Garretson about her and Fiehler. It’s a very complicated, very volatile situation, even without an alien baby due any minute. Plus, Gracelyn Awad Rinke has just discovered Judah Prehn probably got the town doctor kidnapped by Hamilton and wants to rush and tell Tomko. Only it’s not safe to go outside.

Deputy Elizabeth Bowen also gets an arc about her alien encounter memories, which she gets to share with her newly introduced (to the show) husband, Trevor Carroll. No doubt, it’s set up for a “Season Two: Part Two” subplot, but when you think it’s the finale, it just seems like some nice character development for Bowen. Sheriff Corey Reynolds gets something similar, finally working through his grieving over a dead partner. Though Reynolds is mostly around for the one-liners. He’s hilarious and seemingly the only guest who’s fully aware Fiehler’s got ulterior motives for throwing the bash, which doesn’t even end up being important because there’s so much other stuff.

And not just with Fiehler and Garretson.

It’s a very, very full episode—Tudyk’s got an entire alien baby care arc, and then Tomko has a small but significant one with daughter Kaylayla Raine.

Claudia Yarmy’s direction is solid; she gives the actors enough time and space, taking advantage of the background to keep other plots moving, and the jokes coming. Reynolds has a few times he’s just behind the main action telling jokes. I’m not sure the show’s ever brought the whole cast together before—there are ten adults plus two kids. And Diana Bang has a great, short bit as Rinke and Prehn’s babysitter.

Show creator Chris Sheridan gets the script credit. He does well with so much going on in a short present action (a few hours at most).

I had fully prepared myself for “Resident Alien” to lose its renewal chicken. The acting’s way too good in a way too peculiar show. But knowing it’s just on a mid-season hiatus? I can just appreciate its considerable successes (Tomko’s particularly great this episode) and eagerly await its return.

Resident Alien (2021) s02e07 – Escape from New York

Once again, I've failed to keep up with episodes per season on shows this year, and it turns out this episode is the penultimate one for "Resident Alien: Season Two," which makes a lot of sense. If the season were running ten episodes, it'd be a little strange to introduce so many new plot threads with three episodes to go.

Though maybe if it were running thirteen, there might be time. And with just one more, they can position the show for season three, something they really didn't get to do with season one's finale.

The episode concludes Alan Tudyk and Sara Tomko's trip to New York City (which looks more like Vancouver this episode than last time), with two big surprises. One came as even more of a surprise because I thought they were just adapting the comic arc, but they are not; they're upping the "Alien" ante. The other surprise is a phenomenal moment, with the show acknowledging it's hurrying some things and then taking the time to make things count.

After resolving Tudyk tripping on acid, Tudyk and Tomko's arc leads to some nice character bits in Central Park (or whatever it's called in Vancouver) and then is mostly action. They've got to find out what other alien's human companion Maxim Roy knows before woman-in-black Mandell Maughan kills them, plus there are some New York thugs following them, thinking Tudyk's still the human Tudyk. Lots of action.

Things back in small mountain town Colorado are slower but with similarly significant developments. Alice Wetterlund and Meredith Garretson have a girl jock character arc together; Wetterlund gets off her duff and gets back to the gym, where she runs into Garretson. Now, Garretson's unaware Wetterlund spent last episode on a bonding arc with Garretson's husband, Levi Fiehler. As Garretson muses about her marriage in this episode, Wetterlund's got some relevant information she can't share.

Luckily they can still bond over exercising.

Considering the other arc involves sheriff Corey Reynolds deciding he's made a mistake with a murder investigation and might be entirely up-ending the show (it includes him getting some detective novels, which are straight out of the comic), Wetterlund and Garretson's character arc is this episode's most ambitious, but also smallest swing; especially since Tomko doesn't end up with much to do. She's entirely support for Tudyk after a certain point.

She's got a couple terrific scenes. There's a lot of strong acting in this episode, especially Tudyk, whose absurd comedy moments are phenomenal, and Gary Farmer. Farmer gets a bonding scene with Reynolds where Farmer monologues a war story, and it's incredible. Oh, and then Diana Bang—the nurse at the town clinic who's been getting more and great material this season—has an awesome scene with Fiehler.

Good direction from Claudia Yarmy; she gives the actors time and room, never slowing down the action but never rushing anyone either.

Not knowing the season was almost over saved me worrying about it not being renewed (until now, anyway), but I really hope they get at least one more. With a bigger order too. Eight episodes—albeit an obviously Covid-19 lockdown limiting season—isn't enough, not with this cast.

All Rise (2019) s02e13 – Love’s Illusions

Let me get the big reveals out of the way.

Starting with Simone Missick’s husband not having moved out to L.A. yet, even though once again it seemed like it was about to happen. Instead she’s going back to work and hiring a babysitter to look after the newborn.

We also get to meet Lindsey Gort’s hidden husband (she’s still getting a divorce because, even though she hasn’t openly forgiven Wilson Bethel for locking lips—briefly and actually she did kiss him, we saw it on the show—with law partner Ryan Michelle Bathe). Josh Henderson plays the husband. It’s a cop out reveal.

Then there’s J. Alex Brinson. This episode he and Bethel find out what’s going on with the list of ostensibly dirty sheriff’s deputies names on it—and Brinson’s—and he’s got to make some choices with it. Does he make the right choice? No one knows, possibly not even the viewer, because CBS hasn’t renewed “All Rise” yet.

We get a couple other “to be continued” plot threads, like what’s Jessica Camacho going to do in her love triangle with Brinson and Shalim Ortiz and then Lindsay Mendez and Marg Helgenberger’s weird arc about an abusive mom friend of Helgenberger’s. The latter’s got more potential, because it seems like it’s going to be a big character development thing for her and the show’s established she does all right with more material.

