If you’re an avid sci-fi fan looking for new content after the end of Severance Season 2, or you need something to take your mind off the long wait for Stranger Things 5, I’ve got just the thing for you. Resident Alien is an extraterrestrial comedy series originally produced by the SyFy network and streaming on Netflix and Peacock. It’s also a largely under-sung gem of a television show. This article covers why the show stands out, and why you should catch up on the first three seasons before the fourth releases (potentially later this year).
What is Resident Alien About?
In the simplest, most spoiler-free terms, Resident Alien follows the predicament of an alien who crash lands on earth after failing to destroy the planet. As he tries to find a way to complete his world-ending goal, he takes on the human identity of Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle. Harry/the alien is played by comedic actor Alan Tudyk, known for Firefly, another cult-classic sci-fi show I personally love.
Along the way, Harry finds himself trying to fit in with the citizens of a Colorado small town. Throughout his misadventures, he provides the viewer with running commentary about the foolishness of the human race. Sometimes, however, he finds that he can actually relate to humanity more than he’d ever anticipated. That’s Season 1, at least. You’ll have to watch for yourself to see how the plot evolves from there.
Sounds cheesy? Yes, it absolutely is! But part of what makes Resident Alien so special is its willingness to embrace the clichés of science fiction. It does so unapologetically, and with heart.
How the Show Stands Out
The Characters (and Representation)
For a show with a comical alien protagonist/narrator, you’d think human characters might end up falling flat in comparison. However, this absolutely isn’t the case with Resident Alien. Some of the best storylines and characters relate only slightly to the primary extraterrestrial plot.
Among some of the show’s best characters are: Asta Twelvetrees (played by Sara Tomko), who tries to reconnect with the daughter she gave up for adoption years ago; D’arcy Bloom (Alice Wetterlund), the quirky town bartender and a failed Olympic skier; Sheriff Mike (Corey Reynolds) and Deputy Liv (Elizabeth Bowen), the comedic law enforcement duo who have trouble relating to each other; Max Hawthorne (Judah Prehn), a young boy who can see through alien disguises; and Max’s parents Ben and Kate (Levi Fiehler and Meredith Garretson), who struggle to run the town of Patience while maintaining the stability of their marriage.
Additionally, a few Native American news outlets have praised Resident Alien for its unique centering of native characters and native voices. As native actors and characters don’t often get the spotlight in sci-fi stories, this is certainly something to celebrate.
Several of the main and recurring characters are members of the Ute tribe, including Asta and her father Dan Twelvetrees (Gary Farmer). Furthermore, the show frequently depicts aspects of daily life on an Ute reservation. Though the writer of the original comic series isn’t native, the television adaptation does rely on input from indigenous creatives. For example, Tazbah Chavez. Chavez is a Nüümü and Diné writer also known for Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls.
The Practical Effects and Unique Aesthetic
One of the main areas in which Resident Alien really shines compared to other sci-fi media lies in its overall aesthetic and usage of special effects.
Though many big moments throughout the show utilize CGI, Resident Alien makes particularly excellent use of practical effects. When Harry sheds his human disguise, Alan Tudyk wears a prosthetic alien mask. Visual effects enhance this mask during editing, but most of the alien face is real.
But why does it matter that Resident Alien utilizes practical effects?
In recent years, film fans have begun to critique the reliance on computer-generated imagery in sci-fi and fantasy media. Several of the newer MCU movies even put their characters in environments that are entirely CGI. For example, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
While CGI can create fantastical new worlds, many audiences are suffering from CGI fatigue. Practical effects, used in any capacity, can just help a fictional world feel a little more real.
Though it’s certainly a little more high-tech, Alan Tudyk’s alien mask feels like a spiritual successor to the now-campy alien makeup and prosthetics from the original series of Star Trek.
Not Taking Itself Too Seriously
Resident Alien‘s goofy nature makes it a breath of fresh air in the sci-fi media landscape. It isn’t afraid to mix low-brow humor and silly alien character designs into a plot that is, at its core, about human connection.
Most of the popular sci-fi shows these days have high stakes: Severance, Stranger Things, The Last of Us, and various Star Wars originals. And there’s nothing wrong with high stakes. But Resident Alien, despite its darker moments in more recent seasons, never forgets to be a comedy.
I can’t go in depth about everything there is to enjoy about this show, so here are a few other great aspects of Resident Alien that stand out: the soundtrack, the friendships between female characters, the casting of actors of various body types, the compelling plot twists, the guest appearances from “sci-fi veterans” like Linda Hamilton, Nathan Fillion, and George Takei, and so on.
So, Where’s All the Recognition?
If this show is so great, why isn’t it more widely known?
Audiences rated the most recent season with 91% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. And the show has been nominated for various accolades, even winning a few. However, as a network production (rather than a show produced by a streaming service) it ends up drawing a smaller audience. Resident Alien is currently available on Netflix, but the newer episodes are often added long after they premiere on cable. For example, season 3 finished airing in April of last year. It only appeared on Netflix in February of 2025.
All in all, the show goes a bit under the radar. That’s not to say it doesn’t have fans though. The Resident Alien Reddit page is currently in the top 5% of subreddits (based on number of members). So if you end up watching and enjoying it, there’s certainly an active online community where you can chat with fellow fans.
Season 4 Rumors and Updates
On April 1st, various members of the Resident Alien cast confirmed via Instagram that Season 4 had wrapped on filming. While there’s no release date yet, Alan Tudyk has stated in the past that he hopes to get the fourth season out to the public before the end of 2025. This next season will premiere on the USA Network instead of SyFy, with a potential 10 episodes — which is great news for fans who were disappointed by SyFy cutting Season 3 short at only 8 episodes.
Though Netflix doesn’t get to drop new episodes of the show until months after it airs on network TV, USA’s new acquisition of Resident Alien means that Season 4 will likely be available to stream via Peacock (as both are owned by NBC) without the long delay.
In the meantime, the first three seasons are on both Netflix and Peacock. So if anything I’ve talked about in this article sounds appealing, be sure to give Resident Alien a watch. You’ll surely have a lot of fun.
