Resident Alien (2021) s02e04 – Radio Harry

This episode has six plotlines going. Or maybe five and a half, since kids Gracelyn Awad Rinke and Judah Prehn kick off the A-plot, which has Sara Tomko suspicious Alan Tudyk’s alien radio is actually a bomb. The first scene has Tudyk trying to bully the kids into returning his silver alien ball—he’s only got the one left—and Rinke is suddenly convinced he’s got ill-intent with his new device.

So the kids warn Tomko, who decides she and dad Gary Farmer will accompany Tudyk to the transmission site to make sure he’s not going to nuke the planet. The site is on the reservation, so they all visit Tomko and Farmer’s family first; they’re celebrating the return of relation Tommy Puco. It’s never clear how he’s related.

Puco’s hilarious. Since the episode’s got so much going on, he’s only got a couple big scenes. His first one is opposite Tudyk and having an inevitably awkward conversation about belonging. Tudyk prefers spending time among the Native family on the reservation, finding them less obnoxious (and callously destructive) than the white people in town. It softens his resolve to save the humans and has him considering maybe he does need to destroy all human life to save the planet, after all.

Farmer’s got some magnificent scenes on during the reservation visit too. Because it’s Farmer, give him a scene, and he’ll nail it.

Then there are a series of sometimes interconnected subplots, starting with deputy Elizabeth Bowen getting interested in sheriff Corey Reynolds’s love life. Bowen will be in Reynolds’s subplot, Alice Wetterlund’s family subplot, and have one of her own running throughout–a dress she thought she’d lost turned up at the dry cleaners, and she doesn’t remember bringing it in.

Wetterlund’s got a flirtation subplot with charming baseball opponent Justin Rain, but we also get to meet her parents—Barclay Hope and Lini Evans—when she goes to Hope’s birthday dinner. She brings Bowen along because Hope and Evans are so awful to Wetterlund. It’s a quick scene in a quick subplot, but it turns out to be the episode’s best scene; lots of good work from Wetterlund, though it resolves real quick since it’s not one of the main plot lines.

The most significant subplot is Linda Hamilton’s return and the revelation new town doctor Michael Cassidy is still alive. Hamilton’s holding him captive as an alien in her alien jail. Mandell Maughan’s back as her faithful subordinate. While it’s a developing C-plot in the episode, it feels like a bigger plot since it’s returning special guest star Hamilton (and Maughan’s first time back this season).

Similarly, Meredith Garretson and Levi Fiehler have a purely comedic subplot about Fiehler’s rivalry with the nearby town. Sturdy comic acting from Fiehler, and then Garretson gets to do all the big work when the time comes. It’s real funny.

And I just realized there’s a whole sixth plot, not a half one, because the “kids” plotline isn’t just Tudyk versus Rinke and Prehn; it’s also got to do with Tomko’s relationship (or lack thereof) with daughter Kaylayla Raine.

The episode ends with a cliffhanger out of the comic series, which is a big surprise since the show has only used a handful of plot points from the source material.

There’s some terrific acting from Tudyk and Tomko, who gets some great scenes together—including one where Tomko’s got to maintain against an increasingly absurd, but also serious, Tudyk.

Good, packed but never too full script, credited to first-timer Timmy Pico (who’s had story editor credit before), and direction from Shannon Kohli. Kohli’s one of “Alien”’s most reliably strong directors at this point.

The show remains rock solid.

Resident Alien (2021) s02e02 – The Wire

This episode allays sophomore slump concerns, maybe completely.

While there are still leftover plot threads from last episode and season, the show seems to be going full ahead with sheriff Corey Reynolds and deputy Elizabeth Bowen investigating Alan Tudyk as a serial killer. There’s a very funny moment when they confront Sara Tomko about it; however, she knows the easy explanation is he’s a formerly genocidal alien visitor but can’t tell.

Reynolds and Bowen’s investigation is the B-plot, but the show plays it more like a comedy plotline, where they’ve got to pose as a married couple to find out details into Tudyk’s past. But Tudyk’s an entirely different “person” now; the revelations would surprise him just as much as anyone else, which sort of figures in.

The A plot is Tudyk building a bunker so he and Tomko can hide out when his alien species sends someone else to nuke Earth. Tudyk’s now got a regular roomie—Nathan Fillion voicing a rescued-from-the-kitchen octopus (Fillion’s outstanding)—and so there’s constant banter. Tudyk still gets some great narration, including a lengthy bit during a diner scene with kids Judah Prehn and Gracelyn Awad Rinke. Will it ever stop being funny when Tudyk’s alien is super-shitty to ten-year-olds? Possibly, but probably not. It remains absolutely hilarious, especially since Rinke keeps up with Tudyk’s malarky, and then they both can laugh when Prehn’s behind.

