What I’m Watching: People of Earth

People of Earth: Season 1, Episode 8 “Mars or Bust” (B+)

There’s definitely a point at which being part of the group becomes problematic for your real life, and Ozzie saw that in a big way when he was being honored for his big exposé about Jonathan and then saw a job offer from the New York Times disappear instantly because he honestly answered a question about whether he believed in aliens. Even worse was the fact that the job offer didn’t go away, but came with the condition that he walk back what he said, something that totally negates all the progress he’s achieved. Leaving Beacon was a big step, but he couldn’t do it without seeing something that made him realize that he can’t suppress what he knows to be true. Jerry is being awfully assertive with Yvonne, and her desire to keep a secret romance up rather than move in together seems pretty fair, even though Jerry took it particularly poorly. Father Doug getting abducted was an interesting twist, though it turns out it was just H. Jon Benjamin’s Officer Glimmer paying some local kids to kidnap him so that he would come to the conclusions that all this alien nonsense in an unacceptable distraction. Jeff reprogramming Nancy for the sake of the mission was a fantastic development, and I love that he sent her into Star-Crossed and then ended up sharing some true emotions and feelings about his dearly departed friend Kurt. We have just two back-to-back episodes left, and I’m thrilled that this show secured a renewal for a second season.