He came in peace to leave us in pieces. Still a better doctor than the town had before.

In Resident Alien, Alan Tudyk crashes on Earth and needs a device lost from his wrecked spaceship to complete his mission: wiping out life on Earth.

Of course, Alan Tudyk doesn’t look like Alan Tudyk yet. He looks like a horrible alien monstrosity. So, he does what any evil alien would: kills and replaces a local doctor, teaches himself English, and becomes an invaluable (if odd) member of the community.

Well, that’s the short version.

The longer version of the story of Resident Alien involves a local child who can see through his disguise to the alien beneath, a nurse at the clinic who accidentally teaches our alien the value of connections, and a washed-up former Olympian that’s a surprising core of the show’s heart.

Resident Alien is at its most fun when highlighting the dissonance between the alien’s murderous and judgmental inner monologue and the performative participation in human society’s rituals (from birthday parties to pizza and points in between).

Don’t go in expecting complex and internally consistent worldbuilding or deep societal soul searching. The core of the show is comedy, and it’s still got that sitcom feel for the most part. Though, if you’re keeping count, it ends up with a much higher body count than most sitcoms, SciFi or otherwise.

So, sit back, buckle in, and get ready to enjoy an alien menace impersonate Alan Tudyk for four seasons!

Check out Resident Alien on Peacock or (I’m pretty sure) Netflix.

Note: I’m 80% sure Alan Tudyk isn’t really an alien.