Tudyk’s got to use his Starman balls to build the bunker. Prehn’s stolen one, and it’s having odd effects, but that resolution’s not in this episode. It does create some good rancor between Tudyk and Prehn, which Rinke doesn’t understand because Prehn’s lying to her about stealing the space ball too. The balls appear to have the same rules as Starman: The Movie and maybe “The TV Show,” where Tudyk can use it once to do something seemingly magical, but really it’s alien technology. One he uses to build the bunker, the other he saves for something else. There are four total, so there are two left. “Resident Alien”’s not wasting its time moving through them either.

After an awkward interaction with Tudyk, Gary Farmer advises Tomko she needs to get Tudyk caring about more humans than just her. The A plot then turns into Tudyk trying to bond with the locals, including a poker game against Reynolds, mayor Levi Fiehler (whose absurdist kinky sex subplot with wife Meredith Garretson gets back-burnered, but they leave the flame on), and some other folks, including nurse Diana Bang. Bang’s been in the show since the pilot or soon after, usually giving Tomko crap at the medical clinic where they work, but now she’s loose amongst more cast, and she’s incredible.

Besides being around for Tudyk’s bunker-building plot (though she knows nothing about it), Tomko gets the C plot, which is just she and Alice Wetterlund being best friends and figuring out how to support one another. Even though Tomko can’t dump all the secrets on Wetterlund (only dad Farmer also knows Tudyk’s an alien, well, plus the kids), the scenes give Tomko a space to decompress from the rest of her adventures.

Sarah Beckett gets the script credit. It’s excellent; lots of good jokes for everyone and peculiar character moments for Tudyk. Robert Duncan McNeill’s directing again and doing well. There are still some very CGI-looking backdrops, but the show’s also got an extended mountain lake boating sequence, which widens the scope for a bit.

And the cliffhanger’s good.

“Resident Alien”’s fantastic as ever.

Resident Alien (2021) s02e01 – Old Friends

It’s been nine months since the first season finale of “Resident Alien” aired, and this episode picks up the following day. So, long enough I’ve forgotten who was doing what and where; other than Alan Tudyk finally free of Earth and his evil pursuers, headed into the stars, on his way home.

Only to discover kid nemesis turned pal Judah Prehn stowed away.

This season premiere starts with Prehn back home with mom Meredith Garretson and dad Levi Fiehler, who successfully defeated assassins last time and are now very into each other. Obnoxiously kinky on main, basically. Sara Tomko and Prehn have a great moment uncomfortably watching Garretson and Fiehler canoodle, with many other cast members getting similarly great moments throughout the episode.

Prehn knows where the spaceship crash-landed but not where Tudyk has ended up. The audience, however, knows he’s in the hospital somewhere (a nearby town, it turns out), and he’s got amnesia. But only of his cover story; he’s more than happy to tell everyone he’s an alien come to Earth to decimate the population.

The main action is getting Tudyk back home and back to normal—it’s a bumpy road to recovery, including a diversion into pretending he’s Jerry Orbach’s Lennie Briscoe character from “Law & Order Prime,” which is hilarious. There are several subplots, including Tomko and best friend Alice Wetterlund checking in after Wetterlund found out town teen Kaylayla Raine is Tomko’s kid. It’s season finale resolve material held over for the next season premiere, but it’s what happens when you’ve got big cliffhangers.

But the biggest subplot is sheriff Corey Reynolds’s investigation into Tudyk; he and deputy Elizabeth Bowen don’t think he’s an alien monster, of course, just a serial killer.

Lots of great acting. Tudyk gets numerous showcases thanks to amnesia, then Tomko and Reynolds both get subtle and profound arcs. The stuff with Garretson and Fiehler’s hilarious. Also really funny—as always—is Gracelyn Awad Rinke as Prehn’s friend. Rinke’s actually superfluous, but she’s so delightful it doesn’t matter. Kind of like how Gary Farmer seems a tad extra—very, very welcome, but he’s mostly around for the one-liners, even when he and Tudyk have a nice bonding moment.

“Resident Alien” doesn’t seem to be suffering any sophomore slump—there’s a little more CGI composite shots than before, presumably because of COVID-19 restrictions—and the cast is strong as before. Especially Reynolds. Tudyk, of course, but it’s his show. Reynolds has always quietly walked off with “Alien,” but even more now, since he gets to share his scenes with Bowen instead of crowding her out (due to character hubris, not Reynolds’s performance).

