Suffering from insomnia, Harry struggles to keep his secret hidden from Sheriff Mike. We talk with Corey Reynolds about what it’s like playing the eccentric Sheriff all in our weekly Resident Alien review.
Resident Alien Season One:
“Secrets”
Thus far in Resident Alien, we’ve gotten to see Harry try his best to fit into the routines of everyday humanity; but in “Secrets” — the third episode of SYFY’s new series — we see Harry grown weary of just keeping up the status quo. He struggles to keep his many tracks well hidden: impersonating a doctor, finding his spaceship, and finding the real Harry’s body before the police can.
Spoilers ahead.
Harry Is Tired Of Carrying His Secrets
One of the biggest early reveals in Secrets was how Harry wasn’t as much of a cold-hearted killer; he just talks a big game. The open scene details that Harry didn’t know how his actions would kill his human counterpart, claiming that he was an alien acting in self-defense. The ice cracking and Harry’s fall was a complete accident.
Still, Harry has to find human Harry’s body in the lake before the police do — a taxing mission as he’s also still searching the mountains for his wrecked ship. Unable to cope with all the stress, Harry is not sleeping well. Confused with this human necessity, he spends his sleepless nights researching what a human circumcision is, which oddly becomes very helpful not only in Harry’s fake-doctoring but also in keeping his cover. Penile foreskin apparently works well in forging DNA tests.
To make matters worse, Max is still proclaiming to anyone who’ll listen about Harry’s true alien nature, which makes Max’s mother, Kate Hawthorne (Meredith Garretson) concerned. When she visits Harry at his home to address the issue, Harry’s solution is to convince the family to move, in the hopes of shooing the boy away, which fails given their jobs and the fact that Ben’s the mayor. If you like to see an adult alien curse at a little boy, who in turn mocks him for being dumb for not understanding humanity, this episode is a full-on delight. And though Max has gone borderline crazy tinfoil hat in school, he does gain an ally in Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) in his fight against Harry.
We Have Ourselves A Serial Killer!
For the first time in the series, Harry is genuinely panicked, as the police in town find a severed foot that Harry knows belongs to his human counterpart. If they match the body, Harry’s secret might actually be revealed. The second murder found in town (after Doctor Sam), it falls upon Sheriff Mike to investigate, who is… let’s just say, not exactly the ideal man for the task. In an interview with the Workprint, we asked Corey Reynolds a bit about Sheriff and Mike and his many quirks and eccentricities:
“Well, I think he has a fascination with being called Big Black for starters. He likes to consider himself a music aficionado when it comes to his beatboxing skills. I think he sees himself as a crack investigator who just hasn’t had the opportunity to shine to the degree that he would like to, and I also see his aggressive nature as a kind of a cover for his deep, deep, deep, insecurities.”
Speaking of insecurities, we then followed up with a question as to why does Sheriff Mike treats deputy Liv so poorly? The poor sidekick often seems like the more brilliant and level-headed of the two.
“Um, I think he likes her a lot. And liking someone to him is a sign of weakness. So anytime he feels himself get soft and mushy he tries to get himself hard and crunchy again.”
Indeed, Mike is an odd yet awfully boisterous character, as equally sexist as he is sensitive. Horrible, yet also, kind of awesome, especially the more we get to know about him throughout the series. Sheriff Mike relishes in the idea of having a serial killer in town as the suspect will likely still be here (which is honestly, not a good thing? But that’s Mike for you). Thankfully, due to incompetence, or perhaps just an odd obsession over buffalo meat, Mike gives Harry the clear — in a close call that sees Harry store dead human Harry in the basement freezer.
It’s The Asta and D’arcy Party!
If I haven’t stressed enough, I think Asta and D’arcy are really great supporting character in the series. Both have got somewhat of a sad backstory, though one where they’ve taken control of their own agency. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun seeing D’arcy and Asta on screen. Especially in this episode, when the two accidentally crash a high school party. It’s evident D’arcy and any character, makes for some very funny hijinks in Resident Alien.
Asta, meanwhile, gets down to some business of her own and discovers that Sam’s prescription pad was lying about in this party. Unfortunately realizing that someone — likely a person with access to high schoolers no less — is dealing drugs using the deceased Sam’s prescription pad. Coincidentally, Asta also finds Jay, who also just so happens to volunteer at the medical clinic. Though suspicious undertones lie in the air, what’s crazier is that when Asta drops Jay off, the show reveals a flashback with Asta and Sam that changes things forever.
The Take
This episode ends on a great cliffhanger, as many of the episodes have from the first seven that I’ve watched. What’s nice is that there are some genuine motivations here that are forcing Harry to act, as it’s evident now how he’s an alien under fire. A creature on the edge of being discovered at any moment, if not by his cohorts, Sheriff Mike, or even Max, then perhaps something even more, as a new mysterious duo are on Harry’s tail.
We’ll have to tune in next week to find out more.
