A Xenomorph and other monsters crash land on Earth, leading to corporate factions fighting over them (and a whole lot more) in Noah Hawley’s TV series, Alien: Earth.
I’m making an assumption, but I’d be willing to bet most of you out there reading this (thanks for that!) are fans of the Alien series, at least in some way. Based on ideas from Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, Alien and Aliens are a one-two punch of film perfection. I’m partial to the Ridley Scott-directed haunted house in space of the 1979 original, but still hold James Cameron’s 1986 action-heavy follow-up in high regard. The remainder of the series has had its ups and downs (AVP Reqiuem…), although there are things to like in all of them; for Reqiuem, it eventually ends. The series chestbursted back to the early highs with last year’s Romulus. With shared-universe series Predator also bouncing back with Prey, Killer of Killers, and crossing my fingers for the upcoming Badlands, it’s no surprise the geek community was excited for Alien: Earth, the 8-episode TV series on Hulu, run by Noah Hawley of TV’s Fargo and Legion.
It’s an exciting prospect, what happens when the infamous Xenomorph lands on Earth, a few years before the Nostromo picked up their own in the first film? It’s a concept, as explored along with eh wider world of the franchise, across the series. Unfortunately, the show starts strong and offers up a variety of concepts and ideas to expand upon, but spins its wheels to limp to a conclusion in the back half.
The opening episodes deal with various teams fighting over a crashed ship. A Weyland-Yutani research vessel (design recreated from the doomed towing ship Nostromo perfectly) crashes into a high-rise owned by Boy Kavalier, played with a cocksure desperation by Samuel Blenkin, a boy genius who heads one of the three companies running the world. Teams head into the crash, the crew all dead save one, and a variety of alien creatures are loosed upon those on the rescue crews, residents, and company people. In a while, it settles down, with the assets taken to a secluded island for further study, coexisting with Kavalier’s Lost Boys: a set of terminally sick kids led by Wendy, a mesmerizing Sydney Chandler, whose memories were implanted into adult synthetics. With Weyland-Yutani doing everything to get their research back, the kids are not acting the way Kavelier wants them to, questioning their existence and self-determination.
So we have the setup and story lines: medical ethics, a host of new monsters. What happens if we put kids’ minds in adult bodies? How do they deal with being Big? Corporations fighting over property with people stuck between as a shrug of collateral damage. Weird medical experiments. Questions over self-autonomy compared to who might “own” you. The modern talk of Artificial Intelligence and its uses, assets, and demerits. Ultimately, it’s a story akin to Scott’s other great Sci-fi flick: Blade Runner. Questions of what makes someone human. Can “humanity” be defined by the innards or history? What happens when that’s challenged, treated as an inferior for their robotics? It’s a lot to pack in.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much with all that. It’s about 4 episodes worth of plot in eight episodes of TV, including a whole episode flashback to how the ship crashed, that is essentially “Hey, you guys remember Alien? Here’s a shorter remix.” There are absolutely awesome moments, short story lines, and intrigues. It’s captivating enough to keep coming back week after week, hoping to break free. Kudos to the eye monster in the sheep. That guy is the MVP. The wonderfully designed monsters are more than enough to drive the series. While the xenomorph we see most often is a little too shiny and plastic, I loved the Alien3 dog-ish movement and the jungle camouflage. Each eerie title reveal sets a tone that the show didn’t match. Timothy Olyphant is wonderfully obtuse as synthetic Kirsh. The back portion of the show is a lot of arguments over what to do, some action, some folks trying to break out, and then it all comes to a head. The concepts are absolutely intriguing. I don’t mind it slowing down to dig in; it doesn’t need to be 8 episodes of face-hugging action, but it feels half-done. But it sure takes a while to get to what amounts to a solid climax. (Some weird 90s references really took me out. What is with Syd from Ice Age being part of the Alien canon now?)
It all looks and sounds great. The production design, from the truly scary opening episodes and the world-building, is top-notch. The trip through the ship and buildings is astounding, fascinating, and scary. The music replicates and builds on Jerry Goldsmith’s classic tracks, lending to the uncomfortable tone. The sound design lends to this as well (Wendy replicating Xenomorph language is truly creepy). The effects are big-budget film-worthy; there is no skimping in the creation.
Even if I didn’t like how it treated the story in the back half, there is enough interesting setup for season 2 to bring me back. But here we all admit, even if it was terrible instead of just a slight letdown, we’d be back for more. Especially if there’s more of the eye monster. I can’t say why, but I love that guy.
Alien: Earth is an uneven experiment in translating the Alien franchise to the small screen. It has plenty of ideas, fantastic performances (Olypants!), and it’s always good to see a meageraie of monsters. Hawley has the makings of a great addition to the Alien canon. I highly appreciate not just being an Alien clone; I love the ideas, just not the whole of the execution. I hope Season 2 can codify the ideas into a stronger season. I really wish I liked this more.