Resident Alien: Birds of a Feather
March 5, 2021 6:17 AM - Season 1, Episode 4 - Subscribe
“Birds of a Feather” is a beautiful love letter to family and community. The show is doing an excellent job of incorporating human-like nuances into Harry’s character. Little by little, he’s starting to acclimate to his surroundings and, well, become one of them. Naturally, this will provide fodder for internal conflict when Harry inevitably finds his device. Can he really decimate the planet after befriending some humans? (geekgirlauthority.com)
I really liked the extended sequence of Harry playing hoops with the locals.
Maybe it was because of the "broadcast" hiatus, but I recalibrated what I was expecting out of the show and am enjoying it a lot more. Like alchemist commented in the pilot, this is a "regular show" about a small community first, and an extraterrestrial out of water comedy second.
Am appreciating the opening, literally, cards on "how to act like a human" - they're different every episode.
edit: yeah, the inaccurate of of decimate is a peeve of mine, also
posted by porpoise at 10:14 AM on March 5, 2021
Maybe it was because of the "broadcast" hiatus, but I recalibrated what I was expecting out of the show and am enjoying it a lot more. Like alchemist commented in the pilot, this is a "regular show" about a small community first, and an extraterrestrial out of water comedy second.
Am appreciating the opening, literally, cards on "how to act like a human" - they're different every episode.
edit: yeah, the inaccurate of of decimate is a peeve of mine, also
posted by porpoise at 10:14 AM on March 5, 2021
Props to the diversity of the casting here, especially for the Native Americans.
Early reviews of the first couple episodes complained about Asta's drama but that aspect of the show has only improved and it was especially poignant in this episode. There's some really good acting going on in this series. And Tudyk, as always, is a gem. Harry is a murderous alien with a genocidal agenda but you can't help liking him. Of course, yanking Jimmy through a wall a few episodes ago didn't hurt.
posted by Ber at 1:14 PM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
Early reviews of the first couple episodes complained about Asta's drama but that aspect of the show has only improved and it was especially poignant in this episode. There's some really good acting going on in this series. And Tudyk, as always, is a gem. Harry is a murderous alien with a genocidal agenda but you can't help liking him. Of course, yanking Jimmy through a wall a few episodes ago didn't hurt.
posted by Ber at 1:14 PM on March 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
This episode also introduced me to that awesome song they listened to on the car ride, Boujee Natives by Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
posted by WedgedPiano at 8:04 PM on March 5, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by WedgedPiano at 8:04 PM on March 5, 2021 [7 favorites]
Huzzah! TVNZ On Demand has this at the same time that it airs in the US. Maybe earlier, because we are a couple of episodes ahead of this one.
The nod to Cheers at the beginning was just FANTASTIC. Harry fitting in to town! Harry having an alien wife and kid! And then blowing up human life! (And it's just humans - the people died but the dog did not.)
I laughed at the dinner. And laughed, and laughed. Loved Max tap-dancing to give Sahar as much time as possible to copy the keys. Love D'arcy talking...and talking...and talking...about how she and the Mayor used to date. She may be better than Harry at social cues, but not by a lot.
OMG, THE KISS! THE KISS! Hilariously awful.
Oh boy, Harry has a tendency to put his foot in it. But it's different to a normal person putting his foot in it, because he also has no shame to speak of. Alan Tudyk's movements in this show are just incredible, and the basketball game was a really good example.
I really like that this show is giving us a view into the rez as well as non-native culture.
So Harry had a wife on his home planet who died. I'm interested to learn more about that. But apparently not anytime soon, because he's dealing with real!Harry's wife who is here. D'OH!!!
This show brings me back to the SyFy days of things like Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Haven. It's got a lot of the same spirit, and I'm excited to go along for the ride.
posted by rednikki at 1:03 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
The nod to Cheers at the beginning was just FANTASTIC. Harry fitting in to town! Harry having an alien wife and kid! And then blowing up human life! (And it's just humans - the people died but the dog did not.)
I laughed at the dinner. And laughed, and laughed. Loved Max tap-dancing to give Sahar as much time as possible to copy the keys. Love D'arcy talking...and talking...and talking...about how she and the Mayor used to date. She may be better than Harry at social cues, but not by a lot.
OMG, THE KISS! THE KISS! Hilariously awful.
Oh boy, Harry has a tendency to put his foot in it. But it's different to a normal person putting his foot in it, because he also has no shame to speak of. Alan Tudyk's movements in this show are just incredible, and the basketball game was a really good example.
I really like that this show is giving us a view into the rez as well as non-native culture.
So Harry had a wife on his home planet who died. I'm interested to learn more about that. But apparently not anytime soon, because he's dealing with real!Harry's wife who is here. D'OH!!!
This show brings me back to the SyFy days of things like Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Haven. It's got a lot of the same spirit, and I'm excited to go along for the ride.
posted by rednikki at 1:03 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
but you can't help liking him
Yeah ber, Harry's just try to do his job, but then things get complicated. And then complicated.
A sympathetic situation, in contrast to that his job is to exterminate humanity. Testament to Tudyk's acting and the writing.
I'd love an Archersaurus _ * version of this show with no Alan Tudyk skin on Harry. Not going to happen without deepfakery, though.
posted by porpoise at 1:21 AM on March 24, 2021
Yeah ber, Harry's just try to do his job, but then things get complicated. And then complicated.
A sympathetic situation, in contrast to that his job is to exterminate humanity. Testament to Tudyk's acting and the writing.
I'd love an Archersaurus _ * version of this show with no Alan Tudyk skin on Harry. Not going to happen without deepfakery, though.
posted by porpoise at 1:21 AM on March 24, 2021
One of my favorite moments in this episode is when Asta says what happened to Harry is sad and he responds, "Yes it is...now." Yet another symptom of him developing emotions is realizing the depth of his loss.
posted by miss-lapin at 4:49 AM on March 24, 2022
posted by miss-lapin at 4:49 AM on March 24, 2022
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posted by sammyo at 6:21 AM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]