“Alien: Earth” has been building up to a tense and climactic showdown since Morrow and the “specimens” first crashed landed on Earth back in the premiere episode. The series has breathed new alien life into a 46 year old franchise that started strong but hit some low notes over the years… we’re looking at you “Alien Resurrection”. “Alien: Earth” seemingly conflicts with some of the continuity of the other ‘Alien’ films, but there’s no clear dissemination of data about the aliens throughout the original trilogy which could be chalked up to corporate secrecy…. or ineptitude.
Putting that bone of contention aside, “Alien” Earth” has really cooked for the duration of it’s 8 episode run with fully flushed out, strong world building, complimented by character driven growth, through the lens of A.I. and of course, really cool alien scenes. The eyeball octopus was terrifying as always but we’ll get into that later. Warning, beyond this point there are heavy spoilers for “Alien” Earth” on FX and Hulu.
Alien: Earth” seemingly conflicts with some of the continuity of the other ‘Alien’ films, but there’s no clear dissemination of data about the aliens throughout the original trilogy which could be chalked up to corporate secrecy…. Or ineptitude.”
One thing that really stands out in this episode and the entire season is the inside access to the rich person behind the curtain pulling everyone’s strings. The “company” in all the other alien movies are always cold and heartless, but mostly far away and dealt with through intermediaries. Here we get to see Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) and look beyond his mask as this episode finds him outside of his comfort zone and in increasingly more dangerous situations that money always can’t buy someone’s way out of. Yutani (Sandra Yi Sencindiver) looms large in this episode but we sadly never get to see any sort of confrontation between Kavalier and one half of the legendary Weyland-Yutani (or Weylan-Yutani) of ‘Alien’ lore. The interesting detail about the timeline is that the events of ‘Earth’ take place 2 years before the events of “Alien”.
The temp continues to rise throughout the episode as it’s revealed early on that comms were down and Yutani warships are likely on their way. Kavalier security also reveals the Xenomorph is tearing through their soldiers while the boy genius has foolishly imprisoned his remaining five hybrids. Throughout the series, we’ve seen the kids take baby steps towards maturity, but they are still young at heart. In this episode, everything changes. The hybrids all come to terms with killing an don’t want to be anyone’s property, even a megalomaniac eccentric rich guy that’s nice to them.
The inevitable confrontation between synthetic Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) and cyborg Morrow (Babou Ceesay) delivers beyond expectations as the two units go at each other pretty hard. Just when you think Morrow has won, his gloating proves to be his downfall as Kirsh chokes him out. The adults on the island naively try to control an increasingly uncontrollable situation, while the kids realize they don’t have to listen to anyone who’s in charge, even their benefactor or creator.
Wendy (Sydney Chandler) has really grown through the season, but after the cliffhanger of episode 7 it’s unclear how she’ll handle feeling completely betrayed by her brother. While imprisoned, Wendy flexes her Neo level Matrix controlling skills when she frees Morrow and her brother Joe Hermit (Alex Lawther), who she decides to forgive after some heartfelt advice form her adoptive brother. These interpersonal tender moments while in the midst of grave danger are part of what makes this franchise great. The whole family aspect is something we’ve rarely seen throughout the movies, so the hybrid’s strength is definitely in their numbers.
Boy Kavalier brings down the house in the finale, he becomes increasingly reckless and completely loses control of the facility by the end, whether or not the tech lord survives to season 2 is up in the air. The side story of Kavalier trying to find a human host for the eyeball octopus was diabolical, but we can’t help wondering what the conversation between the two would have been like. Boy makes a grave error in trying to sacrifice Wendy’s brother to the eyeball monster… and Wendy takes it personally. Wendy’s relationship with the Xenomorphs is somewhat unique throughout the franchise although it’s worth noting that Ripley had alien DNA infused with her own in “Alien Resurrection” and was also sympathetic to the creatures to an extent. The relationships between humans and machines seems to be driven almost to an irreparable place by the end as the hybrids fully revolt and appear to be sacrificing Boy and their creator Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis) to the adult Xenomorph and his baby ward.
“Alien: Earth” did what all of the ‘Alien’ movies do, killed almost everyone. The fact that the hybrids survive again shows heir durability as even the strongest synths generally get destroyed in any sort of combat situations with the Xenomorphs. The season as a whole was enjoyable on nostalgic levels and just for the cool alien factor. We would’ve liked to have seen Yutani enter the mix and where the eyeball monster and his new zombie host ended up, but there obviously have to be storylines left over for season 2. We are curious if the eyeball monster almost getting to Hermit will have side effects, the way Nibs (Lily Newmark) did after the creature tried to latch onto her, but the episode ends before we can see if there are any issues with Wendy’s brother.
As of now there has been no news of a season 2 renewal, but given the critical response and solid viewership numbers pitting the series in the top 10 streamed series, a pickup is likely. Hopefully for more episodes, but smaller seasons is unfortunately the trend in television right now. Where the actual story could go from here is impossible to predict, but creator Noah Hawley has spoken about the possible future of the series in multiple interviews. Hawley says: “There’s definitely a lot of story left to tell…” he would go on to talk about Wendy’s childlike notion that the Xenomorphs aren’t bad and hinted that this strategy would blow up in her face. It’s possible the Xenomorph realizes Wendy’s strength and is just biding it’s time until it can find a populated area so the creature can incubate and mass reproduce.
What do you think? Will Morrow, Kavalier or Kirsh make it out of the cage? How long will the Xenomorphs roll with Wendy and her family? How did Nibs get healed so fast after Hermit fried her in episode 7? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
