Love Language

**Love Language** is the fifth episode of the science fiction comedy television series *Resident Alien*.

## Synopsis

Official episode synopsis:
A surprise visitor introduces Harry to a stressful human institution: marriage.

## Plot summary

In a flashback, the human Harry Vanderspeigle is shown at a charity art event. Coming upon a particular painting, he meets the artist, Isabelle, who tells him that someone has outbid him. He raises his bid on the painting and the two hit it off, him saying that he wants to solve the mystery of the painting. In truth, it's her he wants to solve, and the two begin a whirlwind courtship.

In the present day, the alien Harry Vanderspeigle reflects on how much he hates the boy Max Hawthorne for pretending to like him just to break into his cabin. At the Hawthorne residence, Max's parents Ben and Kate are busy conducting a frantic search when they discover Max in the closet. They sheepishly tell Sheriff Mike Thompson what they have discovered and Thompson tells them that he found Max riding his bike on Route 16. He tells them he had a good reason, but they get angry he tells them that he broke into Vanderspeigle's cabin and found proof that he was an alien. He tells them that he's not lying and that Sahar was there, but when they visit her place, she doesn't back his story, saying she doesn't remember going to Vanderspeigle's cabin.

Back at Vanderspeigle's cabin, Vanderspeigle is annoyed to discover that Isabelle is still there. She tells him that she's annoyed with him, that she was ready to sign the divorce papers and he stonewalled the lawyers for months. She shouts at him that if he's ready to have a divorce to just sign the papers and then is surprised when he instantly acquiesces to her request. That evening, he is confused when she sticks around and sleeps in his bed, despite his having agreed to end the relationship. In the morning, they talk, and he tells her he has to go into work, and she asks if he's playing "Dr. Fix-It," having abandoned his practice. He wonders why people choose to spend their lives with someone else. Meanwhile, in Joe's Diner, Sheriff Mike Thompson has a fraught conversation with his ailing elderly father, Lewis, who is annoyed at them having moved there from Washington D.C. and mocks Thompson for not having cracked the Sam Hodges case. At the clinic, D'Arcy tells Vanderspeigle she doesn't want to date him anymore, leading to an awkward conversation in which he suggests that her type "isn't the smartest and the brightest in the world," then awkwardly tries to apologize, thinking that if he doesn't, she'll know he's an alien.

In the clinic, Vanderspeigle meets with Sam Hodge's widow, Abigail, who asks if he's finished Sam's autopsy report. He explains that he can't until they get the toxicology reports back. She tells him that Sam's insurance policy won't pay if it's suicide and she's "trusting him to do the right thing." She leaves and Asta Twelvetrees comes in, asking what it was all about and Vanderspeigle says that Abigail is "pro-murder." The two talk about Jay and Vanderspeigle says she should just tell her that she's her mother. Twelvetrees replies that Jay should know the truth on her terms when she's ready and that she shouldn't be there at the clinic. Vanderspeigle suggests that she fire her, but she says there's no way she could do that. Just then, Isabelle comes into the office, leading Twelvetrees to tell Vanderspeigle that his girlfriend can't just come barging in. "I'm his wife!" shouts Isabelle and when Twelvetrees explains that Vanderspeigle had said his wife was dead, she flies into a rage, making a mess of papers and shouting that she's going back to New York. She then storms out, visiting The 59, where she bonds with Bloom over man troubles, neither of them realizing they're both talking about the same person.

Back at the clinic, Max's parents bring him to Vanderspeigle to apologize for breaking into his cabin, but things go sour when Vanderspeigle won't accept the apology and Max admits that he's not really being sincere. Vanderspeigle reflects that he learned from Asta that love can be used as a weapon and so he decides to do the same with Max, playing his parents against him. He gives Max a test, to identify his face out of a set of photos, but Max is unable to since he can only see his alien form. He then tells Max's parents that Max suffers from a severe case of teraphobia, the fear of monsters, as well as face-blindness and anxiety. He recommends a special school for Max in Georgia. Meanwhile, in the sheriff's office, Thompson expresses his frustration to Liv Baker at their lack of progress in the Hodges case and wishing that he could be in Colorado Springs where there were over 500 violent crimes in the past year. Back at the pub, Isabelle and Bloom continue to bond.

At the clinic, Twelvetrees tries to fire Jay, only for Jay to confront her with a paper, a record of Twelvetrees bearing a child on the same day as Jay's birthday. She is naturally shocked, and is not pleased either to learn that Jimmy is the father. Outside the clinic, Vanderspeigle and Twelvetrees discuss their shared lies: her not telling Jay and his claiming that his wife was dead. He suggests that maybe humans lie because they don't want people to know who they really are. Just then, they are confronted by Jimmy and Vanderspeigle plays bodyguard as Twelvetrees reveals to him that Jay found out the truth. She tells him that she wanted him to hear it from her first and warns him to stay out of her life, that he's the last thing she needs. He, however, flips it back on her, telling her that it's her behavior, allowing to Jay to be so close to her the clinic, that wasn't normal. After he leaves, Dan, who is also in the clinic, tells her that Jay will have a family with them.

