Best of Enemies

**Best of Enemies** is the twenty-fifth episode of the science fiction comedy television series *Resident Alien* and the fifteenth episode of the second season. It aired on September 21, 2022.

## Synopsis

Harry has an unexpected partner as he tries to infiltrate a military base to find his alien baby.

## Plot

### "It's a boy!"

It is approximately 28 years ago in New York City. A woman, Jenny Bach, places two candles on a birthday cake. Her husband, Peter, tells her that he can't believe she made this and she says that it is a special day, that he or she would have been two today. He suggests that maybe it's time they try again, but she tells him that she loves him, but that it's too soon. He tells her to just say the word when she's ready and he'll bring his A game, lighting the candles on the cake. She quips that he always does, and sometimes even his B and C game.

Suddenly, the electricity warbles. He asks if they should sing "Happy Birthday," but suddenly she has disappeared and the candles on the cake have gone out. After a few seconds, he hears a scream from behind him and turns to see her standing there, her face in terror. He asks her what the hell happened. "They took me again," she tells him. "I saw our baby. It's a boy. It's a boy!" She screams, the candles on the cake still smoking.

### Sleepwalker

Late at night, Mayor Ben Hawthorne bangs on the door of his home, pleading to be let in. Kate comes, asking what he's doing, and he asks what he is doing. "You tell me," she says, saying that he was just knocking and yelling at her to let him in. He tells her that he thinks he was sleepwalking. She asks since when he does this and he explains that he did a couple of times as a kid, that he would sleepwalk and always have the same dream. In the dream, he was in bed with a broken leg and his whole family was standing over him. He would keep trying to ask for help, but nothing would come out of his mouth and they would all just stare at him, not doing anything. She wonders why he's having this dream again now, after all these years, and he suggests maybe it's their new sheets. She tells them they were Egyptian cotton, costing about $200. "Great, now I'm going to have nightmares about how much you spent on sheets," he quips.

At Asta and Dan's place, D'Arcy is cooking breakfast, much to the delight of Dan. D'Arcy tells Asta that getting over the pain pills was hard, but thanks to her, she feels like she's getting over the hump. Asta asks if this means she's going to go back to work today. "Ugh," sighs D'Arcy, admitting that it's a big hump and that her recovery group meets three hours a day. She tells her that she can't and that she's going to some laundry and then start cooking a lasagna for that evening. Asta points out to Dan that D'Arcy doesn't seem very eager to go back to her life. Dan says that she's sure she will eventually and Asta says that if she went back to work, she would at least have to face the world. She suggests that Dan give her a nudge and Dan tells her that she'll talk to her, after she makes the lasagna. "You're enjoying this way too much," comments Asta.

At his cabin, Harry Vanderspeigle is monitoring his prisoner, Peter Bach, on a baby monitor. He uses the shock prod tool that he claimed from Peter to make tea. Asta knocks on the door and he hastily hides it. She comes in, telling him that he's not answering his phone. She asks if she was calling to tell him to come in to work, admitting that this is why he didn't answer. She tells him that she ran into Deputy Liv Baker, who told her that the Alien Tracker has left town, and so he can come out of hiding. He tells her that he can't, claiming to be sick with a fever. Asta then hears Peter from the baby monitor. Harry tries to excuse it as practicing ventriloquism, but she realizes what is going on and races down to the bunker. "How did that get into my bunker?" asks Harry, unconvincingly.

### Asta's most annoying trait

Asta frees Peter from his gag and bindings. She apologizes for Harry being "a little serial killer-y," asking Harry if he's really kidnapping people now. Harry tells her that Peter tried to electrocute him with his cooking stick for no reason. Peter explains about Harry having ripped out his implant from The Greys, telling Asta that it was his only connection to his son. He explains that The Greys abducted his child from his wife's womb when she was eight months pregnant. Every so often they would abduct him or his wife or both and let them see him, but that all stopped when Harry ripped out the chip. Asta tells him that she's sorry, saying that Harry is too, though Harry won't agree to this. Peter shows Asta a picture, the only one he has of his son.

Peter asks Asta she has kids and she tells him she has a daughter. Harry asks why they're talking like friends with Peter being the enemy. Asta tells him that he's not an enemy, that they should be helping each other, not trying to kill each other. Peter agrees that he would be willing to do this if Harry would untie him. He swears on his son that he won't hurt Harry if Harry won't hurt him. Harry thinks to himself that there is no point in resisting, that Asta always does the right thing and it is her most annoying trait, this and that she never lets him kill anyone. He frees Peter.

