In Resident Alien‘s pilot episode, why does Asta Twelvetrees (Sara Tomko) take her shoes off to stand barefoot in the snow? The SyFy original series is based on the comic with the same name by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse about an alien, Harry (Alan Tudyk) who crash-lands on earth and has to assume the identity of doctor Harry Vanderspeigle to pass as human in the small mountain town of Patience, Colorado. It features a number of quirky characters, like Asta, and teases they all have deeper backstories that will slowly be uncovered.
Adding in cynicism, dark humor, and heartfelt human connection to an alien who-done-it caper, Resident Alien has received mostly positive reviews and hopes to continue its upswing as Syfy’s newest hit dramedy. While it takes a sidestep from its original comic book source, giving fans a fresh spin on beloved characters, it maintains the central core of them, such as Asta’s character being rooted in her Native American heritage, which comes out at various times, such as the scene in which she tells Harry about a difficult time from her past and then steps out of the car, barefoot, to stand in the snow and look at the mountains.
In the Resident Alien comic book series, Asta is the daughter of a Mohawk Shaman. The show takes a slightly different approach, exploring Asta’s troubled childhood and marriage and her sometimes uneasy relationship with her native heritage and its cultural traditions as they have “othered” her in her life, despite her pride in her heritage. Yet the moment in the snow shows that she will always return to the nature-based roots of her people as she finds them comforting. For Asta, who has often felt like an outsider, being barefoot in the snow is the closest she can get to a real connection. She finds her calmness in nature; being as close to Mother Earth as she can get grounds and centers her, as does the purity of the snow and the pristine stillness of the mountaintop.
Yet, standing in the snow also symbolizes another aspect of Asta. It’s one rooted not in the traditions of her culture, but wholly within herself: toughness. As calming as standing in the snow barefoot is, snow freeze-burning bare skin doesn’t exactly feel good. So it can also be seen as a test of endurance, Asta proving to herself that despite her difficult childhood, despite her abusive marriage, she’s tough, she will endure. The barefoot snow scene in Resident Alien both challenges and centers Asta.
The moment may also eventually lead to something else from the comics. As the daughter of a shaman, Asta can partially see Harry in his true alien form in the comics. At the advice of her father, Asta chooses not to share her knowledge as both she and her father believe Harry to be a visiting spirit. It’s unclear whether or not the show will choose to go this route; still, from the first moment of Asta and Harry’s meeting, she can sense something is different about him beyond his awkwardness. Asta may not have the power of second sight as she does in the comics – yet – but she’s deeply perceptive and intuitive, sensing Harry’s feeling of not fitting in and, perhaps, his loneliness. That she chooses to let Harry see her in her vulnerable moment standing barefoot in the snow shows she’s open to connecting with him as someone who also often feels like they don’t belong. In a show based around human connection, Asta holds the few trusted relationships she has in Resident Alien close. Allowing Harry to commune with her in the snow shows he could grow to be one of those trusted people.
