Episode description: "Harry has an unexpected partner as he tries to infiltrate a military base to find his alien baby."
"Best of Enemies" opens with a flashback to a young Peter Bach (the Alien Tracker) with his wife (Jenny) on what would have been their child's second birthday (he was taken from her womb when they were riding on a bus). She even made a cake to mark the day. While they're discussing whether or not to try to have another baby, Jenny is snatched again. She comes back and reports that their son – it's a boy – is alive and that she just saw him.
As we now know that it's the Greys threatening Earth, we assume the Greys were responsible for the baby's abduction from Jenny Bach's womb. And maybe the Greys are still snatching people. Later we learn, from the older (bald) Peter Bach, that parents whose kids were taken are sometimes brought to visit their kids.
At the end of the last episode, D'arcy showed Asta the container for pills, confessing her addiction. That's when D'arcy moved in with Dan and Asta, in order to detox. She has recovered now – thanks, Resident Alien for not showing us time before the porcelain goddess; few actors puke convincingly and I don't want to watch that anyway – and is making pancakes and going to meetings. Asta tries to get her father to kick out D'arcy, ostensibly in order to help her move on with her life, but also we get the sense Asta just wants D'arcy gone. Dan agrees to do this, but doesn't make any progress – he's enjoying the video games and someone else cooking. Dan points out that Asta has not moved on with her life, either, not since she moved in after breaking up with Jimmy. And then, in a twist, Asta and D'arcy talk about getting a place together. It seems strange that Asta would go from trying to get D'arcy to move out to deciding to move in together with her. On the other hand, Asta has never lived by herself and maybe she's insecure.
I enjoy conversations (well, on TV, not so much in real life) when one person wants to talk about one thing and the second wants to talk about something else. Sheriff Mike has done a background check on Lena Torres and he wants to talk about that, while Deputy Liv is worried about how Peter Bach never showed for their drink. Love how Liv is both worried about a big thing, his safety – the Alien Tracker hasn't been seen anywhere else, and he hasn't even been posting things online – and how it means a little thing, but important to her – how her own birthday will be missed (supporters get theirs posted on line).
The reason Peter Bach hasn't been seen by Liv or anyone else is because when he went to attack Harry, Harry attacked back and now has him tied up in the bunker. Asta goes to Harry's to tell him that he's safe (because the Alien Tracker is missing) and that they could use his doctoring services at the clinic (she really has accepted him as a doctor, even though he learned from the internet). I love how Harry just accepts that Asta is right and unties Peter Bach without any argument. Peter Bach complains about having been fed nothing but instant oatmeal during his days in the bunker. Shortly after that they join forces in order to storm the castle secret government facility.
This secret government facility is supposed to be hunting aliens. Maybe. They did manage to lock up the baby alien, but they were about to give up on him, when he revealed his nature and disappeared. We also have the "high-haired gentleman," in real life Giorgio A. Tsoukalas, who is not an alien but believes in them. So maybe this secret facility is meant to keep the general population from learning anything real about aliens.
Poor Judy! She thinks she's D'arcy's best friend, and because she is at the bottom of the barrel, she is the person that D'arcy turns to when D'arcy is at her lowest. But D'arcy insists on Asta as her best friend, and because D'arcy can be extremely insistent, Asta caves.
For once, Mayor Ben – who usually has less emotionally involving storylines as he serves as a means to advance other plot lines – for once his situation moved me. He has apparently been sleepwalking recently, and we learn about the nightmares of his childhood. He's exhausted during the day, and ends up having a car accident. I loved, too, how Kate comforts and reassures him, and how so many others in Patience come to the clinic to show their support.
To his surprise, Peter Bach finds his son at the facility, but before they can say much, he throws himself in front of his son to protect him from gunfire. It's disappointing (and lazy on the part of Resident Alien) that they did not have time for any meaningful exchange.
Harry also finds his offspring and goes through lots of daddy stuff, including stealing the baby alien's nose. He also promises to take care of Robert, Peter's son. We get a lot about how important it is to be a parent, something that really appeals to Harry.
Title musings. "Best of Enemies" is the title of the episode, an obvious play on the phrase "best of friends." The most obvious pairing is Harry and Peter Bach, who work together to break into the secret government facility, after the Alien Tracker tracked and tried to taser Harry, and then Harry reciprocated by tying him up and feeding him instant oatmeal for three days. But the phrase applies to other pairings, such as the Alien Tracker and the General, or Harry and the General. A good title.
Bits and pieces
I have been calling the general played by Linda Hamilton "General Wright" – and that is how the character is listed in the IMDb website. But, in the show, she seems to be "General McCallister." This is confusing. I will go with General from now on.
I wonder if the police run background checks on people they're dating. It's got to be against department protocols, but it also must be very tempting.
The previous episode was called "Cat and Mouse," and I complained there was no mention of actual mice. But this week we got some mice. We got more about cats, too. Maybe that was the original title of this episode.
