Sam Hodges

**Dr. Sam Hodges, M.D.** is a character in the science fiction comedy television series *Resident Alien*. He is portrayed by Jan Bos.

## Character overview

Dr. Sam Hodges was the town doctor for the town of Patience, Colorado and the one and only physician of the Patience Health Clinic. He was married to Abigail Hodges, and his ex-wife was Rosy, who died years earlier. His nurse was Asta Twelvetrees, and the two were close friends with each other, often sharing confidences. He also served as a counselor to the town's mayor, Ben Hawthorne, in weekly sessions. When he was found dead in his office, the town sheriff Mike Thompson sought out the services of Harry Vanderspeigle, a doctor who vacationed in a cabin near the town, not realizing that Vanderspeigle's identity had been assumed by an alien. Rather than risk discovery, the Vanderspeigle alien came into town and while he initially concluded that Hodges's death was a suicide, he later concluded that Hodges had been poisoned in a manner that caused his throat to close up, leading him to try to give himself a tracheotomy. He then continued to fill Hodges's role as the replacement town doctor, until a more permanent replacement, Dr. Ethan Stone, was found.

Sam Hodges was murdered by the real Harry Vanderspeigle in order to cover up his having discovered evidence of Patience's Hawthorne Creek being poisoned from the illegal dumping of toxic chemicals.

## Appearance

Sam Hodges was a Caucasian male, of middle-age, though starting show signs of entering his elderly years. He had pronounced forehead wrinkles and dark hair that was starting show signs of graying and thinning.

## Plot summary

Mike Thompson and Liv Baker, the sheriff and deputy of Patience, Colorado, pay a visit to a cabin by a lake. There, they speak with the alien who has assumed the identity of Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, explaining to him that the town doctor Sam Hodges turned up dead and they need him to perform an autopsy. Vanderspeigle is wary of interacting with humans, but even more wary of the possibility of spoiling his secret identity, so he agrees to come along. In town, he attempts to quickly write off the death as a suicide, but is rebuffed by the nurse Asta Twelvetrees, who tells him that Hodges had no reason to commit suicide. She points out that if he wanted to commit suicide, he wouldn't have stabbed himself over and over in the front of the neck, that as a doctor he would have known to go for the carotid artery. Vanderspeigle is forced to admit that she has a point and the two of them perform a full autopsy. Afterwards, Vanderspeigle squeezes Hodges's brain for entertainment, when suddenly he is walked in on by the widow, Abigail Hodges. Abigail asks him if her husband is there, not yet having been informed about the death due to the squeamishness of the town's mayor Ben Hawthorne and deputy Baker. Later, Vanderspeigle attends Sam Hodges's funeral and a comment by Twelvetrees about "fresh air" leads Vanderspeigle to a realization. As the funeral is in progress, he unexpectedly opens the coffin and confirms his theory: that Hodges's windpipe had constricted and he was trying to give himself a tracheotomy in order to get air.

As the investigation into Hodge's death gets underway, Vanderspeigle takes on the role of the temporary new town doctor. Asta Twelvetrees, however, keeps him from using Sam Hodges's office, claiming that it's because it is a crime scene, but really unable to let go of her past memories of Hodges, who had been like a second father to her. Later, Vanderspeigle conducts a therapy session with Mayor Hawthorne, which is interrupted when the widow, Abigail, comes into the clinic, trying to claim some of Hodges's belongings as her own. Twelvetrees gets into a fight with her over taking items that could potentially be evidence. However, when she confronts Sheriff Thompson and Deputy Baker about it, they tell her that she had a rock solid alibi and couldn't have been the murderer. Thompson also tells her that he already got everything he needed from Hodges's office, saying that she needs to stay in her own lane. At home, Twelvetrees's adoptive father Dan tells her that she needs to release Hodges's spirit, and that there are certain native traditions she can do, including burning her scrubs and cutting her hair. That evening, she has a flashback of the evening Hodges was murdered. She recalls teasing him about a hypochondriac patient supposedly having a crush on him, and refusing an invitation to play cards due to tomorrow being a day. She then allows Vanderspeigle to claim Hodges's office.

