In 1979, audiences were terrified to discover that in space, no one could hear their screams in Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning film, Alien. Since then, the hit sci-fi horror film has expanded into a vast franchise, including crossovers with Predator and introducing new generations to the formidable xenomorph first seen exploding from a crew member's chest in the original film. The franchise's first official television series imagines a terrifying new reality: the arrival of this alien race on Earth.
The first episode of Alien: Earth begins aboard the Maginot spaceship, where the crew awakens from stasis and is quickly eliminated by the creatures they are supposed to transport, while the cyborg Morrow (Babou Ceesay) establishes a mysterious but profound connection with the extraterrestrials. When the ship crashes on Earth, Prodigy Corporation CEO Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) sends his team of synthetic hybrids, including Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), to the crash site to gather more information and locate the precious cargo so he can exploit the alien technology and leverage it to expand his already considerable financial resources.
Creator: Noah Hawley
Stars: Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis
Expectations are certainly high for this series, especially after the positive reception of the franchise's most recent films. The involvement of Noah Hawley, who has an impressive track record at FX creating something new from beloved intellectual property thanks to Fargo and Legion, only raises the stakes. The inclusion of actors who have previously collaborated with Hawley, such as Olyphant and Richa Moorjani, will delight fans, but it's also undeniably intriguing to see his take on something that has evolved considerably over the past 45 years.
The result is surprisingly low-tech, likely a deliberate decision to avoid making a project set two years before the original film seem much more sleek and futuristic. Each episode begins with terrifying flashes of events, both previous and future, while green computer text blares across the screen. What Kavalier has created, and which he attempts to weaponize, is astonishing as a scientific feat, but its presentation gives the impression of something yet to be refined aesthetically, determined to master the underlying mechanics and unconcerned that certain parts of a synthetic creature may simply never feel human. Chandler and Ceesay are the leads of the cast, extracting intense precision from the stillness of their characters.
Having a mute villain, whose sole purpose seems to be the annihilation of anyone who crosses his path, remains effective decades after his creation, and there is a wealth of brutal carnage that is as visually stunning as ever. The human capacity for selfish destruction is fully displayed here, but the eponymous alien creatures remain a fundamental source of terror, and their potential reach is limitless, as is the number of unsuspecting humans they could eliminate as they prepare to colonize a new planet. Even removed from the vast, already familiar void of space, the xenomorph remains terrifying, which is impressive in itself.
Hawley's projects have always been heavily character-driven, and while he explores the nature of an alien race that doesn't communicate with words, the focus on synthetics is what makes his work most interesting. Deciphering the intricacies of how these individuals with disparate bodies and memories work is both fascinating and frustrating—similar in concept to Legion, but not always as captivating or emphatic. There's plenty of valuable content here, combining a cautionary tale about human evolution with action-packed, foreboding alien encounters. It only takes a little effort and concentration to fully immerse yourself in the story and embrace its slow pace and tone.
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