Review: Resident Alien – Sexy Beast s01e06

Following last week’s pivot in the show’s direction, Resident Alien opened a new chapter, revealing a new adversary in episode six, ‘Sexy Beast’.  *Warning! Spoilers Ahead!*

Like most episodes so far, Harry (Alan Tudyk) is having to deal with the onset of human emotions that he has no experience with.  This week jealousy is his main problem, as he finds himself being replaced.  His wife Isabelle (Elvy Yost) continues to be both a fascination and a hindrance to him, as she insists on rekindling their relationship, despite having signed divorce papers.  While Harry just wants to search for his ship, he finds himself distracted by their intimacy.

His biggest issue though, is that he has finally been replaced by a new doctor at the clinic.  Dr Ethan (Michael Cassidy – People of Earth, The Magicians, Men at Work) arrives, and appears to be some kind of saint, having worked with ‘Doctors Without Borders’, and in troubled hotspots across the globe.  He also seems to have a large amount of charm that endears everyone to him, and although the scenario is one that Harry should in theory love, Harry can’t stand it.

The jealousy plotline in ‘Sexy Beast’ could well have been enough to base a complete episode on, but even though is it portrayed as the main storyline, it really takes a bit of a backseat to other revelations.  With some flashbacks to the weeks leading up to this point, we get to see the backstory of how Lisa (Mandell Maughan) and David (Alex Barima) ended up on Harry’s trail, and ultimately how they found his ship.  It’s not entirely what was expected either, with it turning out to be a military investigation, rather than a nefarious covert CIA type deal.

The primary driving force behind the investigation is General McCallister (Linda Hamilton) of the USAF, who initially comes across as a little unhinged, as she dismisses David’s first evidence outright.  Her bluntness though is just a cover to make ordering him to search for Harry a little more under the radar.  Much to David’s consternation though, he then gets paired with Lisa, who is totally gung ho.  She breaks up with David’s girlfriend for him and generally doesn’t seem to care about either niceties or the rule of law.  It’s quite an entertaining combination, as David’s innocent and enthusiastic ‘rabbit in the headlights’ is bamboozled by Lisa’s much more experienced character.

What prevents this from becoming a trite, single note affair with McCallister in ‘Sexy Beast’ is the extra bit of history that makes it more personal.  Back in what must be the mid-60s, a young girl is watching TV with her Father, who is a lighthouse keeper.  As a vicious storm rages, all the lights suddenly go out, and they race up to the main beacon to try to fix it.  What they don’t expect is to find that a massive UFO is above them, and the young girl takes a series of polaroid pictures of this strange event.  Flash forward to the present day, and McCallister is clutching one of those photos as she gazes at the ship, feeling all the emotion of a long journey that has clearly obsessed her for some time.

Elsewhere, the murder case continues to bubble along, with Deputy Liv (Elizabeth Bowen) getting the recognition she deserves.  There is a lot to come from this character, so it was nice to see her skill emerge from the shadow of the Sheriff’s (Corey Reynolds) idiocy.  In previous episodes this has been hinted at, and much like Darcy (Alice Wetterlund) her character has been used mainly in only one way.  There is so much scope for both of them, that they need to be given the space to develop.  It’s something that’s been noted before, so this movement is welcomed.

Resident Alien seems to be spreading its wings and playing with a lot of the common tropes.  It doesn’t stray too far from many things we’ve seen before, but it is doing it in a very entertaining way.  It isn’t just Tudyk carrying things either, as Sara Tomko and Alice Wetterlund have been critical in giving this emotional and dramatic weight.  So far this season the show has been a good mix of broad comedy, subtle humour, and serious drama, and all the signs point to it only improving, This will be especially true if they can integrate the Max (Judah Prehn) and Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) dynamic with this week’s developments, into a more sprawling situation. It’s on the rise!

Resident Alien airs Wednesday’s on Syfy