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Harry Vanderspeigle, in Resident Alien, is far from just some generic alien in disguise, being the embodiment of weirdness. Portrayed by Alan Tudyk, Harry lands in the quaint little town of Patience in Colorado and tries to fit in somehow.
From conversing with octopuses as family to firing off text messages in an all-caps alien panic, Harry's strange shenanigans never seemed to end; they are all equally weirdly endearing. What makes him so unforgettable, though, is the seriousness with which he treats everything, even when he's completely at odds with human logic.
Harry always keeps us laughing, cringing, or wondering how no one has caught him yet. So here are 9 instances in which Harry has truly crossed the line of weirdness and made us love him even more.
9 Times Harry Vanderspeigle from Resident Alien crossed the limit of weirdness
1. Hallucinating in Times Square
In the second season, when Harry took LSD, it was one of his strangest experiences yet. Lost in Times Square, he wound up freaking out in full-alien-panic-mode, yelling, "Do I have a human inside me?" There are moments of horror, confusion, and hilarity as Harry questions his own existence.
The scene also cleverly draws a reference to how thin a line lies between his alien body and his human form. This wonderful yet weird highlight concludes that Harry may never really understand Earth or perhaps himself.
2. Naming and eating Cousin “42” the Octopus
Only Harry would have made an octopus friend and eaten it in the end. In the second season, he meets a telepathic octopus whom he calls his cousin. They get along because of the alien thoughts and mutual desire for sushi. But things go downhill when 42 dies, and Harry sets about sautéing him in butter and eating him with tears down his cheeks.
Who else cries while eating his own relative? The scene elegantly juxtaposes unusual, alien customs against human emotions, carving Harry into one of the strangest and ever-unpredictable characters on the small screen.
3. Insulting Alien species at a UFO convention
In a UFO convention setting in Season 1, there was a case in which Harry simply could not hold back. He insulted every alien species known to Earth conspiracy theorists. The Greys? "Insidious a*sholes." The Arcturians? "J*rks." It even meets with Giorgio Tsoukalos of Ancient Aliens fame and mocks everything.
The scene is also prime comedy since no one suspects he is an alien! It plays so wonderfully on how Harry constantly thinks he's the smartest person in the room, even while surrounded by people who are so obsessed with aliens.
4. The awkward first kiss with D’Arcy
Harry's initial kiss with D'Arcy in Season 1 is genuinely awkward brilliance. Rather than being a fluid romance, Harry pokes out his tongue like a dazed lizard. D'Arcy, believing it's part of the charm, still kisses him. It's oddly cringe-worthy, but also side-splitting. Harry obviously has no clue about romance, and this kiss illustrates that.
The show inserts these little, quirky moments to remind us how much he's pretending to be human. Even when he tries to fit in, his alien nature leaks through, particularly in personal, intimate moments like this one.
5. Keeping a dead body in his freezer
Harry starts his human life by hiding a body in his freezer. That's already a warning sign. In Resident Alien Season 1, he kills the actual Dr. Vanderspeigle and puts the corpse in the fridge as if it were frozen chicken. Then he observes it, practices facial expressions, and attempts speech mimicry, all in front of the dead guy. It's not only creepy, it's horrifyingly humorous.
This is the kind of scene that brings the tone of the whole show back to mind, reminding us Harry doesn't play by human rules. His attitude towards life is cold, literal, and so strange you almost remember he's the hero.
6. Singing a weird alien lullaby to the baby
In one of the strangest tender moments, Harry attempts to pacify a human infant by singing it an extraterrestrial lullaby, complete with unearthly sounds and tones that no human baby ought ever to hear. The moment is both touching and unnerving. The infant watches, bewildered but strangely serene, as Harry sings in a language that sounds halfway between whale songs and malfunctioning machinery.
It's old school Harry: seriously strange but in some way touching. It also reveals his emerging emotional side, demonstrating that even when he's not attempting to be humorous, his extraterrestrial nature always ensures that things are odd.
7. Texting in alien gibberish
When Harry messages Asta in Season 2, it's not your typical message. Rather, it's a frenetic, all-caps torrent: "911: MEN IN BLACK STOLE THE BABY… I AM GOING TO KILL THEM… BUT FIRST I AM GOING TO EAT PIZZA." It's both a threat and a plan for dinner, somehow. What's so weird about it is how his alien thoughts seep into normal texting.
How he speaks is so over-the-top and unemotional, it's funny. Harry doesn't censor anything; his texts sound like extraterrestrial distress calls combined with hunger pangs.
8. Dancing alone in his cabin
One of Harry's strangely charming moments is when he dances by himself in his cabin. No rhythm, no frame of reference, just crazy, flailing body parts and absolute liberty. With music blasting and no one to witness it, he indulges in the most awkward possible fashion.
It's weird, it's funny, and it's sort of endearing. Even though he's an alien, Harry's beginning to feel simple human pleasure, even if it does look utterly ridiculous. This little bit of it reminds us that beneath all the weirdness, he's getting to enjoy life… just in his very odd, totally nonhuman manner.
9. Losing his alien powers and acting disgusted by humans
Resident Alien Season 4 sees Harry becoming more human, and he resents it. When he reconnects with his ex, Heather, she feeds him raw alien entrails, expecting him to adore it. Instead, he gags like a histrionic teenager at a salad bar. This is the same Harry who cheerfully ate a brain spooned. Losing his alien sensibilities makes him strangely sensitive, and his revulsion of human qualities is comedic.
It turns his entire personality around. The freak who used to dissect frogs for kicks now can't deal with gooey food? That's strange growth in the best possible way.
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Harry Vanderspeigle is the type of character who turns each awkward moment into a memory. His weirdness isn't just a gag; it actually brings an odd sort of relatability and tremendous amusement. As he wrestles to pin down human life with his real identity hidden away, the strange way he behaved was as much a cloak as a lure.
From having his own set of emotional meltdowns to eating his "cousin," Harry never fails to bring the best times/weird ones in our lives.
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