
Pesky process serves are not exclusive to Earth, as we learned in this week's episode of Resident Alien Season 3, "141 Seconds," which saw
Harry (Alan Tudyk) subpoenaed by a Blue Avian representative (Violent Night's Edi Patterson) of the Galactic Federation. Turns out our friendly neighborhood extraterrestrial visitor broke galactic law when he reneged on his promise to the Greys that he'd vacate our planet.
While the appearance of an 8-foot-tall talking bird is one of the most terrifying visuals the acclaimed SYFY series has ever given us, the scene smartly aims for laughs instead of horror. This is not some bloodthirsty monster — she's just an exasperated servant of the court looking for quick signature, so she can get the hell off this damn rock.
"It was one of the best things we’ve done in the series with these two characters together,” creator, showrunner, and executive producer Chris Sheridan said in a post-mortem interview with TVLine.
Just like Firefly alum Nathan Fillion landing the role of 42, Patterson was recommended to play the Blue Avian by Mr. Tudyk himself, who had done some improv work with her a few years back.
“He had said that she was one of the funniest people he had ever worked with, so that sort of sold that,” Sheridan explained. “That’s high praise coming from Alan. So I reached out to her and she was really kind and so funny. And the thing that locked it for me was at the end of the call, she said, very politely, ‘We don’t have to, but is there any chance that I could do some improv?’ I’m like, ‘You’d better do improv!’"
“In improv, you’re basically throwing the ball back and forth with ideas, and she’s got a great pitching arm," added Tudyk, hinting at what audiences can expect from the two characters as the season moves forward. "She’s incredible.”