Warning: Spoilers ahead for Resident Alien season 4, episode 1, “Prisoners.”Resident Alien season 4, episode 1, “Prisoners,” brings Alan Tudyk’s Harry Vanderspeigle back to screens for the first time since 2024, and the premiere continues certain storylines while also beginning new ones. The Resident Alien season 3 finale, “Homecoming,” left the show’s characters in some pretty precarious positions, and “Prisoners” reveals that none of them have fully recovered since the show’s previous episode.

The Resident Alien cast remains largely the same in season 4, with only a few new additions showing up in “Prisoners.” Clancy Brown returns from the season 3 finale to voice the Mantid, although Resident Alien‘s new bad guy is portrayed physically by Alan Tudyk, who also directs the season 4 opener. The show hasn’t missed a beat since “Homecoming,” despite behind-the-scenes changes, including a shift from SyFy to USA Network. In front of the camera, Resident Alien season 4 starts strong.

9Harry Vanderpeigle Was Trapped Aboard The Greys’ Moon Ship For 1 Month

Resident Alien season 3 ended with Harry as a prisoner

Harry was last seen in “Homecoming,” trapped aboard the Greys’ Star Wars-inspired moon ship with Bridget. Although the season 3 finale strongly implied that the Mantid duped Harry into imprisonment, a flashback at the start of “Prisoners” confirms this. Unsurprisingly, all the Mantid had to do was transform into Harry’s regular pizza delivery guy and make false promises of pepperoni.

The Mantid successfully slotted himself into Harry’s life, fooling everyone into thinking Harry hadn’t gone anywhere and was just acting a little differently.

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Harry spent one month on the Greys’ ship before escaping. During that time, the Mantid successfully slotted himself into Harry’s life, fooling everyone into thinking Harry hadn’t gone anywhere and was just acting a little differently. That said, Harry’s behavior has always been a little off-beat, so his new quirks are generally attributed to the false belief that he’s mourning Bridget.

8Alan Tudyk’s Sci-Fi Dramedy Finally Has A Proper Grey Alien Character

Bruce is a breath of fresh air after so many nameless Greys

Resident Alien‘s Grey Aliens have been the overarching villains pretty much since the show began. However, they’ve been an anonymous body of nameless beings throughout. “Prisoners” finally changes that, by introducing Bruce. Voiced by Doctor Who star Jinkx Monsoon, Bruce is Monsoon’s second high-profile sci-fi role since 2024. The Earth-obsessed alien wants nothing more than to visit the human homeworld, and Harry folds this desire into his escape plan – with some gentle nudging from Robert (Paul Piaskowski).

Bruce is a laugh-a-minute character from the second he enters the episode. Before him, George Takei’s nameless Grey Alien was the only other member of Bruce’s species with any real character development, and it was still incredibly minor. Resident Alien looks ready to make Bruce a big part of season 4, ending “Prisoners” by showing him and Robert looking over the bright lights of a glistening human skyline and ready to explore.

7Sheriff Mike Didn’t Believe What He Saw With His Own Two Eyes In The Resident Alien Season 3 Finale

Mike starts Resident Alien season 4 on medical leave

An avid alien denier throughout Resident Alien seasons 1-3, Corey Reynolds’ Sheriff Mike Thompson finally received what should have been indisputable evidence in “Homecoming.” Patience’s Sheriff saw a Grey and knocked it out cold in the season 3 finale, and “Prisoners” reveals he bagged up the alien to take it to show his deputy, Liv Baker (Elizabeth Bowen). The unconscious Grey frustratingly vanished by the time Mike reached Liv, making him believe he had been hallucinating.

Mike’s confusing encounter resulted in him being put on medical leave, believing himself unfit to keep the people of Patience safe due to thinking he had been seeing things that weren’t really there.

Mike’s confusing encounter resulted in him being put on medical leave, believing himself unfit to keep the people of Patience safe due to thinking he had been seeing things that weren’t really there. Mike’s stubbornness makes it thoroughly unsurprising that he still doubts the existence of alien life after his Grey encounter in “Homecoming,” but it’s also understandable that he would be shaken by the experience, too. Thankfully, Liv coaxes him back to work by the end of “Prisoners,” bringing a valuable figure into the fight against the Greys – but hopefully not Bruce!

6Max & Sahar Escaped From The Mantid In Hilariously Easy Fashion At The End Of Resident Alien Season 3

Sahar gives a simple but effective explanation for Max’s outburst

Judah Prehn’s Max Hawthorne is one of the few Resident Alien characters who can see through an extraterrestrial’s molecular disguise. Even if they look human to everyone else, it doesn’t fool Max. So, when he saw through the Mantid’s Harry ruse at the end of season 3, Max let out a huge scream that made it tricky to know how both he and Sahar (Gracelyn Awad Rinke) escaped the encounter alive.

Sahar saved the situation by telling the Mantid that Max had reacted the way he did because he “stepped on a bee.”

In true Resident Alien fashion, “Prisoners” solves the problem of Max losing his cool with a hilarious throwaway line. It’s revealed in the season 4 premiere that Sahar saved the situation by telling the Mantid that Max had reacted the way he did because he “stepped on a bee.” I was expecting Resident Alien season 4 to begin with Max and Sahar captured by the Mantid, but I’m glad the show found a quicker way to resolve matters.

