Something happened to me. There's alien activity here, in Patience. I know it.
Liv Baker to her husband John, "Alien Dinner Party"
Deputy Olivia "Liv" Baker is a character in the science fiction comedy television series Resident Alien. She is a sheriff's deputy working with Sheriff Mike Thompson and is the wife of local rescue official John Baker.
Character overview[]
I'll do this, okay. I believe in aliens.
Liv Baker to an interviewer for a documentary, "I Believe in Aliens"
Liv Baker is the sheriff's deputy of Mike Thompson in the village of Patience, Colorado. Something of a timid individual, she tends to be subsumed by Thompson's strong personality and has trouble speaking up for herself. Harry Vanderspeigle likens her to a pet rabbit that you yell at so much that its hair starts to fall out. Despite this, she can be powerful when she is able to actually stand up for herself and has a keen detective insight. She is well-liked for her sense of fairness and justice. Despite this, she still manages to get results because of the fact that people like her and therefore are willing to open up to her. Eventually, she resigns as a sheriff's deputy due to Thompson's continued ill treatment of her, despite her best efforts to help solve a murder case.
Afterwards, Thompson comes to realize the error of his ways and apologizes to her in song, upon which she accepts his offer to resume her duties as deputy. Afterwards, the two begin working together more closely and he admits to her that her instincts are often on target, even going so far as to buy her a coffee-maker, though still claiming that it's for the whole office. As summer comes to Patience, the two continue to work together on a more comfortable basis, though Mike in some ways seems to revert back to his old behavior. Liv eventually confronts him about the matter and he reveals the truth of his past: that in Washington D.C., he lost his partner and long-time best friend, Jesse. To this day, he blames himself for the incident, revealing also his own fear that he will lose Baker as well. She assures him that no such thing will happen and that she is there for him.
Liv witnessed an alien spaceship in her youth and since then has had a fascination with anything related to aliens. She is convinced that there is alien activity in Patience and has contacted the alien tracker, Peter Bach, in the hopes of uncovering it.
Physical appearance[]
Plot summary[]
A murder investigation[]
Baker accompanies Sheriff Thompson out to Harry Vanderspeigle's cabin to get Dr. Vanderspeigle to come into town with them, as the town doctor of Patience, Colorado, Sam Hodges, has been discovered murdered and he's the only other doctor in the area. Later, at the clinic, she reveals that she felt herself unable to handle the next-of-kin notification to the doctor's widow and just gave her Mayor Ben Hawthorne's number instead. Later, when she tries to play music while she and Thompson are staking out a crime scene, he turns it off, telling her he has her music and beatboxing while humming "Amazing Grace" at the same time.
When Asta Twelvetrees expresses suspicion of Hodge's widow, Baker informs her that they already investigated her and found her to have an alibi. Sheriff Thompson backs this up. As Baker watches the developing argument between Twelvetrees and Thompson with a worried expression on her face, Vanderspeigle likens her to a pet rabbit.
When a fisherman discovers a foot while trawling the local lake, Baker joins Thompson on a search of the lake, along with Mayor Hawthorne and his wife Kate searching in a separate vessel. When the mayor pleads seasickness, Baker suggests that they call off the search, saying that it's highly probable that the body has already washed up on shore and that they should search there. Thompson ignores her, resulting in the alien Harry Vanderspeigle finding the body, which is that of the human Vanderspeigle he killed and assumed the identity of. He is thus able to find the body and hide it in his freezer. When Thompson finally calls off the search, he and Baker are led to the alien's freezer by the police dog Cletus, but are thrown off by the alien's tactic of covering the body with packages labeled as meat products.
Resignation[]
Thompson and Baker assess various pieces of potential evidence they dredged up from the lake. Baker is particularly interested by a doorknob and wants to log it as evidence. Thompson tells her off, stating that there are such things as houseboats and the doorknob could have been ripped off of one of those which sank. Baker is forced to ignore her hunch for the time being, despite the doorknob actually having originated from Vanderspeigle's cabin and being torn off by the alien. Later, she visits the local pub to try to drown her sorrows, telling the bartender D'arcy Bloom that it's one of those days where you question whether your own existence is even worth anything. Bloom gives her a pep talk, telling her that she's the best cop that Patience has ever had. She continues, saying that she's the one cop that people are actually excited to see, because she treats everybody fairly and always does the right thing. She urges Baker to "stand up to that power trip." Back at the office, Baker again tries to direct Thompson's attention to the doorknob. He again brushes her off, but while his back is turned, she secretly logs the doorknob as evidence.
Thompson later discovers that Baker has created her own "murder board" regarding the Sam Hodges case, hidden in a closet of the sheriff's office. She explains to him her theory that she developed after they learned that Sam Hodges was diabetic: that Hodges could have been poisoned using his insulin injection, which would mean that the killer didn't need to be present at the time of his death. Although she believes that he will dismiss it as a stupid theory, he tells her that it's not stupid and told her "Good job." Glowing with pride, she celebrates together with Asta Twelvetrees, D'arcy Bloom and Judy Cooper. She later joins Thompson in confronting a suspect at Patience's school, Richard Ferguson, going by the alias "The Pharmacist." When Ferguson bolts, Thompson pursues him in a foot chase, only for Baker to calculate his route and waylay him with a push-broom. Although Thompson seems impressed at first, he then reverts to his old behavior, chastising Baker for using a contraction when trying to read him his Miranda rights. When he calls her out the next day for a supposed lack of respect, it is the final straw for her and she resigns in irritation, pounding a burger that was intended to be a treat for the dog Cletus.
