Ten Notes on the Back Half of Resident Alien’s Second Half
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I‘ve previously written quite a bit about this show and highly recommend it:
The show this month has shifted focus to Olivia Baker’s alien sightings, D’Arcy’s attempt at romance and attempt to regain her ski career, Ben’s attempts to boost the town’s profiles with a resort (precipitating one of TVdom’s most avoidable marital spats). Some thoughts (SPOILERS AHEAD):
1. Whether Terry O’Quinn’s character was going to be killed or not was as good of a cliffhanger as ever. I found myself preparing to disown my allegiances to Harry if he went through with that murder, which is an indication that the show still has me frantically guessing well into its second season. A good sign.
2. Because we’re introduced much earlier to Ben as an audience and he’s constantly being belittled by the town he tries to do good for, he’s pretty rootable. Therefore, his wife Kate has an uphill battle at trying to win the audience’s affections and her arc has been based on adapting to the town. Kate’s love story is with Patience (as evidenced by the bonding with the ladies of Patience) and it’s even tied with her reconnection to Ben (the two are often a couple in distress) because she has to understand what he loves. Therefore, it’s been jarring to see the thing that binds them become such a source of division in a melodramatic story plot that seems like it’s halfway to becoming Kramer vs Kramer.
3. The D’Arcy/Asta relationship is becoming the key to the show. The only hitch was that, we (I’m presuming the audience was with me) couldn’t bear to see the inevitable breaking point when Asta’s secret was going to jeopardize her friendship. How often does the show rely on the catharsis of Asta and D’Arcy making up from a fight? About the right amount, I’d say.
4. If D’Arcy Bloom was an Olympian in 2016 and the show is set in the present, that means that her big comeback is happening 15 years later after she was at the top of the world. The number of people who have qualified for the Olympics in a competitive sport at the age of 40 or older is probably extremely tiny (I’m sure archery or golf might be exceptions). No wonder she needs painkillers! Even then, that’s not going to give her the leg strength of a mogul skier in their 20s. Still, despite some real…
