DISCLAIMER: This recap of Resident Alien‘s season finale episode “Heroes of Patience” is laden with spoilers. You’ve been warned, human creatures. Proceed at your own peril.
Welcome back, extraterrestrials! Resident Alien aired a whopper of a season finale. “Heroes of Patience” managed to wrap up a few crucial plot points in a neat bow while leaving some loose ends untied. Harry’s scenes with Asta properly gutted me. If Alan Tudyk isn’t nominated for his work on this show, then there’s no justice in the world. The scenes wherein he’s grappling with his very human emotions were utterly heart-wrenching. From henceforth, I’ve decided that when aliens cry, I cry.
Ready to delve into “Heroes of Patience”? Let’s get to it.
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Now, we open with Harry (Tudyk) driving through the night. He stops at Sam’s office. We see that it’s a flashback from five months ago. Harry procures Sam’s insulin from the mini-fridge and tampers with it. So, the real Harry Vanderspeigle killed Sam! We see Harry asleep on the couch. Alien Harry is observing him from outside the cabin.
Flash forward time! Sheriff Mike (Corey Reynolds) and Deputy Liv (Elizabeth Bowen) respond to a call from D’Arcy (Alice Wetterlund). She’s pacing outside Harry’s humble abode. If you’ll recall, D’Arcy spotted the real Harry Vanderspeigle in our Harry’s freezer. However, she assumed it was the Harry she knew — that someone murdered him. Harry answers the door to find the aforementioned trio standing before him. D’Arcy’s bewildered by his appearance. Well, since he’s alive, she can only assume that Harry killed someone. Liv rummages through Harry’s freezer but finds it bereft of a body. D’Arcy accuses Harry of moving said body.
Suddenly, a fight breaks out between D’Arcy and Mike. D’Arcy is hellbent on proving that Harry’s hiding a corpse. Mike eventually arrests her for assaulting a police officer. Meanwhile, Liv spots an empty boot near the shoreline.
Next, we see Max (Judah Prehn) and Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) on the former’s laptop. They pull up the video featuring Lisa Casper snooping around in Max’s room. Max wants to warn Harry. The government is after him! Lisa Casper (Mandell Maughan) and David Logan (Alex Barima) are sitting outside Max’s house in their camper. Ever the sneaky spies.
Then, Asta (Sara Tomko) bails D’Arcy out of jail. D’Arcy jumps to conclusions regarding the corpse she found. Maybe Asta and Harry murdered this person together! D’Arcy reveals what she actually saw. Additionally, she knows that Asta’s withholding information from her. She’s keeping a devastating secret. Asta tries to throw D’Arcy off the scent.
Meanwhile, Lisa and David hit Sahar with their camper. They were in pursuit of Max since the latter was en route to see Harry. However, Sahar planted herself there. She was merely meant to derail the pair from following Max any further.
Later, we see that Harry’s device is at full power. Time to decimate humanity! Once he activates it, the device will take 90 minutes to detonate. But Harry is distracted by a pizza commercial that plays on the radio. He can’t kill everyone on an empty stomach! He moseys on over to the town’s only pizza joint. Harry mingles with the residents of Patience. He happily tries to shove full pizza pies into unsuspecting babies’ mouths.
Next, Dan (Gary Farmer) gives Jay (Kaylayla Raine) a part-time job at the diner. Jay runs into Asta. Asta reassures Jay that they can talk about anything. Naturally, Jay is awkward about it. She declines the invitation for discussion. After Jay departs, Max and Sahar slide into Asta’s booth. They reveal that they know that she knows. Now, they know that she knows that they know … know. Something like that. Max informs Asta that the government is after Harry. He knows this because they were sneaking around in his room. Oh, and Sahar taped Kate’s (Meredith Garretson) phone underneath Lisa’s camper bumper. Time to track the government!
Then, Harry arrives home with an armful of pizza boxes. He purchased a plethora of pizzas. Now, when he wipes out the humans, he’ll have pizza for days! He hovers his finger over the device. He hesitates. Perhaps he should “test” it first.