The return[]
Baker later returns to collect certain personal belongings, but has Mayor Hawthorne do it so that she doesn't have to engage with Thompson directly. Thompson tells Hawthorne to tell her that he could see her, and she replies through Hawthorne to mind his business, as she is busy enjoying life. He replies that he's enjoying life even more, so much that he has little cartoon birds flying around his head. She replies that "cartoon birds" usually means that you're unconscious. Later, after receiving a tip-off from Dan Twelvetrees about his daughter Asta being missing, and learning that D'arcy Bloom is also missing, Thompson visits an upscale local restaurant where he discovers Baker having lunch with John of the town's avalanche-control team. Both are shocked to learn about the two women being missing, given the storm that is approaching the town.
Following this incident, Sheriff Thompson visits Joe's Diner one morning and finds Deputy Baker having lunch with his father, Lewis. She asks if he has anything he wants to say to her, but when he turns the question back on her, she simply bids him a good day and leaves. The Sheriff then chews out his father for having lunch with her, saying that he was probably trash-talking him, but he replies that in fact she was mostly listening. He tells him that his relationship with Baker reminds him a lot of his own relationship with the Sheriff's deceased mother - that she would always challenge him and when he messed up, she wouldn't let him off the hook until he took steps to fix it. He then rises from the table, telling his son to order him a burger and that he will be right back. As he struggles to rise, Sheriff Thompson tells him it is okay to ask for help and he replies pointedly "Look who's talking."
Taking his father's words to heart, Sheriff Thompson returns to his office, where he considers the murder board he has made, then goes to the closet and pulls out Deputy Baker's much more complicated board. He begins to see certain connections and finally comes to a conclusion, arresting the widow Abigail Hodges for the murder. That evening, at The 59, Baker performs the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" during karaoke hour. To everyone's surprise, Sheriff Thompson enters the bar and begins singing along with her, the song becoming a duet. He gets down on his knees and holds out her deputy's badge. To everyone's delight, she takes it, declaring that she's a deputy again.
An improved relationship[]
Baker returns to work for Sheriff Thompson, but the two are now truly working together for the first time. She accompanies the sheriff in a visit to Harry Vanderspeigle's cabin, on a tip from D'arcy Bloom of having sneaked into the cabin only to discover Vanderspeigle's dead body in the freezer. Bloom's tip, however, is undercut by the appearance of the live Harry Vanderspeigle. Baker accompanies Bloom down to the freezer where, sure enough, there is no dead body. Unknown to either of them, the body in question is actually that of the human Harry Vanderspeigle and the alien Vanderspeigle has moved it to a new location. Convinced that everyone is trying to gaslight her, Bloom puts up a fight, and Baker leaves it Thompson to wrestle her into the sheriff's car, not being good at physical confrontation. As he does so, she discovers a boot washed up on the edge of the lake and collects it as evidence. She later takes the boot to the Patience Health Clinic and asks Asta Twelvetrees to show her the foot that she had previously discovered to see if it's a match. Twelvetrees does so and in the process, seeing a mole on the foot, realizes that the alien Harry Vanderspeigle killed the human.
Later on, Liv Baker joins Sheriff Thompson in responding to a call from Mayor Hawthorne, reporting a break-in at his home. Upon arrival, however, the two discover that the mayor and his wife, Kate, have already fought off the intruders, keeping them from hurting their son Max and his friend, Sahar. The two are then disturbed when, in the aftermath, the husband and wife demonstrate vividly their affection for each other. Baker and Thompson regroup at the sheriff's office, where Thompson tells Baker that while he likes the mayhem that has been happening recently, he simply doesn't get how it all connects. He asks if it could possibly all be coincidence. She replies that she doesn't believe in them and he agrees that he doesn't either. He points out how the foot, the boot and doorknob all came from the same place, admitting that it definitely did not come from a houseboat and saying that they should go visit Dr. Vanderspeigle the next day and see if he has anything to add to what he's already told them.
Baker then spots something sitting on Thompson's desk, a Nespresso machine. Having expressed a desire for a coffee machine in the office before, she asks if it's for her. He claims to have picked up on sale and states that it's for the whole office. She, however, squeals in delight, hugging him and saying that he got it for her, that he agrees with her "doorknob instincts." He admits that she has decent doorknob instincts, but continues claim meekly that the coffee-maker is for the whole office, even as she insists repeatedly that he got it for her.
The dead-foot killer[]
Baker and Thompson turn their attention to Harry Vanderspeigle, realizing that the wrong person may have been arrested. They pay a visit to Vanderspeigle's cabin and come up with a scenario that is surprisingly close to what actually happened, though not realizing that the dead foot they're investigating actually belongs to the real Harry Vanderspeigle. When Baker asks Thompson if they should talk with Vanderspeigle, he tells her that he first wants to do a deep dive and try to figure out what makes him tick. Baker later discovers Thompson with two cups of coffee and wonders if one is for her, not realizing that he actually bought it in honor of his dead partner. However, Thompson makes things up afterwards by buying a coffee for her.
