Telling the truth hurts. But not telling the truth can hurt even more.
The episode opens with a flashback to a young D'arcy (before the red hair) and a young Ben sitting on the Hawthorne porch during an underage party with a keg. I've never been a great fan of this relationship, but this time it's not gratuitous – as we later see. Anyway, in it D'arcy tells Ben the truth about her feelings. Ben, even though we learn later that he had them, does not reciprocate.
Anyway, we have lots of people not telling the truth about things, sometimes for good reason. Sometimes lying is really the lesser of two evils.
Harry, now stuck in human form, still loves Heather, but he is not attracted to her. Asta tells him that for the relationship to work, he will have to tell Heather about his condition. Harry, who has never had a serious issue with lying, does not want to. He argues against it, and says that as long as they both stay in human form, they can be happy. He has a point. Still, he finally confesses to Heather that he's currently stuck as a human. I'm not sure he's doing this out of any principle with respect to telling the truth, but more out of necessity, as he can't really hide his condition from Heather long term.
Unfortunately for Harry, Heather's family hates humans, and her dad shows up in the form of a magpie and repeatedly attacks Harry. Harry says he loves her, but she deserves someone who can appreciate every aspect of her. He reminds her that she loves her family and they break up. She flies away with their kids. Afterwards Asta comforts Harry. This series has not done the usual build up of a romance between the leads – could wonder if it's coming. There's no real heat between them, but there is affection. I liked how Asta explains how there's a cycle of things getting bad and good for humans.
Mike now believes in aliens, because he saw the Mantid snacking on a deer. He worries for Lena as she continues to hunt the serial killer. He tries to warn her, but she thinks he's crazy. He should be more understanding, and remember how he reacted to Liv when she was insisting on aliens. Finally he tells her he wants her to be extra careful. It's another example of telling the truth hurting, but where he has to do the right thing.
The big lie out there concerns the Hawthorne baby. It's a huge frustration for Kayla, Asta and especially D'arcy, who know where the little girl is and who cannot tell Kate and Ben because then the Greys will be able to get them. D'arcy is naturally the most conflicted, because Kate and Ben suspect her, especially as Kate remembers that D'arcy was on the ship with her. D'arcy continues to lie, but it's hard on her.
Ben has another suspicion with respect to D'arcy. He knows the Greys took one baby from him and from Kate. He also knows he has been the target of the Greys for decades. D'arcy has told us that she and Ben used to bang (her language, not mine), so does he wonder if D'arcy also had a baby taken from her – his child as well? – and that's why she was on the Greys' spaceship?
At the end, though, as Kate buys cookies and discovers the Greys are watching her, we realize that D'arcy (and Asta and Kayla) are doing the right thing by lying.
Title musings. “Truth Hurts” is the name of the episode, and it's perfect.
Bits and pieces
Some birds feed their young by vomiting into the chicks' throats (I know penguins do it, but so do some other species). So what Heather does, when she's pumping by retching into a large plastic baggy, is pretty good.
Bridget tried to eat a half-sibling and was literally kicked out of the cabin by Harry. It's fun what you can do with a co-star who's made out of rubber.
Enjoyed the choreography of Harry and Heather trying to do a marriage proposal in the human way and not being sure if they should kneel or stand. Resident Alien is just so good with its physical humor.
Adored how Judy can dig a perfect grave. And how she sent a survey afterwards and how both D'arcy and Asta gave her five stars. Wonder how much business she gets?
They buried the Mantid's body but Sheriff Mike is still worried about it. And now the Blue Avian who can easily take out Mantids is gone. Hmm...
I thought making the Greys into Girl Scouts was a wonderful, creepy touch. How many horror stories are there about Girl Scouts? Hope someone knows and can put it in the comments!
Crème brûlée is delicious, but it's too sweet. I enjoy it while it's going down, but sometimes feel sick afterwards.
Quotes
D'arcy: Like, missed you.
Ben: I thought you were dating all those ski guys?
D'arcy: Well, yeah, but they're all kind of dumb. Hot, though. They're really hot. There was one model...
Ben: Please stop.
D'arcy: Those guys aren't you.
Ben: You're serious?
D'arcy: I swear on Mrs. Fontaine's Ford Fiesta.
Harry: (internal) I still love her as much as before. But something is missing. Is it because she left? Is it because she betrayed me?
Heather: You're the love of my life, and I am so, so sorry.
Harry: (internal) Oh, that's it. Now that I am human, I find her face repulsive.
D'arcy: The Greys are still watching Ben and Kate. It's obvious from the cameras I planted all over their house.
Kayla: Okay, again, I am an officer of the court. Please stop telling me how you two are breaking the law!
Asta: I'm sorry I didn't tell you.
Kayla: You know, it would just be nice to feel included, especially when aliens are trying to kill us all.
D'arcy: (looks at phone) Oh, well, good news, because Harry needs us to come get rid of that Mantid alien body.
Asta: So, you wanna come?
Kayla: Pass.
D'arcy: All right.
Asta: We were just trying to include you.
Debra: Third call this week about a metal Sasquatch up on the mountain.
Sheriff Mike: Okay, uh, why don't you go ahead and put in that file I set up called "Wackadoodles and Rooster Complaints." Thank you, Debra. And you heard that, right? You'll need to tell your cyborg Sasquatch friend he needs to be a little more stealthy.
Kate: It's – it's like I had these memories that were lost, but they're beginning to come back. She was there.
Ben: Okay, well, then this can only mean one thing.
Kate: Exactly.
Ben: D'Arcy was abducted.
Kate: D'Arcy's an alien.
Ben: Two very different things.
Kate: Wait. What if D'Arcy is like me, and she had a baby that was abducted before it was born?
Harry: I haven't touched her cloaca. I promise! Ow!
Harry: Your dad crapped in the mashed potatoes.
Heather: I – I bet I could scrape that off the top.
Harry: Crap is a game over situation. You're gonna wanna throw that whole thing out.
D'arcy: Did Judy send you a survey?
Asta: Yeah. I gave her five stars. I mean, look at this.
D'arcy: Yeah, same.
Mike: I'm not asking you to believe in aliens, okay? We don't have to believe in the same things, just like we don't agree on everything. Hell, I can think of lots of things we don't agree on.
Lena: Crème brûlée is delicious.
Mike: It's disgusting. Anyway, I need to keep the people that I love safe. So... even if you don't believe me, please believe this. What you are up against is the most dangerous thing in the world. So I need you to promise that while you're out there investigating, that you're gonna be extra careful.
Greys: (in cookie-selling Girl Scout form) We don't even need that implant to watch you. We're watching you anyway. Always. So if you think you can get away from us, you're wrong. Because we're here. We're everywhere. ♪ ♪ Enjoy the cookies.
Overall rating
Three out of four Mrs. Fontaine's Ford Fiestas.
Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.
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