Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Alice Wetterlund, Corey Reynolds, Levi Fiehler, Judah Ptehn, Meredith Garretson, Elizabeth Bowen, Alex Barima, Keith Arbuthnot, Mandell Maughan, Kaylayla Raine, Diana Bang, Gary Farmer, Jenna Lamia, Deborah Finkel, Gracelyn Awad Rinke, Elvy, Ben Cotton, Sarah Podemski, Linda Hamilton, Terry O’ Quinn, Nathan Fillon.
Being surly, disagreeable and generally being impolite is at times standard for a human being, it is what makes us so fascinating to be around at times, knowing that the species that claims to be the dominant force on the planet, can be such a nuisance, that when we stretch our imaginations and open up to the ideas and possibilities of peace, love and understanding, we can be thought of as being erring on the side of angels…or at least playing in the same ball park as more civilised extra-terrestrial life forms that may exist in the Universe.
Television and film audiences are used to the two sides of the coin portrayed in alien life forms, the cute and endearing E.T.s or the type that has acid for blood and which Sigourney Weaver finds herself in a constant battle with; and then there are the type for whom many have fondness for, the Mork-like, that look like us but wish to impress upon humanity that change is good, that want to learn from us and be friends to humanity…and then there is Harry.
If Robin Williams as Mork from hit American television show Mork & Mindy was peak television viewing for a generation of fans, then the Resident Alien for the 21st Century must be the irreplaceable Alan Tudyk as Harry Vanderspeigal, a deeply complex life form that wishes to see humanity destroyed so the planet Earth can recover from the abuse it has suffered, but who finds that he starts to warm to the creatures that he says of them, “Humans, on the other hand, are so dumb that they think the leading cause of death is heart disease. It’s not. It’s almond milk…”
Mork was here to learn, Harry, well he wants to take down humanity, but it is in the performance of Alan Tudyk in the lead role of the brusque alien in human form that wins the day over; comically witty, and one who can bring a thousand textured faces to mind depending on which moment is called for, and in which the long-standing support actor finally becomes the leading man he was always destined to be.
The series is one of compulsion, a science fiction/detective/coming of age story that refuses to be categorised completely and which thankfully denies itself to be squeezed into just one box. Whilst Harry is not naive, just fed up with humanity’s bull****, he becomes more tolerant, even fond, of certain aspects of the species he has come to kill, and with terrific support from Sara Tomko as Asta Twelvetrees, Corey Reynolds as Sheriff Mike Reynolds and Alice Wetterlund as bar- owner and former Olympic hopeful D’Arcy Bloom, the first series of Resident Alien is a sensation, a huge slice of comic relief wrapped up in the comforting arms of the science fiction trope of the maniacal arms of the murderous extra-terrestrial.
Out of this world, but firmly holding its own on it!
Ian D. Hall