Alien: Earth

[cylonchaney]

Figured I'd start a new topic rather than continue discussing this show in a Predator thread. 

I watched the first two episodes and thought it was OK. Good enough that I'm looking forward to the third one. Noah Hawley is not exactly subtle when it comes to political messaging so we'll see how it goes. But so far so good.

I want to see more of the eyeball squid thing. Seems like a good little monster.  

Please use spoiler tags if mentioning anything plot related. It's the eyeball button on the toolbar.

Spoiler

like this

 

[Shanester]

I've only watched the first episode, so far. I love the look and feel and I think I can already see where the storyline is headed.

[Navaan]

I'm a little conflicted on this one because I feel that it's a bit overproduced. I don't know how many sweeping shots and twirling loop the loop camera angles I need in an Alien show.

And while I won't go into spoilers for those who haven't seen it, i'm not sure how I feel about a certain group of characters. It kind of feels very shark jumpy, much like Prometheus, but in a MUCH different way.

I care most about the medic, but Wendy is already a hint of 'eh' from me.

'Child Genius' character is such a trope. IDK...

I'll give it time. It's not terrible, but it's certainly not revolutionary, and it's not the show I would have made even if it has some things I've wanted to see.

 

[cylonchaney]

There's always a balance for me. The show has to be well written and have a plot that makes sense. This can be balanced out by charm. Armageddon is an example where the plot makes no sense but the overall movie has enough charm that I can let a lot slide. If it doesn't have that charm, it has to be much better on a technical level. Armageddon makes my loved it list solely on its charm. I rate it a terrible movie that I love anyway. Dark Knight Rises did not have sufficient charm to overcome its stupid plot and bad writing and I hated it.

Alien Earth has stayed on the watchable side so far. There has already been one thing where I thought, no one would behave that way in that situation. But I enjoyed that episode enough to let it slide. It's got at least a little charm.

I can be fickle though. All it will take is one immensely stupid plot line and I'll be done. Hopefully that doesn't happen. 

So far it gets an OK grade from me. Good enough to watch the next one. Not awesome, but not "fix Batman's broken back by punching it" bad.  

Edited August 14, 2025 by cylonchaney

[elhonez]

I just finished the first two, and I was really entertained. They definitely threw a lot of money at this thing. 

Edited August 18, 2025 by elhonez

[minifigvig]

i think the Alien series is pretty cool, wasn’t ever one of my favs but i respect it. Hawley got my attention with Legion and then the Fargo series, so i’m excited to see what he does with this.

[cylonchaney]

1 hour ago, minifigvig said:

i think the Alien series is pretty cool, wasn’t ever one of my favs but i respect it. Hawley got my attention with Legion and then the Fargo series, so i’m excited to see what he does with this.

Legion kind of lost it in the last season, and the last two seasons of Fargo were terrible. I predicted John Hamm's exact ending in the first episode. It wasn't hard. I watched that season as an unintentional comedy.

But both shows were amazing in their earlier seasons.

One thing makes no sense to me already.

Spoiler

There was something about putting the children in adult bodies because the android bodies can't grow. Seems to me it would be trivial to upgrade an android body from child size to adult size. A bit of a contrived reason to have child minds in adult bodies.

Still looking forward to episode 3 though.

[elhonez]

Spoiler

I took it as believable corporate cost sensitivity -- it's suggested that if they lose any of these hybrids the cost will be immense. Making child bodes, which would ultimately be smaller and less effective, solely for the psychological development of the kids would be at odds with their ambitious agenda and cutthroat callousness. Seems like Boy Kavalier is your generic narcissist / on the spectrum / break things kinda guy and is very reckless. Like, "Why do we care about how they feel...?" 

(my read on your spoiler, @cylonchaney!)

Edited August 18, 2025 by elhonez

[cylonchaney]

8 minutes ago, elhonez said:

  Hide contents

I took it as believable corporate cost sensitivity -- it's suggested that if they lose any of these hybrids the cost will be immense. Making child bodes, which would ultimately be smaller and less effective, solely for the psychological development of the kids would be at odds with their ambitious agenda and cutthroat callousness. Seems like Boy Kavalier is your generic narcissist / on the spectrum / break things kinda guy and is very reckless. Like, "Why do we care about how they feel...?" 

(my read on your spoiler, @cylonchaney!)

