TV Tuesday: Resident Alien

Book By Book

Are you in need of some seriously goofy fun? Maybe a mystery with some sci fi combined with plenty of laughs? We recently finished season one of the SyFy Channel’s new show Resident Alien, and we loved every minute of it.

Alan Tudyk plays an alien whose ship crash-lands in the Colorado mountains. He finds an isolated cabin on a lake and takes on the human form of its occupant, Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle (the real Harry is now dead and stored in the freezer). The alien now known as Harry is hoping to pretend to be human and lay low, while he searches the deep fields of snow in the surrounding area for pieces of his ship. That plan falls apart when the local sheriff, played by Corey Reynolds, and his deputy, played by Elizabeth Bowen, come knocking on the door of his cabin. The town doctor was murdered the night before, and they heard that Harry is a doctor visiting from New York, so they enlist his help in performing an autopsy. Harry (the alien) goes along with this and agrees to help out, mainly because he’s been watching a lot of Law and Order reruns in the cabin. As the local law enforcement works to solve the case, the town is left without a doctor and asks Harry to step in. Since he needs to blend in and pretend to be human while he continues his search for his ship, Harry agrees. He begins working closely with Asta Twelvetrees, played by Sara Tomko, who works as a nurse in the clinic. Harry also gets to know Asta’s best friend, D’Arcy (played by Alice Wetterlund), who tends bar. The longer Harry is in this quiet mountain town, pretending to be human, the more fascinated he becomes with human beings. There is just one problem: there is a little boy in town named Max, played by Judah Prehn, who sees Harry in his real, alien form.

Describing the plot of this show doesn’t do it justice. It sounds just plain silly, and … well, yes, sometimes it is silly! But that’s part of its charm. Alan Tudyk, one of our favorite actors from the excellent Suburgatory, is perfect in this unusual role of an alien trying to learn how to be human. The supporting cast is all wonderful as well. This unique show combines a classic murder mystery with small-town drama and a sci fi alien story. It’s very funny, but it can also be suspenseful and warm and surprisingly touching at times, too. I know it sounds like an odd combination, but it’s all put together just right for a whole lot of fun. This show was one of about a dozen we were following at once, and it was one of our favorites. We both always looked forward to seeing the next episode and are glad it looks like there will be a season two!

Resident Alien is a SyFy Channel show, so it is available on cable (we watched it On Demand) and probably on satellite, too. It is also available on Hulu and Peacock services or on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $16.99 for the 10-episode season.