Alien: Earth (Premiere)

“Neverland” / “Mr. October”

When a Weyland-Yutani C-class deep space research vessel approaches Earth after a 65-year expedition to obtain extra-terrestrial specimens, a malfunction compromises the navigation, placing it on a collision course with Earth. It then crashes into a tower in Prodigy City, allowing some specimens - including a grown Xenomorph - to get loose. 

That's an interesting premise that should intrigue most Alien fans, especially since it marks the first time that the Xenomorph will be wreaking havoc on Earth. If you don't count the Alien vs. Predator films, of course. Which you shouldn't, since they're not canon. 

But, as engaging as the Xenomorph story is, it's the human story that makes this series special. Or should I say the nearly human story? Because Alien: Earth does feature some creative story beats involving synthetic beings. 

A company called Prodigy is experimenting with transferring people’s consciousness into synthetic bodies. Which is a concept we saw earlier this year in Netflix's The Electric State, but Alien: Earth seems to be doing something far more interesting with that idea. 

Because Prodigy is beginning their experiments on  terminally ill children. Which should obviously raise some moral and ethical questions, but instead of engaging in any kind of healthy debate about it, Prodigy is keeping their experiments secret - even from family members of the children. And that's probably for the best, since they're putting the minds of children into the bodies of adults. Something that would definitely cause a public outcry. But it makes sense, since they're synthetic bodies aren't capable of growing. Their minds will continue to develop - and perhaps even advance past human capabilities - but their bodies will never change. So, putting their minds inside of bodies of synthetic children could have also been problematic. 

That being said, everyone in the cast who plays one of these new synthetics is absolutely fantastic. The subtle mannerisms and nuances present in every performance helps to sell the idea that these grown adults are actually children. 

The best of whom is Sydney Chandler, who plays Wendy - the first hybrid person to have their consciousness transferred into a synthetic body, and was formerly known as Marcy. She basically acts as the main character of the first two episodes, and she does a great job of leading the story being told. 

Her main goal is to find her brother, Joe, who doesn’t actually know that she’s still alive. He thought Marcy died due to her terminal illness. He even attended a funeral that was staged for her! So, part of the show's drama comes from how Wendy is going to break the news to her brother. Will be believe her? Will he accept her? Will he like her? Will things be weird between them? I imagine hearing that the news of your terminally ill younger sister being alive in the artificial body of an adult would be a lot for any person to take in. And I'm looking forward to seeing how that will all shake out. 

Unfortunately for the both of them, Joe works as a medic / corporate soldier near the location of the crash, and is sent in for search and rescue. This leads to some good dramatic tension since he is put in danger by being placed in the Xenomorph's immediate vicinity. So, in order to protect her brother, Wendy volunteers to assist with the search and rescue. Surprisingly enough, Prodigy CEO Boy Kavalier agrees to the operation, seeing it as an opportunity to test the enhanced capabilities of his new hybrid synthetics.

Don't get it twisted; he's not interested in saving human life. He wants to cash in on whatever is in the crashed ship. And if his hybrids happen to save lives in the process, that could generate some positive buzz for his company. Maybe even prevent a public outcry by proving that his experiments on terminally ill children were actually in humanity's best interest. It's all about the optics. 

But we know better. Boy Kavalier isn't trying to provide benefits to mankind. He said it himself: he's just looking to have a decent conversation with someone smarter than him. So, the guy clearly has a complex of some kind. Whether that's because he's an entitled trillionaire or a spoiled man child or a combination of the two remains to be seen. But it's nice to see that the series has something to say about wealthy elitists. Which is, I assume, to "eat the rich." Because, after all, that is what the Xenomorph is going to end up doing to this guy, right? 

Speaking of which, I loved that we got to the Xenomorph right away. We all know the life cycle of the creature, so the show didn't need to spend any time building up mystery and suspense. It got straight to the violence, and that was admittedly a lot of fun. Especially since this Xenomorph did seem to be more violent than most others we've seen. It went straight to massacring people and killing everyone in its sight. 

But aside from the Xenomorph, I also liked seeing the other alien creatures that were featured here. Given how this franchise is literally about aliens, I'm surprised more alien species haven't been introduced over the years. Sure, Prometheus tried to include some different species, but the Engineers, and the Trilobite, and the Deacon, are all related to the Xenomorph. The aliens in this series, however, seem to have no relation to the Xenomorph. Or at least, they don't seem to be related as of yet. Either way, I really enjoyed that we got to see some new aliens in this alien franchise. 

Which reminds me: the visual effects are really great. Whether the aliens are computer generated or performers in rubber suits, they all look spectacular in this series. And there are plenty of non-alien effects that look just as good. I especially love the use of old-school technology from the 70's. That aesthetic really helps sell the fact that this series is in continuity with the original Alien. It gives the show a fun and unique visual style. Any way you put it: this is a good looking show. 

I do wish that the episodes were a littler shorter in length, but that's only because I personally prefer TV shows with half hour episodes. There are exceptions to this, of course, but since FX also produced The Bear - which is an award winning drama with episodes that are around half an hour long - I thought there was a good chance that Alien: Earth would feature shorter episodes. Alas, this isn't the case. The episodes are an hour long. Which is totally fine. I just hope that future episodes won't drag on and feel a bit bloated. If they're anything like the first two episodes, though, I think Alien: Earth will be in good shape. 

I do find it interesting that the episodes referenced two different Disney-owned properties already (especially since the series is technically produced by Disney) but that's neither here nor there. The references do work in the context of the story being told; I just find it interesting that the two pop culture references that were made both happened to be to other Disney projects. 

Either way, the pop culture allusions don't make the series any less good. Because, while the show may not be as horrifying or as gory as fans may expect, it does an undeniably excellent job of building suspense. And, since I am invested in the characters and their respective stories, I actually care about whether or not they die. So, I hope the rest of the season will be able to keep me engaged. 

But, all things considered, I think Noah Hawley has done a great job of satisfying long-term fans of the Alien franchise. I'm not ready to say that this is the best Alien project since the original, but I can't deny that this series is off to a pretty good start. I definitely want to watch the rest of story unfold. 

I mean, the second episode ends with Joe and Wendy being reunited, and I want to know how their relationship is going develop - especially considering that there's a Xenomorph involved. But I guess we'll see what will happen on the next episode of Alien: Earth, once it gets released on Tuesday.