Review: Resident Alien Season 1 Finale, “Heroes of Patience” – Unexpected Delight

Resident Alien, Season 1 Finale, Episode 10 “Heroes of Patience”

Air Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 10:00PM – 11:00PM ET/PT on Syfy

Reviewer Rating: 4 Stars ★★★★★

“You want fury? Go back to your planet, Harry!” – Asta

The inaugural season of Resident Alien has been an absolute joy to watch. I am beyond thrilled for the second season, especially with the interesting cliffhanger the writers gave us in the season finale, “Heroes of Patience.” And if you think the ending is bit perplexing, the beginning of this episode shook me to my core. It begs the question, what else did the human Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk) do before he met his own demise?

A quick refresher on the season’s major plot points:

• Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle meets an alien that crash lands on Earth. Then they have an altercation which results in Harry dying and the alien becoming Harry. (Thus my use of Human Harry and Alien Harry).
• Dr. Sam Hodges’ (Jan Bos) is murdered, and the town’s mayor Ben (Levi Fiehler) enlists the help of the only other doctor in town – Harry (who is now an alien). And speaking of Sam’s murder – seriously, this season finale threw in a serious plot twist. As Harry would say, “This is some bullshit!”
• The mayor and his wife Kate (Meredith Garretson) have a son, Max (Judah Prehn) who happens to have a unique ability to see Harry as the alien he truly is which poses a threat.
• The military tracks the alien ship that crashed. The General (guest star Linda Hamilton) sends Lt. Logan (Alex Barima) and a ruthless henchwoman Lisa (Mandell Maughan) to find the ship and the alien occupant.
• Asta (Sara Tomko) is the head nurse in the town’s clinic. She was very close to the last Dr. Sam Hodges. She also gave up her baby daughter for adoption 17 years ago then hired her as an intern in the clinic. Jay (Kaylayla Raine) finds out Asta is her mother and quits. Needless to say, their relationship is strained.
• Resident Olympic qualifying skier and town drunk D’Arcy (Alice Wetterlund) falls for Harry despite is obvious lack of interest. But in “Welcome Aliens,” she finds a frozen body in Harry’s basement freezer. This gets sort of wrapped up but not really.
• Sheriff Mike Thompson (Corey Reynolds) and Deputy Liv Baker (Elizabeth Bowen) are a dynamic duo that had a falling out but worked on their professional relationship through karaoke and a new “Nespresso” machine. And don’t underestimate Deputy Liv’s detective skills. She’s going to figure out where that waterlogged “boot” came from.

Throughout the season, Harry (the alien) has been trying to find missing pieces of his crashed ship and the all-important humanity destroying device. After successfully fixing his device in “Welcome Aliens,” we come to a momentous head in “Heroes of Patience.” Will Harry push the little black button that will kill every human on Earth, or will he find his humanity?

The journey of Harry through the last nine episodes creates an unfortunate predicament in completing his mission. And another imagined conversation with the decaying corpse of Human Harry poses even more complexities that this alien never imagined he would face. Is he no longer an alien? Has he (gasp) become human?

There are so many amazing things that happen in “Heroes of Patience,” but the one thing that stands out is Ben and Kate taking on two intruders that are threatening Max and his friend Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke). The scene is epic! If you only watch one part of this season finale, this is the one (well, and then watch the rest of it because it’s frigging great!). The way Ben and Kate tag team using everything in their reach – lamps, canned goods, bookends, frying pans – it’s awesome. I love when Sahar says with excited appreciation, “You guys are like Daredevil and the Black Widow.” I’m sure Max could have gone his whole life without seeing what his parents do in the afterglow of their triumph. Even Sheriff Mike and Deputy Liv seem grossed out. “So much tongue.”

Harry figures out why he feels things. One word – one person: Asta. “It’s you. You’re the reason that I feel it – the joy and the fury all wrapped up.” But Asta figures out the truth about Harry and she’s not having it. “You want fury? Go back to your planet, Harry! Whoever you are, whatever you are, I never want to see you again.”

Whoa, that’s harsh. I love Tudyk’s performance as Harry, an alien feeling his feelings. It’s comical with a pinch of heart. Then he becomes fed up with all the emotions, so he does what he does best by becoming a petulant child ready to throw his toys. In this case, it could mean pushing that button and killing everyone.

Before Lt. Logan and his unpredictable sidekick Lisa limp out of town, they use one of Max’s drawings to capture the alien doctor. But since we all know Harry isn’t the town doctor anymore, these two knuckleheads nab the wrong guy, or did they? I mentioned in my recap of “Welcome Aliens” that I have my suspicions about Dr. Ethan (Michael Cassidy).

Well, I am not going to spoil the ending of this season finale. While I did think it could have been a better cliffhanger, I see how it’s setting up events for season 2. Anyway, if you haven’t yet, you must watch “Heroes of Patience” because it’s so good. There’s crying, pizza, epic fight scene, and Harry vs. covert military dudes. The whole season is wonderful. I have enjoyed watching and writing about it. I hope you enjoyed it as well. If you did not, well, I do not care and no pizza for you.

Resident Alien, Season 1 Finale, Ep. 10 “Heroes of Patience” Photos

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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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