Why Kate Finally Remembers Being Abducted By The Greys In Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 3

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Resident Alien season 4, episode 3, “Ties That Bind.”Meredith Garretson’s Kate Hawthorne has had a rough time throughout quite a lot of Resident Alien, and it’s all finally catching up with her in season 4, episode 3, “Ties That Bind.” As a member of the Resident Alien cast since the very beginning, Garretson’s character has been getting abducted since at least the end of season 2. Resident Alien‘s Grey Aliens have been taking her to their ship and wiping her mind after each time, so she wasn’t even aware she had a little girl until very recently.

At the end of Resident Alien season 3, everything changed for Kate, and season 4 is continuing her biggest revelation. While she failed to remember anything from her time aboard the Greys’ moon ship, she was at least aware that she was being abducted. So, she was present for season 3’s big finale, but she didn’t retain any of those memories and was therefore left especially afraid and even shorter on answers than ever before. It would seem things are starting to clear up for her in “Ties That Bind.”

Kate Now Remembers Being Abducted Because She Had Her Chip Removed In “Ties That Bind”

Kate freed herself of the Greys’ control

After Resident Alien season 4’s tribute to The Incredible Hulk resulted in the exit of Enver Gjokaj’s Joseph Rainer in episode 2, Kate and Ben Hawthorne (Levi Fiehler) now know that their daughter is no longer on the Greys’ ship and is somewhere on Earth. While I’m not convinced that a random note would be enough to convince Kate that her baby is safe, she decides to trust the intel and has the tracking chip removed from the back of her neck. The chip in question had long been used to keep tabs on Kate and abduct her.

The chip apparently had another function. After she removed it, the memories of her time with the Greys started to fall back into place. They’re only fragments in “Ties That Bind,” but they’ll surely become more complete as time goes by. So, the chip likely had a role in either wiping Kate’s memory when she left the ship each time, or, what’s more likely, kept her from remembering those encounters with the Greys. The latter makes more sense to me, as Kate appeared to know what was happening each time she was abducted, but never remembered it on Earth.

Ben Should Remember Being Abducted Now, Too

Resident Alien season 3 revealed Ben removed his chip

Resident Alien season 4 is set a month after the season 3 finale, “Homecoming.” Near the end of season 3, Ben removed his tracking chip, believing his wife was also about to do the same thing. Kate decided at the last minute that she couldn’t do it, and kept her chip implanted so she could continue to be with her daughter, even though she didn’t remember being with her after. Although she will be relieved to have also removed her chip now, the fact that Kate’s memories of the Greys have started to return could mean a notable plot hole.

Kate removes her chip and starts to remember being abducted within the space of a single episode. However, Ben has been free of the Greys’ tech for at least a month now, but he hasn’t experienced the same recollections as Kate. While his signature neuroticism and pessimism are a subconscious reaction to what he’s been experiencing for his whole life, he doesn’t actually remember any of his abductions, despite not having his tracking chip anymore.

Related

Resident Alien Season 4 Finally Solves A Series-Long Mystery About The Greys

Lore about the Greys has been drip-fed into Resident Alien for a while now, but season 4 has cleared up one of the more ambiguous reveals.

One explanation to account for this plot hole is that Ben had been getting abducted by the Greys since he was very young. So, the memories he’ll have amassed over that time have been far more numerous than Kate’s and therefore may take longer to process and be returned to his conscious mind now that the chip isn’t suppressing them anymore. Alternatively, Ben may never have been properly awake during his forced visits to the Greys’ ship, whereas Kate was required to be conscious to interact with her baby. Regardless, Ben still doesn’t remember anything of note from his abductions.

Kate Getting Her Abduction Memories Back In Resident Alien Sets Up An Uncomfortable D’arcy Storyline

D’arcy rescued Baby Hawthorne (but Kate doesn’t know that yet)

D’arcy Bloom (Alice Wetterlund) was one of the biggest heroes in “Homecoming.” She was instrumental in saving Kate’s baby from the Greys and brought her back to Earth so she would be safe. While doing so, she interacted quite heavily with Kate, whose memories were still being manipulated at the time. In “Ties That Bind,” Kate sees D’arcy, which triggers fragments of memories from the events of “Homecoming” to return to Garretson’s character, but she still lacks the context of why D’arcy was there.

Kate is quite understandably distressed by the D’arcy revelation, but there’s no sign in the scene that she understands why Wetterlund’s character was on the Greys’ ship. She may be suspicious of D’arcy for not even mentioning the encounter, although, as far as Kate is concerned, D’arcy may also have problems remembering being there at all. Either way, Kate is sure to be especially cautious of her, and I’m certain Resident Alien season 4 isn’t far away from bringing the issue of D’arcy hiding Kate’s daughter to the forefront of the story.

Resident Alien

Release Date

January 27, 2021

Network

USA Network

Showrunner

Chris Sheridan