DISCLAIMER: This recap of the Resident Alien mid-season finale episode “Alien Dinner Party” has spoilers. Microwave that day-old pizza, cue up the Law & Order reruns and proceed at your peril. 

Welcome back, residents of Patience! Resident Alien blesses us this week with a rock-solid, surprisingly action-packed mid-season finale. “Alien Dinner Party” partially succeeds because it combines multiple story threads while bringing the main characters together for the first time. We even reunite with David Logan and General McCallister, meet Goliath, learn that Harry’s race isn’t the threat and encounter a new formidable player in the game. 

It’s an outing filled to the brim with equal parts heart and humor, with a smattering of steamy drama. I’m not a fan of the Ben-Kate-D’Arcy love triangle, and I’m glad the Powers That Be put it to bed in “Alien Dinner Party.” Harry is still the most intriguing aspect of this show, and there are only certain characters I genuinely enjoy sans his presence.

Ready to dig deep into “Alien Dinner Party”? Let’s get to it. 

RELATED: Resident Alien Recap: (S02E07) Escape From New York

We open with David Logan (Alex Barima) meeting with General McCallister (Linda Hamilton) on a bridge. McCallister demands to see the alien ball David has on his person. In return, David wants honorable discharge, a pension and his life back. 

David flashes the ball, but, unfortunately, a mysterious someone shoots him. David topples over the side of the bridge and falls into the waters below. McCallister returns fire on this elusive shooter and flees the scene. 

The shooter (Enver Gjokaj) lurks in the shadows. His seemingly human eyes morph into a blank, grayish hue when he blinks. It’s abundantly clear that he’s not of this world. 

Resident Alien Season 2 Episode 8 Alien Dinner Party

RESIDENT ALIEN — “Alien Dinner Party” Season 2 Episode 8 — Pictured: (l-r) Alice Wetterlund as D’Arcy Bloom, Corey Reynolds as Sheriff Mike Thompson, Elizabeth Bowen as Deputy Liv Baker, Trevor Carroll as John — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

Meanwhile, Harry (Alan Tudyk), Asta (Sara Tomko) and Dan (Gary Farmer) arrive at Harry’s cabin to a surprise birthday party with Ben (Levi Fiehler), D’Arcy (Alice Wetterlund), Kate (Meredith Garretson), Liv (Elizabeth Bowen), Mike (Corey Reynolds) and John (Trevor Carroll) in attendance. The whole gang’s here!

Harry orders everyone to leave, but Ben insists on celebrating the good doctor’s birthday. Of course, we know Ben has ulterior motives — he wants to rehire Harry as the town doc. 

Asta urges Harry to hide the duffel bag containing the alien egg, so he conceals said bag in his bunker. Asta attempts to shoo the crew away by claiming Harry’s ill. Ben believes they can nurse him back to health through the power of birthday pie!

Next, we see our gang socializing as anyone would at a shindig. Liv tantalizes Ben with her scrumptious deviled eggs. Mike figures out Ben’s plan and wonders when the mayor will ask Harry to work at the clinic again. Asta pulls our resident alien aside and declares they should try to break up the party, especially since they don’t know what will happen when the egg hatches. 

Harry moseys downstairs to the bunker to check on the egg. However, the duffel bag is empty, and eggshell fragments remain in the wake of an escaped baby extraterrestrial. Uh oh. 

Asta and D’Arcy share a moment upstairs, and the latter reveals she stopped drinking. Not only that, but D’Arcy’s eating healthier and hitting the gym. While Harry’s grabbing ice in his basement, we hear the little bugger scurrying. Even Kate gets a whiff of the sulfur from the alien baby hatching with her keen pregnancy nose. 

Meanwhile, Max (Judah Prehn) and Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) conspire on how to sneak past Ellen (Diana Bang), their babysitter for the evening. Sahar learns that Dr. Ethan Stone went missing after Max told the “Men in Black” that he was the alien in Patience. Sahar muses it’s only a matter of time before they discover Ethan’s human and return to town searching for the genuine article. 

Resident Alien Season 2 Episode 8 Alien Dinner Party

RESIDENT ALIEN — “Alien Dinner Party” Season 2 Episode 8 — Pictured: (l-r) Sara Tomko as Asta Twelvetress, Gary Farmer as Dan Twelvetrees — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

D’Arcy gives Kate a pep talk after she learns the latter hasn’t taken a pregnancy test yet. Kate confesses she’s unhappy with her life — she’d prefer to jet set to NYC than spend another minute being a baby factory in Patience. 

Max and Sahar discover that Ellen might be the world’s worst babysitter. She doesn’t care what the kids get up to so long as they refrain from drug use and return home before Ben and Kate. 

Then, Dan finds the slab of raw meat he previously placed on the grill goes inexplicably missing. Could it be a particular baby alien stirring up trouble?

D’Arcy supports Kate while she takes the pregnancy test — it’s positive! There’s a bun in the oven!

Liv discloses her alien beliefs to Asta and reveals someone came into the police station to talk about a UFO sighting. Asta tries to brush it off, asserting that aliens wouldn’t deign to show themselves in a small town like Patience. 

Next, Jay (Kaylayla Raine), who arrived earlier with cake for the birthday alien, asks Asta if she wants to grab lunch for Jay’s upcoming b-day celebration. Asta, overjoyed, accepts the invite. 

