Dan Twelvetrees

**Dan Twelvetrees** is a character in the science fiction comedy television series *Resident Alien*. He is portrayed by Gary Farmer.

## Character overview

Dan Twelvetrees is the adoptive father of Asta Twelvetrees and a resident of Patience, Colorado. Despite her being a grown adult, he continues to dote on her, making her dinner every night. She ran away from him to Denver at the age of 16, but later returned. Though she feels that he at some point stopped at liking like her father, he tells her that she never stopped being his daughter. He is suspicious of the alien that has assumed the identity of Harry Vanderspeigle, telling Asta that he has a bad feeling. When she counters that he has a bad feeling about all the men within ten feet of her, he tells her that the problem is that when he looks at him, he doesn't feel anything at all. He is the current owner and manager of the town cafe, Joe's Diner, and also served in the military in the Vietnam War, where he learned to trust his gut feelings. During the war, he was unable to save one of his fellow soldiers, Joe, and blamed himself for his death. Later coming to terms with his guilt, he named the diner in honor of Joe.

## Plot summary

Dan Twelvetrees meets the alien masquerading as Harry Vanderspeigle in a cafe following Vanderspeigle's first day of work at Patience's clinic. He tells his adoptive daughter, Asta, that he has a bad feeling, but she replies that he says that he has a bad feeling about every man within ten feet of her. At this, he tells her that when he looks at Vanderspeigle, he feels nothing at all. Later, he talks with Asta, telling her that he knows that she and the recently murdered Sam Hodges were close. He reminds her of their Native American traditions, telling her that she needs to allow Hodges to move on and that there's certain things she could do, like cutting her hair to honor the deceased. She tells him that she's not 16 anymore and that it might be time she started letting her live her own life instead of making dinner every night. She asks if he's really going to start being her father now that she's living at home again and he tells her she never stopped being his daughter. In the end, she gives in and agrees to allow him cut her hair.

Following this, she wakes up one morning and discovers that Dan has cooked breakfast for her, her favorite dish of scrambled eggs. As she tells him it looks good, she breaks down crying. She then tells him about the child she gave up for adoption, revealing to him for the first time that it was a girl. She tells him that she thought the girl would be better off, but she's wondering now if she was supposed to be with her. He tells her that she's still a mother to the child, a bond that can never be broken and that she'll be able to sense her no matter where she is.

One day, Vanderspeigle is on call at the clinic when Dan tells Asta that her grandmother's back is hurting again. She suggests that Vanderspeigle join them in a visit to the Ute Reservation to administer a steroid shot. He replies that he doesn't want Vanderspeigle to come and Vanderspeigle agrees that he doesn't want to go. She replies that she doesn't want men to act like children, so none of them get what they want. The group then shares an icy ride to the reservation, where Vanderspeigle administers the shot. While there, Asta's grandmother makes an offhand comment about it being time that Asta had a child. At this, Vanderspeigle shocks the group by saying that the 17-year-old intern Jay at the clinic is Asta's daughter, that they have similar facial features. Everyone is shocked, and Asta runs out of the room.

Asta later talks outside with Dan, who asks her how she could not tell him that Jay was the girl. She replies that he wouldn't understand, that he wanted her out the second he knew she was pregnant. He tells her that she was the one who left and that everyone at the reservation would have been there for her. She tells him that she couldn't do that to him, that he had already raised one child who wasn't his own and she didn't want her child to be one more problem for him. She asks him if they're going to be okay and he tells her that even when they're not okay, they're okay. Later, on the way back home together with Vanderspeigle, they laugh together listening to the Native American song "Boujee Natives."

Following this incident, Jay finds out the truth by discovering a file in the clinic that reveals Asta's parentage of her. When she pays a visit to Joe's Diner, Dan asks her if she's hungry. She replies that she only has enough for coffee, but Dan tells her that family doesn't pay.

Sometime after this, Asta unexpectedly goes missing at a time when a fierce snowstorm is approaching Patience. Dan places a call to her, only for it to go straight to voicemail. Fearing the worst, Dan pays a visit to the sheriff's office and speaks with Sheriff Mike Thompson, telling him that Asta isn't answering her phone. Thompson at first tries to play it off as Asta being out with a younger man, but Dan appeals to their shared military service, reminding him of the importance of trusting gut feelings. Chastened, Thompson agrees that he hears him and begins making inquiries. He discovers that D'Arcy Bloom, Asta's best friend, is also missing. He learns that two snowmobiles have been missing since 3 and begins working to launch a search, but Dan leaves him a huff, leading Thompson to worry that he's going to do something stupid and get himself killed. Before he can do so, however, Asta returns, having been rescued by Bloom. When Dan enters the diner, he discovers strange streaks of glowing blue blood and finds, to his shock, that Asta is hiding an alien in his freezer. Even more shocking for him, she tells him that the alien is somebody that they know - Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle. She explains that she's keeping in the freezer because he is injured and the cold helps. Dan is dubious of the whole affair, but nevertheless runs interference when Sheriff Thompson shows up, telling him that everything is okay. He then returns to Asta and learns that Vanderspeigle's injured leg is poisoning him and must be cut off, or he will die. Asta tells Dan to get the meat cleaver, but when she takes it hand, finds that she can't bring herself to do the deed. "I can," says Dan, taking the cleaver. He raises it and Vanderspeigle admits to being afraid, so Asta holds his hand. Dan then lowers the cleaver, chopping off Vanderspeigle's leg.

