Syfy
Let’s Talk About ‘Family Day’:
- The death of Sheriff Mike’s partner is revealed in a five years earlier prologue. He was shot while chasing a perp, and Mike was given his dog to care for.
- Asta wakes up at Jimmy’s after running to him for solace over her guilt of giving up Jay, and instantly regrets that decision, getting out of there as fast as she can.
- Deputy Liv is still concerned about her missing day, and Mike admits that he also has no memory of that day except the visit from the FBI officer.
- Harry is afraid to call the phone number in New York City, fearing it may be a trap, but on the other hand it could be another of his kind meaning he’s not completely alone on this planet.
- D’Arcy has a confrontation with Jimmy and is disheartened to learn that Asta spent the night at his house.
- Mike and his dad have another argument and Mike reminds him that they used to do things like go fishing together, so why have they regressed to this point?
- D’Arcy confronts Asta about Jimmy, and Asta throws D’Arcy’s bad behavior back in her face which puts a huge strain on their friendship.
- Mayor Ben wants to rehab Patience’s image, putting the sacrifice of the 59 miners front and center in an ill-conceived musical production at Family Day.
- Needing to retrieve Harry’s silver ball to return to him after he stole a dog she was paid to walk, Sahar and Max discover someone has been back to the abandoned camper and taken the ball and the satellite dish.
- David Logan has the ball and discovers some very odd properties when he accidentally spills a cup of coffee, which congeals into a small blob and floats over the ball.
- Mike comes to Harry for some medical advice about his missing day, and Harry worries that this could cause him problems so he implants a new, false memory of that day into his mind — he and his dad fishing.
It’s ‘Family Day’ in Patience on this week’s Resident Alien, and the day brings up a whole lot of issues for the fine folks of the town. After running into Jimmy’s arms for comfort over her guilt of giving up Jay, Asta immediately regretted that decision and got out of there fast. That didn’t, however, stop Jimmy from rubbing that in D’Arcy’s face, making it sound like it was more than it was but probably knowing it would also put a wedge between her and Asta’s friendship. And it did as she confronted Asta about going to Jimmy instead of her, but Asta had to remind D’Arcy that the way she dealt with her parents, whom Asta admist are monsters, was to get blind drunk and she really isn’t the person to be giving Asta advice on men. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back and D’Arcy stormed out. Is their friendship in danger?
Harry finds himself in a predicament, unsure of how to respond to the alien phone number message from New York City. And octopus and Asta aren’t being much help. Octopus tells Harry it could be a trap, but Asta insists that Harry makes the call and octopus tries to backtrack and tell Harry he’s kidding about a trap (but it could be a trap). Harry calls the number and it’s a pizza parlor, and when he asks to speak to the alien they hang up on him. Asta decides they must go to New York to find out who or what sent him the message. There’s just one little problem …
Harry is called down to the police station where he is confronted with a teenaged girl who tried to steal a bike. Turns out the girl is Harry’s daughter, and alien Harry has no desire to become a parent, insisting Mike lock her up for the theft. Mike doesn’t think the crime warrants that type of punishment so he releases the girl, Liza, into his custody which now puts the New York trip on hold. Harry doesn’t know how to care for another human being (you have to feed them?), and Asta reminds him to keep the door to his bunker locked and to not let Liza meet octopus. The reunion gets off to a rocky start at the diner when Harry is just being Harry, causing Liza to storm out. Asta sees her talking to a biker and runs out to scare the guy away, alerting him to the fact that Liza is 16 years old. Asta tells Liza that she doesn’t need to be hooking up with an asshole with a bike … because that’s exactly what she did at Liza’s age. It was a nice little bonding moment for them, and Asta showed more concern for her than her own mother has (she’s run off to Italy, which is why Liza decided to show up in Patience to try to reconnect with her father).
Harry’s parenting skills are obviously lacking as he attempts to prepare a dinner of spaghetti for Liza … except she has a gluten allergy so she can’t eat pasta. Harry is quite happy that he doesn’t have to feed Liza after all. And it’s more spaghetti for him! But failing at the food thing, Harry decides to try to make amends by presenting Liza with a dog — that he stole from Sahar, actually holding the dog for ransom to get his silver ball back — but again that was a fail because Harry’s ex is allergic to dogs so there is no way Liza could take it back home. Also, the dog did not belong to Sahar, she was just being paid to walk it but with the ball now in the possession of David Logan, it was never made clear what happened to the dog. But failing at food and pets, Harry moved on to … the birds and the bees, attempting a lesson with a condom, a banana and a donut. Liza was grossed out … but she took the condom.
Making one last attempt to bond with the girl, Harry decided that since it was Family Day in Patience, they would go to the festival as a family. Also in attendance is the late doctor’s wife, doing face painting, but Ben is concerned she’s going to use her paint brushes to kill someone else. Ben is reminded that she’s innocent until proven guilty, and Asta even tells her that she doesn’t believe she killed her husband. And she gets a Ziggy Stardust paint job. Harry tries to appease Liza by allowing her to drive his truck but it does not go well, with Liza storming out of the truck and Harry arriving at the festival alone. But he catches up with her, getting into a water balloon fight (which Ben has to put a stop to because there is a limited number of balloons for the game) that helps smooth things over.
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The chili pepper eating contest is also another bonding moment, this time for D’Arcy and Asta. This is always D’Arcy’s event to win, but Asta jumps in to show D’Arcy that she really is a true friend … and comes to regret that decision as she forces herself to eat hotter and hotter peppers, the sweat completely ruining her Ziggy paint job, delighting her father, and endearing her once again to D’Arcy. When Asta finally quits the contest, D’Arcy withdraws as well in solidarity leaving Nurse Ellen as the last person standing. She even ate a few more for good measure. After cooling down with some ice cream, Asta apologized to D’Arcy for the things she said and admitted that she instantly regretted going to Jimmy but in the moment he was the only person who knew what she was feeling because he was there too. But it’s not a mistake she plans on making again, and their friendship is solid.
The Family Day Festival concluded with Mayor Ben’s musical about ‘The 59’ … which was hilariously inappropriate with children playing the miners and other kids flinging prop boulders at them. The show included stage blood and prop dismembered limbs, and a musical finale with the kids singing about their ‘uncle fathers’ that caused one mom to drag her kid off stage. Harry was the only person delighting in the spectacle which also brought happiness and confusion to Liza. In the end, Ben thought the play was a disater and that the town hated him, but all it took was his son Max continuing to sing that song and tell him it was the best song ever … and Ben decided that instead of writing a new show for the next festival, he’ll just make this one even bigger and better (Sheriff Mike was not too thrilled that Ben spent 8% of the town’s budget on this spectacle). Ben’s wife Kate isn’t sure that’s the best idea but she’ll go with it for now.
Harry and Liza continued to bond as he called her boarding school and told them she was not coming back in no uncertain terms, but it was time for Liza to get back home to her mother. Liza seems to have really found a friend in Asta, and she actually did bond with her ‘father’ even though she can tell he’s different, like brain damage different, but she likes it. As she boards the bus, Harry and Asta can now resume their plan to head to New York City. Meanwhile Live decides to admit to Mike that she believes their minds were erased by an alien, but Mike tells her has a perfect recollection of that day (remembering quite clearing he and his father enjoying a day together fishing). Liv feels defeated now since no one believed her as a child about the UFO, except her late aunt, but will Mike’s sudden remembrance of that day make her suspicions even stronger, or will it totally break her down?
What did you think of this episode? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
Resident Alien airs Wednesdays at 9:00 PM on Syfy.
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