'Resident Alien' Season 4 Ending Explained & Finale Recap

All endings are about new beginnings, and that’s exactly what the finale of Resident Alien season 4 entails. Everyone leaves behind their past to start the next chapter of their life. [Spoiler Alert] Our friendly neighborhood alien, Harry Vanderspeigle, who’d arrived on Earth some two years ago, finally left the planet as a better “human being.” During the brief period of time, he not only grew a soul but also learned a very important lesson from his human counterparts. In the end, he realized that love and kindness are the answer to everything. They can defeat our worst adversaries, solve all our differences, and leave an impact on those we leave behind, who will remember us even after we are long gone. With that said, allow me to discuss all the important characters of Resident Alien and how they found the much-needed closure to move on to their new beginnings.

Harry Leaves for Heather’s Planet

In the fourth episode of season 4, Heather had arrived on Earth, where she proposed to Harry for marriage. However, Heather’s parents, especially her father, were against their relationship, as he refused to accept Harry as a human being. Heather was ready to cut all ties with her racist family, but Harry didn’t want her to make such a sacrifice for him and asked her to return to her planet. But now that Harry had gained back his alien energy, I don’t think Heather’s parents would have any issues with their wedding. Harry’s an alien now, and the two lovebirds could finally get married and look after their small bird babies together. 

In season 4’s ending, Harry used his connections with the secret service agency to arrange a spaceship to leave the planet. At the beginning of the episode, another alien from Harry’s planet arrived on Earth to finish the task Harry had failed to accomplish. But as soon as the alien entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the secret agency shot down the spaceship, which crashed into Dr. Ethan Stone’s car, who had come back to Patience seeking revenge from Harry for destroying his life. In short, the agency confiscated the spaceship, and Harry took it from them to leave for Heather’s planet; however, before leaving, he gave Sahar and Max a communication device to call him if things go ugly on Earth. But I think the kids and the adults will manage on their own; after all, it wasn’t the first time when an alien came to destroy Earth, right? 

So, with several boxes of Dan Twelvetrees’ apple pie and lots of sweet memories in his heart, Harry left the planet with his son, Bridget. In the closing shot of the episode, we saw that Harry, in a very The Shawshank Redemption way, had written “Harry was here” with a black marker under the window of the cabin he lived in. He had earlier told Asta’s father, Dan, that he would burn down the cabin before leaving, because he didn’t want anyone to replace him. But you see, the simple act of kindness and the love he received from humans changed him into a better being. I am quite sure that Harry asked the new alien to stay in his cabin after he had left, because that’s what Harry learned from humans. That to be good to each other is like turning on a light in the darkness, and the love you leave behind is going to last forever. This was the best way to bring about a change in Ethan’s heart, and I am certain that he would really be touched by this kind gesture. Maybe he, too, will one day understand what humanity is about and abandon his mission to live a peaceful life among his human counterparts.

Asta Leaves for Louisiana

From the past two episodes, Asta had been yearning with the desire to leave Patience and see the world. However, she was too afraid to leave her people behind, but fortunately her dad had convinced her otherwise. At first Asta planned to go to Amsterdam, but she had a sudden change of heart when she received an email from an NGO named RNS, who wanted a nurse for humanitarian work in Louisiana, which was recently hit by a hurricane. I guess I missed some details here, but I do think that this wasn’t just some random email, and someone actually asked the NGO to send that email to Asta, as everyone around her really wanted her to hit the road, but she had been divided between leaving Patience and staying with her friends and family. So, doing the acts of “love and kindness” seemed the perfect fit for Asta, and who knows where this journey will take her? But whatever happens, she will finally be able to realize her dreams and experience the world beyond Patience.

In season 4’s ending, Asta’s best friend, D’Arcy Bloom, gave her a bead bracelet engraved with “D’asta,” which symbolizes that no matter where Asta goes from here, a part of D’Arcy will always be there for her. And I am sure the two friends who had been through each other’s thick and thin would stay in touch with each other and turn up whenever one needs the other. So, with fond memories in her heart, Asta, too, left town.

