Peter Bach is a character in the science fiction comedy television series Resident Alien. He is portrayed by Terry O'Quinn, and by Dylan Sloane in his early adulthood.
Character overview[]
Peter Bach in early adulthood
While still in early adulthood, Peter Bach witnessed the abduction of his pregnant wife, Jenny's, child, Robert Hutchins, and had an alien tracker implanted in him by the Grey aliens. Following this experience, he took on the role of "Alien Tracker" and thirty years later still hopes to be reunited with the child he lost. He spent 15 years working at the Carl Sagan Center at SETI, worked as a government consultant, authored a number of books, and hosts a podcast titled "The Alien Tracker." Like Max Hawthorne, he has the ability to see through the molecular reconstruction process used by Harry Vanderspeigle to blend in as human.
Peter Bach is apparently killed by Joseph Rainier, a Grey-human hybrid, but turns out only to have been left in a catatonic state. He is kept alive in this state by General Eleanor McCallister, who later fits him with a robotic suit in the hope of using him to track aliens.
Appearance[]
Plot summary[]
Peter and family[]
Peter Bach boards a bus with his very pregnant wife, Jenny, happily discussing their needs upon becoming parents, including whether to use jarred or homemade baby food. Suddenly the lights on the bus go out and time seems to freeze around them. Bach heads to the front of the bus and sees that the driver appears to be spilling his coffee, but the coffee is frozen in midair. He tries to force the door open when suddenly his wife shouts for him and appears to float in the air. There is another flash and suddenly everything appears normal, except that now his wife his no longer pregnant. She stands, observes her figure without the baby inside, and screams in horror.
The Grey aliens implanted a tracking chip in both him and his wife. For unknown reasons, every so often they would again abduct either Peter, Jenny, or both, and take them to see their son, Robert.
Cut off[]
Harry Vanderspeigle ambushing Peter Bach
Thirty years later, Peter Bach is the "Alien Tracker," hosting a panel at a UFO Con in New Mexico. The panel is attended by Asta Twelvetrees and Harry Vanderspeigle, who is an actual alien, having taken on the form of a human man. At the panel, other people share their own supposed experiences with having been abducted. After the panel is over, Vanderspeigle pursues a woman who shared a story during the panel of having had alien technology implanted within her, hoping to use said technology to restore his depowered device. However, he is spotted by Bach, who is able to see his true alien form. Vanderspeigle discovers that the woman was lying and then is forced to evade Bach's pursuit. While trying to evade Bach, he comes up with a plan and ambushes him, then discovers to his surprise that Bach has implanted in his arm the technology that he was looking for. Bach pleads for him not remove it, saying that it's the only hope he has of meeting his child if the Greys who implanted it in him come back. Vanderspeigle, however, tells him that the Greys aren't coming back, that they already got what they wanted, then cuts the tracker out of him, leading him to call him a "monster." After the tracking device is removed, the Greys have no way to find Peter and stop abducting him, cutting him off from contact with his son.
Meeting Harry again[]
After having some of her memories removed by Harry Vanderspeigle, Deputy Liv Baker of the Patience Sheriff's Office becomes suspicious. She has long believed in aliens, having been the sole witness to a UFO during a camping trip as a child. Suspecting that she is the victim of an alien abduction, she begins tracking sightings of UFOs in Patience. Convinced that there is alien activity in Patience, she contacts Peter Bach, determined to get him to come to the town and investigate. Her first attempt meets only with a recorded message saying that the alien tracker is very busy and to meet him at his next book signing. After numerous phone calls and e-mails, she finally convinces him to come to Patience for a face-to-face meeting.
The two of them sit together in Joe's Diner discussing the matter, when Harry walks into the diner. Peter immediately recognizes him for what he is, remembering him well from the convention. He abandons his luncheon with Liv and pursues Harry, threatening him with a shock prod. Harry manages to elude him, then gets the jump on him, claiming the shock prod for himself and imprisoning him in the bunker of his cabin, tied up to a chair, gagged, and monitored by a baby monitor.
Asta pays a visit to Harry's cabin and hears the noises from the baby monitor. She rushes into the bunker along with Harry, who unconvincingly claims not to understand how Peter got into his bunker. Asta removes Peter's gag, calling Harry out for having kidnapped Peter. Harry tells Asta that Peter was trying to kill him and Peter replies that Harry ripped the implant out of his neck and he nearly died. Peter tells Asta about his son and how he was kidnapped by the Greys. Asta tells Harry that they shouldn't be trying to kill each other but should be helping each other. Peter agrees, telling Harry that he swears on his son that he won't hurt him if Harry doesn't hurt him in return. Harry gives in, thinking to himself that there is no point in resisting, as Asta always does the right thing.
Peter reveals that he knows of a secret base in Wyoming where the government is keeping alien specimens and possibly all of their information on the Greys. Harry asks him how they can get into this base and Peter tells him to forget it, that a friend of his gave him some schematics and was killed for it. He continues that he even tried to contact General McCallister, the woman in charge, only for them to be all over him after that and him being forced to go underground. "Maybe they will let you in if you have something they want," suggests Harry.
Infiltration[]
Thus, a plan is born. Peter and Harry travel to the secret government base, Peter informing the guards at the gate that he has something that General McCallister wants. At first they completely deny her existence, but when Harry reveals his alien form they immediately radio for her. She heads out and asks Peter where he got the alien, and he asks to discuss it inside. She tells him that it's her base and her terms, that he doesn't get to dictate anything. Harry growls and Peter tells her that as the one with the alien, he will dictate what he wants to dictate. She gives him twenty minutes. After twelve minutes inside her office, however, he has yet to give her anything and she is growing impatient. He tells her that his sources say that this place is where she keeps information on alien activity and he wants it. She tells him he should stop listening to the loons at his conventions, but then an alarm blares, as Harry has entered the facility and is attacking. She asks what he thinks he's doing, working with an alien, but he claims he would never do that.