5Peter “The Alien Tracker” Bach Was Even More Heavily Altered Than It Seems (& He’s Incapacitated)

Terry O’Quinn’s Resident Alien character is in need of repairs

General MacCallister (Linda Hamilton) and her team heavily augmented Terry O’Quinn’s Peter Bach with government tech to make him a deadly weapon against the Greys. What they didn’t realize was how much of Peter’s consciousness remained, as he was believed to be dead when he underwent the procedure. After regaining his autonomy in “Homecoming” and fleeing his government handlers, “Prisoners” picks up with Peter hiding away in a cave at the top of a mountain.

“I wish I had a stomach.”

– Peter Bach in Resident Alien season 4, episode 1, “Prisoners.”

Liv has been bringing Peter supplies, believing he still needed sustenance to survive. However, Peter offhandedly references the fact that he no longer has a stomach after chewing up and spitting out Liv’s lovingly made fried chicken. So, the taste of home comforts seems to be more for psychological benefits than physical. As well as internal organs being removed, Peter’s new robotic legs are damaged, and he and Liv are trying to look into how to repair them so he can walk again.

4Resident Alien Season 4’s Premiere Reveals Asta & Joseph Are Hooking Up

The unlikely romantic pairing is picking things back up after Resident Alien season 3

Enver Gjokaj’s Joseph Quinn had a brief-but-fake romance arc with Sara Tomko’s Asta Twelvetrees in Resident Alien season 3. Once both sides of the duo reveal their true intentions, it initially seems as though any hope of a proper relationship is gone. “Prisoners” surprises everyone by showing almost immediately that there could be some sort of future for Joseph and Asta.

Their dynamic at the moment seems to be little more than sexual, with Asta seeming embarrassed that D’arcy Bloom (Alice Wetterlund) knows about the two of them hooking up. On the other hand, Joseph is shown to be buying flowers in “Prisoners” after being hurried out of Asta’s front door. So, I think there is more to their budding romance than it initially seems, but only time will tell.

3D’arcy Never Returned Ben & Kate’s Baby After Rescuing Her From The Greys

The Hawthorne baby is being hidden for her own safety

After narrowly avoiding an act of self-sacrifice to stop the Greys in Resident Alien season 3, D’arcy ends up as one of the mission’s biggest heroes as she rescues Ben and Kate’s baby from the moon ship. It would stand to reason that the first thing D’arcy would do when she returns to Earth would be to return the baby to her parents. “Prisoners” includes the twist that she didn’t actually do that, believing the baby, who she has named Daisy, would be safer away from a mother who wasn’t still being abducted.

D’arcy ultimately realizes that the baby is better off outside of the Hawthornes’ immediate circle, as they’d only want her back if they saw her.

D’arcy’s initial logic is sound, as proven later by the shot of Kate (Meredith Garretson) being unconsciously communicated with by the Greys. That said, D’arcy starts to get reckless with concealing her plan from the Hawthornes, and goes as far as taking her into work and running the risk of her being spotted by her biological parents. D’arcy ultimately realizes that the baby is better off outside of the Hawthornes’ immediate circle, as they’d only want her back if they saw her. So, D’arcy delivers her to the Native American reserve for safekeeping, but struggles with the separation.

2The Mantid’s Goal Is To Procreate In Resident Alien Season 4

Asta is forced to withstand the Mantid’s humorous advances

Not much is explained about the Mantid’s motivations in “Homecoming,” with the character’s debut episode making him seem like all he wants to do is eat people. “Prisoners” clears things up massively. With Clancy Brown sharing narration duties with Tudyk, the Mantid reveals that he wants to procreate, and that doing so on Earth with an unsuspecting human would be far easier than on other planets.

The Mantid identifies Asta as a potential breeding partner, which leads to a hilarious seduction attempt that results in her hot-tailing it out of there. As funny as the moment is, it doesn’t sound as though any human would survive birthing so many Mantid babies at once, as the body is used simply as a vessel to house a stuffed “egg sack.” That said, the Mantid is also pleased that mating with a human would mean his survival, compared to mating with a member of his own species, which would result in his head being bitten off after.

1Harry Is Stuck In Human Form In Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 1

Resident Alien season 4’s trailer hints at the reason why

Although he often appears human to most of the other characters in Resident Alien, Harry’s true form is very different indeed, and he can usually switch between the two with great ease. At the end of “Prisoners,” Harry’s attempt to return to his alien form to fight the Mantid results in him just standing there looking silly while everyone watches. So, the fight doesn’t happen, and Max uses a tazer the Mantid so that he, Sahar, Harry, and Asta can flee.

One of the most interesting developments as a result of Harry’s predicament is that Max can no longer see Tudyk’s character in his alien form.

“Prisoners” ends without explaining why Harry can’t return to his alien form, but the reason presumably stems from something the Greys did to him during his incarceration, and the season 4 trailer suggests that too. It will likely be a huge part of the coming story. One of the most interesting developments as a result of Harry’s predicament is that Max can no longer see Tudyk’s character in his alien form, and he doesn’t recognize Harry when he returns to Earth at the end of the Resident Alien season 4 premiere.