The two later return to Vanderspeigle's cabin, where they discover him with a wheelbarrow full of dirt. Sheriff Mike later gains the unexpected opportunity to get close to Vanderspeigle when Vanderspeigle joins the weekly poker game. Baker works outside, monitoring undercover on a wire. During the poker game, Thompson picks up the interesting tip that it's rumored that Vanderspeigle lost all of his money six years ago. He then tried to sell his cabin to the uncle of Nurse Ellen, but later unexpectedly backed out of the deal. Baker does some digging and discovers the realtor who was handling the transaction. She and Thompson go undercover and learn that Vanderspeigle had put the cabin on the market, only to unexpectedly turn around and pay off his debt in cash, half a million, one week later. Thompson finds this extremely shady, noting he himself only has $90,000 in the bank for emergencies. Baker, however, cannot sympathize, as she doesn't even have enough money for a new starter for her car.
The two continue their investigation and Baker receives a call from a contact at St. Helen's Hospital. The contact reveals that Dr. Vanderspeigle was disciplined for being found in a lab he wasn't supposed to be in and stored within the lab was Botulinum toxin. Based upon this, Thompson decides it's time to go talk with Dr. Vanderspeigle. Baker agrees, but not before first stopping to drop off a dress for dry cleaning. The two eventually proceed to Vanderspeigle's cabin, where they find Asta Twelvetrees and Vanderspeigle inside. They demand to be let in and are eventually admitted by Twelvetrees, but Vanderspeigle is nowhere to be seen. Twelvetrees suggests that maybe they come back later, but Thompson tells her that he'll arrest her if necessary. He steps forward, only to trip a loose floorboard and discover a cooler with Botulinum toxin. He and Baker then proceed to the basement, drawing their guns, only to discover, to their confusion, another Asta Twelvetrees. Upstairs, the alien Harry Vanderspeigle morphs out of Twelvetrees's form.
Girls' Night[]
The two return upstairs, with Twelvetrees, where they discover Vanderspeigle. They try to place him under arrest only for him to climb up the walls and evade Thompson's gunfire. Thompson shouts that he's a werewolf, but Twelvetrees reveals that he is, in fact, an alien. Baker then comments that she always knew they existed. Vanderspeigle then returns to the ground, where he places his hands over Thompson and Bakers' heads and uses his powers to replace their visit there with a memory of meeting an Agent Fisher of the FBI who told them that the FBI was taking over the case and that Vanderspeigle wasn't the killer.
The next morning, Baker and Thompson greet Vanderspeigle and Twelvetrees cheerfully when they show up for breakfast at Joe's Diner. Harry's altered memories seem to have taken as they have no memory of investigating Vanderspeigle as the killer. Following this, Baker is invited to a "GN59," an alcohol fueled girls' night at the local watering hole, the 59. Following this, they head outside to an area they call the "yacht spot." When Baker's car breaks down while playing music, she tells them she has a battery charger in the car, but they mock her for having such a junk vehicle. When they point out that they now make new ones, she explains that her husband John has money set aside for a new riding mower. She says it's fair, since he makes more than she does. D'arcy Bloom wonders how this can be so given that he does the same thing as her, which is tend bar. When they ask her when the last time is that she got a raise, she admits that she never has. They then raid town hall and discover the town budget, uncovering a pay gap between men and women, and confront Mayor Ben Hawthorne with this.
Memories[]
Following this, Baker is in the office one day when Sheriff Thompson arrives, bringing brings back her dress back from the dry-cleaners. She, however, has no memory of having dropped it off. When she asked if he brought it in for her, he tells her that he's not in the habit of carrying around women's clothing. She tells him that Judy Cooper has come to see him and when she plays off his attempts to flirt with him, Liv suggests that it might be fun for him to go out with her. She notes that all he does is work and take care of his father, asking him when the last time he had a date was. He tells her that he has people he can call.
Later, Baker comes with D'arcy Bloom to a birthday dinner for Bloom's father. Bloom hopes that Baker will serve as a distraction for her controlling parents. The plan works at first, but falls apart when Baker observes Sheriff Thompson, who abandons the date he is having at the same restaurant. She goes out to try to comfort him, but he gets into his car and pulls away before she can say anything. Afterwards, she sits in her own car, listening to a recording which suggests that her memory loss is due to having been abducted by aliens.
Deputy Liv begins researching the missing day on her own, to the point of keeping a personal notebook trying to reconstruct the events of the day. When Sheriff Thompson asks her about it, she says that he has to admit that it's weird that the whole day's a blank. She asks if he remembers it and he admits that he doesn't, but points out that he can't even remember what he had for breakfast that morning. Later, she visits the grave-site of her Aunt Catherine, telling her that she was the only one she ever told about the UFO she saw as a child except for her husband, John, who thinks that she's crazy, but loves her anyway. She asks Catherine to give her a sign. Just then, Mayor Hawthorne and his son Max show up. She asks Max about the sketch that she had him make of the alien, but he tells her that he made all of it up and that aliens aren't real.
The partner[]
Convinced that something happened to her, Baker continues to do investigations into alien activity in Patience. This annoys Sheriff Thompson, who tells her to conduct such investigations on her own time. Things come to a head when he confronts Baker after she arrests a suspect that had been trying to assault him, even though he had told her to stay back. He tells her that this is how people get killed, but she is convinced that there is more going on. That evening, she calls Thompson out to a meeting on a bench in a local park. He asks if she's upset with him for what earlier in the day. He tries to justify his actions, but to his shock, she handcuffs him to the bench. She tells him it's not about him yelling, but about why he's yelling and how he's been acting weird all summer. She tells him that they're not leaving until he tells her what's going on. When he refuses to open up, she leaves, saying that it's a nice night for a frozen yogurt.
