“We did that on purpose”: Resident Alien creator Chris Sheridan on the character arcs he had to speed up due to Season 5 cancellation 

When suddenly a show's future gets shortened, writers either freak out or start messing up with the deadline. In the case of Resident Alien’s creator, Chris Sheridan, he was informed well in advance about the show’s demise, and it did not seem like a bolt out of the blue but rather an opportunity.

With foreknowledge that the end is near, you can speed to a good finish. Sheridan and his crew viewed this challenge as an opportunity to ensure that every character got a decent sendoff, but at the same time, leave room for other plotlines. The network had stated unequivocally that the show would get terminated with Season 4. And with that warning, a more realistic ending was planned by the team instead of trying to hammer one out at the last moment.

Fast-track farewells on Resident Alien

Two of the most intense characters on the show, General Eleanor McCallister, played by Linda Hamilton, and Joseph Rainier, portrayed by Enver Gjokaj, received the most significant elevation from Sheridan, who decided to fast-forward their storylines. McCallister’s soldier-like fortitude and indomitable shell, shown with her latent vulnerability, became more evident and pronounced than earlier, allowing her to form a more focused, conclusive resolution.

The pace was also accelerated in the journey of Joseph Rainier, portrayed by Enver Gjokaj, who was struggling to find a place amidst his mixed identity as well as moral integrity. Big choices and emotional scenes were induced with haste, and yet did not seem irrelevant. Sheridan was not hobnobbing. He was ensuring that both characters receive sufficient attention early so that their storyline could have a full tender in a season that had to be shortened.

What the creator of Resident Alien, Chris Sheridan, said!

When the creator of Resident Alien, Chris Sheridan, was asked in an interview with ScreenRant how he managed to wrap up the show with a vast character line-up, he said:

“What has happened over the years on the show is that with more characters being added, it just gets bigger, and you're telling more stories, but you're spending less time on each of them. So, one of the things that I knew that we needed to do was probably finish the Linda Hamilton/General McAllister story a little early, the Enver Gjokaj/Joseph story, finished that early. We did that on purpose to give them an appropriate send off from the show, but also so that I had time to tell the stories of the rest of the cast.”

How did Alan Tudyk take it?

By the time the news of the cancellation dropped, Alan Tudyk, who stars as Harry Vanderspeigle in Resident Alien on the Syfy network, was ready to take it all in his own inimitable style and with his characteristic good humor. Flipping back and forth between telling jokes and making people cry, he quipped at San Diego Comic-Con:

“Although we did get more than 14 episodes like some other shows I was on — and even though no spoilers, I don’t die at the end.”

On the social media platform Threads, he described his show's experience as being “a hell of a fun playground,” adding a touch of nostalgia, “laughter through the tears.”

It is evident that Tudyk accepting the fact that Resident Alien is coming to an end is depressing, yes, but he is also grateful that maybe, just maybe, there could be an inclination towards a comeback someday.

What next!

The diminishment of a lingering mystery, less cumulative teasing, and in some cases, a beat or two that feels a little lighter in terms of the scaffolding that accompanied the original pace. Sheridan and the writers were ready to make that trade-off, given that they needed an emotionally sweeter closure than a prolonged “maybe someday.”

Instead of scattering valuable screen time over hanging plot threads, they purposely compressed some arcs to devote the space to tying the final bow on the more serious themes of the show: Harry becoming more mature, the town coming together, and the show ending on a relatively light mixture of comedy and tears. And even Sheridan left the door open for a future (a movie, specials, or spinoffs) that brings hope to the Resident Alien fans.

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