Vanderspeigle arrives home, where he is stunned to discover that Isabelle is still there. He points out that she had said she was going away together, but she tells him that she didn't handle things well and she wants to make it up to him. At first, Vanderspeigle is annoyed, but then the two seemingly start to bond. As they dance with each other, Bloom approaches the cabin, hoping to reunite with Vanderspeigle, only to see him dancing through the window with Isabelle. That evening, after dinner, Isabelle asks what's next and he tells her "Scrub the pans before you leave." He turns and starts to walk away, but then she serenades to him *Nature Boy* by Nat King Cole, and he returns to her embrace and the two share a passionate kiss. At the Hawthorne family house, Max overhears his parents talking about sending him to Georgia. He walkie-talkies Sahar, saying that he knows she doesn't believe him, but his parents are sending him away. She radios back, saying that she never said that she didn't believe him, only that she didn't remember. She tells him that she has an idea. Back at the cabin, Vanderspeigle and Isabelle share a passionate night of "reconnecting." The next morning, Isabelle sees the painting from the charity auction on the wall and comments that she knew he still loved her, that he didn't have the heart to take it down.

At Joe's Diner, Max and Sahar confront Vanderspeigle. There, Sahar confronts Vanderspeigle with a strange scenario in which she and Max both hold their breath until they pass out and die and he gets blamed for their murder. They force him into a truce - that he tells Max's parents he doesn't need to go to Georgia and, in exchange, he agrees to stop trying to convince everyone else that he's an alien. The two shake on the deal and Vanderspeigle asks if Max has any questions. Max has one - he wants to know how it is that he can see his true form. Vanderspeigle explains that he's one of the rare humans that is genetically tuned to the frequencies of other dimensions and therefore can see through his reconstruction. Sahar compares it to the viral "the dress" phenomenon. In exchange, Vanderspeigle asks Max why humans fold their pizza when they eat it and Max replies that it's too floppy when it's flat. As the continue to talk, Vanderspeigle considers to himself that he thought that he hated Max, but that the hatred went away as they talked and that there might be something stronger than hate. As he was thinking this, Jay entered the cafe and Dan asked if she was hungry. She replied that she only had enough for coffee, but he told her that family didn't pay. Deputy Baker met up with Sheriff Thompson, telling him that Hodge's toxicology report showed that he had been poisoned with botulinum toxin. He then shocked the cafe by shouting "Holy shit, sticks! We got ourselves a murder!" Back at the cabin, Vanderspeigle stared at a sleeping Isabelle. He thought to himself that he felt many emotions about her, that he felt close to her, yet sometimes wanted to be far away. As she snored, he moved as if to smother her with a pillow, but as she turned over and stopped snoring, he decided that she could live another day.

## Cast and characters

Starring:

* Alan Tudyk as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle
* Sara Tomko as Asta Twelvetrees
* Corey Reynolds as Sheriff Mike Thompson
* Alice Wetterlund as D'Arcy Bloom
* Levi Fiehler as Mayor Ben Hawthorne
* Judah Prehn as Max Hawthorne

Guest Starring:

* Meredith Garretson as Kate Hawthorne
* Elizabeth Bowen as Liv Baker
* Gary Farmer as Dan Twelvetrees
* Elvy as Isabelle
* Jenna Lamia as Judy Cooper
* Gracelyn Awad Rinke as Sahar
* Ben Cotton as Jimmy

Co-Starring:

* Keith Abruthnot as Alien Harry Double
* Kaylayla Raine as Jay
* Deborah Finkel as Abigail Hodges
* Lisa Penz as Jay's Adoptive Mother
* Michael Meneer as Doctor
* Nisreen Slim as Sahar's Mom
* Alvin Sanders as Lewis Thompson

## Quotes

"*You're so quiet. What are you thinking?*"

"*If I could fit your body in the freezer, next to the other guy.*"

- Isabelle and Harry Vanderespeigle, thinking

"*Sheriff? Sam's toxicology results are in. Botulinum toxin A levels are through the roof. Sam was poisoned.*"

"*Holy shit, sticks! We got ourselves a murder!*"

- Deputy Liv Baker and Sheriff Mike Thompson

## Gallery

### Videos

Do Aliens Have Wives? -SNEAK PEEK- - Resident Alien - SYFYD'arcy Gets Drunk With Harry's Wife -RECAP- - Resident Alien - SYFYAsta Reveals Something To Jimmy - Resident Alien - SYFYD'arcy And Isabelle Enjoy A Happy Hour - Resident Alien - SYFY

## External links

* Love Language on the Internet Movie Database
* Transcript @ TV Show Transcripts
* Transcript @ Scraps from the Loft
* Transcript @ Forever Dreaming