I’m not saying this show understands me better than most humans, but it’s getting close.
Resident Alien Season 4 Episode 5, titled “The Human Condition,” reaches deep into the gooey center of what it means to be a person, complete with social awkwardness, loneliness, dog rejections, and one very awkward adoption proposal.
At this point, I don’t know whether I feel more like Harry, D’arcy, or Asta. But I’m definitely crying in my coffee either way.
Harry’s Aloneliness and the Awkward Search for Belonging
Harry is trying. Really, he is. He starts the episode jogging with headphones, plastering up inspirational signs like “Life is Good” and hashtagging his existence like a pro. Hashtag lake. Hashtag blessed.
And yet… he still feels empty.
Harry invents the word aloneliness to describe the quiet ache of doing all the human things and still feeling hollow, even on a planet with billions of people. That word cut like a knife. It’s too cute to hurt as much as it does.
From misguided bar flirting (featuring a medically inappropriate amount of vagina talk) to proposing to Asta just to feel less alone, Harry’s flailing.
He wants a family and connection. But he’s human now, and that means feelings aren’t just inputs and outputs — they’re messy. And they hurt.
Mike Is the Friend Harry Never Knew He Needed
Mike used to be all bravado and bluster, but now he’s got a real emotional radar — and thank God for that.
His rescue of Harry from the bar debacle was the kind of grounded, real-human friendship Harry’s going to need if he’s going to survive this stage of his evolution.
Mike also has something Harry doesn’t: a stable relationship. And the fact that he’s in that healthy space means he can pull Harry back from the ledge instead of pushing him off it with a smirk and a shot.
The bar scene might’ve been hilarious, but it also showed us the divide between someone who’s survived emotional growth and someone in the thick of it.
Peter’s Wisdom and Harry’s Realization
By the end of the episode, Harry meets Peter, who’s neither fully human nor fully robot — but 100% both.
That’s the breakthrough Harry needed. He’s not just what he used to be, and he’s not only what he is now. He’s the sum of it all.
“You were comfortable with yourself as an alien,” Peter tells him. “You can find that again.” But it’s not about getting his alien powers back. It’s about becoming someone who likes being alone with himself.
It’s so human that I don’t even care that we got there through telepathy, poker games, and fish-grabbing alien children.
D’arcy’s Not-So-Silent Collapse
D’arcy. My heart.
She just wanted a dog. That’s it. But the shelter said no because her life isn’t stable enough. That upends her in a way she didn’t see coming.
The woman who once fearlessly flew down mountains is now breaking into a shelter with a credit card and waking up in a bar surrounded by empties, having lost Asta’s diner deposit.
She’s spiraling in plain sight. We see her. Hell, I am her some days.
She’s not dangerous or even a mess. She’s just tired of being told she’s not enough. And this episode gave her that space to break a little, which made it all the more devastating.
It also set up the possibility that her friendship with Asta could be the price she pays to shape up. I’m not looking forward to that. Sure, she makes terrible decisions, but her heart is pure. My girl needs a break.
Asta’s Failure, Friendship, and Finding Her Place
Asta thinks she can run the diner. She can’t. She thinks she’s letting everyone down. She’s not. She thinks she’s alone. But she’s not.
Harry sees her. And in a quiet moment, over pie, he gives her the benefit of his newfound wisdom: “You are a failure. And also a success.”
Find the part of yourself that’s working, and love it. Let that be the part that leads.
It’s a beautiful, simple moment. If only it were that easy.
Bridget, Ben, Liv, and the Tiny Spycam Conspiracy
Meanwhile, Harry is navigating the waters of fatherhood as a human of an alien-hybrid, and it’s painful.
The alien poker party goes about as well as expected. Bridget is embarrassed by Harry. Harry is trying to connect. The others are laughing telepathically, giving Harry a peek into how others used to view him.
Harry misses his alienness enough to want Bridget to be in human form when they’re together. If Heather was amenable to that, Bridget is not. Bridget is right, and Harry tries harder. Who expected he’d wind up being a good dad?
Ben and Kate are still circling the secret of losing their baby to aliens, Liv is growing more confident, and Mike is sharpening his knives (literally).
And somewhere between “we’re being watched” and “pass the chicken,” everything finally explodes: The cookie girls took our baby!
It’s a ridiculous line that is also likely true. We didn’t see how Mike and Liv reacted, but it feels so good to have these four on the same page. That’s the kind of aloneliness nobody needs.
But what happens when Ben and Kate discover D’arcy and Asta have hidden their baby from them? Good intentions aside, that will be a blow difficult to withstand.
Is Harry Alien Again? And What Happens If He Is?
In the final moments, Harry disappears. Just poof — gone, right after telling Asta, “Here’s to being friends. Human friends.”
So is he alien again?
The poker aliens disappeared mid-hand, which suggests yes. But that opens up a whole new line of questions: Will he still carry what he’s learned? Will this growth mean anything now that his biology’s changed again?
And this is harder to ask: is the show slowly building toward an ending?
It feels like we’re pulling the threads tighter. That everything we’ve seen — the breakups, the grief, the aloneliness — is about reaching something conclusive.
I don’t want that. But I feel it.
You, Me, and the Alonely Ones
This show gets me. I’ve never seen something so absurd dig so deeply into what it means to be a person.
It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and it makes me wonder if maybe I’m not the only one who’s constantly bouncing between being D’arcy, Harry, and Asta with a splash of Mike when I’m feeling bold.
Resident Alien isn’t just sci-fi. It’s therapy with telepathy. It’s existentialism in tighty-whities. It’s being surrounded by billions of people and still feeling alonely — until someone looks at you and says, “Hey, I see you.”
And then disappears. Now what? I believe we’re at the midpoint of the season. If we’re getting ten episodes for Resident Alien Season 4, it looks like rough waters ahead, regardless of the human condition.
But what about you? Is Resident Alien making you question the human condition and how you navigate it?
What’s your favorite part of the story?
Drop a comment down below to share your thoughts.
Watch Resident Alien Online
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Resident Alien Season 4 Episode 5 Review: The Human Condition
Harry may be human again — just in time to understand what that means. But as Resident Alien reminds us, the human condition isn’t for the faint of heart.
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Resident Alien Season 4 Episode 4 Review: Bird Poop, Broken Hearts, and the Weight of Being Human
On Resident Alien Season 4 Episode 4, honesty stings, time travel tempts, and heartbreak hits everyone — especially Harry, D’arcy, and Kate.
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Resident Alien Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Ties That Bind (And Break Your Heart)
On Resident Alien Season 4 Episode 3, time travel, childhood wounds, and hard truths collide — with emotional payoffs, cheap lobster, and alien babies in tow.
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