Recap: Resident Alien Season 1, Ep. 2 “Homesick” – Therapy, Cows, and Bowling Balls

Resident Alien, Season 1, Episode 2 “Homesick”

Air Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 10:00PM – 11:00PM ET/PT on Syfy

Reviewer Rating: 4 Stars ★★★★★

***WARNING: Spoilers Ahead ***

“It was consensual.” – Harry Vanderspeigle

Syfy’s Resident Alien is quickly becoming a favorite. The humor is absolutely hilarious thanks to clever writing, zinging one-liners, and the outstanding acting. “Homesick” made me literally laugh out loud even more than “Pilot.” This episode is full of therapy sessions, strange encounters with dairy cows, and murderous accidents that don’t pan out.

If you missed the series premiere, read here. An alien crash lands on Earth in the small town of Patience, Colorado. The alien kills a man named Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk), who just so happens to be a doctor of pathology and takes his form. So now the alien is Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle.

“Homesick” begins with another trip down memory lane to highlight some interesting things that occurred after Harry crash landed in Colorado. Remember, he lost his spaceship and humanity killing device. A hiker falls off a cliff but instead of plunging to his death, he’s suspended in mid-air, unable to move his body. Fast forward to present day as Harry tries to integrate himself as the town’s new resident doctor.

Throughout “Homesick,” Harry is plagued with a hole in his gut, a feeling of “emptiness.” No matter what he eats, he’s still not satisfied. What is going on?

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

There are a few storylines happening so here are some highlights:

• Dr. Sam Hodges (Jan Bos) was found dead and Harry ruled it a homicide; someone poisoned Sam but the suspect is still at large.
• Max (Judah Prehn), the son of Mayor Ben Hawthorne (Levi Fiehler) and Kate Hawthorne (Meredith Garretson), is currently the only known person who can see Harry’s true alien form. This obviously poses a lot of issues for Harry, especially when Max gets help from Deputy Liv Baker (Elizabeth Bowen) who sketches a wanted poster based on Max’s description.
• Harry goes to the bar where he sees bartender D’Arcy (Alice Wetterlund) and the conversation leads to talk of “killing” and what not. D’Arcy suggests (as a joke) that Harry make it look like an “accident” then no one gets suspicious.

• Cutting the brakes on a kid’s bicycle doesn’t pan out the way Harry hoped it would and the exchange between Max and Harry is hysterical. I love how Max pretends he feels no pain and he gets stitches in his arm sans the “novicane” for “good boys.” Perhaps Harry is going about this all wrong. Remember that old saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” could be just the ticket. Not that I’m condoning Harry’s half-assed murder attempts, but I am a sucker for good dark comedy.

• Sheriff Mike Thompson (Corey Reynolds) has some of the best lines and his stellar delivery sells it! When Max claims Harry is an alien, Sheriff Mike loses it telling him lying is a crime. “Tell me something; you got HBO at your house? I want you to go home and watch the first season of OZ and tell me if you want to go to prison?”
• Harry and D’Arcy go on a date-ish. Harry has no clue that it’s a date but the antics that ensue are funny, nonetheless. Who knew Sheriff Mike was such a good bowler? Hope the accident doesn’t affect his game or ability to have children.
• D’Arcy was a prospective Olympic skier before her accident.
• Nurse Asta Twelvetrees (Sara Tomko) is still mourning the loss of her friend and mentor Dr. Sam Hodges. She also divulges that her dad Dan (Gary Farmer) isn’t her real father but raised her as his own. Asta has some serious trauma that is bubbling to the surface.

• The variety of patients with their unique medical issues is such a delight to watch because Harry has no clue how to be a real doctor. Sure, he’s getting an online education as he goes patient to patient trying to figure out how to treat them, but his accidental selfies during a patient’s pelvic exam to using colorful terminology for the human anatomy makes for serious laughs. When you say “Now let’s take a look at that tit” to a grown woman who found a lump in her breast, I’m not sure giving them a lollipop is appropriate… Chalk it up to a learning curve, right?

The writers’ packed a lot of stuff into this 45-minute episode. It’s chock full of laughs, failed murder attempts, and that pesky detail of finding Sam’s murderer. There are more flash backs to Harry’s initial night on Earth where he’s looking for sustenance – picture it: a dark night, a barn, one lonely dairy cow and a hungry alien. Got milk? – the humor is so entertaining; I can’t wait to see more!

Harry feels that emptiness again and decides to visit his favorite dairy cow. “It was consensual.” Harry yells as he’s being chased out of the barn. I haven’t laughed so hard watching a TV series in I don’t know how long. Again, the writing, acting, and everything in between is phenomenal.

At the end of the episode, Harry finally figures out why he feels the hole in his gut.

“I had an emptiness that no amount of potato chips or hot dogs would cure. But when I found the tellurium, the ache went away. It wasn’t coming from my stomach; it was coming from my heart. Human emotions are growing inside of me. I think the one I feel now they call lonely. In the same way Asta misses Sam Hodges, I miss my planet, my people. But having found the tellurium, I can finally heal my broken heart; because once I detonate my device, and fry every human being on Earth, I can fly home.”

Well, that’s ominous and kind of scary. Let’s hope those human emotions grow even more, persuading Harry (the alien) to maybe not destroy humanity. And a new threat emerges that could expose Harry when two people on snowmobiles find the hiker from three months ago, dead and still suspended in the air.

RESIDENT ALIEN, Season 1, Ep. 2 “Homesick” – Photo Gallery

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.

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