This episode, the last of the series, is about love and how its impact can endure even after we are gone.
As this is the last episode of Resident Alien, it ties up many loose ends and sets our characters on their paths for the future. There’s also the obligatory threat to humanity, but it’s one we've seen before, and our heroes deal with it in the kindest, most loving way.
Jay gets into college and is moving away but she gets mad when she learns that Asta is leaving Patience as well. She gets over it when Asta gives her the box of cards and letters she always wrote for Jay. I don’t think it was that reasonable for Jay to be so angry originally, but her reaction made all those letters and cards more important. As we see so often in this episode, giving love makes a difference, sometimes long after you make the effort. Asta wrote and saved those letters for years, never knowing if they would ever be read and if they would matter if they were. But they were read, and they did matter.
Liv and Mike have been acquainted with Harry’s true nature the least amount of time, so the fact they’re still processing makes sense. Liv’s last experience with aliens was very, very bad – nearly eaten by baby Mantids! – and at first she’s not willing to accept Harry. She even figures out that alien Harry must have killed the original Harry Vanderspeigle and wants to arrest him. The others point out that Harry can’t really be contained, which he proves by destroying the handcuffs.
Mike is full of resentment when he learns that Harry implanted a memory in him – the best memory. Harry, in turn, is upset by this rejection and wants to kill Mike to get rid of his bad feeling. At this point we don’t think Harry’s going to kill any more humans, except maybe in self-defense, but Asta encourages him to use his big brain to come up with a better solution. Harry does, by arranging for Mike and his father to meet for a real day of fishing, so that Mike has a real memory instead of a fake one. It is a gesture of love from Harry to Mike, enabling a loving experience between Mike and his dad.
The day of fishing enables Mike to forgive Harry. Liv, who is much more forgiving anyway, forgives Harry even earlier, which we see when she describes how he rescued her from the baby Mantids. Then the two of them get roped into being a special team either fighting or tracking aliens. In these scenes Mike says he cannot do anything without Liv. Liv gets confirmation that fairies are real, so she’s happy, and the two of them are working together.
The Hawthornes remember they have family and finally they’re talking about introducing their daughter to them. I can understand that Kate’s family is not in Patience, but it’s supposed to be full of Hawthornes. Kate decides to get back into law, which is good, because she has a scrappy personality. Ben has resented his parents for making him who he is - perpetually scared - but now he recognizes that his problems originate from having been abducted so often by the Greys. Forgiving our parents is often an important step in our lives.
One frayed thread in the series was always Dr. Ethan, whose life was totally ruined by the fight between the aliens and the people in the government chasing the aliens. He was identified as an alien, even though he wasn’t, kidnapped, tortured, turned into a junkie, and then disappeared for many episodes. Finally in this one we see him driving back to Patience, on the phone with his mom, who is worried about him (Dr Ethan believes in aliens but his mother does not). Dr. Ethan, even though Harry was jealous of him, is a really sweet guy and so he deserved none of this and seems to be returning to Patience in order to resume the position of doctor and to understand what happened. And then, as he’s trying to figure things out, he gets killed by a crashing alien from Harry’s planet. Apparently the ship did not deliberately kill Dr. Ethan – it was shot down by the government – but the ship landed on Ethan’s car, killing him. When we first met Dr. Ethan Stone, he seemed to have it all. Well, let's hope he's doing the jingle dance.
Asta is leaving, but instead of going to Amsterdam to hang out with Drew she decides to join what seems to be an organization similar to Médecins Sans Frontières. Well, after what she has been through – and now that she has some alien blood in her – this seems a good choice. It's interesting that she is now part alien and Harry is part human, and that they are both choosing to leave Patience.
This episode echoes the pilot as they decide to get alien Ethan drunk – he likes it, and he begins to like humans. I think alien Ethan will be easier to win over than alien Harry, for at least two reasons. First, these humans have done it before, so they understand what they’re doing – and they know how it important it is. Second, alien Ethan is using human Ethan’s DNA for his body, and human Ethan was a much better person than human Harry (murderer and lousy father). Our heroes recognize this too.
D’Arcy’s path forward is less well-defined. She’s still obviously struggling with depression, and I question her working as a bartender when she’s fighting her alcoholism. At least when they’re working to get alien Ethan drunk we see that she is not drinking alcohol. She helps out a young skier, showing her love and understanding she may not get the instant gratification of the skier’s saying thanks – not immediately. This is growth for D’Arcy. I think she’ll develop a relationship with alien Ethan.
The whole series has shown Harry learning to become a loving person, so there’s little to say. He has gratification at the end of his friends gathering to say goodbye – he has shown love to all of them in various ways, especially to Max, who hugs him. And the love they have shared with each other will remain, even as they go on their individual paths.
Title musings. "The End Is Here" is the title of the episode, and it contains lots of endings. I have no problem with its being so on the nose – as was the first episode, "Pilot". Note it could also mean that all of humanity is about to end (surely alien Ethan’s intention) but that clearly does not happen. A good title.