Not long after this incident, Asta enters Joe's Diner and finds that Jay is working there. She asks Dan about it and he admits to having given her a part-time job. She tells him that she's not sure this is such a good idea, and he counters that she's friends with an alien. Later, Vanderspeigle takes off for outer space, having decided not to use his device to kill all humans. In the aftermath, however, the boy Max Hawthorne goes missing. Asta goes to Dan, wondering how she's going to tell Max's parents that their kid is missing. He tells her that he'll be with her every step of the way, but stops short of actually going with her.

Later, Vanderspeigle comes to Dan, now stuck on Earth following the crash of his spaceship after Max stowed aboard. "So you're an alien?" Dan asks him. Vanderspeigle agrees, responding "And you are Native American." Dan replies that he's "Nuche," a word that means "The People." Vanderspeigle asks if he should call him "Nuche" and Dan replies that he can call him Dan. He then offers up his own alien name, but Dan says he'll just call him "Harry."

When Asta returns from a boating trip with her best friend, D'Arcy Bloom, Dan comments that he hopes she wore her life jacket and maybe two. Asta asks why and he points out that she's the only thing keeping Vanderspeigle from killing everyone on Earth, that everyone is dead if anything happens to her. She replies that she can't help that she's Harry's only friend and he tells her that maybe he should have some more. He states that Patience is a great town and that if he can't see the value of humans there, then maybe they should all become extinct.

Later, when Vanderspeigle creates a radio to contact his people, he tells Asta that he needs to use the tellurium vein on the land of the Ute Reservation in order for it to function. She decides to go along with him and takes Dan as backup to ensure that he doesn't try anything funny. Despite this, she still ends up cutting off his radio transmission after he reveals that he was sending a signal only to tell his people not to come for 50 years, just enough time for him to live a nice life with her.

Vanderspeigle and Asta take a trip to New York in the hope of finding one of Vanderspeigle's fellow aliens, Goliath. When they get back, Dan drives them back from the train station to Vanderspeigle's cabin. Along the way, Asta is very quiet and when they get to the cabin, Dan asks her to talk to him, saying that her being quiet makes him nervous. She reveals that that the alien they were seeking is dead, but that he produced an alien egg, which is now inside Vanderspeigle's bag and could hatch at any moment. He replies that he liked it better when she was quiet. He goes to Vanderspeigle, congratulating him for adopting a baby. Vanderspeigle tells him not to worry, that it hasn't hatched yet, that he would know because it would spit acid. The group then enters the cabin, only to discover that Mayor Ben Hawthorne has put together a surprise party for Vanderspeigle.

"Get out my house!" shouts Vanderspeigle, not wanting other people there and definitely not wanting a surprise party with the alien egg sitting in his bag. He comments that everyone is trespassing and should be arrested. Asta states that he's kidding, though Dan mutters under his breath that he's not. Nevertheless, the surprise party ends up going ahead. During the party, the egg hatches, and Asta has Dan run interference, keeping everyone in the cabin after she discovers the alien baby fleeing out a window. Eventually, the two of them encounter the boy Max Hawthorne and his friend Sahar, who have sneaked away from their babysitter to warn Asta that government agents kidnapped Dr. Ethan Stone because Max told them the alien is the "town doctor" and will be back once they realize he's not an alien. Asta then tasks Dan with getting the two of them home safe.

## Quotes

"*What was I supposed to do? Take my baby to class? Raise her in Jimmy's bedroom at his mom's house?*"

"*You know... look around you. We all would've been there for you, especially me.*"

"*I couldn't do that to you. You already raised one child that wasn't your own. I didn't want mine to be one more problem for you. Are we gonna be okay?*"

"*Even when we're not okay, we'll always be okay.*"

- Asta and Dan, "Birds of a Feather"

"*Asta, what the hell’s going on?*"

"*Hey, Dad.*"

"*Hell no.*"

- Dan, observing Harry Vanderspeigle's alien form, and Asta, "End of the World As We Know It"

"*Can you just say it, so there's no confusion?*"

"*Why’s there an alien in my freezer?*"

- Asta and Dan, "End of the World As We Know It"

"*What the hell am I gonna tell his parents?*"

"*Try this: 'Your kid is gone. There was an alien involved.*"

"*Oh, I can't do it.*"

"*Well, you can't run from this. I'll be with you every step of the way.*"

"*Okay. Thanks for coming with me.*"

"*Hell, no. I'm not going. I gotta cook eggs.*"

- Asta and Dan, "Old Friends"

"*You gonna tell me what's going on? You... haven't talked this whole ride. I don't like it when you're quiet. Makes me nervous.*"

"*The alien we went to see... was dead. But it gave birth to an egg. And now it's in Harry's bag.*"

"*I liked it more when you were quiet.*"

- Asta and Dan, "Escape from New York"

"*You are all trespassing and should be arrested.*

"*He's jokin'.*

"*No, he's not.*"

- Harry Vanderspeigle, Asta and Dan

"*Next time Harry comes in, you want me to send him home without any supper?*"

"*No, he's, like, responsible for half your sales. You can take his money. I just don't want him taking any more of my time.*"

- Dan and Asta, "The Weight"

## Trivia

* As of the end of the second season of *Resident Alien*, he is one of five residents of Patience who knows the alien Harry Vanderspeigle's true nature, along with his adoptive daughter Asta, Max Hawthorne, Sahar and D'Arcy Bloom.

## Gallery

The Importance of Authentic Indigenous Representation on Screen - Resident Alien