The episode—script credit to series creator Chris Sheridan, directed by Robert Duncan McNeill—also makes sure to check in on the friendship between Tudyk and Tomko after the latest developments have settled, including her knowing he’s a genocidal alien invader.

Last thing—great cameo from Nathan Fillion. He only does a voice, but his timing opposite Tudyk’s so outstanding it’s an even better performance if they recorded asynchronously.

Season two’s off to a fine start.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e08 – End of the World as We Know It

Since last week’s big cliffhanger and series low episode (way low), “Resident Alien” has gotten its second season renewal. Apparently it wasn’t in danger of not getting a second season; it’s Syfy’s highest rated original in years or some such.

This episode does nothing to assuage about the overall quality of the show. It’s an all-action episode—with asides—as Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, and Alice Wetterlund try to stay alive in a glacier crevasse, the townsfolk perturb their arcs (not knowing the three are missing).

Shannon Kohli directs, doing a fine job; Taylor Christine writes (or gets the writer credit), also doing a fine job. Though the stuff with Tudyk, Tomko, and Wetterlund is all high stakes action drama, so it’s sort of a gimme. But the episode starts and finishes a character development arc for Levi Fiehler, playing off last episode’s events, and while it can’t right the ship (or it can’t guarantee righting the ship), it’s very nice to see the character work getting done.

Also Corey Reynolds isn’t cruel in this episode and his now even more troubled relationship with deputy Elizabeth Bowen gets some promising work done here too. It’s measured—the episode also ends on a cliffhanger so they’re definitely getting it geared to the season finale, but it’s less passively arranged chess pieces and more character agency.

Good performances in town from Reynolds (obviously) and one of Fiehler’s best performances in the series. His wife, Meredith Garretson, ends up playing support to him—other than when she bumps into evil Special Forces lady Mandall Maughan (Garretson and Maughan could be twins; seriously, when they run into each other—in a very obvious homage to a famous bit—I thought another shapeshifter alien had arrived). Bowen doesn’t get much but she’s real good too. Things seem in better shape. Also Gary Farmer’s around a bit, which is never bad.

But the spotlight is on Tomko as she has to help Tudyk survive some unpredictable injuries as they have some lengthy heart-to-heart conversations. Tudyk’s good too and often really funny, but half his face is in makeup because of aforementioned injuries; not to mention he doesn’t emote a lot in the part. But when the heart-to-hearts hit, they hit well.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next—not just in the plot (though it’s certainly getting a lot more familiar having read the comic)—but in the show’s quality level. Like I said, this episode doesn’t resolve quality pitfall of the previous episode… it just delays that verdict.

Fingers crossed. Especially after the episode reminds of Tomko’s considerable ability.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e05 – Love Language

There’s a bunch of great stuff in this episode but the big win is how it’s able to stare down mawkishness for the ending, song-accompanied “what have we learned” montage. Sarah Beckett’s teleplay finds the best sincerity is from the unlikeliest source—in this case Alan Tudyk’s genocidal alien—and even though the sequence starts in the danger zone thanks to the music, it ends up being fantastic.

Because this episode does whole bunch. It introduces a new, previously unknown character–Tudyk’s wife. The human Tudyk’s wife. The dead human Tudyk, killed by alien Tudyk who then assumed his form’s wife.

It opens in a flashback so we can see the meet cute between wife-to-be Elvy and Tudyk. It’s the longest we’ve seen the human Tudyk, who’s in an art gallery after his latest divorce, talking to his society pals about his latest forensic pathology successful; Elvy’s the waitress who catches his eye, though she’s got surprises of her own. They hit it off and five years later… now she’s soon-to-be the latest divorced wife.

Except Tudyk the alien has no idea what she’s talking about and skips out on her to resolve the other cliffhanger from last episode, involving kids Judah Prehn and Gracelyn Awad Rinke sneaking into his house to find evidence he’s an alien. It’s going to take a while, but the episode’s going to settle some of the series’s outstanding plot threads. Not resolve them but get them ready for the next developments. There are seriously like five obvious plot lines running here, maybe six. Beckett’s juggling of them is very impressive; even for the show, which always juggles them well.

No spoilers but the episode addresses and soft resolves… Tudyk and Prehn’s adversarial relationship (with some great acting along the way from Meredith Garretson as Prehn’s very worried mom), Sara Tomko hiding daughter Kaylayla Raine’s identity from everyone (including dickhead ex and baby daddy Ben Cotton, back for the first time since the first episode), the toxicology report on the dead town doctor who kicked off the whole show (which involves sheriff Corey Reynolds’s unrevealed backstory, involving dad Alvin Sanders, but also ties in Tudyk and Raine), and then Tudyk’s very pressing issue of Elvy wanting to reconcile the marriage and move into the cabin with him.

