A couple of weeks ago, Andrea and I caught up to the series finale of Resident Alien. Given that the episode was made before the formal annoucment of the show's cancellation, the cast, writers and producers did a remarkable job bringing Resident Alien in for a very satisfying landing.
Producer Chris Sheridan saw the writing on the wall after the series narrowly avoided being cancelled after season 3 and wisely anticipated season 4 would be their last chance to wrap things up.
If I tell you that Resident Alien stars Alan Tudyk as "Harry Vanderspeigle", an alien in human form who finds himself often befuddled by human behavior, well I could probably stop the sales pitch right there. Alan Tudyk elevates everything he's in. (His brief role as "Robot #4" or "Gary" in this year's Superman movie is a scene stealer.)
But as good as Alan is in this series, the depth and development of the supporting cast is where Resident Alien really shines.
The friendship of Asta and D'Arcy, the relationship between Sheriff Mike and Deputy Liv, the not always stable marriage of Ben and Kate Hawthorne were among the strong character arcs over the course of 4 seasons.
The series ends with both Asta and Harry leaving Patience, CO. Asta leaves the safety and security of her home to finally go out into the world to explore what her true calling is. And Harry returns to the stars to reunite with Heather and their children.
Kudos to Robert Duncan McNeil who directed both the penultimate action packed penultimate episode (Harry and the gang in a race against time to stop the Mantid from eating everyone in Patience) and the more languid and reflective final episode. McNeil who was Tom Paris on Star Trek: Voyager is a graduate of the Jonathan Frakes Star Trek School of Directors and has proven to be a very strong and creative director.
It is sad to say good-bye to Resident Alien and the found family of the folks in Patience, CO but all things must end and I will say that the ending of Resident Alien stuck the landing with an emotionally satisfying conclusion.
That is that for this week's Touchbase.
Coming up next time, the end of FUBAR and the return of Wednesday.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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