TV Show review
January 27, 2021 · TV-14 · Canceled
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Resident Alien.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent Indigenous lead (Asta) with authentic tribal ties and supporting diversity (Black sheriff, other POC roles) in a Colorado small-town setting; producers highlighted authentic representation, but it is not marketed or plotted as a central message and fits the world without obvious mismatches or quotas.
Woke political dialogue
Light, occasional references to social topics like gender pay gaps appear in isolated episodes (e.g., Season 2 “Girls’ Night”); core dialogue focuses on humor, emotions, and alien-human contrasts with no sustained political lectures or current-event framing.
Identity-driven story themes
Central arc explores universal human emotions, friendship, family, and moral growth through an alien’s eyes; side character backstories (including Asta’s Indigenous family and personal history) add texture but remain personal rather than modern identity-politics driven.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Small-town community and human bonds are portrayed positively with humorous flaws; no systemic attacks on patriarchy, traditional norms, Christianity, capitalism, or Western institutions—external alien/government threats serve plot without ideological reframing.
Review
Resident Alien follows an alien assassin who crash-lands in the small Colorado town of Patience, kills the local doctor, and assumes his identity while wrestling with his mission to wipe out humanity. Over four seasons the story centers on Harry’s growing compassion for humans through everyday relationships, a murder mystery, and later threats from other aliens, all told with fish-out-of-water comedy and heart. Visible diversity appears through a prominent Indigenous lead character (Asta, Ute tribe member) with authentic representation and supporting roles including a Black sheriff, but these elements integrate naturally into the small-town setting without heavy messaging or plot focus. Mild progressive notes surface in isolated episodes touching gender dynamics or personal backstories, though the core narrative stays universal and non-ideological.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Story is original to the comic adaptation with no ideological swaps of established characters or source material.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Multiple viewer reviews on Metacritic, YouTube, and Reddit specifically call out Season 2+ episodes and “woke writers” for perceived anti-male or preachy gender content; complaints treat these as agenda-driven rather than neutral storytelling, though they remain a vocal minority without dominating coverage.
Creator track record context
Core creator Sheridan and several writers come from broad comedy backgrounds (Family Guy style); a minority of contributors (e.g., Njeri Brown) have prior identity-focused credits, but the series as a whole does not reflect a dominant activist pattern.
Production