Plus Alice Wetterlund gets a character development subplot. So basically the episodes got an A plot, two B plots, and two C plots, while developing some series plots too. Like Tudyk’s concern for Tomko. The show never gives them too much time together, but there’s always this perfect check-in and this episode it’s even more perfect because it involves Tudyk menacing abusive ex Cotton.

But wait, Gary Farmer’s around too.

It’s all so good. There’s a little iffiness about using Sanders being a shitty dad explaining and excusing Reynolds but we’ll see. I assume they’ll make it work. They make the Elvy thing work in a single episode and they’ve done a fine recovery on Wetterlund too so “Resident Alien” can handle it.

Great performances from Tudyk and Tomko, but everyone’s good. Awad Rinke’s got a big part as peacemaker for Prehn and Tudyk and she’s awesome. Excellent directing from Jay Chandrasekhar.

I’m not sure this episode is better than the last one, but it’s close enough; “Resident Alien” is already exceptional and is still on the rise.

It’s also where I’m starting to get really anxious having to worry about a renewal.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e04 – Birds of a Feather

It’s the best episode of the show so far; easily. Both writing—Tazbah Chavez—and directing—Jay Chandrasekhar. Chavez’s script is able to balance out material for the entire cast in a way the show hasn’t juggled before—front-loading the B plot with the C plot and then introducing the A plot a little later, eventually weaving it into the A plot, of course. Along the way, everyone gets something to do, usually something quite good.

It starts with Meredith Garretson and Alice Wetterlund. The episode opens with mayor Levi Fiehler inviting incognito….

Okay, well, it actually opens with the “Cheers” theme over lead Alan Tudyk having his first dream since he’s taken over a human being’s body. It’s a great sequence. It’s just a lot happens this episode and there’s even a big cliffhanger I might not even talk about. Because the stuff Chavez ends up doing with Sara Tomko is so phenomenal.

But back to Fiehler and company. He invites Tudyk to dinner because son Judah Prehn can see through Tudyk’s human form to the genocidal alien beneath and is terrified. Tudyk’s going to bring Wetterlund to keep Fiehler and his wife, Garretson, busy so Tudyk won’t have to talk to them. He’s decided humans are too noisy.

Only it turns out Fiehler and Wetterlund grew up together and dated and Wetterlund gets real drunk and pisses off Garretson. Garretson is super good in this sequence. Wetterlund sells the drunk and drunker too. Maybe the best she’s been, just acting-wise.

Meanwhile, turns out Prehn and his friend Gracelyn Awad Rinke (who gets a name this episode, right away) have got this Goonies-style plan to investigate Tudyk. Awad Rinke gets this fantastic spotlight sequence, including a scene where she runs sheriff Corey Reynolds and deputy Elizabeth Bowen.

Bowen’s going to get some stuff to do this episode and it’s a really good subplot and hopefully she’ll get more to do, but no matter what, it’s still all about Reynolds. He’s incredible. So funny.

And it’s a hard thing to get bigger laughs than Tudyk in “Resident Alien” because Tudyk gets to be outlandishly absurd and turn being outrageous into part of the joke, but Reynolds can’t ever let the tone break. Tudyk also narrates the show, so the whole thing’s structured because he’s funny and to get his laughs. Reynolds doesn’t get any of that support. It’s just him, being able to sell these incredibly goofy, hilarious lines and he always does it.

So good.

The A plot has Tomko going to her grandmother’s house on a medical visit; Grandma (a very funny Edna Manitowabi) lives on the reservation. Gary Farmer drives Tomko; they have to bring Tudyk along because he needs to administer the shot. It’s becomes this exceptionally touching, confined A plot about Tomko’s family drama and how it plays out. Really good work from Tomko, Farmer, and Sarah Podemski as Tomko’s cousin. And Tudyk obviously.

Real good stuff.

Chavez also references Tomko’s back story from the pilot, which the show hadn’t expressly tied to her current character development arc; Chavez takes care of it, making up for its absence even.

“Resident Alien” is real good this episode. The show seems to know what’s working and is leaning heavily into it. And the cliffhanger’s perfect.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e03 – Secrets

I would feel a whole lot better about where this episode of “Resident Alien” seems to be sending Sara Tomko if it had passed Bechdel for longer than three lines. Three lines with a female writer (Njeri Brown). We get a lot of backstory into Tomko—with zero mention of the long-term abusive boyfriend from the pilot—including a big, out-of-nowhere reveal (this episode is where having read all the comics is no longer relevant) and some good character development for Tomko and dad Gary Farmer.