Sheriff Mike Thompson enters the mayor's office, only to find Ben asleep at his desk. He asks him what's going on, telling him that he's never seen him sleep on the job before, other than maybe metaphorically. Ben tells him that he didn't get a lot of sleep last night and Mike retorts that he doesn't want to hear about his escapades with his wife. He tells Ben that sleep is a state of mind. A woman, Debra, comes in, handing Ben a cup of tea and bidding Mike good morning. After she's gone, Ben complains that he didn't get a good morning from Debra, and she's the nicest person in the office, just a "Here you go." He says that she hates him. Mike tells him his lack of sleep has him paranoid, but Ben says that Debra is one of the anti-resorters and has it in for him. He claims that the coffee she gave him is even lukewarm, but Mike tells him it's hot and a good cup of coffee.

At Harry's cabin, Harry and Peter debate Harry's food preparation. Harry doesn't understand why he need to chop up an onion for Peter's steak and he complains that he's starving, that all Harry fed him for three days was gruel. Harry counters that it was unflavored instant oatmeal and that it was healthy. Peter asks Harry if he's sure that his intel about The Greys is accurate. Harry explains about having gotten half the message from the alien baby and how he wasn't able to get the rest because the government stole the baby. Peter notes the fact that he sounds more upset about losing the message than his child and Harry tells him it was an important message. Peter counters that caring for a child is instinctual and that at least his child is being held at a military base. "What military base?" asks Harry, this being news to him. Peter explains that General McCallister has a secret base in Wyoming. He suspects it's where she keeps alien specimens and likely any information about The Greys. He tells Harry that he even tried to contact General McCallister, but that was a mistake and he had to go underground to get away from them. "Maybe they will let you in if you have something they want," suggests Harry.

### Something they want

Asta enters Harry's cabin, calling for both him and Peter. She instead discovers a note from Harry, telling her that he and Peter have gone to break into a military base and that if they do not come back they are dead, but not to worry because that would mean she would soon be dead too. In their patrol car, Detective Mike and Deputy Liv discuss the pros and cons of Mike dating Detective Lena Torres. They note that she graduated top of her class with a degree in criminal justice from St. Johns, which is a plus, because she's smart. They wonder about her blood type being O negative, and whether this is a pro or con. Mike is wary, because this blood type means universal donor, meaning she gets juice and cookies and therefore wouldn't be hungry for his.

Liv dismisses this as being stupid and Mike calls her out for being mean. She apologizes, explaining that she's worried about Peter Bach, that she went on his website and saw that he hadn't posted anything recently. She wonders, correctly, if maybe he confronted the alien and the alien took him captive. Mike asks about the fact that Lena likes rabbits, and Liv wonders if she's even been listening to him at all.

Asta takes Harry's note and shows it to Dan. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asks, and he quips that he doesn't think there's any issue with the note's clarity. "Dan, let's go!" shouts D'Arcy and Asta asks him about her still being there, if he didn't told to her. He tells her that he did and that she left and got her PlayStation and came back. They sit together and play games and Asta exits, annoyed, only to encounter Judy Cooper, whom D'Arcy has invited over. As Judy discusses the idea of staying there as well, Asta makes a neck-slitting motion with her finger, while Dan sits absorbed in the game.

Peter Bach pulls up outside the gated Wyoming base. He is stopped by guards, who tell him it is a restricted area and that he can't be there. He tells them he has a delivery for General McCallister. One of them tells him that there's nobody there by that name. "You sure about that?" asks Peter, revealing Harry in his alien form. The guard shouts to get the general. General McCallister comes, asking Peter where he got *this*. He tells her that they talk inside. She tells him doesn't get to dictate anything, but he says that he is the one with the alien, so he does. She gives him 20 minutes, telling him to make it count.

After 12 minutes, Peter has yet to tell McCallister anything and she is growing impatient. He tells her that his sources tell him that this where she keeps information on alien activity and he wants it. She replies that he should stop listening to loons wearing tin-foil hats at his ridiculous conventions. Just then, Harry invades the facility and starts wreaking havoc. Peter gets the jump on her and cuffs her as alarms blare and warning flights flash. As he accesses the computers, she asks if this is his plan, working with the alien. He tells her that he would never work with an alien, as Harry, from one of the security monitors, gives him two thumbs up and laughs.

