Resident Alien (Alan Tudyk show)

[beanheadmcginty]

Whenever I see Alan Tudyk's name mentioned my brain goes on an involuntary journey where I try and come up with the format for a TV programme that has the title "A Dog With Tudyks"

[Famous Mortimer]

Most recent episode, and it set me to thinking.

Spoiler alert

Harry was married before the woman we met in season 1, but (unless it was a throwaway line) that's never been mentioned. Also, he has a daughter, who's visited Patience before? That Harry didn't find this out just from looking round the cabin, or that no-one else in town has met this daughter and thought to ask Harry about her, seems a bit of a stretch. Okay, they emphasise early on that the real Harry was a loner, but when she visited they just stayed in the cabin the entire time?

[close]

I love the characters and the town, but...

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Spoiler alert

It's stated that he had ghosted his daughter during three years (including, maybe, the time he was already replaced by alien Harry). Also, the cabin was just a summer house, until he decided to live there for good, presumably after he had already severed ties with the daughter.
It's pretty sure that the daughter was written as a one-off (she's even called Liza, while the bad government agent is named Lisa), and that they hadn't thought about her when they wrote Harry's backstory, but if Harry and Liza were already quite estranged, it's possible that Liza had just been once or twice to the cabin and hadn't made an impression on Patience.

[close]

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm sure you're right, but it feels like Asta should probably have said "how could you possibly not have known about this?" at some point.

[bakabaka]

I've just started watching season 2 and really enjoying it except for one part - the backdrop behind Harry's cabin. They've obviously built the front of the cabin as a set and so had to greenscreen in the lake. But they've done it really, really shittily so it looks like cheap sci-fi tv from the early 80's. And it definitely doesn't help having the water on the lake being whipped up to a churning frenzy by the wind while nothing in the foreground (including the tree) is moving in the slightest.

It was so obvious I assumed it was supposed to be a joke, but my wife and son both think they screwed up.

Otherwise, it's all great fun.

[bakabaka]

It's Northern Exposure, isn't it? Except the fish-out-of-water doctor is from outer space and not New York.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Jenna Lamia, who plays Judy, D'Arcy's blond friend, is also a screenwriter who wrote for Awkward and Good Girls. She's started writing for the show this season (she signed the third episode, about the wage disparities), which may contribute to the added emphasis on the female characters.

[Famous Mortimer]

Nice! I do like her character too.

[MojoJojo]

Jenna Lamia, who plays Judy, D'Arcy's blond friend, is also a screenwriter who wrote for Awkward and Good Girls. She's started writing for the show this season (she signed the third episode, about the wage disparities), which may contribute to the added emphasis on the female characters.

I'm watching on Now TV, which seems to be weeks behind. Watched the 4th episode yesterday. It does feel like two different shows. They're both good and it's not really causing problems, but it's a shame the stories aren't integrated a bit more.

Also, just had two episodes end with D'Arcy doing something cool and rebellious. Another character actually says "D'Arcy's amazing isn't she?". OK if that's it but it's getting a bit Poochie.

[Famous Mortimer]

You should have some time to catch up, the mid-season finale aired last week so I presume it won't be back for at least a month or so.

D'Arcy is an interesting one. I think Alice Wetterlund is brilliant (her standup is even fine) and the character itself is really unusual and fun. But. It does feel a little bit like the producers can't think of anything all that interesting for the characters who aren't in on the central mystery to do - the Mayor and Kate, and her, mostly.

I never really got the sense she was a Poochie, if only for because of how big a fuckup she is.

[MojoJojo]

The Poochie thing was an exaggeration - it's really just the way two episodes ended in a row, and one of the characters saying she was amazing (and even that had more context).

So I'm watching this on Now TV, was hoping to get all of it in in one month - I see now why mid season breaks have become so common.

[Famous Mortimer]

It's returned from its mid season break, and I still like it a lot. But I find that my criticism of it from a few posts up still stands - the longer the other main characters go without learning Harry's secret, the less relevant they feel to the plot.

