Resident Alien, Season 1, Episode 3 “Secrets”
Air Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 10:00PM – 11:00PM ET/PT on Syfy
Reviewer Rating: 4 Stars
***WARNING: Spoilers Ahead ***
“And somebody needs to open up a damn window because it smells like a sweaty REI store up in here.” – Sheriff Mike Thompson
If you haven’t been watching Resident Alien, stop reading and go watch this hilarious show! The acting, writing, direction, cinematography, set designs, props, basically everything is so damn good!
To catch up on what’s going on, read my earlier recaps of the series premiere and last week’s episode “Homesick.”
Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk) is up on the mountain after a restless night of no sleep and Googling all sorts of medical procedures, including “circumcision” which is definitely not “eye surgery.” Harry is searching for pieces of his ship that crashed over four months ago. But he’s not alone on the snow-capped peaks.
Surprisingly, D’Arcy (Alice Wetterlund) and her friend John (Trevor Carroll) are blasting the ice packed snow for avalanche control. She is a former Olympic skier, so it seems fitting that she’s not just a alcoholic bartender. Harry’s response to their presence is one of the reasons I am completely enamored with Resident Alien. “I just felt my rear iris pucker and my testicles tighten. My taint remains unchanged.”
As with each episode, so much happens and many story arcs are in play yet it’s not overwhelming. Every storyline is strategic in the overall grander scheme of Harry trying to find his ship along with the humanity destroying weapon. What fun would it be if Harry didn’t interact with anyone or have some kid to kill on his quest to kill all humans?
The key plot of “Secrets” lies in the lake where Harry killed the real human Harry (see “Pilot” recap). Now that a fisherman has caught himself a decaying, waterlogged foot, Harry is in a race to find the rest the body and properly dispose of it before anyone figures out. Easier said than done, right?
I’ve said it more times than I can count, the acting coupled with the fantastically clever writing deserves awards or something. This shit is funny! The cast are all wonderful in their performances and delivery. Sheriff Mike Thompson (Corey Reynolds) has some of the funniest lines in “Secrets.”
After the crazy Town Hall announcement about finding another dead body (Note: still no clues as to who killed Dr. Sam Hodges (Jan Bos) yet…), Sheriff Thompson says, “We got some Ted Bundy shit goin’ on around here.”
Tudyk’s performance as an alien in human form goes beyond talent. He’s truly gifted. The way he uses high-pitched tones and sardonic laughter make for some serious guffaws. When he tries to look at the foot in Town Hall, Mayor Ben Hawthorne (Levi Fiehler) asks him to come up and say something. What Harry says is not encouraging to the townsfolk. “I am SO scared.” Extra high-pitched yet befitting. Harry is scared that his secret will be revealed before he can complete his real mission.
Deputy Liv Baker (Elizabeth Bowen) is quite intuitive. She’s not given much respect by the Sheriff, yet her assessments are all spot on, even down to the probable size of the man that belongs to the decrepit foot. White male, six-foot, about 180lbs. She looks at Harry, “If you didn’t have two feet, I’d think it was you.” Insert awkward fear-laced laughter.
Even her instincts about the body probably being washed ashore already “based on the currents” is spot on. Thankfully, Harry gets to it before anyone else. Well, him and Sheriff Thompson’s dog Cletus. I love Reynold’s delivery of his lines. The acerbic tone is everything! When the Mayor asks to leave the lake search, Sheriff isn’t happy. “Are you seasick? We don’t halt justice just because your tummy is a little upset. If you gotta piss, puke, or shit, you do it over the side of the boat!”
***AGAIN – SPOILERS AHEAD***
Some of my favorite and curious highlights:
- Kate Hawthorne (Meredith Garretson), mother to the only person who can see Harry’s true form, Max (Judah Prehn), pays Harry an unexpected visit at his secluded lakeside cabin. She doesn’t believe her son but shows motherly concern about his overactive imagination.
- Max has a new friend and confidant in his mission to expose Harry as an alien. I’m just not sure if Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) can actually see the alien as Max does or if she’s just giving moral support.
- After D’Arcy fails to get Harry jealous about the “girls night” at her ex-boyfriend’s house party, she and Asta (Sara Tomko) accidentally attend a high school party instead. While there, they discover some kids have prescriptions written by the late Dr. Sam Hodges after he died. Those missing prescription pads at the office are now a bigger deal than Asta imagined.
- If you’ve been paying attention, you should be able to piece it together. Asta gave up her baby when she was only 16 years old. Fast forward about 17 years and a certain intern at the clinic seems to resemble a certain head nurse.
- Asta has a soft spot for Jay (Kaylayla Raine). She’s a loner but her behavior does raise some suspicions. Did Jay take the prescription pads? Why is she napping all the time? Is it because she works too much at the clinic or something else?
- More flashbacks to four months ago when Harry (the Alien) crashed on Earth. If I’m putting the puzzle together, his ship crashed in New Mexico, which does border Colorado. One day, Harry encounters a lone cowboy. After running scared, Roy the Cowboy (Brent Stait) leaves behind his trusty steed and nice Stetson.
- Harry needs to get a DNA sample to the Sheriff, but he knows if he gets one from the foot, his cover is blown. So, he comes up with a brilliant (not really) idea. I wish I could have been in the writers’ room as they came up with all this dialogue.
“No one knows where great ideas come from, but you always remember where you were when they came. And in this case, my great idea came the moment I entered the exam room and realized I was going to cut the foreskin off this baby’s dick and hand it to the Sheriff.”
Remember those two people on snowmobiles in “Homesick?” Well, they’re back and things are becoming even more clandestine. The woman (Mandell Maughan) and the man (Alex Barima) visit Roy the Cowboy after seeing his YouTube videos but the encounter doesn’t end well, at least for Roy. The Man is visibly upset, “We’re not supposed to kill people; those aren’t our orders!” With a cool glance, the Woman says, “Looks like you and I have different orders.” The question is – who the hell is giving orders?
Tune in to Resident Alien, Wednesdays at 10PM E/P on Syfy.
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Judy Manning
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