Harry makes his way through the facility, searching for his half human/half alien baby. Meanwhile, Peter questions McCallister over whether she even really has an alien, but she refuses to say. Harry and Peter instigate a riot within the facility, releasing all the prisoners, and Peter discovers that his son Robert is among them. He races through the prison, seeking his son, and finds him. He shouts for him and Robert starts to come over, only for a Grey-human hybrid named Joseph Rainier to tell him to stop, that he belongs to them. Robert ignores the alien and goes to Peter. The two share a quick embrace, but then Joseph fires a gun, so Peter throws himself in front of Robert to protect him, taking the bullet in his heart. Harry then arrives and throttles Joseph before leaving him for the prisoners to have their way with and runs to Peter. Seeing his baby with him, Peter comments on it and Harry tells him that he found his baby too. Peter tells him that it's too late for him and to save his son. He dies and Harry and Robert make a hasty escape from the facility.
The suit[]
Peter Bach in a cybernetic suit forced on him by McCallister
Sometime following this, General McCallister reveals to David Logan that Peter Bach was in fact kept alive, in a vegetative state. She has obtained a special suit which she intends to make him wear to fight the Grey aliens.
While McCallister has a conversation with Harry Vanderspeigle, Logan watches on a monitor while adjusting various devices hooked up to Bach. As he changes the settings on one of them, the image of Harry on the monitor changes from his human disguise to that of his true alien form.
General McCallister employs Peter Bach, outfitted in his special suit, to confront Joseph, hoping to capture him to obtain his portal technology. Peter does so, but in the process seems to regain his consciousness and the memory of Joseph confronting him and taking his son. "Where is my son?!" he shouts. He captures Joseph for McCallister, but also lashes out. McCallister then shouts for his troops to kill him, but the suit is too powerful and absorbs all of her agents' shots. He escapes and arranges a meeting with Deputy Liv, who is stunned to see him alive.
It turns out that Peter suffered damage to his robotic legs from being shot at. Deputy Liv researches methods online for trying to put a robotic man together, but is only able to find info on a Chinese robot dog. She nevertheless visits him in the cave where he is currently sheltered on one of Patience's mountains, bringing him fried chicken and soda. He is unable to actually eat or drink either due to not having a stomach, but appreciates the taste.
Trivia[]
The bearded counselor seen in "Radio Harry"
- Peter Bach is portrayed by Terry O'Quinn, who is known for his role as John Locke on the mystery drama series Lost. O'Quinn has also appeared on sci-fi classics such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files and The Twilight Zone.
- Terry O'Quinn is credited as a co-star in the second season episodes "Radio Harry" and "Family Day"; however, his character is not actually seen in those episodes. Some fans have speculated that he is the bearded, white-haired counselor that appears at the beginning of "Radio Harry," due to to the similar facial features. The voice of this counselor is also later heard by Liv Baker on a recording towards the end of the episode, suggesting that her memory loss is due to an alien encounter, and again in "Family Day."
- Following Bach's reappearance in "Avian Flu," Resident Alien showrunner Chris Sheridan stated in an interview that viewers would see more of him later in the third season and that he would be coming back with force.[1]
- The robotic suit worn by Peter Bach in the third season was originally created as a practical effect; however, it was ultimately decided that "on camera it just did not look exciting in any way." A CGI suit was then created in post-production.[2]
- Though it has never been stated, it is possible he is named after Peter Hogan, one of the co-creators of the Resident Alien comics on which the TV series is based.
Quotes[]
"Hi, I'm Peter Bach. Most of you know me from my podcast as 'The Alien Tracker'. I have spent fifteen years working at the Carl Sagan Center at SETI. I've been a government consultant. And if you've read my books, you'll know I possess a special skill set that makes aliens fear me."
- Peter Bach to the crowd at the alien convention
"Please don’t take it out. It's the only way they can find me if they come back. It's the only way I’ll ever meet my son."
"They’re not coming back for you. They already got what they wanted."
- Peter Bach and Harry Vanderspeigle
"I should have killed you when you were begging me not to rip your neck open like a stupid baby."
"Sometimes I wish you had. The only thing keeping me going was the incontrovertible fact that the next time I saw you, you would be the one cowering in fear."
- Harry Vanderspeigle and Peter Bach
"What the hell happened?"
"They took me again. I saw our baby. It's a boy. It's a boy!"
- Peter Bach and his wife
"What are you thinking? You're kidnapping people now?"
"I had to. He tried to electrocute me with his cooking stick for no reason."
"You ripped an implant out of my neck. I almost bled to death."
"I did not rip. I cut with the scalpel."
- Asta Twelvetrees, Harry Vanderspeigle and Peter Bach
"They implanted me with a tracking chip, and over the years they would take one or both of us to see him, but they stopped that after he took my chip."
- Peter, explaining how the Greys would take him or his wife
"You f... you found your baby."
"So did you."
"It's too late for me. Please... save him. Save my son."
- Peter Bach and Harry Vanderspeigle
"Nope. No way in hell am I putting that thing on."
"It's not for you. It's for him. Who better to fight aliens than someone who can see aliens?"
- David Logan and General McCallister regarding Peter Bach
Gallery[]
Still images[]
Videos[]
[]
| Characters |
|---|
          |
References[]
- ↑ Resident Alien Cast and Creator Tease Shocking Return by Nick Caruso, March 6, 2024
- ↑ Resident Alien Showrunner Chris Sheridan Breaks Down Season 3's Cliffhanger-Palooza Finale by Tara Bennett, April 4. 2024