Resident Alien picks up right where we left off last week as Harry finds himself coming face-to-grille with a car barreling into the pit where his ship is supposed to be. But it’s not General Wright (Linda Hamilton), it’s Isabelle … and she’s pissed because she found the pills Harry’s been using to make her ‘nap’. Harry is keenly aware that he’s being watched and puts on a really bad show of stilted dialogue to make it seem like he and his wife are just having a spat. Isabelle isn’t buying it, but Wright’s men are so they let him leave the site without incident. In the end, though, Isabelle finally packs her bags and leaves even though Harry asks her to stay … because he’s hungry and wants her to cook something for him. Not gonna happen.
After Harry’s bonding moment with Max at the diner, he was supposed to tell Max’s parents that they no longer needed to send him away. But he forgot. And they are planning to do so, end of story. Even new doctor Ethan Stone (Michael Cassidy) signs off on the paperwork. Max tracks Harry down to remind him of their deal, and Harry finally agrees (after visiting Max’s bedroom while stoned, because it was easier to break into the house than a grocery store) because Max can’t just see the real Harry, he can see the green glow his ship and device emits including the alien junk in the back of his pickup. Not even Harry can see that, so he knows Max will be the key to finding his device … if it’s still there. Whoever has his ship may also have the device.
Back to Harry being stoned — after Isabelle left he decided to make himself feel better with pills and booze. Instead he passed out and had a nightmare in which he was confronted by the dead Harry in the freezer cooking one of the steaks he was buried in. Dead Harry tells Alien Harry that he’s an utter failure which makes him … human. The worst insult Alien Harry has ever heard. After Asta and D’Arcy catch up with him, they tell him as a doctor he should know better than to combine pills and alcohol. The only thing that will make him feel better is some weed, so they all get high at the bowling alley (he’s been playing Galaga all day and won’t leave at closing time), then go to eat some ramen. Harry doesn’t feel better … but he doesn’t care. But he glimpses an octopus in a tank and immediately runs over to … communicate with it? The octopus is an alien that’s been here for millions of years, waiting for Harry. The two communicate psychically and Harry finally realizes what he needs to do. But … were they communicating or was it just part of Harry’s high?
Enlisting Max, they go to the school’s science lab and gather up the equipment Harry needs to locate and pinpoint the location of his device. The sheriff and deputy are also at the school because Asta finally let Jay off the hook and admitted to them that Jimmy is the one who stole Sam’s prescription pad. After questioning Jimmy, they determined he sold it to the person at school known as The Pharmacist, even though Jimmy had no idea he was going to sell drugs to kids. Deputy Liv pointed out that Jimmy could have connected the dots on that one. At the school, they confront the janitor who makes a run for it. While Sheriff Thompson runs after him, Liv calmly goes in the other direction, picking up his mop along the way. Rounding a corner, she trips the janitor with the mop, cuffs him and begins reading him his rights, which totally offends Thompson because that’s his thing.
Later at the diner, Liv comes to have a talk with Thompson who tells her they might even get on TV for cracking this case. Liv is excited, saying her grandmother will love her, finally, but Mike says he was talking about himself and his dog Cletus, not Liv because she was so disrespectful to him by trying to read the janitor his rights. The waitress brings a burger in a doggy bag for Cletus, and Liv takes it, pounding it with her fist, letting Mike know exactly how she feels about his treatment of her. Then she quits. And takes the burger. You go, girl! (Let’s give a big round of applause to Elizabeth Bowen for her bravura performance this week. She’s really been the show’s unsung hero and she really got to shine this week, even doing something as subtle as trying to pull Mike’s umbrella over her head just a bit. She is a great physical comic.)
Harry and Dr. Stone had a meeting with Max’s parents telling them he was fine and didn’t need to go away, and mom Kate was not happy that her son was misdiagnosed. She was also not happy that her husband was being a bit wishy-washy with her, telling him later that she needs someone to challenge her. He feels relieved that he can tell her that she was wrong about Max … and then proceeds to casually list all of her other faults. Ben just didn’t know how to quit while he was ahead.
Max tells Harry that he’s not going away now, and the two of them set up shop to find the device. With a telescope and all the instruments in place, Max does see the green glow at the top of a mountain. It’s still there and he takes off. Max wants to go with him but Harry dashes off, not knowing Asta and D’Arcy saw their exchange. They go after Max to find out what that scene was all about and he reluctantly tells them Harry is going up to the glacier. When asked why, he just yells, ‘Talk to my lawyer!’ and runs off, D’Arcy asking, ‘He has a lawyer?’
At the top of the glacier, Harry pinpoints his device and finally locates it inside a small crevasse. He’s able to reach inside to retrieve it, just as D’Arcy and Asta show up on snowmobiles. D’Arcy warns them not to move until she can get a line on Harry but before she can there is a rumble. The snow and ice collapses under their feet and the three fall into a now much larger crevasse, leving them and us hanging until next week.
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Resident Alien airs Wednesday at 10:00 PM on Syfy.
The voice of the octopus was actually Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk’s costar from “Firefly” – Alan’s been teasing it for a week.
I wasn’t sure because it sounded a little like Patton Oswalt.