### Prison break

At The 59, Kate and Kayla share a toast to getting an injunction against the resort. Liv joins them, asking if they've seen her husband, John, as she's supposed to be joining him for a drink. They tell her they haven't, inviting her to sit with them until he gets there. They explain that they're celebrating the temporary restraining order against the resort. Liv doesn't seem very excited. When they ask why, she explains that she's been waiting to hear back from a friend of hers and that she doesn't like the feeling of being helpless. They tell her that nobody's ever helpless, that there's always something that can be done, just like they did. Kate tells her that she gets the feeling helpless thing, that Ben is sleepwalking. "He's doing that again?" asks Liv and Kate is surprised that she knows about him having done it in the past. She explains that when they were young, he wrote a paper on it for English class, that he had ended up outside and getting locked out and they found him the next morning snuggling up to the neighbor's cat. "Poor Ben," comments Kate and Liv replies that her cat was never the same either.

Back at McCallister's black site, soldiers start moving to positions to reinforce things. Harry, however, just knocks them out, not killing them because he feels they could be useful to him later. Meanwhile, Peter pushes buttons on the computer, changing entire sectors from red to green and releasing the prisoners throughout. McCallister tells him that he's making a huge mistake, that he has no idea what they're capable of and that any of them could be an alien. Harry continues searching the facility. He ends up running into Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, whom he met at the alien convention. Giorgio is thrilled to see him, telling him he has so many questions, but Harry tells him that given the situation, it would be best for them to do this another time. He tells him to run and he does so, shouting "I knew they existed!"

Harry breaks down his down and discovers his alien baby sitting on a plush, comfy couch. The alien leaps onto his head and gives him the rest of Goliath's message. Meanwhile, McCallister continues to try to lecture Peter, asking if he has any idea how dangerous those whom he released are. He tells her that he's an expert and they don't call him the Alien Tracker for nothing. She asks just how many aliens he's tracked and captured, besides the one he's working with. He asks why besides, telling her that one is enough. She tells him that anyone can find just one alien. He asks if she really has one and when she keeps silent, he says that he has an alien and she doesn't. He then asks if she really does have one.

Back in the room, Harry thinks to himself that he has gotten what he wanted. He thanks the alien baby for its service, telling it that he does not need it anymore. "Daddy," says the alien baby. He wonders what he is feeling, if it is the connection between parent and child that humans talk about. He tells the baby that he needs to hold it and that he is its father and he will protect it, snuggling the baby close. Elsewhere, Ben is out driving the roads of Patience, late at night. His eyes keep closing and it is clear that his mind is drifting. He falls asleep and the car skids out of control and crashes.

### Found children

Back at the Twelvetrees residence, D'Arcy, Judy and Dan are still gaming. Asta suggests they take a break and Dan gets up, saying they need more drinks. Judy tells D'Arcy that Elliot is a jerk for breaking up with her. Asta follows Dan, asking what he thinks he's doing. He tells her that it's obvious, that he's helping D'Arcy with the game. She asks what happened to his promise to talk to D'Arcy and he says it seemed a little raw when she came back from her meeting and not the right time to push her out into the world. Asta tells him she loves how compassionate he is, but that D'Arcy isn't a child and they can't keep indulging her, that if he doesn't push her out, he's just enabling her. "You're right," he tells her, saying that *she* is not a child and that he loves her too much to enable her. "Consider this your push," he tells her.

At the black site, Robert Hutchins is sitting at a table, doing sketches. His cell doors open. Stunned, he exits. Looking at the monitors, Peter sees him. "My son his here," he says to McCallister. "You've had him this whole time." She tells him to uncuff her, that she can help him. "Forgive me if I don't believe you," he tells her, leaving the room. Back at the Twelvetrees residence, Asta lies in bed, staring at the star mural on the ceiling above. D'Arcy enters, and they talk about old times. D'Arcy chastises herself for what happened, but Asta tells her that she's not alone. She says she's an adult and she should be able to handle her own stuff, but Asta tells her she's not fond of being alone ever, that she's never been alone. They decide that maybe they could find a place together. Asta then gets a call, which turns out to be from Nurse Ellen Cho. "Whoa," she says. "What is it?" asks D'Arcy after Asta ends the call. "It's Ben," Asta tells her.

