With Isabelle still doting on him, Harry’s plans continue to be delayed, and a new arrival brings out a monster of the green-eyed variety.

Yes there’s a new, and this time real, doctor in town. Dr Ethan Stone (People of Earth’s Michael Cassidy) is handsome, clever and caring and proves an even bigger hit with the ladies than even Harry. Needless to say Harry hates him from the off, giving star Alan Tudyk lots of opportunities to bare his teeth and say exactly the wrong thing to this annoyingly perfect “new man”. Interestingly this week we never see Harry as he really is, but it works due to Tudyk’s skilled facial contortions, such that we see his real face in our mind’s eye.

Harry’s sudden unemployment isn’t his only problem. His formerly estranged wife has made herself at home and will barely leave him alone. There’s lots of delicious to and fro between Tudyk and Elvy (who I must commend for her top notch English accent), Harry’s blow by blow description of exactly how he’s going to make love to her is particularly special. The possibility of continued wedded bliss with the enchanting if somewhat clingy Isabelle doesn’t seem to appeal to him though and he manages to get one step closer to his plan for the destruction of all mankind.

Except that may well be put in jeopardy as we finally learn more about the two agents on his trail. Actually they’re undercover military, sent by the alien-obsessed General McCallister (the Terminator series’ Linda Hamilton) as part of a black-ops mission. While technically on the side of the angels their means and methods are very questionable at best, outright despicable at worst. Hamilton is suitably cold and pragmatic, and her personal investment in finding the alien craft and its occupant adds an interesting new strand to the story.

One particular delight this week is more screen time for Corey Reynolds’ Sheriff Mike “Big Black” Thompson. He’s been amusing throughout but it’s great to see him have more to do this week, his solo “good cop/bad cop” routine being a standout. As usual he belittles the (actually much cleverer) Deputy Sheriff Liv Baker, but there’s a tiny glimmer of respect shown this week as she makes a breakthrough in the case involving the town’s murdered doctor. He even gets someone to call him by his self-imposed yet problematic nickname for once.

By the episode’s end our anti-hero’s problems look like they’re about to get much worse than simply trying to wipe us all out. It surely can’t be long before he’ll have to reveal his true nature to a friend or two.

Verdict: The story ramps up as we begin the second half of the series. Hugely entertaining as always 8/10

Andy Smith