Meanwhile, Max and Sahar realize the camper is still outside the former’s home. Suddenly, Lisa and David show up. They know the little snots are up to something. So, who’s the alien? Back at the cabin, Harry tries to direct the device’s energy toward the real Harry Vanderspeigle’s corpse. But the corpse is reanimated once again. Back to taunt and belittle him. Well, he’s more like a figment of Harry’s imagination.
Now, Corpse Harry delves into the plans he had for his future. He wanted to grow old with Isabel. Unfortunately, Harry took that away from him. Harry grows inquisitive. What is love? What does it feel like? Corpse Harry has such an interesting answer to this question. It’s “joy and fury held in your heart and wrapped with hope.” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but I think the sentiment is sweet. Not to mention, the wording is quite eloquent. Harry wonders if he too loved Isabel.
Corpse Harry doesn’t think Harry will go through with destroying humanity. He’s becoming too much like a human himself. Harry sorts out his feelings, which are rather complicated. He even apologizes to Corpse Harry for murdering him. Progress!
Meanwhile, Asta runs into Dr. Ethan Stone (Michael Cassidy) at the office. She asks if she can leave early. We know she’s trying to contact Harry. Just as she’s about to depart, Liv arrives on the scene. She inquires if she can see the frozen foot that was dredged up from the lake earlier. Liv wants to see if it fits in the lone boot. Asta notices a marking on said foot that resembles the one on Harry’s foot. She pieces it all together. Harry murdered the real Harry Vanderspeigle!
Later, Lisa and David are interrogating Max and Sahar. They want to know where the alien is. David divulges that said alien is there to kill everyone. Amid all this, we see Harry is stalling. He’s continuing to argue with Corpse Harry. Finally, Harry directs the device energy toward Corpse Harry and zap! He’s gone. However, the device burns his finger. That’s not supposed to happen. Maybe if he tried to detonate it now, he’d also die along with the humans.
Then, we see D’Arcy is sitting in the dark when Mayor Ben (Levi Fiehler) finds her. She’s feeling down about it all. D’Arcy doesn’t think she’s done anything worthwhile with her life. “I just want it all to matter,” she confesses. Ben reassures her that she’s accomplished incredible things. He wishes he could be as brave and as strong as she is. Suddenly, D’Arcy kisses him. He’s taken aback. Ben flees the scene in a hurry.
Next, Kate wanders into the living room to find Lisa and David grilling Max and Sahar. Lisa shoves Kate into the closet at gunpoint. Ben witnesses it all from outside his front door. Ben stealthily calls Mike, who advises him to wait until reinforcements arrive. Lisa holds up a photo of an alien doctor that Max drew. She coerces the info out of him. He reveals the alien’s identity.
Suddenly, Ben swoops in like a superhero just as Kate pushes her way out of the closet. Both of them take on Lisa and David. They proceed to beat the snot out of the intruders with various pots and pans. Lisa and David flee. “You guys are like Daredevil and the Black Widow!” Sahar exclaims. That was a pretty badass moment. Mike and Liv show up after the incident. Kate and Ben notice the blood all over each other and, well, they get horned up. They’ve got a one-way-ticket to Horndog Town. Ben went from being fearful of everything to defending his family like Daredevil.
Meanwhile, D’Arcy makes a pit stop at the diner. Jay confides in her. D’Arcy learns that Asta is Jay’s biological mother. Plot twist! Jay feels like she can’t tell anyone, including her adoptive parents. D’Arcy vows to be a bastion of support for the young girl. But first — free onion rings.
Later, Asta arrives at Harry’s house and accuses him of slaughtering the actual Harry Vanderpseigle. Asta is appalled by it all. She claims they are “done.” They aren’t friends. Harry beseeches her to stay. He considers her to be a friend. Harry’s struck with a revelation. He realizes that Asta’s the reason he has humanity in the first place. She’s changed him.