At the black site, Peter rushes through the halls, looking for his son, Robert. Seeing him, Robert starts to run towards him. Suddenly, Joseph Rainier, the Grey alien in disguise, appears behind him. "Don't go to him. You belong to us," he tells him telepathically. Robert hesitates, then goes to Peter anyway. "You made the wrong choice," thinks Joseph. He fires his pistol, but Peter jumps in front of Robert and takes the bullet, right in his heart. Just then, Harry appears, the alien baby on his shoulder. He attacks Joseph, choking him to the ground, then leaves him to the other prisoners. He runs over to Peter and Robert. "You found your baby," says Peter. "So did you," comments Harry. Peter tells Harry that it's too late for him and to save his son. He dies. The two continue through the facility, ending up in the room with General McCallister. "Stop," she tells Harry, pointing a gun at him. She tells Harry that he can't take the alien baby and to put him down. The alien baby leaps at her and knocks the gun out of her hand. Harry pushes her against the wall and chokes her unconscious, but does not kill her. He and Robert then make their way out of the facility.

At the Patience Health Clinic, Ellen tells Ben to go along with her story: that he hit an ice patch and he wasn't drinking. He tells her that he *wasn't* drinking. "Exactly like that," she says. Kate comes in, asking what happened, and Ellen gives her the same story. She tells them she'll leave them alone, warning them not to have sex, as the walls have ears. After they leave, Kate tells him that they have to do something about this, that they can't keep living like this. He tells her that he was just a little tired and she says it's because he hasn't been sleeping and she thinks she knows why. She tells him that he felt abandoned by his family and now he feels abandoned by her, for not supporting him about the resort. She tells him that he doesn't have to worry anymore, that she knows there's a lot of good that can come from having a resort in town and she doesn't want to stop him from doing something he believes in. He tells her, in return, that when he was dying all the good things and people in his life flashed before his eyes and he realized they were all in Patience. He tells her that he's been trying so hard to make the town perfect and it already is and that he doesn't want it to change. He continues that he's just so tired of trying to get everyone to like him. She tells him that they already do. He says that they don't, to them, he's just the mayor, but he knows that she likes him and that's what matters.

On a monitor, Deputy Liv watches Peter's van. "There you are," she says. "But who is that with you?" she wonders. Harry smashes through the gates of the black site, Robert in the passenger seat. On the base, McCallister enters the room where the alien baby was being kept. "Thank God I still have the alien ball," she comments, but she opens a cabinet to find it gone. She curses. As Harry drives on, he thinks to himself that the Alien Tracker was committed to finding his child, but it wasn't just commitment that made him willing to die. The alien baby coughs and sputters, then spits something out. "The alien ball," realizes Harry, picking it up. He chuckles with glee, thinking that there was love too. He thinks that the word "commitment" becomes something different when you add love to it, that humans call it "devotion." Dan drives Asta and D'Arcy to the clinic. Sheriff Mike and Deputy Liv discuss Ben's situation. Harry thinks to himself that such a feeling of devotion is not just for families, that if there is enough love, anybody will feel it. He thinks that he was surprised by the feeling of love he had when he saw the baby, but it is understandable because he is new to Earth. He wonders why it is, though, that love surprises humans. At the clinic, the citizens of Patience pour in to check on Ben, putting paid to Ben's words that the town's citizens don't actually like him. Harry thinks to himself that love is like air, that even if you cannot see it, you have to know that it is there.

## Quotes

"*I was surprised by the feeling of love I had when I saw the baby. That is understandable, because I am new to Earth. But why does love surprise humans? Love is like air. Even if you cannot see it, you have to know it is there.*"

- Harry Vanderspeigle, thinking to himself

## Cast and characters

Starring:

* Alan Tudyk as 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
* Elizabeth Bowen as Deputy Liv Baker
* Judah Prehn as Max Hawthorne

Special guest star:

* Linda Hamilton as General McCallister

Guest starring:

* Terry O'Quinn as Peter Bach
* Meredith Garretson as Kate Hawthorne
* Gary Farmer as Dan Twelvetrees
* Jenna Lamia as Judy Cooper
* Giorgio A. Tsoukalos as Himself
* Sarah Podemski as Kayla
* Diana Bang as Ellen Cho
* Enver Gjokaj as Joseph Rainier

Co-starring:

* Paul Piaskowski as Robert Hutchins
* Kayla Deorksen as Jenny Bach
* Dylan Sloane as Young Peter Bach
* Stephen Adekolu as Armed Soldier #1
* Boyd Ferguson as Armed Soldier #2
* Ethel Pichford as Debra

## Trivia

* In her previous appearance in "Welcome Aliens," Kayla Deorksen was identified in the closing credits as simply "Pregnant Woman." In this episode, she is given the name of "Jenny Bach."

## Gallery

### Videos

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## External Links

* Best of Enemies on the Internet Movie Database
* Transcript @ TV Show Transcripts
* Transcript @ Forever Dreaming