Resident Alien: Ties That Bind

Asta: Harry, tell her she can't go.
Harry: You can go.
D’arcy: Uh?
Harry: Because you are courageous, and you are not afraid to die.

Episode description: “Harry and D'arcy travel to an unexpected place to recover an alien device left behind by his people.”

Again, Resident Alien is not getting any gold stars for its episode descriptions. Unexpected place? Not really. But we will review the episode based on the episode and not on the lame description.

I loved how the episode opened, with the Ute from centuries ago telling stories about visitors from the stars, then segueing to Kayla reading to the Hawthorne baby from a comic book about the same story. Different times, different media, but the story persists, as does the same drawing that looks like a hand with a hole in it, holding something.

I also really liked how Kayla figured out the baby belongs to Kate, as the baby gurgled happily when she heard Kate’s voice on Kayla’s phone. Kayla goes to Asta and demands the truth, and Asta gives it to her. We don’t get the actual explanation (we don’t need it) but we do get Kayla’s reaction. She admires Asta for saving the world several times (it’s nice to see her get some recognition for this) and guesses immediately that Harry is an alien.

Harry, completely human now, is desperate to get his alien essence back, so his plan is to collect a device and trade it to the Greys. He knows where (and when) to find it, as its loss was famous on his planet. But giving it to the Greys would probably lead to the death of all his people, so, in the end, he tosses it back in the sea. Which means that the trip back to 1970 sort of didn’t further his plot. It did, however, let us meet up with General Eleanor Wright, who is slinging hash in a coastal restaurant where lobster dinners cost a mere $3 each. She does progress in her goals, helping her father (who now knows her as Jen) and her younger self deal with the knowledge they have seen aliens.

In the meantime, the gruesome corpse we saw at Judy’s Copper Ridge motel is causing a ruckus. In an earlier episode we learned that the Copper Ridge motel lies on the Patience–Jessup boundary, which justifies the two police forces working together. As another headless body was found in the woods they involve an FBI agent to assist. Sheriff Mike isn’t pleased about it, but as Lena says, it’s protocol. Mike says he’s teaching self-defense to the citizens of Patience, and that allows us to see Kate break down as more memories flood her.

Deputy Liv, however, is convinced that aliens are behind the murders and even Sheriff Mike is thinking the same thing. They go out in the words – partly in order to help Cyborg Peter - and while Liv is on a pee break behind a tree, Mike sees the Mantid eating a deer. This time he is really freaked out; a Mantid is much more threatening than a Grey. Corey Reynolds did a wonderful job portraying terror.

Sahar uses her brains to come up with a way to kill the Mantid, treating the problem the way you would treat a praying mantis. She explains Mantids are afraid of things that eat bugs but also things that kill bugs. So she comes up with a manticide, a spray for killing bugs.

Max is a bit of a jerk to Sahar at the alien club meeting; on the other hand it’s nice to see him standing up for himself (Ben isn’t good at that; Max must get this from Kate). Anyway, Max may be assertive but he’s doing too much on his own – well, he does take Bridget with him – and he goes after the Mantid. Just when he’s about to die, he gets rescued by Heather, who, as a Blue Avian (a bird), is one of the Mantid’s natural predators.

Title musings. The title of the episode is “Ties That Bind.” We see this show up in several ways: the relationships between Eleanor and her father; Kate and her baby, and how Harry decided not to kill all his people. But most of all, the connections are through the stories, as Kayla tells the story to the Hawthorne baby. I like the title.

Bits and pieces

Apparently Harry, without his alien brain, is a lousy doctor.

Really fun watching Harry and D’arcy dress up in the styles of 1970. They don’t quite get it right, and end up changing.

Fun, too, that D’arcy used the name Carol Brady as an alias, not realizing that The Brady Bunch started airing in 1969.

Jewel Staite takes on the role of Jules (very similar to her actual name). She, like Nathan Fillion who voiced the octopus that Harry rescued from the restaurant, was with Alan Tudyk on Firefly. Apparently, Tudyk suggested that Jewel Staite get the role. However, they have no scenes together.

D’arcy remarks on all the cigarettes in 1970. They were everywhere. Most places didn’t even have non-smoking areas. But, good news for the health of the general population: in 2024, less than 10% of the US population was smoking.

Embarrassed to admit I had never heard of neem oil before watching this episode, but now I know something about it. It is, as Sahar says, a natural insecticide, and it is used against dandruff.

Apparently Asta is just not very good at lying. D’arcy and now Kayla have always been able to get the truth out of her. Note, she was able to lie when absolutely necessary. Asta is fundamentally an honest person; I like this about her.

Kayla thanks Asta for saving the world multiple times. How many people have quietly done heroic acts that have saved lots of other people, without their deeds ever being discovered?

Quotes

Ute at campfire: The stories we tell today are woven into all of us. And we carry them with us forever.

Dale: My dad's dad and his dad's dad...actually, my entire family has been in the time travel portal business for generations. Except for my cousin Rex. He's an actuary, which would make 97.3333...
Note: I am an actuary.

Sahar: This is Operation Manticide. The praying mantis has several natural predators, bats, spiders, and birds. We don't have time to collect enough bats and spiders, and I'm afraid of birds since one got into my bedroom, so instead, I developed a weapons-grade manticide with neem oil, which is a natural pesticide. - And also good for dandruff.

Asta: You always just jump on to whatever thing's the fastest.
D’arcy: Yeah, that's why I spent my childhood going 100 miles an hour down mountains.

Harry: Thank you for cleaning the sand off of it. I'll take it now and go home.
Eleanor/Jen: Oh, no. It's mine. So you and Asta can just go back to your time portal now.
D’arcy: Actually, I, um - I'm D'arcy.
Eleanor/Jen: Ah. He never mentioned you

Deputy Liv: Thanks for fixing Peter's legs. I didn't realize I was putting them on backwards.
Been walking around like an ostrich.
Sheriff Mike: It's not such a bad thing. An ostrich will kick the stuffing out of a cheetah.

D’arcy: I checked the back room, looked in every purse and all I found were aqua net, cigarettes, lots of cigarettes. So many cigarettes. My God, how are there still people? But no alien device.

Kayla: Ok, so you saved the earth three times. Maybe four?
Asta: Um, after the first, it's easy to lose track.
Kayla: It's all just so, like, whoa.
Asta: Yeah. Whoa. Also, there's something else. This might be hard to believe, but -- there is an alien who lives in Patience.
Kayla: You mean Harry?

Overall rating:

A lot of fun mixed with deeper and more emotional bits. Three and a half lobster specials at three dollars each.

Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.