She eventually returns. She says that he told she could trust her gut when she's off duty and she's off duty right now and thinks that there's something going on with him. He finally opens up, telling her six years ago he lost his partner, Jesse, in Washington D.C. The man was more than just his partner, he was his childhood friend, but he made a decision that sent him to his death. He tells her that each year the anniversary comes around, it messes with his head. He tells her that he doesn't understand grief, that it just makes no sense to him and that he can't get past the emptiness. Baker tells him she's there for him, but he says that he can't do it, that he can't lose her, have something happen to her like it did to Jesse. She tells him that nothing will happen to her and that nothing will happen to him because she won't let it.
New investigations[]
With their relationship repaired, Deputy Baker and Sheriff Thompson head out on a call to Asta Hodges's household. They discover that the man who called them there is upset that Asta is holding a yard sale, calling it a "murder sale." Sheriff Thompson sends the man on his way, angry at him for wasting police time and pointing out that Abigail is innocent until proven guilty. He then goes over to Abigail, offering to buy a cowboy hat, but Abigail is unwilling to part with it due to it reminding her of Sam. Thompson ultimately leaves with a set of mystery novels that Abigail gives to him for free. He asks Deputy Baker if Abigail looked to her like a guilty woman and Baker agrees that she seems more like a grieving widow.
That evening, Baker's husband John discovers her working late at the office. She reveals to him that she posted details about a UFO sighting in Patience to the Internet, only for people to mock it by turning it into an image of a donut, not even knowing that the person who posted it is a cop. Just then, she gets a summons from Sheriff Thompson and tells him that it's going to be a bit longer. She and Thompson then head to Sam Hodges's office. Sheriff Thompson explains that he's been reading the mystery novels and in them the protagonist would hide clues in the backings of paintings. He and Baker search the paintings and eventually discover what they're looking for: a list of names with the heading "Galvan/Powell Group."
Following this, Baker and Thompson attend a surprise party for Harry Vanderspeigle. Baker proves a hit at the party with her deviled eggs recipe that she stole from a grandmother, though it makes the guests gassy. She chats with Asta Twelvetrees, telling her that she a UFO during a camping trip that they took when they were kids. She asks Twelvetrees if she doesn't want to believe that there's something more out there. Twelvetress agrees, but says that there's no way that there could be alien activity in Patience given that they only just got a pizza place, deftly hiding the fact that she knows that the Harry Vanderspeigle they all know is an alien. Later, while sitting and talking with her husband, Deputy Baker experiences a vague vision of Vanderspeigle erasing her memory. She tells her husband that she knows there's alien activity in Patience and that she's going to contact the alien tracker.
Love in the air[]
During Vanderspeigle's party, a man named Tanner Corrington from the Galvan/Powell Group comes and tries to kill him, believing him to be the human Harry Vanderspeigle. Twelvetrees shoots and kills him, and together with D'arcy Bloom, they cover up the crime. Deputy Baker and Sheriff Thompson investigate the case and discover the man's identity, but fail to discover Vanderspeigle and Twelvetrees's connection due to them rigging the autopsy. Twelvetrees, overwhelmed with guilt about killing the man, comes close to confessing the truth to Baker, but is dissuaded when Vanderspeigle reminds her that more people from Galvan/Powell will come after them if they learn of their involvement. Baker, meanwhile, contacts Peter Bach, the alien tracker, but ends up only being able to leave a message on his answering service.
The investigation in the case takes a wrinkle when Mayor Ben Hawthorne secretly calls in the Jessup police department. As the motel in which Corrington's body was found shares a border with neighboring Jessup, he believes that if the case can be handed over to them then it will help prevent Patience's reputation from being sullied any further. Detective Lena Torres from the Jessup police department is sent to investigate. At first, Thompson is antagonistic towards her, feeling that she is intruding on Patience turf. Eventually, however, they come together well and Baker, sensing a budding romance between them, tries to fan the flames.
Deputy Baker later conducts interviews with the families of those found in Sam Hodges's medical records, alongside Asta Twelvetrees. The two discover that their loved ones had been suffering from cancers and other illnesses consistent with heavy-metal poisoning. Deputy Baker, Sheriff Thompson and Detective Torres then investigate Hawthorne Creek and discover that a shell company of Galvan/Powell has been secretly poisoning the water for years.. The case is kicked up to the FBI and, with this, both Patience and Jessup's role in the case comes to an end. Deputy Baker is surprised when Sheriff Thompson doesn't see to make any sort of move on Torres and shocked when she learns that Thompson is considering moving back to Washington D.C. When she mentions this to Thompson's father, Lewis, he tells Thompson that he definitely does not want to move back to Washington D.C. When Thompson objects that Lewis is always complaining about Patience, Lewis replies that he likes complaining, that it's good for his blood pressure. With Baker's encouragement, Thompson finally ends up going on a date with Torres.
The alien tracker[]
Deputy Baker continues her efforts to contact Peter Bach, the alien tracker. She makes numerous calls and sends repeated e-mails with info about her various investigations into alien activity in Patience, but with seemingly no response. One afternoon, she tells Sheriff Thompson that she's given up, that she sent 60 e-mails and he didn't even respond to one. She tells Thompson that she spent so much time putting him on a pedestal and he's probably just a jerk. "Well, he's here," Thompson tells her. Peter Bach then appears in the doorway and tells her it was actually 62 e-mails. "Would you care to have lunch with a jerk?" he asks. Her jaw drops.
