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.

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.

Resident Alien (2021) s01e01

“Resident Alien: The TV Show” is not Resident Alien: The Comic Book. And it turns out, that arrangement works just fine.

When I first heard about the TV show, I was interested but more excited comic creators Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse would get to finish the comic, which has been low-selling, absolutely sublime, and wholesome in the best way. So I spent the pilot waiting for the show to reach that sublime and wholesome. It doesn’t. And it doesn’t try.

Instead, the show leverages lead Alan Tudyk’s constantly weird and funny performance as an alien pretending to be human who finds himself all of a sudden required to pretend to be human amongst the natives with nothing but a steady diet of “Law & Order” reruns to inform him.

The episode opens sheriff Corey Reynolds and deputy Elizabeth Bowen heading out to Tudyk’s cabin—the show takes place in Small-town Colorado, Canada—to ask Tudyk to consult on a murder. See, the town doctor has been murdered and the only other doctor in town is Tudyk. Only Tudyk’s been an alien for four months and no knows because previously he was just a seasonal resident.

Even before Tudyk really gets to show his stuff—and it’s when he plays off Sara Tomko, which is one of the comic’s core relationships and it’s beautifully realized onscreen—but even before Tudyk does anything… “Resident Alien: The Show” is worth it for Corey Reynolds. His comic timing is phenomenal, playing this absurd macho small-town sheriff who all of a sudden drops into these outlandish comedic rants and Reynolds sells every second of it. He gets to be the first consistent “Alien” laugh riot, with Tudyk only reaching those levels in the second half. And Tudyk’s got a lot more drama, whereas Reynolds just gets to be hilarious every time he’s on.

Most of Tudyk’s drama involves Tomko. She’s his erstwhile sidekick (more she was the murdered doctor’s assistant and doesn’t trust Tudyk so wants to keep an eye on him) and the pilot’s arc has them gradually bonding, though both with some reservations. Tomko’s good; “Resident Alien” requires a lot of its moving pieces to be unqualified successes and Tomko’s one of them. Tudyk and the writing (from Chris Sheridan) are the other two. Everything else is gravy, including Reynolds. So very impressed with the Tomko stuff.

Other apparently regular cast members include Levi Fiehler as the inexperienced, baby-faced mayor (which takes a while to get going but works) and Alice Wetterlund as the town bartender who’s pals with Tomko and potentially sweet on Tudyk.

There’s also Fiehler’s son, Jason Maybaum, who can see through Tudyk’s human disguise at the alien visage beneath, which provides a lot of comedy and, well, alien terror.

“Resident Alien” is not the comic adaptation I was expecting (and partially dreading). It’s ribald instead of sublime, sincere instead of wholesome; still an absolute delight.