Resident Alien Season 1 Episode 8 Review: End Of The World As We Know It
Carissa Pavlica
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Poor Harry. He's wavering between his humanity and alienity (making up a word, people!) quite literally on Resident Alien Season 1 Episode 8.
Damn those snow bees and ice hornets anyway!
For Harry, the brink of death made truth a little easier to deliver. He wasn't 100% truthful, but Asta learned a lot about her odd friend.
But that's not all that happened during this episode. While Harry, Asta, and D'Arcy were struggling for their lives, others were struggling, too.
Sheriff Mike and Ben are both facing trouble with their partners, one business and one personal. Their one-up-manship made for a hilarious scene slamming the blinds over and over again like children.
But considering what Ben and Kate went through recently, Mike's suggestions for Ben's anniversary hit home for the mayor. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand his wife well enough to carry out those suggestions in his favor.
Initially, Ben thought it was ridiculous for Mike to give advice when he couldn't even keep Liv satisfied. He wasn't wrong. But he let his nagging doubt flag the call anyway.
TV Fanatic isn't filled with Kate fans, and they've been expecting Ben and D'Arcy to rekindle their school-days union again at any time.
But despite the odd anniversary dinner that found Ben ordering a dish Kate didn't want and one for himself that he doesn't even like, the two managed to understand each other a little better by the end.
Still, it was amusing that Ben had to look elsewhere in the pricey restaurant for dating tips. I'm beginning to get the feeling that Ben might be on the Autism spectrum, so routine is cherished while change can be challenging.
Kate hopes to have a partner willing to challenge her, but she wants him to be an equal partner, not taking control of the relationship or allowing her to do the same.
It seems like an honorable request. Whether Ben can give her what she needs is a question for another day.
While we're on the subject of Ben and Kate, those pesky military fools are loose again, and this time, Lisa seems to have "taking Ben and Kate for a ride" on her to-do list.
Why would she be interested in Max? How can she use a child in a situation that the parents aren't even aware of, even if Max is, but Lisa doesn't know that? In other words, Lisa has no idea Max knows the alien, and the same goes for his parents. She's a strange bird, and that storyline remains unappealing, at best.
Sheriff Mike had to interrupt Liv's date with John, D'Arcy's snow patrol partner. They eyed each other warily, not sure how to react. Mike managed to be respectful, and for once, he wasn't a disrespectful wiseass toward his former deputy.
The same couldn't be said for their earlier exchange, which resulted in Mike slinging insults at a non-verbal Liz about his happiness causing cartoon birds to flutter around his head. Her retort through Ben was that those usually indicate someone's unconscious. Ouch!
And did it seem that without Liz, Mike was finally paying attention to details? Doc Sam's widow, Abigail, looked awfully friendly with a new fella, and that didn't escape Mike's attention. Is the murder case finally coming to a close?
But, of course, none of that compares to the bombshells dropping all over (or under) the icy glacier.
Asta: Thank God, we're all OK.
D'Arcy: OK? We fell into a crevasse. This is a death trap.
Asta: Sorry I said anything.
D'Arcy and Asta were relatively unharmed in the fall, but Harry was pinned under an icy boulder. There were insults all around as the three tried to assess their situation, and D'Arcy proves why she's got the snow patrol job.
Since she appears to be the town drunk and doubles as the bartender, curiosity as to her qualifications for snow patrol is natural. But her fortitude trumps everything.
She didn't allow a perpendicular icy crevasse wall to stop her from climbing up to a dangling snowmobile, and when that fell, and Asta and Harry were lost down below, she didn't allow her fears to get the better of her.
Saying goodbye to friends via video and admitting all of her mistakes will make for one hell of a party trick.
She wasn't uploading live, so she'll have to share it for it to be seen, but who doesn't want Sheriff Mike to know about her racial sensitivity and the dubious consequences? Only the town drunk with a heart of gold could get away with that one.
Once her pity party was over, that girl scaled the side of that crevasse to save the day. It was impressive, and I hope she gets the kudos she deserves for such a daring feat of heroism.
So, she's totally out of the loop regarding Harry's identity, but Asta got an eyeful and multiple handfuls of the creature.
Asta: That part of you is still a human. I just touched your penis.
