‘Resident Alien’: Season 2 Blu-Ray Review – Alan Tudyk Shines In Syfy’s Zany And Heartfelt Gem

An alien crash lands on Earth and must pass himself off as small-town human doctor Harry Vanderspeigle. Arriving with a secret mission to kill all humans, Harry starts off living a simple life but things get a bit rocky when he’s roped into solving a local murder and realizes he needs to assimilate into his new world.

For thoughts on Resident Alien: The Complete Second Season, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

Resident Alien: The Complete Second Season arrives on Blu-Ray courtesy of Universal Home Entertainment with a top-notch AVC-encoded 1080p transfer. This season consists of 16 episodes spread across four discs, allowing the appropriate amount of room for episodes to impress and avoid nearly all instances of compression artifacts and aliasing. This high definition presentation reveals a canvas of texture that is difficult to ascertain in the compressed broadcast on cable. 

The environment delivers a world of vibrancy in elements of the landscape, production design, clothing, and lighting choices. It is not a visually ambitious series, but it does conjure rich nuance and depth. Skin tones appear natural and detailed across the ensemble. Black levels maintain a good depth and provide a significant amount of detail in shadows. Highlights never get too hot or veer into blooming in this presentation. Every episode appears to be performing at the height of the format’s capabilities. Universal has delivered a terrific release for fans to add to their collection. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray provides a lovely DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that translates this series exactly as it needs. Dialogue comes through without being overshadowed by the music or any sound effects. Kinetic moments are peppered throughout the season, but the story does not necessitate huge action set pieces. The track digs deep when it needs to deliver some texture in the lower registers. The track captures environmental sounds in a way that feels authentic and three-dimensional. The score conjures an inviting tone for the series which is presented with fine fidelity within the mix. The audio presentation holds up perfectly. There are English SDH subtitles provided. 

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes: There are four minutes of unused material provided in HD that didn’t make the final cut but is worth watching. 

Final Thoughts

Resident Alien is the ideal of what you want from a Syfy original series. The story has just enough dramatic weight to keep you hooked from week to week, yet there is a sense of levity that is comforting in a “popcorn entertainment” kind of way. This is a show with a focus on its characters, and they are a lot of fun. Alan Tudyk is the main attraction, as he is allowed to put his talents on full display from the zany to the occasional serious moment. The exemplary ensemble supports him effortlessly to create one of the most fun narratives around. The second season loses a bit of the spark of discovery from the first outing, but it is still great entertainment. Universal Home Entertainment has delivered a Blu-Ray that offers a fantastic A/V presentation but not much in the way of special features. Recommended 

Resident Alien: The Complete Second Season can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Universal Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.