A minor mystery crops up at the Patience Health Clinic when one of Sam Hodges's prescription pads turns up missing. Although Asta Twelvetrees initially suspects that the pad might have been stolen by the intern Jay, who is secretly her daughter that she had given up for adoption, she and D'Arcy Bloom later discover pills being passed around at a high school party that had been illegally prescribed using the stolen prescription pad. Sheriff Thompson and Deputy Baker come to suspect that the stolen prescription pad may be connected to Hodges's murder, but this turns out to be a dead-end. A flash of insight leads Twelvetrees to realize that the prescription pad was stolen by Jimmy, her estranged and abusive husband. She reports this to Thompson and Baker, and Baker quickly pieces together that Jimmy is not smart enough to be a criminal mastermind and therefore the theft of the prescription pad is likely unconnected to the murder. Meanwhile, the revelation that Sam Hodges was diabetic and the toxicology report showing that he was poisoned by Botulinum toxin leads Baker to a new theory: that the poison was administered via his insulin injection. Thompson discovers this theory when he finds that Deputy Baker has created her own secret "murder board" regarding the cased. The new information opens up new possibilities when it comes to suspects, as it forces the re-examination of the idea that the killer that had to be present in the room the evening that Hodges died. Before the theory can be seriously pursued, however, Sheriff Thompson's continued ill treatment of Baker leads her to quit her job as deputy.

When Sheriff Thompson discovers Baker having lunch with his father, Lewis Thompson, he is annoyed, thinking that she is bad-mouthing him. Lewis, however, tells his son that Baker actually didn't say anything about him, that she mostly listened, and that it was something that he should try. Sheriff Thompson, taking his father's words to heart, returns to his office, where he examines the murder board created by Baker. It leads him to a revelation regarding Hodge's widow, Abigail. He begins to suspect that she was having an affair and, checking her phone records, discovers numerous calls to another man well before Sam Hodges's murder. He pays a visit to her salon, where he finds a magazine showing how she uses Botulinum toxin in her treatments. He arrests for her husband's murder, then makes things up with Baker.

A flashback reveals that many months before, the human Harry Vanderspeigle paid a visit to the Patience Health Clinic. He poisoned Hodges's insulin for unknown reasons and then returned to his cabin, where he was killed by the alien.

Sheriff Thompson and Deputy Baker continue to investigate the case, realizing certain oddities surrounding the situation with Harry Vanderspeigle. Baker discovers a boot by Vanderspeigle's cabin matching the foot they discovered and they also learned that Vanderspeigle had planned to sell the cabin only to end up making a sudden cash payment to take care of his debts. They end up heading to the cabin to confront Vanderspeigle and in the process, Thompson discovers vials of botulinum toxin under a loose floorboard. He tries to put Vanderspeigle under arrest, only for him to dart up the cabin's rafters. Asta Twelvetrees, who is there with him, reveals that he is an alien. Vanderspeigle then uses his alien abilities to wipe both Thompson and Bakers' memories, replacing them with a memory that they were visited by an Agent Fisher, who told them that the FBI was taking over the case. Although the alien Vanderspeigle is satisfied with this outcome, Twelvetrees is disturbed by the fact that Abigail Hodges remains in prison for a crime she didn't commit, though is relieved to learn that there probably is not enough evidence to convict her. Abigail is later freed from prison and Asta tells her that she knows she didn't kill him.

Another flashback reveals that some six months before, Sam Hodges came to Harry Vanderspeigle's cabin and demanded to be let in, telling him "I can't do this anymore." When Harry asked him what was wrong, he showed him photos of himself, Asta and Abigail, asking if it was supposed to be some sort of threat. Harry replied that he had been sent the same sort of thing, photos of himself, his wife Isabelle and daughter Liza. Sam says that when they went to the charity event in New York, they said that the money was a donation, but it doesn't feel like a donation. Harry tells him to calm down, but Sam says they need to go to the authorities. Harry replies that anything they say could implicate them as well, that they don't have any concrete evidence. He tells him to give him more time and to keep bringing him medical records. Sam agrees to a few months. Once Sam leaves, however, Harry places a call. He tells the man on the other end, Tanner Corrington, that Sam was just there and is threatening to go to the police. The man on the other ends says something. "What do you want me to do?" asks Harry.

