Homesick

**Homesick** is the second episode of the science fiction comedy television series *Resident Alien*.

## Synopsis

Official episode synopsis:
In his first week at the clinic, Harry struggles to diagnose a strange feeling.

## Plot summary

Upon seeing Max Hawthorne in the exam room of his office, the Harry Vanderspeigle alien again attempts to kill him, only for Max to flee the office and hide under a bench outside. His parents, Ben, the mayor of Patience and Kate, believing that he is just making up stories, insist that he return, but he shouts at them, telling them that he's going to kill them next. They finally give up, Ben saying that he can join him in his office for the time being, but if his sore throat doesn't get better, then he'll have to go back.

At the office, Ben confronts the sheriff, Mike Thompson, annoyed that Thompson is using his office for storage. Thompson tells him that there's no longer any room in the sheriff's office, as they need the space for materials related to the investigation into the murder of Sam Hodges, the town doctor. Max then tells Thompson that he knows who killed Hodges, saying that Vanderspeigle is an alien. At this, Ben tells Thompson that his boy is delusional from a fever. Thompson, however, is not amused, asking what Ben has been teaching the boy and then telling Max that if he has HBO in his house, he should turn it on, watch the first season of *Oz* and then tell him whether or not he wants to go to prison. He leaves Max alone with his deputy, Liv Baker, who tells him that Thompson is "just a big teddy bear... with severe anger and control issues." When Max retorts that he didn't believe him, she tells him that perhaps the alien is just putting up a shield that nobody else can see through. She tells him that she's a sketch artist and agrees to draw up a sketch of the alien for him.

Back at the office, Harry Vanderspeigle bluffs his way through his first day of work as a doctor. Trying to look up procedures on the Internet, he takes a picture during a pelvic exam that he explains away as a selfie and tells another patient that she has "rodent breath." He also insults a woman by referring to her breast as a "tit." That evening, he meets Dan Twelvetrees, the father of his nurse, Asta. Dan tells Asta he has a bad feeling and when she replies that he says that about every man within ten feet of her, he retorts that when he looks at Vanderspeigle, he feels nothing at all. Meanwhile, Vanderspeigle is out walking when he discovers that Max has plastered a number of wanted posters around town with the sketch created by Liv Baker. Realizing that Max isn't simply going to go away, he decides to take a different tack by calling him, claiming first to be a classmate and then a post office employee who saw one of his posters and recognized the alien. Max, however, easily sees through his ruse, leaving him frustrated and again deciding to kill him.

The next morning, Asta sets Vanderspeigle up in the nurse's office, saying that she doesn't want anyone using Hodges's office. Vanderspeigle tries to talk with her about Hodge's death and she admits that that she and Hodges were close, that she and her father didn't get along. However, when she tries to ask for more details about his life, he leaves, saying that he's hungry. He then reflects on the human form confusing him, that there's an emptiness he feels inside. He heads to the pub and meets with D'Arcy Bloom, the bartender that he danced with when he got drunk. She asks why he's there and he tells her that he thought he was hungry, but he's no longer feeling that way. She suggests that it might be have been stress and suggests he have some of the whiskey, but he tells her that the last time he had that, he tried to kill someone. She tells him that if he's going to kill someone, he should at least make it look like an accident, because otherwise he can't go bowling with her the next night. He agrees this is a good idea and agrees that it's a date. He fantasizes about killing Max with an "accidental" gas explosion.

The next day, he provides Ben Hawthorne, Max's father, with his counseling session. Ben is impressed that he's writing down what he's saying, and tells him that while Hodges gave good advice he wasn't exactly qualified, but it's lucky he started his career as a clinical psychologist. He tells Vanderspeigle that sometimes he thinks about being a kid again, and it makes him feel good. The session is interrupted by Sam Hodge's widow, Abigail who unexpectedly enters the room, asking about Vanderspeigle's theory that Hodges was poisoned. She ends up getting into a fight with Asta Twelvetrees and Ben, insisting on taking her husband's things, despite them potentially being evidence. As he watches everyone fights, he muses that it's easy to read human emotions.