The two sit down to lunch at Joe's Diner. Bach's attention, however, is quickly distracted when he sees Harry Vanderspeigle, whom he recognizes from the alien convention in which Harry ambushed him and cut out the tracker installed in him by The Greys. He excuses himself to go pursue Harry. Deputy Baker is disappointed, though Peter eventually returns after having been unsuccessful in capturing Vanderspeigle, and Baker is delighted. She is even more delighted when Bach goes through the various material that she has compiled with evident interest. He asks her about a drawing made by Max Hawthorne of Harry's alien form, but Baker dismisses it as only having been a prank, not knowing that Hawthorne was actually telling the truth about it being a real alien. Bach then asks if he can hold on to the file for the time being and Baker happily agrees.
The suspicious death[]
Using Baker's information, Bach tracks down Vanderspeigle, but Vanderspeigle gets the jump in on him and imprisons him in the bunker of his cabin. The two, however, later team up and investigate the hidden black site of General Eleanor McCallister. There, Bach discovers his son, Robert Hutchins, but is killed in the process. Deputy Baker then watches in horror a news report stating that an SUV had gone out of control and driven over the edge of a road, killing the victim, who had been identified as Peter Bach. She expresses her opinion to Sheriff Thompson that Bach had gotten "too close" and they had killed him. She then learns about a suspicious abandoned van inside town. She is even more suspicious when she realizes that it is Bach's van and that things aren't adding up. Thompson feels that she is reading too much into things. He tells her to leave the van to be picked up by impound. After Mike departs the scene, however, she instead secretly gets into the van and drives off, hiding it within her own garage.
Thompson later chewed Deputy Baker out when he realizes what she has done. He orders her to get the van to impound immediately. She, however, tells him that is what he does, that his dad even said as much, that he runs away from everything that takes him out of his comfort zone. He tells her that he's just trying to be a friend and she tells him a real friend would believe her and have her back and that she's keeping the van. He counters that a real friend wouldn't make them visit them in jail.
Later, Baker is approached outside her garage by two officers claiming to be from Braddock. They tell her that her neighbors reported seeing her driving a van into her garage. She calls her neighbors liars and they say that if this is so then she wouldn't mind showing them the inside of her garage. She does so and is stunned to find Sheriff Thompson and her husband John Baker inside playing a card game. After the officers are gone, Thompson tells Baker that the van is safely on the Ute Reservation. He explains that he looked at the footage and the van was driven into Patience at 1:30 A.M., three hours after Peter Bach died. He further tells her that he tested the two officers by mentioning "Lieutenant Meegan" to them, but there is no Lieutenant Meegan in Braddock. He asks that she tell him who she thinks the "officers" really are, saying that if she says something about aliens, he might just listen this time.
The alien tracker's van[]
Deputy Baker finds herself enmeshed in the personal drama between Sheriff Thompson and Detective Lena Torres when Thompson becomes upset over Lena paying the bill for a meal. He tells her that this goes against the "natural order" of things, which she calls 200 million years worth of misinformation. Setting this aside, she presents him with a CCTV still to look at in relation to the Peter Bach investigation. He, however, tells her that they shouldn't do it in public, saying that there are cameras everywhere. She tells him that she just wants to check Peter Bach's van for fingerprints, but he vetoes this, arguing that whoever is watching them is very well-funded, with drones everywhere, given the fake cops that they sent to her home. Back at the sheriff's office, he takes a notebook from Joseph Rainier, the new sheriff's deputy, who is secretly a Grey-human hybrid. When Joseph offers to go through the notebook, Thompson hands it to Baker instead, telling him that he shouldn't have to do clerical work.
Baker later calls Thompson to the 59, explaining that she wanted to be careful in case someone was listening in on their conversation. She therefore takes him to a secluded area of the bar where loud music is playing. They then have a shouted conversation in which she reveals that the notebook and the duffel bag it came in belonged to Robert Hutchins, the son of Peter Bach. She tells him that furthermore, she found the name of Hutchins's therapist, who it turns out was murdered the night before. Based on this new information, Thompson agrees that they need to check the van for fingerprints. They travel to the Ute Reservation, where they have hidden the van and dust for fingerprints, Baker succeeding in finding one.
In the hopes of expediting the processing of the fingerprint, Deputy Baker secures some baked goods to use as bribes. Meanwhile, she also takes two calls from Detective Lena Torres, looking for Sheriff Thompson. When she reports this to him and he brushes it off, she realizes that the two of them aren't talking. He explains that Lena had planned a trip for the two of them the next month, all expenses paid. "Not this again," complains Baker, but he tells her the conversation is over. Not long after this, Baker discovers an unusually strong magnet which fell out of Robert Hutchins's bag. She later reports to Thompson, telling him that the lab did not get any hit on the fingerprints. She expresses her disappointment, as she had really thought they had something. Noticing that Thompson seems upset, she asks him if he's okay and he tells her that he and Lena have decided to just be friends. She invites him over to have turkey meatloaf with her and her husband, but he tells her "hard pass."