In the present day, the alien Harry Vanderspeigle reveals that he has a "money bag" which he found in the cabin, filled with a large amount of stacks of $20 bills. Asta is stunned, realizing that the money must have been some sort of payoff, and is further surprised when she discovers the photos at the bottom of the bag, along with a note reading "Harry, you wanted more evidence against Galvan/Powell Group. Here. Call me," and the medical records. The two begin to piece together the evidence that this Galvan/Powell Group may have been behind Harry's death. This is further confirmed when the two pay a visit to New York, hoping to track down one of Harry's fellow aliens. Asta discovers the headquarters of Galvan/Powell Group, but is unable to gain access due to the tight security.

Harry, however, is confronted by Tanner Corrington, who tells him that he was supposed to have stayed in Colorado and demands reassurance that he destroyed the medical records. Harry tells him that he did destroy the medical records, but the man is not convinced, as it seems as though Harry is just telling him what he wants to hear. Later, the Galvan/Powell Group sends two men with guns to pursue Harry and Asta, only for them to be killed by the government agent Lisa Casper, who has her own agenda. Meanwhile, back in Patience, Sheriff Mike and Deputy Liv are called to Abigail Hodges's home by a man who is upset at her having a "murder sale," only for Sheriff Mike to tell him that Abigail is currently awaiting trial and has every right to hold a sale. Sheriff Mike then attempts to purchase a hat from the sale, only for Abigail to be unable to part with it due to being reminded of Sam. Then, when Mike tries to purchase a set of novels that Sam once tried to give him, Abigail tells him that if Sam wanted him to have them, then he should. Back at the sheriff's car, Mike tells Liv that Abigail seems like a woman who is genuinely grieving and not someone who killed her husband. Liv agrees and this, in addition to a conversation with Dan Twelvetrees, leads Sheriff Mike to open a new line of inquiry. He pays a visit a visit to Sam's office along with Liv, prompted by what he read in the mystery novels, that the protagonist would hide information in the backings of paintings. He and Liv open up the various paintings around Sam's office, eventually finding exactly what they're looking for: a list of names with the heading "Galvan/Powell Group."

Harry and Asta return safely from New York and upon arriving at Harry's cabin find that the town's residents have hosted a surprise birthday for Harry. During the party, an alien egg that Harry brought back from New York hatches and escapes outside. Harry pursues and receives an important message from Goliath, the alien that he was seeking. However, he is then shot by Tanner Corrington, who followed him from New York. "You shot me," complains Harry, barely fazed and the man replies that it's just like how Harry shot his two men in New York, not realizing that those men were killed by Lisa Casper. He tells him that he never should have made him kill Sam Hodges, that he should have done it himself. Just then, however, he is shot in the back and killed by Asta and a stunned D'Arcy Bloom stumbles upon the scene.

The three work together, depositing Corrington's body at a local motel. Harry again takes on the role of the town doctor in order to do the autopsy. Meanwhile, Detective Mike and Deputy Liv continue to investigate the case and discover that Hawthorne Creek is being used as a dumping ground for toxic chemicals. They discover that a shell company linked to the Galvan/Powell Group was responsible and that Sam Hodges was murdered to keep him from revealing the evidence of people having gotten sick because of the toxic chemicals.

## Trivia

* Sam Hodges appears only as a corpse in the series and in flashbacks. His initial appearance is as a corpse in the "Pilot" episode, before appearing in flashbacks in "Homesick." He continues to be mentioned throughout the series, due to the continued investigation into his death. *Resident Alien* showrunner Chris Sheridan stated in an interview following the series finale, "Heroes of Patience," that the show's second season would explain the reasoning as to why the human Harry Vanderspeigle murdered Sam Hodges. He explained that "I always knew that at the end of Season 1, we would find out who did it. In Season 2, we’ll explore *why*. We'll get a sense of what was going on in the town, who the players were, what drove this guy to this place where he had to kill the town doctor."

## References

1. ↑ *Syfy Wire*: Resident Alien Boss Breaks Down Season 1 Finale, Teases More Hijinks, Drama & Linda Hamilton in Season 2 by Josh Weiss. April 1, 2021.