‘Resident Alien’ Showrunner Weighs in on His Favorite Storyline: ‘It’s Given Us a Lot to Play With in the Writer’s Room’

SyFy’s TV series Resident Alien has had many fun and resonating moments. It is hard to forget the episode ‘Girls’ Night’ where the female characters fight for equality, even in a small town like Patience. Each character has had stories and journies to tell, from D’Arcy’s guilt over her career, Asta’s daughter, to Harry’s growing humanity. Resident Alien showrunner Chris Sheridan reveals his favorite character storyline and scenes.

Asta’s story with her daughter is a favorite for the showrunner of ‘Resident Alien’

There have been many resonating moments in both seasons of the SyFy series. The interwoven elements of Native Americans, reservations, and the importance of family are used in the series to tell Asta’s story. On a Reddit Q&A for Resident Alien, a fan asked the showrunner about his favorite storyline.

Sheridan reveals, “One of my favorite story lines has always been Asta having to give up Jay when she was younger and regretting it now. It’s given us a lot to play with in the writer’s room.”

All the character in Resident Alien have their past decision to bear, and Asta is one of them. As a teen, she became pregnant while in a relationship with her longtime boyfriend. Afraid of what having a child at a young age would do, Asta decides to give the baby up for adoption.

As the series progressed, fans saw how Asta’s decision to give up her daughter affected her. While deciding what was best for the baby, Asta feels guilty over having given up. In Resident Alien Season 2, the mother-daughter relationship still weighs heavily on Asta.

Does Asta know who her daughter is?

It is no surprise that the showrunner says Asta’s storyline is one of his favorites from Resident Alien. There is a lot of drama and heartache on behalf of Asta. She has kept the secret for a long time. Fans know her daughter is a rebellious teen named Jay who works at the same clinic as Asta.

But Asta never fully admits to anyone that Jay is her daughter. Instead, she secretly watches her daughter but knows she can never intervene as a mother. To fans’ surprise, Asta’s father had no idea who his granddaughter was. Also that he was feeding her pancakes at the diner every day.

In an emotional scene during the first season, Dan learns the truth about the baby. Fans learn that Asta was afraid he would kick her out and want nothing to do with her. But Dan tells her the truth. She has an entire family and reservation that would have helped her raise the baby.

Jay later learns Asta is her mother. While cordial, she is far from developing a mother-daughter bond with her.

‘Resident Alien’ showrunner says his favorite scene is a comical death

Aside from the emotional toll of Asta’s storyline in Resident Alien, Sheridan has a favorite scene many fans have come to love from the second season. On Reddit, he reveals to a fan, “My favorite scene has to be the octopus death, brilliant work all around and such a perfect encapsulation of what the show is.”

In Resident Alien Season 2, Episode 6, Harry has become good friends with his octopus companion, No.42. But when Sahar visits him at the Cabin, he is too distracted to realize his dog is manhandling No.42.

The dog’s roughhousing leads to No.42 losing his life. But the scene became one of the most comical of the season by far. To try and resurrect him, Harry blows air through No. 42’s hole. Unable to revive him, Harry fulfills his last wish and cooks him in a lemon butter sauce with a glass of excellent white wine.

But the Resident Alien showrunner revealed he “also really loved the scene with D’arcy and Ben in Max’s bedroom smoking pot and talking about their childhood in episode 206. Such a wonderful moment of connection between the two friends.” But the sweet moment between Ben and D’Arcy leads to drama between Ben and his wife, Kate.