Grandma troubles[]
Baker and Thompson meet back in the sheriff's office, where Thompson tells Baker that without a hit on the fingerprint, they have to go back to what they have. He shows her a photograph of Peter Bach in his van, asking what she sees. She tells him that there's Peter Bach and a mystery man next to him in a plaid shirt. Thompson notes the mystery man's posture - upright and prepared, asking what it suggests to Baker. She thinks that it suggests "military," but he says "mime," saying that it's an undervalued physical discipline. She, however, suggests that they run with the military angle, that if had been in the military but hadn't served in a long time, then it might explain why they didn't get hit on the fingerprint: a backlog in the military archives. She suggests that he use his military archives, but he worries that this might leave a trail. She then suggests Detective Lena Torres. Thompson worries that this might be a ploy to get the two of them back together, but she makes the call anyway, making it clear at Thompson's urging that this is entirely her idea and not his. As the two of them head out, they are accosted by Judy Cooper and her mother, April, and Baker realizes, to her disgust, that Thompson slept with Judy. They later visit the 59, where Thompson shows D'arcy Bloom the photo, hoping that she can make an ID. D'arcy plays dumb, not revealing that it is actually Harry Vanderspeigle in the photo, as she is in on the secret of Harry being an alien. Meanwhile, Judy gives Baker a lipstick message that she hopes she will pass on to Thompson.
The two return to the Patience Sheriff's Office, watching for someone wearing a plaid shirt, but without any success. Thompson tells Baker that he saw her grandmother. "Where?" asks Baker, ducking down in alarm, but he tells her that she's already gone, saying that she moves fast for an old lady. Baker then gets a call from Lena Torres and is pleased to hear that she has a contact who can run the print through an old military database. Just then, an old woman, Baker's grandmother, shows up, setting a newspaper down on the desk, telling Baker that she's in it. The newspaper bears the headline "To Protect and Serve?" the contents being an unflattering article about Baker appearing in the documentary about UFOs and chiding her for bringing her obsession into her work life. It ends with a quotation from someone described as being close to her stating that "Olivia is a liar and has been a liar her whole life." Thompson tells her that if he's taught her one thing, it's that the job is all about control. He calls himself a "Jedi of control," at which Baker holds up Judy's napkin, commenting "Guess who this is form, Jedi?" He admits that he was drunk and that Judy had caught him off-guard, telling her that he'll talk to Judy about it in person.
Later, the two are out walking, and Baker tells Thompson that she found a store in Braddock selling the plaid shirt from the photo. She got a list from them of everyone who bought it and found that six of them Baker in Patience. She also tells him that it was on sale and so she bought one for her husband Thompson quips that he's going to have to put him on the suspect list. The two of them are then accosted by Baker's grandma, who comments the news article, then reveals herself as being the unnamed source. Incredulous, Baker asks why she would call her a liar, but she says that she didn't, that she called her a fantasist whose relationship with reality is tenuous at best. She takes off, leaving Baker to take a text from Detective Lena Torres. She tells Thompson that Lena's contact got a match on the print: a Dr. Wendy Beasley, a retired military chemist. "We did it!" Thompson tells her, smiling, and she breaks down sobbing, telling him that she tries so hard. He strokes her hair, telling her it's okay.
The chemist and the notebook[]
Sheriff Thompson and Deputy Baker's search for Dr. Wendy Beasley takes them to the woods of Patience. Thompson wonders why she would be living there like some kind of witch and Baker explains that she had lost it after witnessing her husband die in a lab accident. The two of them also discuss the sudden disappearance of Joseph Rainier. Baker finds it more suspicious that he showed up in the first place right when they needed a new deputy, but Thompson tells her that this is just how things work for handsome people like himself.
The two of them reach a cabin in the woods. At first, Dr. Beasley refuses to have anything to do with them when they mention Peter Bach, until Baker tells her that they believe Peter Bach was murdered. She explains that they found her fingerprints in Peter Bach's van. Beasley asks where the van is and Thompson asks why it's important. To this, she says that they wouldn't believe her, and even if they did, "they" would get to them and tell them that she's crazy. She says that she knows what happened to her husband wasn't a gas leak and wasn't something made by humans. Thinking that they are skeptical, she tells them that they need to leave. Baker, however, tells her that she saw a UFO as a child and that Peter Bach was the only person who ever believed her. She tells her that she needs to find out what happened, that Peter trusted her. Beasley, however, says that if Peter trusted her, he would have given her the "key." When they are unable to produce any such key, she tells them to get out.
The two return to the Ute Reservation to study the van, Baker saying that there must be something that they missed, like a keyhole. Thompson agrees, telling her that there's something definitely off about the van. He explains that his friend has a van that is the exact same model, except for the flooring, an aftermarket black PVC thermoplastic lining. He suggests that they get heavy explosives, but she moves aside some stuff, revealing a keyhole. "Found it," she tells him and he says that he followed her instincts and led them to victory. They return to the sheriff's office, where Thompson's attention is drawn to the unusually strong magnet that Baker found before. They realize that it could be the key, but when Baker says that the magnet was stuck to the desk, they end up going through footage and discover Joseph Rainier reading Robert Hutchins's diary. They realize that he had been spying on them and likely killed the therapist and that Dr. Beasley could be in danger. They return to the cabin in the woods, but are too late. It is gutted and Dr. Beasley is dead on the floor. They then return to the van and use the magnet to open the secret keyhole, revealing a notebook.