RELATED: Resident Alien Recap: (S02E06) An Alien in New York

D’Arcy observes while Asta runs into the bathroom to have a celebratory cry. Suddenly, Asta catches a glimpse of the alien baby in Harry’s toilet before the little guy flies out the window. Asta’s furious that Harry didn’t tell her about the egg hatching. The duo decides to keep everyone inside while hunting for the extraterrestrial infant. 

Asta asks Dan to keep the party indoors while the alien lurks outside. Max and Sahar watch as the baby quickly consumes a cute raccoon. Mike urges Dan to join him on the lake so that he can scatter his best friend’s ashes, the ones he wears around his neck. But Dan puts the kibosh on that, citing it’s too windy for ash scattering. 

Resident Alien Season 2 Episode 8 Alien Dinner Party

RESIDENT ALIEN — “Alien Dinner Party” Season 2 Episode 8 — Pictured: (l-r) Corey Reynolds as Sheriff Mike Thompson, Trevor Carroll as John — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

Later, Ben approaches Harry in the basement and pops the question: Will Harry Vanderspeigle reprise his role as the town doctor? Harry awkwardly accepts, embracing Ben to swat at the looming alien baby on the wall behind him. 

Meanwhile, Kate informs D’Arcy about Ben adding a resort to Patience. D’Arcy thought the photos he took that day they smoked weed together were for the town website. Ben enters the conversation, and he explains himself to Kate and D’Arcy. Well, that is until Mike tells both women that D’Arcy kissed Ben. 

This truth bomb leads to Kate discovering D’Arcy spent the night in her house. Kate’s irate with D’Arcy for lying to her about the kiss and the hangout session with her husband. Then, Kate drops the pregnancy news on Ben. This episode opens many, many cans of worms. So much drama!

Kate calls D’Arcy out on her penchant for chaos and attached men, and, while it’s not 100 percent accurate, Kate’s not wrong, either. D’Arcy doesn’t have a leg to stand on in this scenario — she fumbled the ball by not coming clean about the kiss with Ben and spending time with him behind his wife’s back. 

Ben chases after Kate, and the pair try to hash out their issues in the bathroom. However, every time they broach uncomfortable territory, it always culminates in sex. And this time is no different. 

Meanwhile, everyone sings Happy Birthday to Harry, and Mike instructs our fave alien to blow out the candles. Suddenly, the electricity goes out, and all we hear are Ben and Kate doing the nasty in Harry’s bathroom. 

Dan and Asta encounter Max and Sahar while outside, and the kids warn them about the Men in Black returning to Patience. Asta asks Dan to take Sahar and Max home while she continues to hunt for the rogue alien baby. Back inside, Liv tells John she believes there’s an extraterrestrial presence in Patience, just as we see the fugitive alien baby hiding underneath the couch. 

Liv sees flashes from her alien encounter and reveals to John her plans of reeling in a tracker to scope out the town. 

Resident Alien Season 2 Episode 8 Alien Dinner Party

RESIDENT ALIEN — “Alien Dinner Party” Season 2 Episode 8 — Pictured: (l-r) Alice Wetterlund as D’Arcy Bloom, Meredith Garretson as Kate Hawthorne, Levi Fiehler as Mayor Ben Hawthorne, Alan Tudyk as Harry Vanderspeigle — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

Next, Asta reassures D’Arcy that the things Kate said weren’t true. D’Arcy loathes herself for screwing things up with Elliott, so Asta encourages her to reach out to him. D’Arcy texts Elliott a simple “hi,” which leads to an actual conversation. 

Harry finally spots the alien baby, but before he can capture it, the little creature jumps on Harry’s head, infiltrating his mind. It looks like Harry’s transported to the extraterrestrial infant’s mind, wherein Goliath (David Bianchi) now resides. Goliath informs Harry that his people aren’t coming to Earth because it’s too dangerous. Another alien race is already on the planet with plans of destruction. Methinks the man who shot David Logan, a.k.a. Enver Gjokaj’s character, is one of them. 

Then, a man shoots Harry in real life. He works for The Galvan/Powell Group, and he knows Human Harry. The man believes he was mistaken in trusting Harry to kill Sam Hodges. Before the guy fires another shot at Harry, he falls over, dead. We see Asta killed him, and D’Arcy bears witness. 

RELATED: Catch up on all the extraterrestrial antics with our Resident Alien recaps!

“Alien Dinner Party” ties loose ends while posing new questions for us to contemplate while we wait for the back half of Season 2. It’s fun, fast-paced and unexpected, brilliantly executing a handful of plot twists, including the reveal of Enver Gjokaj as another alien. Not gonna lie, Enver’s one of my Hollywood crushes, and I’m still mourning the loss of Agent Carter. I’m curious to learn more about his character. 

Do you think David Logan is dead? Will D’Arcy finally learn about Harry’s identity? Will The Galvan/Powell Group send more folks to Patience now that Asta killed the last employee? Hopefully, we’ll find out soon enough!

Resident Alien will return for the remainder of Season 2 later this year on Syfy. You can stream Season 1 and the first half of Season 2 on Peacock. 

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Melody McCune
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