We are back once again talking about one of our favorite current comedy based shows, Resident Alien. The recent fourth season is coming next month, and with it a whole new twist into the world of Resident Alien. We’ve only got the chance to preview the first four episodes.
As always we breakdown our reviews by story, acting, and overall. So lets jump into it!
Story 6/10
Last season we left Harry and Bridget stuck on the moon, with a Mantid passing himself off as Harry back on Earth. The show doesn’t take too long with Harry gone however, as by the end of the first episode we have Harry back home, and all of his friends, who know he is an alien, aware of the imposter.
The only problem though is that Harry isn’t like he was anymore. Harry is no longer an alien. Unable to utilize all the things that make him special, including his advanced brain and shapeshifting abilities, Harry is now just as mortal and normal as the humans he finds himself disgusted by.
This season starts with some rivalry between the young alien hunters, Mike the chief of police dealing with questioning the existence of aliens, and Mayor Ben and his wife dealing with the fallout of searching for their baby to no avail. All at the same time as they search, Darcy is plagued by the fact that to keep the baby safe, she has to keep the baby from it’s parents, and hurt her friends in the process.
While no real alien or world altering problem is hanging over our cast halfway through the season, the big question rests on, what Harry is losing as a human, and what he will do to get his alien powers and sense of self back.
Acting 9/10
Alan Tudyk does an amazing job returning to the role once again of Harry the alien. His ability to portray the character is fun and enjoyable, but in many ways this season layered. Not only does he have to play the regular character, but also now adds in levels of fear and terror due to his recent humidification. Additionally, Tudyk also must start to slightly pepper in slowly human mannerisms that begin to appear the longer he stays human.
I’ve noticed in these early episodes that we’ve seen Asta, played by Sara Tomko, relying less on her adoptive father Dan, played by Gary Farmer. To correct this they see her leaning in more heavily to Kayla, played by Sarah Podemski who plays Asta’s cousin, who appeared prior multiple times in the prior series. While Kayla does a great job fitting in, and giving a fresh look at events within the series, we still miss the strong bond and advice that Dan’s character would give to Asta.
Alice Wetterlund, who plays D’Arcy once again increases her role this season, which was also increased last season, which is definitely not a bad thing. The way she’s able to convey so intently a motherly Bond with Ben and Kate’s baby is quite believable. It’s a sweet and tragic story for her character this season as she takes on the role so well.
Lastly, I have to talk about Judah Prehn and Gracelyn Awad Rinke who play the junior alien hunters throughout the season and series. It’s quite amazing how fast these two are growing and aging as the series continues. Every single season break feels like 5 years in their growth and development. This is doubly so when the season is supposed to pick up either immediately or a month after the prior one.
While the two child actors play their competitive roles against and off each other well, I continue to ask why the showrunners find it so necessary to use this played out and constant bit between the two of them. There’s so much more they could be tapping into, and the children seen to be more then capable of taking on more serious stories, or humor within the series.
Overall 8/10
From what we’ve seen of this season so far, it really feels like a tragic one, but at the same time we haven’t got that feeling of a real overarching enemy to deal with. Sure, there’s a struggle for Harry to return to normal, and it’s unarguable how important that would be to the character and the series, but without a villain to hate or a world-ending event to prevent, it feels a little underwhelming.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
Even when underwhelming, this series is still a lot of fun to watch as. Alan Tudyk constantly devours every scene that he is in. We’re glad to see him get more and more time on screen. Watching him portray a different character like the manted, was also a lot of fun and well within Tudyk’s acting abilities.
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