Ice cream and balloons[]
Sheriff Thompson and Deputy Baker study the notebook that they found in the secret compartment. The contents appear to be some sort of extremely advanced chemical formula. The two of them agree that while they don't know what it is, it is important enough to kill over. The two of them then receive a visit from Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle. Thompson shows him the formula, saying that he must know chemistry, and asking if he knows what it is. He immediately recognizes the formula as being a compound with an alien element used by the Greys. He, however, lies and tells Thompson that it is sugar. When Thompson argues that it is too long to be sugar, he claims that it is a special type of sugar, that used in the chocolate that traps ice cream in a hard shell. Baker tells him that he his joking.
Despite this, the two of them visit an ice cream shop, where Thompson gets a chocolate dipped cone. Upon emerging, they discover Deputy Baker's vehicle covered in balloons with cartoony alien faces. On the windshield is a note which reads "PATIENCE ISN'T SAFE WITH DEPUTY 'BEAM-ME-UP' BAKER IN CHARGE!" Thompson brushes it off, telling Baker not to listen, that they're mistaken if they think she's in charge. He tells her that he found a chemistry professor they can check with to see if he recognizes the formula. She, however, tells him that they're right, that people are in danger because of her, that Dr. Beasley is dead because of her. She says that everyone she gets involved just gets hurt. She tells him he should handle it on his own. He protests, but she just gets in the car and drives away.
Sometime following this, Baker encounters Kate Hawthonre in the 59. She tells her that she saw her in the alien documentary and that it was fascinating, especially the stuff in the documentary about owls. She asks Baker if it's real and she tells her that it is, that a lot of alien experiencers see owls. She asks if Kate has been seeing owls, but Kate claims to be only curious. She then asks, however, how someone would know for sure and Baker tells her that there are other signs, such as weird bruising and lost time that you can't account for.
Truth telling[]
Back at the Patience Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Thompson tells Baker that he thinks Joseph Rainier may be following him. He tells her that this is a good thing, as it means they're on the right track with their investigation. She, however, insists that she isn't involved, reiterating that she had told him that people just get hurt when she's involved. He says that he had thought she just needed time, but she tells him she doesn't need time, she needs distance. He tells her a story about his dog Cletus that is intended to reassure her, but just comes off as strange. Matters are only made worse when Mayor Ben Hawthorne shows up, saying that he's recently received complaints from "certain people," Nana Baker then appearing to make it clear just who those "certain people" are.
Later that day, Deputy Baker attends her alien experiencer group. She is touched to see a woman there with her mother, who tells her that she's there to support her, despite not having had an experience herself. This stands in stark contrast to Nana Baker, who comments "So this is where al the crazies meet," saying that she had expected there'd be more padding on the walls. Kate Hawthorne also attends the group, relating her recent feelings of not being safe, which she thinks may be connected to alien abductions. Baker asks her if she's alright, and she admits that she doesn't know.
At the Patience Sheriff's Office, Baker relates her experience at the experiencer group to Sheriff Thompson. She tells him about that the woman whose mother came to support her, saying that she never had that kind of support and never will. He admits to having recently had his own beliefs challenged, that he had notions of masculinity pushed on him that turned out not to be true. He tells her that she needs to stand up to her grandmother and that he will go with her to give her the support she never had. Thus, the two of them head over to her Nana Baker's house. He knocks on the door for her and Nana Baker reluctantly invites them in, demanding to know why she's there in person when she could have just e-mailed. Deputy Baker tells her that she says things about her that are kind of mean, saying it's probably not her fault because her generation had it hard. Nana Baker asks if she wants to apologize and if there's anything else. Sheriff Thompson encourages her to go on and she admits to having stolen Nana Baker's deviled egg recipe, but says that she did it because she admired her and wanted to be like her, at least until she trash-talked her.
She asks why she did that and Nana Baker tells her that she was only telling the truth, that she always does. In response to this, Deputy Baker tells her that she can do truth-telling too. She tells her that grandmothers are supposed to be nice, but that she's old and cruel, and smells like vinegar. She continues in this vein, saying that she always dreaded seeing her because she made her feel small and worthless, but that she's not going to feel that way anymore. Thompson makes motions, suggesting she dial it back, but she lays in, telling her that she's small and worthless and then cussing her out. Nana Baker looks shocked then comes over faint and collapses on the floor. The paramedics come, taking her to the hospital for a "minor heart attack." Sheriff Thompson says that she looked pale when she got there. He asks Deputy Baker if she got her recipes and she agrees that she did, thanking her for picking the lock. He tells her that they were never there.
Taken up[]
The next day, at the Patience Sheriff's Office, Deputy Baker tells Sheriff Thompson that they have a problem. She used the trick that he taught her and discovered that someone has touched their murder investigation board. He tells her that the thiks that it was likely Mayor Hawthorne, given his recent interest in their investigation. She agrees that it's likely, pointing out the fact that he is spying on them that very moment. She reminds him that he had told her he had found another chemist to check the formula with. He asks if this means that she is back on the case and she agrees that she is. She tells him that she doesn't want to let being afraid stop her from doing what's right. She continues that he has a crazy plan to catch Joseph Rainier.
The two of them meet at a restaurant, Maya Norte, where they discover that Mayor Hawthorne is once again spying on them from outside. To try to throw him off, Sheriff Thompson calls him, pretending to be an official from his son Max's school, telling him that they need someone to come pick Max up urgently. That evening, the two of them pull up in front of a lab. Thompson tells Baker to wait inside the car, while he goes inside to talk with the chemist. As he heads inside, Joseph approaches the passenger side, gun drawn. Inside, however, he discovers only a balloon with alien eyes.
