Resident Alien: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Resident Alien: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 10, 2022

Alan Tudyk is carving out a nice little niche for himself as one of the faces (and voices) of Sci-Fi. Tudyk came to prominence as one of the most beloved characters in the too-quickly-cancelled Firefly and has put his stamp in the Star Wars universe as the voice of the droid K-2SO in Rogue One. Now, he's playing an alien in human form in Resident Alien, a fine little show about an extraterrestrial making a go of it as a Colorado doctor while attempting to finish his mission to destroy Earth.

Official synopsis: A comedic sci-fi drama based on the Dark Horse comic book series of the same name, 'Resident Alien' follows a crash-landed alien (Alan Tudyk) who must take on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor and somehow find a way to fit in with the local human population. While attempting to complete his secret mission on Earth, he is forced to consider the possibility that humans might be worth saving after all.

Do aliens really live amongst us? And if so, what do they do? Are they living next to man in plain sight, up to nefarious, no-good purposes as in V; are they hiding in plain sight with evil intent as in They Live; or are the aliens benevolent overseers attempting to avert various destructive crises of man's own making? In this case, it's an alien who is bent on destroying the Earth, but because he's lost his doomsday device to the snowy Colorado landscape, he's forced to stay on Earth a while longer than planned while looking for the wayward weapon and come to see what it is he's about to blow up.

This is a very solid premise that finds both dramatic currents and endlessly humorous opportunities for character growth and exploration as the alien finds himself caught between duty to his mission and an increasingly favorable bend to humanity. The character has fun learning about the species -- whether exploring the idioms and idiosyncrasies or literally dissecting the dead -- all the while plotting to kill the only person in town that can see through his human camouflage and see the "real" alien underneath: a little boy whom nobody will believe. The show is a lot of fun, Alan Tudyk nails the mannerisms the lead part demands, and the small-town charm rather than the big city expanse is the perfect setting for a story of this style. Genre fans are going to eat this one up.

The following episodes comprise season one. Episode summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packaging:

Disc One:

• Pilot: An alien hiding in a small Colorado town meets the locals when they ask him to help solve a murder.
• Homesick: In his first week at the clinic, Harry struggles to diagnose a strange feeling: human emotion.
• Secrets: Harry races to keep his secret safe as Asta is forced to face her own past.
• Birds of a Feather: Harry travels to the Ute Reservation to help Asta's grandmother and learns what it means to belong.
• Love Language: A surprise visitor introduces Harry to a stressful human institution: marriage.

Disc Two:

• Sexy Beast: Harry copes with jealousy when the mayor hires an annoyingly perfect new town doctor.
• The Green Glow: Fearing he's facing failure, Harry enlists an unlikely ally to help find his ship.
• End of the World As We Know It: Harry must rely on Asta and D'arcy for survival.
• Welcome Aliens: Harry and Asta attend an alien convention.
• Heroes of Patience: On the verge of completing his mission, Harry faces his own humanity.

Resident Alien: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Resident Alien's 1080p transfer is fairly nondescript, offering a good, stable image that falls in line with expectations, neither exceeding them nor falling below them. The picture is stable and free of debilitating artifacts. Light source noise is apparent in places, but the picture exhibits no serious encode issues, resulting in a clean, efficient presentation. The digitally sourced picture is clear and crisp, yielding perfectly stable and high-end detailing that showcases human skin, the rubbery alien suit, and other assorted odds and ends around Patience with all of the expected definition and detail in place. Color reproduction is strong, too. The transfer retains the series' neutral color scheme, offering naturally stable and expressive colors within middle ground contrast and color temperature. Black levels are fine, whites are adequately crisp, and skin tones are healthy. This is a fine all-around performer from Universal.

Resident Alien: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Resident Alien lands on Blu-ray with a well-rounded DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track is mostly front heavy and dialogue intensive. The spoken word plays clearly and efficiently from the front center channel while light ambient effects are nicely engaging and dispersed to help create a sense of audio fullness in every scene. Music is clear and engaging, with wide front side stretch and just enough surround support to play with effortless balance. The track offers a few examples of more intense audio cues, such as when the ship crash lands in the pilot episode's opening minutes. The greater surround activity and low-end extension add necessary depth and detail to the moment, and these elements are mixed in as needed to fine effect. This is a rich, detailed track all around.

Resident Alien: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplemental content is included on either Blu-ray disc. No DVD or digital copies are included, either. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

Resident Alien: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What a nifty little show! It's different, it's dramatic, and it's funny but usually not in a pretentious copycat sort of way. Make no mistake that certain sectors of the show feel like they're straight out of the Comedy 2021 playbook but the novel narrative and solid lead performance help to mask any deficiencies. Universal's featureless Blu-ray delivers perfectly good video and audio presentations. Recommended!