Harry: I do not mind it; it feels good.
Asta: Stop talking!
Physically morphing half human and half alien perfectly summed up what Harry's been feeling. He's too human to accomplish his mission and too alien to fail. It's a no-win situation.
If he completes his mission, he'll lose all of his new friends, and if he doesn't, he might never get home again.
But dang, Asta asked all of the right questions. She even nailed his mission. She is our voice.
Asta: Well, all we know about aliens is from movies, so it's either a radio to phone home or you're here to kill us and eat us.
Harry: [chuckles] We do not eat humans. HA HA HA!
Harry explained his anatomy in great detail so that Asta could save his life. And his explanation for Isabelle's inability to tell the difference between Dead Harry and Harry was chillingly accurate given his mission.
Harry's wife did die, even if she wasn't a wife. And Asta was also assured that Isabelle didn't leave pregnant.
Asta: Wait a minute. How did his wife not know you were an imposter?
Harry: Some people only see what they want to see. She saw every part of me, but she never knew.
Asta: Wait. Did you have SEX with her?
Harry: To be accurate, she had sex with me, on me, at me, in front of me.
Asta: Oh, Harry!
Harry: She made me watch.
Asta's fear of an alien was overpowered by her desire to nurture. She's everything that we know and love about nurses. Caring and healing come before everything else.
Harry continued showing his humanity even as he became more alien. When Asta recoiled from his transformation in fear, that she found his appearance offensive was his main concern.
Asta: Who are you?
Harry: Harry.
Asta: No, no, no, no. Half your face is all wrong.
Harry: Offensive?
He has a whole list of other aliens who come and go on our planet and assures Asta he's not one of those nasty reptilians but admits his people shed their skin in one chunk.
Harry: My people shed their skin in one piece. That way, it is easier to eat.
Asta: Gross.
Harry: YOU are gross!
That was another revelation that made him defensive, signaling his humanity in full swing.
Harry could barely talk about feelings without his voice cracking, and he hates that he finds himself worried over child number 62 out of 314.
Asta: So what you said about your wife dying was true, then?
Harry: We do not have genders like you humans. I had a mate who died bearing our offspring.
Asta: I'm sorry.
Harry: There is nothing to be sorry about. The birthing death is inevitable. My people do not feel sadness [voice cracking].
Asta: Are you sure about that?
Harry: Once I assumed this body, I began feeling all sorts of things I have never felt. I don't want to talk about it!
His people don't feel sadness, but Harry sure does, and if he misses one of his children now, he needs to imagine how he'll feel about killing eight billion emotional humans before he uses his device.
He's having a difficult time reconciling it, that's for sure. One minute, he's sniveling, and the next, he's inwardly gleeful that he can finish the mission the next day.
Asta's dad proved himself keenly aware of his daughter, instigating the search into their disappearance.
Dan: What are you doing hanging with that thing?
Asta: Do you know what that thing is?
Dan: Well, it's violating a whole bunch of health codes. I know that for sure!
Asta: Can you just say it, so there's no confusion?
Dan: Why's there an alien in my freezer, Asta?
He also proved his love for her when his first thought at seeing a giant alien in his freezer wasn't whether she was OK. It seems Dan knows that Asta will always be OK, but he draws the line at the unsavory types she hangs out with.
Keeping Harry's identity a secret will get more difficult. There's no way that D'Arcy won't be asking questions after Asta took off in her truck.
How will any of it play into Lisa and David's hands? It's going to take a long route to connect the dots.
But I do think I know how Harry will decide, at least temporarily, not to kill us all.
Asta: I won't let you die.
Harry: [internal] I believe her. No one's dying today. But now I have my device, so how about tomorrow? All eight billion of them!
Whatever those two goons do with Max, Harry won't allow Max to be hurt. Even how he mentioned him in discussion with Asta showed that he cares about the boy. They've been through something together. They're connected.
The Lisa and David of it all don't make sense to me, but maybe it will before Resident Alien Season 1 concludes.
The best news in ages is that Resident Alien Season 2 is on the way. In case you missed it, Syfy renewed it today. Yay!!
Now, those of you lagging behind can watch Resident Alien online. The rest of you can drop below and get this party started! Lisa's plans for Max??
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
