RESIDENT ALIEN S4 Review: High Quality Comfort Food

Sunny with a chance of rain. Ah, summertime!

Resident Alien
The first four episodes of the fourth season premiere Friday, June 6 at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The show will be simulcast on USA Network and SYFY. Episodes will be available to stream on Peacock one week after airing on USA. I've seen the first three seasons in their entirety, as well as the first four episodes of Season 4.

Alan Tudyk can do anything and make me laugh, whether his character intends to induce amusement or not. Watching him in the first three seasons of Resident Alien has brought me nothing but joy -- yes, joy. Sheer, unadulterated joy.

In the series, he plays a creature from outer space who crash-lands on Earth and must make his way among the humans without attracting undue attention from them. Inevitably, of course, he does nothing but attract attention in the small Colorado mountain town where he has landed and assumed the identity of a local physician, Harry.

As time passes, he gets to know the strange humans and develops affection for them, which is good for the human race as a whole, since he was sent to Earth to destroy it (eventually). Over the course of seasons 2 and 3, he began to side with the humans more and more. The series has also taken more of an interest in the supporting characters, so that Resident Alien now feels more like an ensemble piece, with more time devoted to the various plot threads that have developed.

Inevitably, more characters now know Harry's true identity, though it can be a bit of a challenge for a casual viewer to remember who knows what. As the third season concluded, Harry ended up in the prison of an antagonistic Alien race on the Moon.

The fourth season picks up from there, though it's not too long before Harry (and his baby Bridget) return to Earth to help defend the planet from a shape-shifting Alien that has taken possession of his human body. As the single 'good' alien on the planet, Harry must reluctantly accept help from his new-ish human friends who, again, are all in possession of various degrees of knowledge about Harry's identity and purpose on Earth.

Frankly, I'm not sure how much a casual viewer actually needs to know to enjoy the show, though. For me, even though I've seen all three previous seasons, I had to keep looking up information on the show to remember some of the details.

But what's outlined above gives you the gist of it: Alan Tudyk stars as an alien who has become a Resident Alien on planet Earth and is now trying to save it, rather than destroy it. He is well-meaning, likes humans, and loves pizza. He can't help but get involved in one adventure after another. He is a very likable Alien. He may bumble things at times, say the wrong things, or offend humans, but he doesn't mean to do so. That is not his intention.

The flexible and talented supporting cast is led by Sara Tomko as the loyal and supportive Asta, who was Harry's first human friend and remains a staunch ally. Alice Wetterlund plays D'Arcy, a funny and frank-talking former Olympic skier and Asta's best friend.

Corey Reynolds plays Sheriff Mike as someone with firm principles but many indecisive thoughts. In contrast, Elizabeth Bowen is Deputy Liv, who is probably the most incisive among the townspeople, and is qualified beyond her title to suss out Aliens. Levi Fiehler and Meredith Garretson are Mayor Ben and his wife Kate, the latter of whom had her own Alien encounter and is still haunted by the experience, with Judah Prehn as their son Max, who recognized Harry as an Alien far before anyone else.

The pleasure of the show now extends beyond Alan Tudyk, but he remains the principal player and the sun around which everyone else orbits. His physical and linguistic gymnastics continue to amaze and delight, making every moment he appears on screen a sheer delight.

Or did I already say that? No matter. Resident Alien is high-quality comfort food; it's always good to have more.

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