‘Alien: Earth’ Gets Philosophical in Its First Two Episodes [Horror Queers Podcast]
Hawley’s Philosophical Debate.
When it was announced that Noah Hawley was working on an Alien series set on Earth for FX & Disney, there was equal parts skepticism and confusion. What had attracted the creator of Legion and Fargo to the property? And what would such a series look like: Alien vs Predator: Requiem?
These are the questions that Trace and I are dissecting episode by episode on the Horror Queers Patreon each week starting today with a look at episodes 1-2, “Neverland” and “Mr. October.”
With its two-part premiere, Alien: Earth has offered us an answer…or at least the start of one. Both episodes were written by Hawley (who also directs “Neverland”) and serve to introduce a world only 95 years in the future. Despite the storytelling potential of exploring a new timeline, the showrunner keeps the world building tightly focused on the events of the USCSS Maginot crash and the “Neverland” Research Island.
We do, however, learn that this gently futuristic new world is entirely owned by five corporations. However, only three are named in the first two episodes: Dynamic, familiar foe Weyland-Yutani, and new upstart Prodigy, owned by the world’s youngest trillionaire, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin).
The name of the latter, as well as his island hideaway, is arguably the show’s most obvious pop culture reference, which Alien: Earth underlines (for better or worse) with its “Lost Boys”/Peter Pan conceit. Kavalier has collected a handful of dying children and, in Hawley’s most stylistic sequence, shifts their consciousness into adult robot bodies called hybrids.
The nature of hybrids is the subject of much debate within the episodes, as well as in our Horror Queers discussion on the premiere. Hawley’s interest certainly includes the Xenomorph and some gentle nods to the Alien franchise’s long history, but his dominant focus in the two part premiere is posing the question “what makes us human?”
The discussion is taken up principally by the hybrids’ two chief handlers: synthetic Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) and maternal human psychologist Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis). It is complicated by a third (antagonistic) character in Morrow (Babou Ceesay), a Weyland-Yutani cyborg who may be responsible for the crash of the Maginot, which releases both a Xenomorph, as well as a collection of other alien “specimens” in New Siam city.
And, of course, the debate is literally embodied by the series’ central figure, Wendy (Sydney Chandler). The de facto leader of the hybrids has an achingly human yearning to seek out her older brother Hermit (Alex Lawther), but her ability to manipulate technology from a distance immediately distinguishes her as a part of mankind’s next evolutionary step.
While there is a surprising amount of alien action, including several stand-out set-pieces in the second episode, it is the focus on character development and heady philosophical debate that creates the foundation for a more substantial (and possibly long running) series.
Alien: Earth has a lot more on its mind than simple Alien homages (see: the subversion of expectations involved *anytime* someone encounters an egg) and that bodes well for the series’ long-term potential. Fans of carnage candy are getting plenty of gore and viscera, but it’s accompanied by some thought-provoking philosophical content, as well.
Fascinating characters, existential dread, and solid Xenomorph action? Alien: Earth is off to an intriguing and memorable start…
Cross out “Neverland” and “Mr. October”!
Coming Up Next: Next week we’re discussing episode 1.03 “Metamorphosis.”
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