Resident Alien's Linda Hamilton Talks Time Travel & Tackling McCallister's "Serious Daddy Issues"
The hardened military vet spent decades chasing UFOs to vindicate her late father. Has she finally found closure in Season 4?
This story contains spoilers for Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 3, "Ties That Bind."
Last we saw of General Eleanor McCallister on Resident Alien, the hardened, alien-obsessed military leader played by Terminator icon Linda Hamilton was stepping through a mysterious portal by way of stolen Grey technology.
The show didn't provide an answer to her destination until tonight's episode — "Ties That Bind" — which revealed that the general actually went back in time to Maine, circa 1970, to prevent her father from committing suicide after spotting a UFO and failing to convince anyone of his sighting.
"She's a character with some serious daddy issues," Hamilton told USA Insider. "So she goes back to see her father, and then things unfold in a way that she hadn't particularly planned on."
Linda Hamilton takes us inside General McCallister's time travel mission on Resident Alien
If you think about it, Hamilton has finally gotten her Kyle Reese moment by going back in time to stop a terrible event from taking place. The actress, however, did not have to channel her inner Michael Biehn for Resident Alien Season 4, Episode 3.
"No, I created my own template for that," she said, laughing. "But you're right, the stories do mirror each other. Time travel! Sci-fi! What's up with that?"
Getting to revisit a retro window in American history "was really fun," she added. "To play in that time period in particular was…well, better than the '80s. Clothing-wise, style-wise, I’m glad it wasn't the '80s [laughs]. But the '70s [vibe] was fun."
Clearly, General McCallister has never watched Loki or read Stephen King's 11.22.63 because she learns the hard way that the timeline does not like to be altered and will do anything to maintain the status quo after she tries and fails to give her father definitive proof of alien technology. Rather than wallow in despair or return to the present with Harry (Alan Tudyk) and D'arcy (Alice Wetterlund), however, Eleanor decides to remain in 1970 — at least for the time being (no pun intended) — in order to look after her younger self and make sure the girl grows up more well-adjusted.
After years of vociferously chasing down extra-terrestrials, it seems the stone-faced general has found some much-needed closure.
"I would hope so," Hamilton said when asked about that potential closure. "Let's give her a future without any of that happening, [a future] with an intact relationship with her father. A whole new future for her."
Linda Hamilton on returning to Resident Alien
But will we see the character again before Season 4 is out?
"This might be just my one episode for the season," Hamilton concluded. "It could be very well where she lands, but that doesn't mean that she won't be back in future seasons. Of course, it depends on whether we get picked up [for Season 5]. I think this show should go on and on and on, but I'm not king of the world. But for sure, if it goes on, they'll be coming back in time for me."
Season 4 of Resident Alien drops new episodes on Fridays on USA Network and SYFY. All episodes will be available to stream exclusively on Peacock one week after they air.