Bits and pieces
Although it’s easier not to create multiple puppets or whatever it is they use, I think it’s strange that Bridget never seemed to grow. Well, we don’t know much about Harry’s species and that Bridget puppet is really cute.
Liv says we’re not supposed to tell women they look tired, and I agree with Mike, that seems unfair.
Other arguments besides futility could be offered to keep Liv from arresting alien Harry for the murder of human Harry. First, it was sort of self-defense, although maybe that doesn’t hold in Colorado when you're invading someone's home. Second, human Harry had just put the poison into Sam Hodges’ insulin, although Sam would not inject himself with it for a few months. Third, Harry, after saving Earth multiple times, has official albeit secret government protection.
D’Arcy and Asta don’t seem to acknowledge the fact that these days you can call people by video, so they can still talk to each other. Same with Asta and Jay. I really liked the friendship bracelet where they combined their names into D’Asta. Now we understand the reason for the capital A in D’Arcy’s name, which I’m sure I have forgotten to do in recent reviews.
Wonder what will happen to the cabin? I hope it goes to Liza Venderspeigle, the human daughter of the human Harry Vanderspeigle. She deserves something.
Max expected to be hired by the government. There’s no mention of that, but I have to expect that Sheriff Mike and Deputy Liv will be employing him at least on a part-time basis.
I feel sorry for human Ethan’s mom. As she is a fictional character whom I have never even seen on TV, I expect I’ll get over it.
Quotes
Harry: Look, I need 10 apple pies and 10 cherry pies. Oh, uh, make it 8 apple and 11 cherry. 100 of each.
Dan: You've seen my kitchen, right? I'll grab you two of each.
Harry: I do not want to be replaced.
Kayla: This is what happens when you leave. Life goes on for everyone else who stays.
Dan: That's right. The town will find a new doctor. Somebody else will eat my pies. And someone else will live in your cabin.
Deputy Liv: Sir? I've been thinking a lot about it, and I really think we need to arrest Dr. Vanderspeigle.
Sheriff Mike: Why would we do that? And why do you look so tired?
Deputy Liv: Because he's a murderer, and I don't think you're really supposed to tell women they look tired.
Sheriff Mike: Why not? You can tell me if I look tired. Of course, you'd be lying, 'cause I don't get tired. I'm nocturnal and dayturnal. The real word is "diurnal," but I changed it 'cause "diurnal" sounds like where Germans piss.
Sheriff Mike: Now, see, the deputy and I, we're trained for this.
Harry: No, you and the deputy are trained to give out parking tickets, which I rip up.
Human Ethan’s mom: Ethan, we talked about this. Aliens aren't real. Look, just please come home.
Human Ethan: He ruined my life, Mom. I have to fix this. It's the only way I can get back on track.
Human Ethan’s mom: Honey, I'm worried about you.
Human Ethan: You have nothing to worry about. I promise.
Human Ethan’s mom: Please, I just—
Human Ethan: Mom, it's okay. I'll be home soon. You'll see. This is the best thing--
Asta: Why would someone from your planet come here?
Harry: I do not know. It cannot be good. My people are not the "drop in and say hiya" type.
Asta: But you're still human too. The whole point of being here on earth is to learn and grow and to try and better the lives of everyone around you, which I know is what you were doing when you gave Mike that memory. But it didn't work.
Harry: So now I can kill him.
Asta: I know your big alien brain can come up with something better than that.
Mike: Dad? What the hell are you doing here?
Lewis: Dr. Vanderspeigle asked me to meet him fishing and to bring a rod for him. What are you doing here?
Mike: Uh... I don't think the doctor's gonna show up.
Lewis: And you gotta run back to work probably.
Mike: Actually, you know what? I got all the time in the world.
Major Hill (In Charge of Western Oversight of Non Earthly Phenomena): You'll fit right in here.
Mike: No way. I'm out.
Major Hill: You'll keep your job, and you'll be issued specialized weaponry no one else has.
Mike: I'm in.
Guy in Bar: You wanna sit with your friends? You can have my seat.
Alien Ethan: Really?
Guy in Bar: Yeah.
Alien Ethan: Okay. Why did he do that for me? It feels warm. It feels good.
Harry: I experienced the same feelings when I first arrived on earth-- Fear, loss, love. He is feeling human emotions for the first time.
Harry: I do not think I was the first alien being to come to earth and be affected by this humanity. And I clearly will not be the last. But it will not matter as long as humans continue to be good. Their love will spread to whoever comes -- like turning on a light in the darkness. The love you leave behind will last much longer than you will.
Overall rating
Very satisfying ending, which makes me want to simply relax and go fishing. Three and a half out of four of Dan’s pies.
Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love comments! Just note that we always moderate because of spam and trolls. It's never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.