But it’s not enough. Asta leaves. Harry starts crying. It’s the first time he’s ever felt such overwhelming sadness. He’s bewildered by the tears rolling down his face. He decides that he despises Earth now. Time to kill everyone! Harry finally pushes the button. Detonation will occur in 90 minutes. Jay encounters Jimmy (Ben Cotton), her real father.
What initially appears to be a tender meeting between father and daughter morphs into Jay blatantly threatening him. “You ever touch Asta again and I’ll f*cking kill you,” she vows. Meanwhile, D’Arcy takes off the parking brake. We see Jimmy’s truck slide down the hill and crash. Serves him right.
Next, we see Lisa and David incapacitate Dr. Stone. Apparently, Max told them it was the “town doctor” that was the extraterrestrial. He did this knowing Harry wasn’t the doctor anymore. Max was protecting his friend! Ethan is taken away by General McCallister’s (Linda Hamilton) lackeys. David just wants to be rid of Lisa now that the alien is in governmental custody.
Now, McCallister reveals that David must be taken out. Lisa’s orders were to kill him once the mission was finished. Lisa brandishes her gun. Fortunately, some kids walk by. Lisa flees the scene, not wanting to get caught in the middle of murdering someone.
Meanwhile, Mike and Liv are observing the murder board in tandem. There’s the foot and the boot. D’Arcy’s testimony. They decide to question Harry the next morning. Liv discovers that Mike purchased a Nespresso. Just for her! He really does love her! Not only that, but he respects her doorknob instincts. These two are growing as partners.
Suddenly, we see Harry drive through the building that’s housing his ship. Detonation time is now 17 minutes. Asta and Max appear. He reactivates the vessel so it can be seen by the human eye. Harry enters the ship and starts ‘er up. Now, we’re at 12 minutes. McCallister’s soldiers show up and they proceed to shoot at him. But wait — he forgot the pizza! Oh well.
Next, Asta and Max are caught. Harry can’t leave them like that. He emerges from his ship in his full alien form. Harry knocks the soldiers aside. They continue to fire on him, but he deflects the bullets. Max surreptitiously runs away. Asta tries to persuade Harry to refrain from wiping out humanity. She tells him that they’re friends. Asta knows he’s changed for the better. She embraces her weird, alien friend. Harry asks her to come with him. They can destroy the world together!
However, she refuses. Asta’s going to stay on Earth. Harry decides that he can’t decimate the world populace if Asta stays behind. He decides to dispose of the device. Prior to leaving, Harry offers the rest of his pizza to Asta. It’s in the freezer.
Later, we see Harry flying through space. He contemplates humanity’s primary strength — love. True strength is derived from not killing. It’s choosing love over hate. Harry tosses the device into space and it detonates. Earth is safe.
Then, he spots a certain stowaway on his ship. It’s Max! Now he has to go back to Earth! “This is some bullsh*t,” Harry says, mirroring the pilot episode.
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Now, here’s what I want for the next season of Resident Alien: a Harry and Max space adventure. The two of them flying through the universe and battling foes along the way. Perhaps they learn how to make pizza from scratch. Syfy, call me. I’ve got ideas. “Heroes of Patience” was a wonderful button on an equally wonderful first season. Resident Alien took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I do. It’s rife with humor and heart. I’m smitten with these characters, namely Harry and Asta. Their friendship developed quite nicely over the course of the season.
In addition, Harry and Max’s rapport never fails to make me giggle. I wish Sahar was on board Harry’s vessel so the three of them could go on space romps together. She’s fantastic.
Will we see Ethan interrogated next season? Will Lisa make good on her promise to kill David? Could we get my Harry/Max buddy road-trip comedy or will the alien take the kid back to Earth? If Harry does return to Earth, how will he revert back to his human form since the real Harry’s body was incinerated? Not to mention, it looks like the real Harry killed Sam. So many questions! Now, we have to wait until next year to have them answered on Resident Alien.
If you’ll excuse me, I have copious amounts of pizza to consume and Law & Order to watch. Jerry Orbach 4eva.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
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