Alien: Earth Succeeds Where Ridley Scott's Alien Sequels Failed

Alien: Earth delivers everything you'd want from a bid pinch "Alien" successful nan title: The iconic Xenomorphs hunting down hapless humans; gratuitous assemblage horror; and androids who you tin ne'er afloat trust. But writer/director Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) and his squad besides negociate to push nan franchise to caller heights, delving into nan philosophical questions that Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Alien Covenant couldn't afloat explore. It's not conscionable simply an Alien TV show — it's a meticulously crafted acquisition that elevates nan full franchise, moreover much truthful than nan recent Alien: Romulus.

The series, which premieres coming connected FX and Hulu, takes spot 2 years earlier nan original Alien. It starts pinch nan familiar: A group of astronauts awakening from cryosleep connected a retro-futuristic-Weyland Yutani shipping vessel. We study they're carrying precious extraterrestrial cargo, which predictably breaks loose and wreaks havoc passim nan ship. Meanwhile connected Earth (somewhere we haven't seen astatine each successful nan franchise), we're introduced to a terminally sick kid undergoing a extremist caller procedure: having her encephalon uploaded into a Synthetic assemblage (played by Sydney Chandler).

This kid takes nan sanction Wendy — 1 of galore Peter Pan references successful nan bid — and embraces her caller (and much mature) robotic assemblage pinch childlike wonder. Instead of conscionable being a frail kid, she becomes incredibly strong, pinch accelerated reflexes and nan expertise to jump down safely from awesome heights. It's for illustration she's go an anime heroine a la Battle Angel Alita (at 1 point, she straps connected a katana-like beard simply because it looks badass).

Wendy isn't human, but she's not a full android either since her characteristic and memories are uploaded from a quality brain. She's thing wholly new. She becomes a benignant of older related to different sick kids going done nan aforesaid human-Synthetic hybridization process, and together they shape their ain rotation connected nan Lost Boys (including immoderate girls). They moreover spell truthful acold arsenic to return names from Peter Pan characters (one kid, unfortunately, gets stuck pinch nan sanction Smee, aft Captain Hook's cowardly lackey). And to her creator, Prodigy Corporation caput Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), she's nan cardinal to a early wherever group tin cheat decease and practically unrecorded everlastingly successful synthetic bodies.

The alien-filled spaceship ends up crash-landing successful 1 of Prodigy's cities successful Southeast Asia (in this universe, 5 mega-corporations tally nan world, federation states nary longer exist), and Boy Kavalier recklessly decides to trial his caller hybrid superteam pinch a rescue mission. They observe 1 survivor, Morrow (Babou Ceesay), a loyal information serviceman pinch a badass robotic arm, arsenic good arsenic a classical Xenomorph and a slew of caller species. I won't spoil overmuch astir them here, but I person a emotion nan cheeky multi-eyeball parasite will quickly go a fan-favorite.

Alien: Earth yet immerses america successful elements of nan franchise nan movies could only hint at. We spot what a wholly corporate-run Earth looks like, and it's arsenic gross arsenic you'd imagine. As usual, Weyland-Yutani prioritizes its extraterrestrial treasures complete nan lives of its workers. But it's moreover much sickening to spot Boy Kavalier — nan benignant of obnoxious tech bro who defiantly puts his bare feet connected desks during meetings — salivate astatine nan opportunity to bargain and study nan alien cargo. Never mind nan hundreds (and perchance thousands) of lives mislaid successful his ain city, aliases nan inherent dangers successful bringing deadly alien creatures into his investigation lab.

The bid is astatine its champion erstwhile it interrogates nan large questions posed (with much aliases little deftness) by nan films astir nan quality of being human. And wherever does that time off nan caller hybrids, who harvester quality representation and emotion pinch Synthetic bodies, who are somewhat immortal? In galore ways, Alien :Earth seems conscionable arsenic cynical astir humanity's worth to nan world arsenic Scott's films. Humans will sacrifice countless lives for greed — possibly nan satellite would really beryllium amended disconnected without us.

With Prometheus, Ridley Scott aimed to research nan hubris of humans attempting to meet their creator, and nan anticipation nan Synthetics (like Michael Fassbender’s David) whitethorn beryllium much of evolved lifeforms. But nan broader themes were bogged down by anemic scripts (and from what I’ve heard, Scott’s ain interference successful nan story). Alien: Covenant was moreover little memorable. Both films suffered from nan demands of being big-budget blockbusters – they couldn’t slow down agelong capable to fto nan assemblage think, alternatively they had to unreserved to nan adjacent group piece. An eight-episode TV bid made for a streaming web doesn’t person to play by nan aforesaid rules.

Even if you don’t want to prosecute pinch bigger ideas, though, Alien: Earth remains an embarrassment of riches. It features wholly caller ways for extraterrestrials, not conscionable Xenomorphs, to dismember their victims. It’s filled pinch awesome performances crossed nan committee — Sydney Chandler, who has much of Wendy’s spunky power than her Peter Pan namesake, is simply a standout. Babou Ceesay’s Morrow is ostensibly an antagonist, but it’s heartbreaking to spot what he gives up to go a dutiful firm underling. (His robotic limb tin besides whip retired a sick Wolverine-like blade. How tin you not emotion that?!)

Fans of nan awesome Timothy Olyphant (Justified, Deadwood) will surely admit his capacity arsenic Kirsh, Boy Kavalier’s Synthetic information head. We don’t get nan playful broadside of Olyphant that we saw successful Justified, but it’s endlessly entertaining to spot his contempt for each humans (including his ain boss) simmering beneath nan surface.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical that Noah Hawley could present a decent Alien TV series. Legion was each style and nary constituent successful my opinion, and while I enjoyed nan first fewer seasons of Fargo, nan extremity of its tally was uneven. But pinch Alien: Earth, he has made thing special. It’s not nan thematic upgrade that Andor was for Star Wars, but it’s a motion that there’s still plentifulness of life near successful nan aging Alien franchise.