Fargo and Upload alum Elizabeth Bowen says the partnership her Resident Alien character, Deputy Liv, has with her boss, Sheriff Mike (Corey Reynolds), evolves quite a lot over the sci-fi-comedy's four seasons.
"We have such a greater understanding of what each character has been through in their past and what made them who they are. But, also, Corey and I have gone through life stuff. We went through the pandemic together," Bowen said.
"We've gone through a strike together. We've gone through all the ups and downs of working on a show in uncertain times, so it's been really interesting watching our characters' journeys and our personal journeys grow side by side. It's been a wonderful experience."
Known for his work in the police drama The Closer and the Broadway musical Hairspray, Reynolds noted that the Resident Alien stars and crew grew particularly close because the show started filming in 2020 when much of the world was still shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We were in this testing bubble," he recalled."Our cast and the other creatives were the only people that we knew we were 100 percent safe to be around because we were tested on a regular basis," Reynolds said. "We bonded a lot because we spent a lot of time together."
The actor said everyone was "fully invested" when they arrived to work on the adaptation of a graphic novel series about a space alien (Alan Tudyk), who crash-lands in a small Colorado town filled with kind, quirky people.
As the actors were cast, series creator Chris Sheridan added everyone to an email thread, so they could learn about each other, Reynolds added.
"He started a community online before we even got to meet one another, so by the time we finally did get to meet at the table-read, it was instant chemistry, creatively and professionally. We had kind of primed the pump," he said.
The latest run of episodes started out with extraterrestrial Harry (Tudyk) imprisoned on the moon, emotional and without his super powers, while an evil creature called the Mantid impersonates him and takes over his life in the Rocky Mountains.
By Season 4, most of the townspeople know that Harry is an alien, but Liv and Mike are among the last ones to discover his big secret.
The Mantid kidnaps Liv, takes over her appearance and tries to kill everyone she cares about.
"She was 10 when she first saw a UFO. Her world, in that way, has always been a bit bigger than Mike's with regards to aliens and believing in things that you might not have ever seen," Bowen said.
Faced with this new reality, Mike wonders what else he might have overlooked, Reynolds said.
"When you're so certain about something and have to do a 180, I think any person with any self-reflective nature would have to reflect on, what else could I have gotten wrong?" Reynolds said.
"That's one thing I will say that I'm kind of proud about bringing to life with Mike. He has a reluctance to be wrong and to acknowledge that he's wrong, but I think that once he gets there, he's genuinely regretful about not getting there sooner," he added. "He's been getting it wrong for a long time and, not just getting it wrong himself, but trying to convince someone -- Deputy Liv -- who's been getting it right that SHE'S been wrong, which is extra wrong."
Mike gets a taste of his own medicine this season when he tries to tell his girlfriend, Detective Lena (Nicola Correia-Damude), that aliens have invaded his town.
"He's now having firsthand experience at what Deputy Liv was experiencing when trying to get him to believe," Reynolds said.
"He's now more understanding of what he put her through because of what he's dealing with trying to convince Lena," he added. "He's going to have to tell her something that is going to seem ridiculous to her. But, to be true to himself and to reality, he's got to find a way to do it and it's a tricky thing and it doesn't go well."
The fourth and final season finale aired Friday on USA Network and Syfy.