That evening, he goes bowling and meets D'Arcy's friend, Judy. He also encounters Mike Thompson, who talks up his amazing bowling skills. He and D'Arcy both bowl a strike and challenge Vanderspeigle to do as well. Vanderspeigle, using mathematical analysis, thinks it will be easy, but ends sending the ball backwards, hitting Thompson in the crotch. He then spends some time talking with D'Arcy. He asks her when the snow melts on the mountain, and she tells him that it depends on when they get a good rain. She then says something which makes him come to a realization regarding Max and leave. Thinking that Max has to ride downhill to school every day, he decides to cut the brakes on his bike, thinking that he'll get into a crash and die. The next morning, he speaks with an elderly patient, Gerard, somehow impressing the man with his blunt honesty. He then is told that Ben Hawthorne is there and that there's been an accident. To his consternation, Ben tells him that Max fell on his bike in the driveway and is going to need stitches. The two square off and Vanderspeigle asks Max if he's going to be a good boy, that they have Novocain for good boys. "Of course," replies Max, but then whispers to him, "No, never," taking the pain stoically as Vanderspeigle stitches him, likening it to a mosquito bite. Before leaving, he tricks Vanderspeigle by telling him that his shoe's untied.

That evening, Asta talks with her father, telling him that she's not 16 anymore and he doesn't need to cook for her every evening. He tells her that there's things she can do to help her with Sam Hodges's death, such as cutting her hair to honor the deceased, and that he could help her with it. He tells her that she needs to burn her scrubs, that Hodges's spirit will linger in the world if she doesn't release it. Back at the office, she recalls a chat she once had with Hodges. Vanderspeigle tells him that he'll put his stuff in his office, referring to the nurse's office, but she relents, telling him that Hodges's office is his now. He plays cards with her, narrating that he could feel she was sad, that he should not be able to feel an emotion inside somebody else. He continues searching the mountainside, finding tellurium, a substance used by his species for anti-gravitational applications. He realizes that the emptiness he feels inside his stomach is loneliness, and that he misses his people the same way Asta misses Sam Hodges. He reflects that he is now closer than ever to detonating his device, frying every human on Earth, and getting back to his people. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the mountains, two individuals, David Logan and Lisa Casper, are out investigating when they come upon a truly bizarre sight: the frost-covered of a man floating in the air, a frost-covered bird-of-prey on each side.

## 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
* Mandell Maughan as Lisa Casper
* Alex Barima as David Logan
* Jenna Lamia as Judy Cooper
* Sarah Podemski as Kayla
* Diana Bang as Nurse Ellen

Co-Starring:

* Keith Abruthnot as Alien Harry Double
* Kaylayla Raine as Jay
* Deborah Finkel as Abigail Hodges
* Jan Bos as Dr. Sam Hodges
* John Innes as Gerard Hundemer
* Camille Marty as Girl
* Emma Oliver as Farm Girl
* Betty Jackson as Sweet Old Woman
* Roman Legend Jimmie as Sage
* Doug Chapman as Man
* Janet Glassford as Nervous Woman
* Tim Zhang as Guy
* Lani Gelera as Driver

## Quotes

"*How long do you think I have?*"

"*Do you like Christmas?*"

"*Yes, very much.*

"*Celebrate it before June.*"

"*Oh okay. Oh. But between now and Christmas?*"

"*You can eat anything you want.*"

"*I like you. This is the first time that a doctor’s been totally honest with me. This town is very lucky to have a doctor as good as you.*"

- An elderly patient, Gerard, and Harry Vanderspeigle

## Trivia

* This episode was directed by Robert Duncan Mcneill, who portrayed Tom Paris on *Star Trek: Voyager* and who also serves as an executive producer for this series.

## Gallery

### Videos

Do Aliens Bite? - Next On Resident Alien - Episode 102 - SYFYSome Guy Finds Harry's Alien Spaceship - Episode 2 Recap - Resident Alien - SYFY

## External links

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