Last week on Resident Alien, Peter Bach came into town and immediately engaged in a “Cat and Mouse” game with Harry looking to settle some unfinished business. Fortunately, our protagonist is able to turn the tables and has his former hunter in a precarious position.
Obviously, the good doctor wasn’t going to kill his visitor so Bach is only tied up for the time being. The show is about Vanderspeigle slowly becoming human the longer he stays on the planet and interacts with the people. He’s developed to the point where he shows restraint and doesn’t feel the urge to murder in cold blood, even if it is someone who had ill intentions. This is further reinforced when he references doing what Asta would have done; or the right thing.
Resident Alien also utilizes the episode to paint a more sympathetic picture of Bach and his motivations via flashback. He’s a tortured soul searching for his long-missing son. He doesn’t even have a real personal vendetta. He only wants answers because he lost contact with the Greys after Harry removed his implant. Terry O’Quinn shines in his scenes with his solemn demeanor and playing the straight edged figure to complement Alan Tudyk’s zaniness.
The pair find themselves seeking the same destination, to find the baby alien and intel on the Grays, and form an unlikely partnership to storm General McCallister’s compound. Their assault is one of the bigger action sequences of the entire series and it captures the chaos of it all. There is so much going on including emotional scenes between Bach and the general.
You feel the desperation and sadness in Linda Hamilton’s voice as she is about to lose evidence she has to validate all her beliefs. Though there can be too much occurring to not allow certain aspects to develop enough. I wish there was more with the Grey’s mole and it does seem the base of this sort should have more than a chain linked fence to prevent an escape.
The theme of father and sons is also explored further in Resident Alien with Harry since he is rescuing his baby as well. Despite only searching out the child to receive the rest of the warning from Goliath, he feels the human connection to his spawn and can’t bare to abandon him. Seeing the lengths Bach goes to and his sacrifices for his kid must have rubbed off on him. Gaining this knowledge and awareness fuels Harry to help his foe turned new friend to carry out his mission.
Peppered throughout is Asta’s attempts to pull her BFF D’Arcy out of her rut. The subplot serves as nice breaks of levity from the main storyline as the former Olympian takes her first steps of healing with tons of video games and snacks. Things also stealthily turn into Asta’s own growth and maturation where she learns to step out of her comfort zone into adulthood. Both she and D’Arcy still have unresolved issues but at least they can deal with them with each other’s support. Combine that with how Patience comes together for Mayor Hawthorne and you have a bittersweet ending.
“Best of Enemies” uses the theme of fathers and sons to effectively bring two foes together in gripping ways while providing the most action-packed episode in a while.
New episodes of Resident Alien air Wednesdays nights on Syfy.
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