Spoiler

I'd be OK with it if they just said a child body for them to grow out of is a waste of money and they can't afford it. But they made it sound like they only get one so it needs to be adult for when they grow up. IDK. It has enough charm to let this slide anyway. But that element and the Party people seemed a bit off. If anything, their arrogance would be to demand an escort to safety. I can't see anyone being too arrogant to evacuate when a huge space ship crashes into the highrise you're in. I'm looking forward to learning more about the eyeball squid monster.

 

[cylonchaney]

17 minutes ago, elhonez said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I took it as believable corporate cost sensitivity -- it's suggested that if they lose any of these hybrids the cost will be immense. Making child bodes, which would ultimately be smaller and less effective, solely for the psychological development of the kids would be at odds with their ambitious agenda and cutthroat callousness. Seems like Boy Kavalier is your generic narcissist / on the spectrum / break things kinda guy and is very reckless. Like, "Why do we care about how they feel...?" 

(my read on your spoiler, @cylonchaney!)

 

Spoiler

I'd be OK with it if they just said a child body for them to grow out of is a waste of money and they can't afford it. But they made it sound like they only get one so it needs to be adult for when they grow up. IDK. It has enough charm to let this slide anyway. But that element and the Party people seemed a bit off. If anything, their arrogance would be to demand an escort to safety. I can't see anyone being too arrogant to evacuate when a huge space ship crashes into the highrise you're in. I'm looking forward to learning more about the eyeball squid monster.

 

[elhonez]

Spoiler

Yeah the party people were... an indulgence. It felt like Noah had an image in his head he wanted to get out there, playful anachronism with extreme gore, but it did feel a bit heavy-handed. The new critters are delightfully cringe-inducing.

 

[cylonchaney]

They're all too stupid to live and I am now pulling for the eyeball monster to kill everyone and take over Earth. That's the only ending to this piece of crap that I'll find satisfying. LOL

I'm a layman and I could design better bio-hazard protocols. The plot needs the monsters to escape and the writers are too lazy / unskilled to write plausible escape mechanisms. So everyone involved with the monsters has to be lazy, blind and stupid instead. It makes me want the monsters to win. And the "genius" who just wants to have an interesting conversation for once is an idiot.

Olyphant's character is growing on me. I'll probably stick it out until the end. But I'm disappointed at this point.

[Navaan]

3 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

They're all too stupid to live and I am now pulling for the eyeball monster to kill everyone and take over Earth. That's the only ending to this piece of crap that I'll find satisfying. LOL

I'm a layman and I could design better bio-hazard protocols. The plot needs the monsters to escape and the writers are too lazy / unskilled to write plausible escape mechanisms. So everyone involved with the monsters has to be lazy, blind and stupid instead. It makes me want the monsters to win. And the "genius" who just wants to have an interesting conversation for once is an idiot.

Olyphant's character is growing on me. I'll probably stick it out until the end. But I'm disappointed at this point.

1000000%

 

Aside some 'man in suit' acting for the Xeno, the effects and acting has been amazing.

 

The direction, the story? Less so.

 

Eyerene is the saving grace and breakout star.

[Shanester]

I feel like Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) has his own agenda and nothing to fear from the creatures (any of them).  His boss treats him like crap, so why not go off the reservation and do what he wants.  I like the series.  For a TV show, I think it packs a decent storyline, but I do make fun of the Grand Canyon sized holes in their security procedures, much to my wifes dismay.  Its Aliens and I will take all I can get.

 

[Navaan]

24 minutes ago, Shanester said:

I feel like Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) has his own agenda and nothing to fear from the creatures (any of them).  His boss treats him like crap, so why not go off the reservation and do what he wants.  I like the series.  For a TV show, I think it packs a decent storyline, but I do make fun of the Grand Canyon sized holes in their security procedures, much to my wifes dismay.  Its Aliens and I will take all I can get.

 

Have you... seen the latest episode? Kirsh may not be as safe as you might think.

[cylonchaney]

Next to the eyeball, Olyphant is probably the best thing about the show. I feel like Kirsh and Morrow are too powerful not to have some kind of battle before it's over. That would be fun.

My silly prediction is that in the end they have to nuke the whole island from space "just to be sure". It would nicely contain the alien contamination, explain why there's not much knowledge of them in the future timeline, and make a dark ending to the season. Some of the characters can escape if they're doing a season 2.

And it fits modern writing with stupid member berry references.  

I complain. But it has enough going for it to keep me watching to the end. But Kavlier better lose an eye before it's over.

Edited September 11, 2025 by cylonchaney

[Shanester]

18 hours ago, Navaan said:

Have you... seen the latest episode? Kirsh may not be as safe as you might think.