D’Arcy Becomes Sober and Maybe a Coach

D’Arcy, who had been struggling with her drinking problems for almost her entire adult life, finally decided to make amends and get sober as her addiction started to hurt people around her. In the previous episode, she joined an AA meeting, where she came across a young girl named Casey, who was the best skier in her school but got kicked off from the team because of her alcoholism. Casey actually reminded D’Arcy of her own athletic career and how she ruined everything for herself. She wanted to talk to Casey but couldn’t gather enough courage, but in the finale, she finally showed up at Casey’s house to help her do better and therefore told her that she didn’t need to wait to get into a ski school if she wanted to up her game. She told her about her Olympic journey and asked her to find a private tutor. And the way D’Arcy left her number with her, you already know who that coach is going to be. The thing is, teaching Casey will give D’Arcy a new direction in life. A new path to follow, and maybe this new profession will help her to stay focused and sober moving forward. Also, Judy had moved into her flat, so she is going to keep her company in Asta’s absence.

Kate Decides To Pursue Law

The entire fuss with the Grey aliens and fighting them to get her baby back made Kate realize that she’s meant to do something more than just teaching a bunch of school kids. She wanted to get back into law full-time so she could fight for those who couldn’t defend themselves. Well, if you look at it, Kate and her husband, Ben, went through the same predicament while they were dealing with the baby-stealing aliens. They tried to tell the world about the Greys, but no one believed them. They called them mad and insane for believing in such things. So Kate and Ben know what it feels like to be understood. What it feels like when someone calls you a liar because they cannot understand your issues, and she wants to fight for these people so they will get a voice. Hence, in the end, Kate decided to leave behind her teaching job to pursue law, and Ben, being the most understanding husband, supported her decision. The duo even tried to scare the cookie-selling Grey alien girl who tried to threaten her. It seems like the Greys left these half-alien, half-human beings behind after they failed to secure the loan to initiate another soul-stealing project on Earth.

Dr. Ethan Stone Is Town’s New Doctor

At the beginning of the episode, Dr. Ethan Stone, a character who’d appeared in the previous seasons of the show, arrived in Patience, but before he could enter town, the new alien crashed his spaceship into his car and killed him. Now, this new alien took Ethan’s disguise to infiltrate humanity, and as soon as he stepped into town, everyone requested him to replace Harry, as the old doctor was leaving. Ethan, the alien, had the same mission as Harry when he arrived on Earth, which was to trigger the alien device to kill all humanity; however, Ethan lost the device, and the secret agents found it in the field and confiscated it. Harry’s plan was to kill his replacement, but when he too developed the same feelings due to acts of kindness, Harry felt it would be better to leave him on Earth, and with time, he too would grow a soul like him and abandon his mission to crush humanity. In short, Ethan’s not much of a threat; however, if he tries any nonsense, then Harry’s just a call away. Plus, the town sheriff got some new toys from the secret agency, so he and his deputy will keep the new guest in check.

Mike Thompson Is An Agent Sheriff Now

In the previous episode, Sheriff Mike had helped Harry to locate Deputy Liv Baker and Peter Bach’s son, who were kidnapped by the Mantid alien. After the rescue mission, Peter, who had been working for the agency for a long time, put in a good word for Mike, soon after which the agents, David Logan and Major Hill, kidnapped Mike and took him to an undisclosed facility where they offered him to work for the agency. His job, as acting sheriff, would be to track non-earthly phenomena and report to the agency so they could neutralize the threat before it could harm anyone on Earth, just like they shot down Ethan’s spacecraft as soon as it entered the planet. At first, Mike was skeptical about the deal, but as soon as he heard that they would be handing over specialized weapons, he accepted the offer, but under one condition. He wanted his deputy to become an agent too, as she was a better alien tracker than him. Well, the agency agreed, and now we have two alien-fighting cops with specialized weaponry. This further hints that neither Ethan nor any other alien will be a threat to the townsfolk, and they will be able to tackle the situation without Harry’s help. But that doesn’t mean they are not going to remember Harry. They will remember him, not as an alien, but as a friend, who touched their lives and was there for them when they needed someone, and that’s more worthy than being a hero, right?

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