This episode pays tributes to at least two important science fiction movies. Harry says, "I am your father," to the baby alien, which of course is the phrase that so upset Luke Skywalker when Darth Vader said it to him. And then Resident Alien plays Heartlight, a song written by Neil Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach, which was inspired by the movie E.T., when Harry is playing with his offspring.
I hope that with Ben's decision not to pursue the resort for Patience, that this storyline is over.
Quotes
Young Peter Bach: What the hell happened?
Jenny Bach: They took me again. I saw our baby. It's a boy.
D'arcy: Welcome to D'arcy's Diner. I made you your favorite, blueberry pancakes.
Asta: Oh, that is your favorite.
D'arcy: Yeah, well, I'm your favorite, so whatever is in my stomach is your favorite.
Asta: You're not answering your phone.
Harry: Did you call me to tell me to come in to work?
Asta: Yes.
Harry: That is why I did not answer it.
Harry: What are you doing? He wants to kill me.
Peter: I swear on my son, I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me.
Harry: Whatever. I'll swear at your son too.
Harry: (to self) There is no point in me resisting. Asta always does the right thing. It is her most annoying trait. That, and she never lets me kill anyone.
Sheriff Mike: What is going on? I mean, I've never seen you sleep on the job before. I mean, maybe metaphorically, but never literally.
Deputy Liv: I don't think doing a background check on someone you like is a good way to start a romance. I never did a background check on John.
Sheriff Mike: Oh, that's okay. I ran him. He's clean.
Sheriff Mike: People who save a lot of lives, they give a lot of blood. But every time they do it, they get juice and cookies, right? Now, what happens if I wanna go on a picnic, right, and she just gave blood? She ain't gonna have no appetite for my lemonade and snickerdoodles. I'll probably have to wait a week. Hell, and the ants too. Now nobody's happy.
Deputy Liv: I don't know what to say except that's just stupid.
Asta: I just went to Harry's and found this. I'm worried. "If we do not come back, we are dead." What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Dan: Well, I don't think the problem with the note is clarity.
Judy: And I've had, like, all your favorite candy out on the counter for, like, give, take three days just in case you were to, you know, have come by sooner.
D'arcy: Right, but I'm not staying with you.
Judy: I know. I know that.
D'arcy: That is a better plan that I stay here.
Judy: I totally get it now. 'Cause I weirdly do have a lot of mice all of a sudden.
Alien Tracker: Let's talk inside.
General: I run this base. You don't get to dictate anything.
Harry: Raa!
Alien Tracker: Well, I am the one with the alien, so I will dictate whatever I want to dictate.
General: You have ten minutes. Make it count.
Kate: Hey, I get the feeling helpless thing. That's me too these days. Ben's... he's going through something. He's been having these nightmares. He's even been sleepwalking.
Deputy Liv: Sleepwalking. He's doing that again?
Kate: You know about that?
Deputy Liv: Oh, yeah. When we were young, he wrote a paper on it for English class. Apparently, he ended up outside and got locked out, and they found him on the porch the next morning snuggling up to the neighbor's cat.
Kate: Oh, that's awful. I... I had no idea.
Kayla: Poor Ben.
Deputy Liv: Yeah. My cat was never the same, either.
Harry: Hey! You are that high-haired gentleman that I met at the alien convention. I ate your flower-shaped fruit.
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos: That was you? I have so many questions for you. Where are you from? Who were your first teachers? And when...
(They are being attacked.)
Harry: I'm a little bit busy right now. Uh, maybe we could do this another time.
Asta: We can't keep indulging her. She's not a child. If you don't push her into the real world and force her to live her life, you're just enabling her.
Dan: You're absolutely right.
Asta: I know. It's time she moves out.
Dan: It's time for you to move out.
Asta: What was that?
Dan: You're right. You're not a child. I love you too much to enable you. Consider this your push.
Ellen: But just know, if you decide to have sex, these walls have ears. Mostly because I stand close by and listen.
Ben: It was, like, all of a sudden, when I was crashing, I remembered all these things at once. You know, all these special moments. And they were all here. You know, in Patience. With people that I love. With you – and Max. Asta, Dan, D'arcy, Kayla, Liv, Mike. [Ellen coughs in next room] Ellen.
Harry: (to self) The word "commitment" becomes something different when you add love to it. Humans call it devotion. ...Love is like air. Even if you cannot see it, you have to know it is there.
Overall rating
I liked how a few things finally came together, and I really like that Mayor Ben has something a little deeper to work with. However, taking off half a point because they didn't have enough between the Alien Tracker and his son and because Asta is inconsistent with respect to D'arcy. Three and a half out of four packages of instant oatmeal.
Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.
A fun episode, but you're right that it's a bit all over the place. I was also disappointed that Peter Bach didn't get time with his son. And poor Judy. :(
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