RESIDENT ALIEN S3 E7 Review: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

My, my, what have we here?

Resident Alien, S3 E7
The series airs on Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. E.S.T. on SYFY and streams next day on Peacock.

On the way to complete his most important mission -- from the viewpoint of puny humans, at least -- the lovelorn Harry (Alan Tudyk) receives a surprise that catches him completely off guard.

Is it because he's not quite back on the ball, as it were, still thrown off kilter by a loving relationship that developed unexpectedly in the recent past? Most likely, that's what it is, but with an alien from outer space, who knows?

Certainly not Asta (Sara Tomko), who has yet to settle her differences with her best friend D'arcy (Alice Wetterlund). As much as they've spent time together in recent episodes of conflict, they are apart more than ever in tonight's episode, either from an emotional or a physical viewpoint. It's like they're each being drawn by different magnetic poles toward their own destiny, which could leave them very far apart.

In another key relationship development, Mayor Ben (Levi Fiehler) has grown increasingly frustrated, even as his dear wife Kate (Meredith Garretson) becomes more distant and remains uncommunicative. She's rapidly becoming unhinged as her uncertain memories of an alien abduction point her toward a conclusion that threatens to rupture her fragile sanity and puts their marriage into further jeopardy.

Isolated as he is by Kate's situation reaching a crisis point, Ben throws his full attention on Sheriff Mike (Corey Reynolds) and Deputy Liv (Elizabeth Bowen). As usual, Liv is quicker on the update of rapidly-changing circumstances in town; she's always been a couple steps ahead of Mike in whatever they're investigating, and now she's able to see quite a bit further down the road than Mike. Her unclouded vision complicates things for Ben, who is similar to Mike, in that both men are at least a couple of steps behind the women in their lives, who are both sharper than their male counterparts.

This is the penultimate episode of Season 3, which naturally enough has a gravitational pull on the characters. Their fates have always been bound together, and now the ties that bind are growing ever tighter. The episode itself picks up the narrative pace and leads toward concluding scenes that made me feel like Harry: caught completely off guard.

As I noted last week, recent episodes have cleared room for several members of the cast to step up and deliver performances that, by themselves, reveal deeper shades of meaning to the narrative and to their characters. This week, I thought that Meredith Garretson's performance was especially keen, tuned to how she, as reliable wife and mother Kate, has grown unstable while still standing on two feet. It's a very affecting dramatic turn that spurs the narrative along.

Titled "Here Comes My Baby," Episode 7 delivers on what you might be expecting, while keeping a few surprises up its ample sleeves. It's going to be a bumpy ride to next week's season finale.

If you don't have SYFY on your cable system, you'll find this streaming on Peacock the next day. Seasons One and Two are available to stream on Peacock and on Netflix.