I am a die-hard fan of the first two films of the Alien franchise. The other ten were okay, but they never truly answered my questions. When I learned about Alien: Earth, I was a bit skeptical at first, but holy hell in a hand basket…the creatures have stolen the stage, and I’m loving every gory moment.
Alien: Earth
A little background for those of you who haven’t been watching the Alien: Earth series on FX and Hulu. Alien: Earth is a science fiction horror series created by Noah Hawley. In the television series, the story is set two years before the events of the 1979 Alien film. In the series, which stars Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adarsh Gourav, and Timothy Olyphant, we are introduced to Cyborgs (cybernetically enhanced humans), Synthetics (artificially intelligent beings) and Hybrids (synthetics with a human consciousness).
Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), who is the world’s youngest trillionaire and is also the CEO of the Prodigy Corporation, is the creator of the hybrids, with Wendy (Sydney Chandler) as the smartest of the hybrids. Wendy and the other five hybrids were all terminally ill children when their consciousness was transferred into the adult synth bodies. Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), a synthetic chief scientist charged with mentoring the hybrids.
After the space vessel, Maginot, crash-lands on Earth, Boy Kavalier quickly takes control of the vessel and its specimens from the rightful owner of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Morrow (Babou Ceesay), a cyborg working for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, is trying to recover the specimens stolen from his ship.
The Creatures of Alien: Earth
How can you even have an Alien series without the elite Xenomorph and its various lifecycles…from the egg that holds the Facehugger that implants the alien larva inside of the unwilling victim to baby Xenomorph making its grand entrance via chest bursting mode. To be honest, the Xenomorph is my all-time favourite alien, both in the films and this series. But in Alien: Earth, the biggest surprise is watching this fearful creature connect with one of the hybrids. Wendy is able to communicate and control the Xenomorph. It’s not quite a pet, but there is some type of emotional connection that we are yet to understand.
Ticks are nasty little blood suckers and will drain a human body dry within minutes. The tick, after attaching itself to the victim’s jugular, will swell up and fall from the prey after feeding, and it can also release an airborne toxin if they are prevented from feeding on its host. I have this insane fear of ticks and getting Lyme Disease, so much so that I would rather fight a zombie than get bitten by a tick. The alien ticks are freaking scary.
D. Plumbicare (plant pod) is seen in all the episodes, but we don’t know much about the species except that it may be a combination of flora and fauna, and it is definitely carnivorous, and I am hoping to see what monkeyshines this plant brings to the table. D. Plumbicare isn’t that weird when you remember that our very own oceans host lifeforms that survive in a toxic atmosphere, such as the tubeworms of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench.
The Fly alien consumes metal and metal ores and pre-digests its food by spitting an enzyme onto the metal before feasting…but as we soon witness, the synthetics, cyborgs and hybrids are considered food by this fast-moving insect. This alien would probably be quite useful in ridding the world of landfills, but we lose one of the Hybrids because of an alien eyeball with attitude.
I saved my favourite creature for last. Trypanohyncha ocellus, aka T. ocellus. This eyeball with octopus-type legs is fast, intelligent, and able to control its host after removing an eye of its victim and connecting to the brain. Not only is this creature smarter than humans, but it is also powerful. In one scene, we witness the Xenomorph barely escaping from the T. ocellus. But the highlight of the entire series is when T. Ocellus, now occupying the body of a sheep, made a fool out of Boy Kavalier. I am leaning towards T. ocellus being female. I can’t prove it, but let me know what you think after watching all eight episodes.
Conclusion
Alien: Earth, as far as I am concerned, has the best storyline of the entire Alien franchise, other than the original film. There are only eight episodes, and we might have to wait a while for season two, but this series explains not only what is happening on earth when the Maginot crashes, which is frightening enough when we realize that five major corporations have complete control of the world’s supplies. We understand why people sign up for these long space trips. Food and shelter. These trips last for close to 60 years or more. The crew of the Maginot signed, knowing that they would never see their family again.
I love the whole original idea of the Hybrids, where dying children are given a chance for eternal life. The six hybrids each have their own unique personality, but they are still young children in adult synthetic bodies. Which leads to some funny scenes…but also a few heartbreaking ones as well.
And we also get a better understanding of the Xenomorph and the other creatures…especially when it comes to the T. ocellus and its cunning survival skills.
I have a feeling that Alien: Earth will become a cult favourite. The Xenomorph will always be my favourite alien, but I am now officially claiming the T. ocellus as my spirit animal.