@MojoJojo , you may not love the ending of the most recent episode, either, given what you said above.

One thing I do love about it is the way they set up tropes, then completely ignore them, without bringing attention to it. In the conversation between the Sheriff and the cop from Jessup, he says "hey, did you know X?" which is almost always used so the asker can go "ha! That person doesn't exist" but, if the evidence of this episode is anything to go by, it was just a polite question. I remember them doing something similar a couple of times before, so kudos to them.

I feel, perhaps, there are too many characters, or they're stretching their plot (Harry has been chasing the alien baby for...three episodes?), but I'm still enjoying it. I admit to not always being the biggest fan of these American hour-long comedy-dramas.

[Famous Mortimer]

Another fun episode, but there are a few things about it that seem unusual, tonally. The replacement doctor has now spent a year being tortured by Linda Hamilton's people, which I feel is a tough sell in a light SyFy Channel show, and the alien baby is a complete dead end of a plotline.

I was just reading about the plot of the comics, and there are some interesting differences. Harry doesn't kill and replace the real Harry, he just arrives in town having learned about medicine and mystery novels while sneaking through the US after landing there. He buys the house with winnings from Vegas (having alien powers and all that).

The only plotline the show lifted mostly intact was the one in New York, but as far as I can tell, the comic never had him find the egg. Blimey, the bloke who wrote the comic also wrote for 2000AD (and is now doing so again).

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

If I remember a few comments made by the showrunner about the first season, they were schedule issues with Linda Hamilton, who was available in a very limited capacity. I guess that the same thing happened for this season. She was practically absent from the first half, then gets a much expanded role, hence the time spent torturing the doctor, because they weren't able to continue her plot line until episode 9.

The music consultant should also learn to reign their instincts. There were, according to TuneFind, 13 different songs in the latest episode (the record is apparently 16), ranging from tracks from the Breeders or Lucinda Williams to totally generic music. Worse, most of them last only a few seconds, and fail to create a mood. Ironically, for an episode called "The Weight", they didn't even include "The Weight" by The Band.

That said, in the self-indulgence department, I loved the whole sequence that comes out of nowhere with the cat lady during the investigation about the various health issues.

Also, already renewed for a third season (12 episodes this time).

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Re: This week's episode.

Now, that's a twist.

[Famous Mortimer]

I just finished the second season, and I'd be interested to know what other people who saw it think. Spoilers!

The last episode had a feeling of someone else being brought in and going "you need to make some changes". D'Arcy finds out about Harry, Linda Hamilton is now going to be a goodie, the Mayor is an abductee, the Sheriff and Deputy are now fully in alien-hunting mode, the baby is off back to Harry's home planet, and Enver Gjokaj (who I loved in "Dollhouse", nice to see him back in something) is an actually threatening bad guy.

The mixture of "real" people (including the writer and artist of the comic) and cast member in the alien documentary framing device was a bit odd, but it was an interesting new thing. It felt like they were setting the Mayor up to be the alien hunter's son, and it would have made a lot more sense, rather than introducing a new character who'll presumably be dropped very early into season 3 (or just ignored completely). And now multiple adults know who Harry is, the need for the two kids is gone, so hopefully they'll be phased out, although I doubt it.

I'll be back for season 3, but the I think it spun its wheels for way too long and I'm glad it's only going to be 12 episodes.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

It's still quite obvious that the main plot, even when it sees huge developments, is what was pitched to the network, and what gets it sold, but it isn't really what the show is about. At its heart, it's about a dickhead who gradually embraces empathy.

I had assumed, like you, that the Mayor would turn out to be Peter Bach's son (especially because Peter and Max share the same genetic disposition), but it was some red herring intended to cover for the pregnancy arc by his wife. At least, they have finally and thankfully connected the Mayor (who tends to be a weak point of the show, especially with the resort thing) to the overall plot.

[Famous Mortimer]

I agree. I wonder if they're ever going to do the comic thing of making Harry normal enough that he and Asta have a relationship? As good as this show has been at avoiding the typical tropes, it'd be a nice idea I think.