But it would be much better if Tomko and Alice Wetterlund had something to talk about except boys in general and Alan Tudyk in specific. Wetterlund is still hung up on Tudyk, even though he walked out on her during their date and is completely disinterested whenever she throws herself at him. There’s even, like, relevant boys stuff they could talk about but it might screw up the surprise so they don’t… also Wetterlund doesn’t really do anything. I mean, she starts the episode causing an avalanche (with dynamite) for a laugh, but later on when it’s time to party with Tomko they go drink beers, watching the cops drag the lake for Tudyk’s source human’s body, and talk about dudes.

It’s very underwhelming and seems like a waste of time for the Tomko subplot. She again gets her own.

Also getting his own subplot this episode is kid who see’s Tudyk’s alien form, Judah Prehn. He’s getting bullied at school for thinking there’s an alien in town and soon becomes friends with fellow bullied child Gracelyn Awad Rinke. Rinke doesn’t get a name yet. She’s just the Muslim girl. She’s good too, potentially even more likable than Prehn. Though Prehn and Tudyk argue on the street and it’s glorious. It’s also a little weird as a main recurring subplot.

The A plot this episode is about sheriff Corey Reynolds trying to find a body in Tudyk’s lake (the aforementioned corpse of Tudyk’s human source). Tudyk’s got insomnia over it, which is basically his main subplot. Initially they just find a foot, but since it turns into the body hunt… it’s just an escalation of the A plot. Some great moments for Reynolds again.

We also get a little bit more with deputy Elizabeth Bowen, who always gets something to do, but this episode it’s opposite Tudyk so more relevant.

There’s another alien flashback, this time involving a cowboy hat—and possibly retconning the pilot some more—and it figures into the somewhat predictable soft cliffhanger.

Also there’s again a lot of music. A lot of music. It’s a little more relevant at times and diegetic but it feels like they’re trying too hard .

So some asterisks and consternation, but the show’s still really funny, well-acted, and well-produced. I think it almost completely having thrown off the comic’s yoke might have me worried.

Though I wanted it to pass Bechdel a whole lot better than it does, just because.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e02 – Homesick

There’s a lot going on this episode. “Resident Alien” will go for (single camera) sitcom type laughs but still manage to run as a full hour long (forty-four minute) show. I was wondering if they’d be able to keep up the energy from the first episode when not doing a pilot and they succeed. Outside maybe way too much accompanying sad songs on the soundtrack in the last ten minutes, they excel.

The episode—written by show creator Chris Sheridan—does some “season order” corrections to the pilot, like introducing Gary Farmer as Sara Tomko’s father and everyone seeming to forget her previously established abusive boyfriend backstory. Tomko gets a bunch to do this episode—Alan Tudyk’s got like four things going on, Tomko sharing in one of them, then she’s got her own one with Farmer as her sidekick. Then there’s a sixth one, tied to the prologue, which seems like it’s one of Tudyk’s but is actually separate….

Very full episode.

It starts (after a mysterious prologue) with Tudyk’s first day as the town doctor, which is where the previous episode ended. Here we get the resolution to cliffhanger—young Judah Prehn being able to see Tudyk’s true alien form (one in a bazillion chance), screaming, running out. It’s going to set up a whole plot with Tudyk plotting against Prehn and then bickering with him, which is going to have threads for mayor Levi Fiehler and sheriff Corey Reynolds, who continues to be hilarious.

Then Tudyk’s got his subplot with bartender Alice Wetterlund, who’s not hiding her being interested in him; though Tudyk’s entirely oblivious. They go bowling. It’s funny.

So far the show seems to be leveraging Tudyk’s comedic abilities—his performance is a fine mix of Jeff Bridges Starman and John Lithgow “3rd Rock” as he tries to grapple with his new human emotions—and Tomko’s dramatic sympathies. Farmer helps.

High points include the first day of doctoring montage, Reynolds as a trash talking bowler, Tudyk fantasizing about killing a little kid, and the flashbacks to Tudyk as an alien where the gross but not like violent gross shines.

There’s less developing Tudyk and Tomko’s relationship than expected—especially since she’s his sidekick at the clinic—but the parallel character development works out just fine.

Besides the too many songs, “Resident Alien” is doing just fine. The adjustments from the pilot may even be for the better long-term… we shall see.