The A plot is Missick’s first case back, which is about a teen (Ashley Jones) in trouble for swatting a cyber-boyfriend, only some random guy (Larry Sullivan) ends up shot because cops will unarmed white people if there aren’t any BIPOC around. Gort’s trying the case and tries to exploit Missick carrying about social justice, leading to a very weird scene where Missick basically tells Bethel his girlfriend’s shit and he has to agree.

Jones is bad, Gort’s okay (I don’t think we’ve ever seen her try a case with this much meat to it before), and the case itself is engaging. So good A plot.

Briana Belser gets the script credit, Claudia Yarmy directs. Belser’s writing on the court stuff is the best, the relationship stuff the worst, the workaday stuff in between. Yarmy’s decent, but the social distanced scenes get tiring inside. Outside they’re okay. Inside… it’s like watching actors’ monologues cut together.

All Rise (2019) s01e18 – The Tale of Three Arraignments

I think I know “All Rise” continuity better than the writers because when they introduce previously unmentioned Third Musketeer Ryan Michelle Bathe (she went to law school with Simone Missick and Wilson Bethel), they bend the backstory about Missick and Bethel knowing each other as kids. Or they don’t completely break it—Missick and Bethel meeting up after undergrad at the same law school could work, though him then (apparently) dating Bathe, who—physical description-wise—is identical to Missick… It has a certain feel to it.

Bathe’s back in town to start a new law firm and she wants both Missick and Bethel to join her. It was their childish law school dream. And both Missick and Bethel are in enough of a state to consider it. Marg Helgenberger’s punishing Missick for not forgiving her white feminism—like, gently punishing, being an obvious jerk but not a Machiavellian villain—and Reggie Lee’s doing something similar to Bethel. Will the Dynamic Duo join forces and become the Terrific Trio?

Only the show never pushes it too hard. “All Rise” is a mostly happy place where Jessica Camacho—who’s got an obnoxious romance subplot with J. Alex Brinson this episode, just exasperating, also has a hashtag Girl Power story arc involving Bathe and now steadily recurring prosecutor Suzanne Cryer. Camancho’s client, Raven Bowens, is being pimped by Greg Tarzan Davis and Camacho wants to do something about it, involving Cryer, but then Davis hires Bathe and Camacho gets her involved. Then Bathe gets Missick involved, who then gets Helgenberger involved and basically it’s a very positive change thanks to women working together moment.

And Bowens is great.

It’s not a great plot and isn’t particularly compelling outside Bowens’s performance and it takes them a while to spotlight her, instead giving it to Camacho in the run-up, but the acting’s solid from the regulars, excellent from Bowens, and there’s a sincerity to it. It’s making the system work for victims.

There’s some more with Missick’s husband, Todd Williams, and the creepy campaign adviser guy, Nicholas Christopher, who apparently Missick’s supposed to have chemistry with but doesn’t because Christopher always seems like a creep. Williams’s got a nothing part; he doesn’t try to showboat it, he just plays it and goes on his way. Christopher tries to showboat and invades the scenes. It’s really weird and unfortunate, as pretty much everything involving Missick and romance is a drag.

She’s much better hanging out with Bathe and Bethel in her off time.

It’s not one of the better episodes, not one of the worse—Bathe’s a fine supporting player to recur… but doesn’t the show have to start worrying about renewal at this point. Oh, episode eighteen… we’re definitely in the renewal pageantry portion of the season—all right, let’s see what they’ve got.

All Rise (2019) s01e11 – The Joy From Oz

Does the Los Angeles court really have a bring your kids to work day? I’m less engaged with the dramatics of “All Rise,” which has Wilson Bethel hemming and hawing over whether or not to help dad Tony Denison with his upcoming trial or just abandon him and Simone Missick having to defend herself as a judge to her current and former peers, whose problem with her is basically she’s a Black woman but “All Rise” doesn’t have the stones to say it, than with the incidentals of the courthouse they’re creating. Chief Justice Marg Helgenberger deciding her most important duty is to make sure visiting kids have the best time on their trip is… very weird. And very silly (they stage a mock trial based around Wizard of Oz, sadly it’s for the kids and not smartly written). But Helgenberger’s awesome at being silly. She’s been fine on the show before, good even, but never so much fun.

But while she’s being fun in a C plot, Missick and Bethel are just trying to get through the episode. It starts with everyone going crazy for the cookies at the District Attorney’s holiday party, which seems like utter nonsense. A bunch of harried adults geeked out a couple cookies (because they’re not irresponsibly snacking of course). “All Rise” dares the viewer to take it too seriously.

Anyway, Bethel’s arc is all about how some crook rats out his boss and it turns out to be because of a family thing and so it inspires Bethel not to abandon Tony Denison, even though at the end of last episode Bethel was ready to quit his job and become a defense attorney. There’s also a white guy redemption thing to it. Meanwhile, Missick’s got to defend herself against asinine allegations—she apparently embarrasses attorneys in her courtroom when they’re shady or incompetent—while Rocket Romano (or whatever Paul McCrane’s conservative white judge but not racist conservative TV nonsense conservative) shoots her withering looks. It’s got a predictable end.

Missick gets a big speech about how she’s going to judge the way she’s going to judge and it’s… fine. It’s not well-written, it’s certainly not well-directed (Claudia Yarmy’s direction is best described as annoying), but Missick gets through it. See, she’s got the hashtag woke courtroom and everyone—except the white prosecutors (save Bethel of course)—thinks there finally needs to be a hashtag woke courtroom. Not sure why no one else could do it but whatever. It’s just sad Missick’s stuck on such an obvious, middling network drama instead of actually getting to act on something.