I had not watched "The Fly" until last night.  I couldn't watch it on release because I was at an event, but I see where you are coming from now.  Also, the security measures got even worse.  I work for an institution that houses actual living biohazardous specimens.  I get that security measures in the show are laughable, but I am not sure that the majority of viewers would see it the way I do.  Not that the opinions about the lax security are invalid, but I can still enjoy it knowing its bad.

[Shanester]

10 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

I complain. But it has enough going for it to keep me watching to the end. But Kavlier better lose an eye before it's over.

Fingers crossed!

 

[cylonchaney]

4 hours ago, Shanester said:

I had not watched "The Fly" until last night.  I couldn't watch it on release because I was at an event, but I see where you are coming from now.  Also, the security measures got even worse.  I work for an institution that houses actual living biohazardous specimens.  I get that security measures in the show are laughable, but I am not sure that the majority of viewers would see it the way I do.  Not that the opinions about the lax security are invalid, but I can still enjoy it knowing its bad.

I think it's obvious to a good number of people. I'm a layman and I'd still expect the containment spaces to have some kind of airlock system with two doors, not something that can just be left ajar. LOL And there would be way better monitoring of the specimens. They are incredibly valuable aside from being incredibly dangerous.

Not just the biohazard security, but the general and systems security. If those robot bodies are worth trillions and these are the first models, I'd expect TEAMS of people to be monitoring them 24/7, aware of the tiniest of glitches. Aware of their location, mood, surroundings, what their senses are telling them. Even what they are thinking. 

I work in IT. Systems access will be removed before the person finds out they're fired. You don't want disgruntled folks to have access to anything they might damage. Or, you know, turning off something important.  

Spoiler

If you're going to wipe someone's memory, wouldn't you warn their friends not to remind them that they were acting crazy and that their memory has been erased?

Still, it's fun. And I like the eyeball so I'll keep watching. Only two more left now anyway.

[Shanester]

I 100% understand and agree with your points CylonChaney.  I am the IT guy working in a facility that houses these things (biohazards, not aliens).  Biocontainment at the highest levels would and should laugh at what we see in Aliens.  I suppose I can excuse it because in the USA, our Federal Government (and society generally) demand and oversee the security measures.  This facility in AE is private, maybe even its own country/government and I wonder, is there any body that tells them what security to have (or else)? Yes, only an arrogant leader would build technological wonders worth trillions of dollars and the send them into harm and leave them unaccounted for.

[Navaan]

1 hour ago, Shanester said:

I 100% understand and agree with your points CylonChaney.  I am the IT guy working in a facility that houses these things (biohazards, not aliens).  Biocontainment at the highest levels would and should laugh at what we see in Aliens.  I suppose I can excuse it because in the USA, our Federal Government (and society generally) demand and oversee the security measures.  This facility in AE is private, maybe even its own country/government and I wonder, is there any body that tells them what security to have (or else)? Yes, only an arrogant leader would build technological wonders worth trillions of dollars and the send them into harm and leave them unaccounted for.

They're their own government; world is split and ruled by five corporations, and Prodigy is one.

 

Boy Kavelier is arrogant, and thinks he's always right, so a lot of blame could be put on him.

[karamazov80]

I'm a fan of Hawley's other shows and am really enjoying this one so far. I didn't care so much for the flashback Alien-lite episode from a couple of weeks back, but other than that it's my favorite Alien spinoff since Aliens. Olyphant, in particular, is tremendous, and there are lots of fun threads that are playing out. Curious about Wendy's relationship with the xeno and eyeball goat, in particular. 

[cylonchaney]

1 hour ago, karamazov80 said:

I'm a fan of Hawley's other shows and am really enjoying this one so far. I didn't care so much for the flashback Alien-lite episode from a couple of weeks back, but other than that it's my favorite Alien spinoff since Aliens. Olyphant, in particular, is tremendous, and there are lots of fun threads that are playing out. Curious about Wendy's relationship with the xeno and eyeball goat, in particular. 

Eyeball could carry it's own show! It and Olyphant are the best things about the show.

[Shanester]

10 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

Eyeball could carry it's own show! It and Olyphant are the best things about the show.

I couldn't agree more.  I wouldn't be surprised if they were each spun off a bit from the full Alien premise, or made solid franchise characters at least.

[karamazov80]

The Fassbender synthetic got a fair amount of development and exploration in the two films he was in. But the movies were so bad that I had no interest in seeing more of him after Prometheus. An Olyphant spin-off would be welcome, assuming he survives.