"Drop it," Deputy Baker warns him, poking her gun into his back. He drops the gun and Thompson emerges from the lab. He laughs, holding up the notebook with the formula, asking if it's the one he's looking for. He agrees that it is, then snatches Deputy Baker's gun from her hands and points it at her. Baker comments that his reflexes seem almost non-human. He forces Thompson to surrender both the notebook and his gun. He then asks what the formula is for, only for Thompson to give him Harry Vanderspeigle's answer about it being the sugar used for the chocolate that tops ice cream. He says that he'll have to get the answer from the chemist, but Thompson explains that they set him up, that there is no chemist. He replies that it's too bad, that he'll have to kill them for no reason.
Joseph points the gun, only to suddenly slammed into by a car. Mayor Ben Hawthorne emerges from the car, telling Thompson and Baker to get in. He then drives off at maniac's pace, shouting about how they made him hire a killer and then he killed the killer, so now he's a killer. He then suddenly reverses, saying that perhaps Joseph is not dead and they need to go back and check. When they get there, however, they find nothing but a small puddle in the place where Joseph was hit by the car. "Maybe it just knocked him out," suggests Mayor Hawthorne, to which Thompson replies that it knocked him out of his skin. Baker says that he was taken up. "To heaven?" asks Hawthorne and Thompson says that it could have been a helicopter with a claw. Baker clarifies that she means an alien spaceship. Thompson tells her to stop, shining a flashlight around and heading towards the woods. Hawthorne asks her if she really thinks it was aliens and she tells him that he hit Joseph at 50 miles per hour and now he's gone. There are no footprints or blood trail and they didn't hear any noise of a helicopter. She tells him that aliens are real, that they abduct people and they don't remember.
Reunion[]
Thompson and Baker return to the woods the next day, Thompson telling her that he doesn't want to hear that their search is a waste of time because Joseph Rainier was taken by aliens. She argues that nobody could have walked away from being hit like he was, to which he argues that some would say the most efficient form of transportation is rolling. As they continue their search, they hear a tree branch snapping and pull their guns, but it turns out to only be Detective Lena Torres. Thompson asks what she's doing there and she tells him that she was tracking him, that she was worried about him. He tells her that they've been tracking someone too, but that he probably shouldn't say more. Baker tells her that they're tracking an alien, possibly a human-alien hybrid. Torres says that she's joking and she tells her that she never jokes about aliens. Torres replies that there's no such things, that they're disinformation spread by the government to cover up their gene-splicing program. At this, Thompson comments that he's glad somebody gets it, saying if he didn't think she was perfect before, he does now. Baker excuses himself while the two of them patch their relationship.
Later, with nothing having been found during their search, Deputy Baker returns to the Patience Sheriff's Office. There, she receives a note which reads: "Call for Liv: Meet me on the trail to Perkins' Mine." She heads out and there she discovers Peter Bach, very much alive and wearing a robotic suit. Elsewhere, Sheriff Thompson discovers a Grey alien.
Trivia[]
- Liv Baker's actress Elizabeth Bowen was credited as a guest star in the first season of Resident Alien, but as of the second season is starring cast. She has appeared in every episode of the program throughout its three seasons.
Quotes[]
"Hey, I know the sheriff can seem kind of mean sometimes, but he's just a big teddy bear... with severe anger and control issues." - to Max Hawthorne regarding Sheriff Mike Thompson, "Homesick"
"Respect is not an entitlement. You can’t get it just by standing there asking for it. You earn it through your actions, Deputy, and quite frankly, I can tell you right now, punching burgers, that shit there ain't gonna cut it."
"Okay, well, how about this for an action? I quit. Does that cut it? I'll eat this tonight because it's not right to waste food!"
- Sheriff Mike Thompson and Deputy Liv Baker, resigning as a sheriff's deputy, "The Green Glow"
"You got me a coffee pod machine!"
"Oh, what are you doing? I got that for the whole office. What are you doing? Nope."
"You got it for me, and you agree with my doorknob instincts."
"You got decent doorknob instincts, all right? But this whole thing is for everybody. It ain't just for you."
- Sheriff Mike Thompson and Deputy Liv Baker, "Heroes of Patience"
"I knew they existed."
- Liv Baker upon Asta Twelvetrees telling her that Harry Vanderspeigle is an alien, "Girls' Night"
"Everyone loves you too."
"Yes, but it's only because I'm nice."
"You gave me a ticket once for locking my bike to a stop sign. You're not that nice."
- Asta Twelvetrees and Liv Baker, "Girls' Night"
"Nothing is gonna happen to me, okay? And nothing is going to happen to you because I won't let it."
- Liv Baker to Sheriff Mike Thompson, "An Alien in New York"
"I mean, I mentioned that I saw something, but then my teacher, uh, didn't believe me, and so I just pretended he was right and never mentioned it again. You know, this world we live in is a lot more unconventional than we think, and there's bizarre phenomenon happening out there to people that's real."
"What would you say to your teacher now?"
"Sorry. Uh... ah, I'll do this, okay. I believe in aliens."
- Deputy Liv Baker and an interviewer for a documentary, "I Believe in Aliens"
"You really think this was aliens?"
"You hit him going 50 miles per hour, and now he's gone. There's no footprints, no blood trail. And did you see or here a helicopter? I think Joseph is an alien. They're real, Ben. Aliens are real, and they abduct people, and they don't remember."
- Deputy Liv Baker and Mayor Ben Hawthorne, regarding Joseph Rainier, "Here Comes My Baby"
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