Harry Was Here
I just finished watching the final episode of Resident Alien, and it feels like I’m losing a dear friend.
I should mention that this post may contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the series finale yet, you may want to stop right here.
About a month ago I wrote that an episode of this sci-fi dramedy had brought me to tears. Little did I know what was in store for me this week.
I’ve been a fan since Resident Alien’s debut in 2021 and looking back, I can’t believe how I hemmed and hawed about whether I should record it or not.
Frankly, it didn’t look particularly good in the commercials, and I didn’t want to get hooked on yet another TV show.
And then I watched the first episode and I was hooked.
I still laugh at the scene where Harry, drunk after his first experience with alcohol, dances around a local saloon to Nicki Minaj’s “Starships.”
Alan Tudyk was brilliant in this role, with his awkward body movements, incredibly inappropriate comments, and obsession with pie.
Harry was originally intended to be more serious like his comic book counterpart, according to IMDB, but Tudyk was so dazzling in his audition that the character was reimagined to suit his comedic talents.
Nothing against the comic book, but I’m really glad the producers made this decision. I really needed the laughs.
The show has a special meaning for me as it was one of my brother Peter’s favorite programs as well. And after his death in May, I still have the urge to discuss the episodes with him.
Hands Up and Touch the Sky
I’m sorry he wasn’t here to see the finale. I would’ve loved to hear his thoughts about Harry’s last bow.
It was particularly painful when I watched Harry’s spaceship rise into the sky and leave this world behind.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Harry says as he prepares to leave our world.
Yeah, me, too, Harry. I said and done some awfully stupid, thoughtless and cruel things in my life.
Hands Up and Touxh the Sky
Asta, who is portrayed by Sara Tomko, reminds him of the people he helped. Maybe I should look at my life in the same way.
Harry arrived on Earth on a mission to destroy humanity, but his exposure to people gradually overrides his ruthless alien heart.
In the final episode, a replacement comes here on the same murderous mission, and it looks like Harry will have to kill him, but a lot of liquor, a simple act of kindness, and a reprise of the “Starships” dance routine from the first season suggests that this alien, too, will come to feel human emotions.
One of the characters suggests that maybe other aliens have landed here in the past, and they, too, felt compassion for our species.
The series wraps up with scenes of humans all over the world helping each other, doing the right thing, while “Get Together” from The Youngbloods plays.
It’s a shame that a TV show has to remind us of our better angels, but with our leaders failing so miserably at the job, when cruelety is seen as courage, we have little choice.
The last image of the show focus on the window ledge of Harry’s cabin, to three words: “Harry Was Here.”
Yes, he, indeed he was, and I will always be grateful.
See you sometime.
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