This week Harry dodges a bullet, gets messy with drugs, and chats to a squid.

At the end of last week’s episode McCallister’s snipers had a bead on Harry, and it seemed only a miracle could save him. Safe to say such a miracle does indeed materialise, in the form of a righteously furious Isabelle, who is not happy about being drugged by her faux husband. He’s also saved by good old lack of military intelligence. Oddly, despite finding a man out in the middle of nowhere, clearly reaching out as if to locate something large and invisible in the spot where they had previously discovered a large and invisible spaceship, they fail to cotton on to the fact this guy is the ship’s owner. It really is a stretch even for a fairly lighthearted comedy drama, but I’m not ready to say goodbye yet so it’s a stretch I’m grateful for.

Harry’s newfound singleton status, and ongoing unemployment, sends him into a spiral of self pity and experiences a long dark night of the soul. For a “man” who treated Isabelle as an issue to be dealt with in a murderous manner, he sure seems like he misses her. We’re privy to some priceless comic moments as he imagines various jobs he could do – vicious paperboy, hipster barista and Jerry Orbach-loving tattooist (I had to google Orbach, I get why the reference is there but unless you know he was a star of Law & Order the gag might not fly). He also gets to meet another alien visitor, introduced in the stunning cold open, in hopelessly constrained circumstances.

There’s not actually an awful lot of plot this week, until the denouement, but we do get to spend plenty of time with our other friends in Patience. We discover Max’s ability to see through Harry’s disguise extends slightly further than thought, and cracks in his parents’ marriage begin to show. The investigation into who killed the town’s doctor continues apace, and at long last Deputy Liv stands up for herself and tears Sheriff Thompson a strip after he has the temerity to accuse her of being disrespectful. These two make a terrific double act, to the point where I’d happily watch even if this show had nothing to do with a stranded alien.

I’ve noted before that there’s an awful lot going on in this show that has nothing much to do with an alien imposter out to get us. I found it odd at first, but actually it works and is there for a reason. There’s no point setting up the threat of an end to humanity unless we see humanity in action, flaws and all. Their stories, none of which matter in the grand scheme of things, make us care, and this may well be important when the time comes for Harry to attempt to do us in once and for all.

Verdict: A smashing episode of a series which continues to delight me week after week. 9/10

Andy Smith