Alien: Earth Recap: Science Happens

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Noah Hawley faced a tough task when he took on the Alien: Earth project. Even attempting to add his own creative touch to such an iconic franchise like Alien was a bold move. He then complicated things further by introducing “hybrids” – beings with robotic bodies and human minds – and making those minds belong to children. Writing believable dialogue for kids is challenging enough, even without the added complexity of them being part robot.

The next-to-last episode of *Alien: Earth*’s first season, titled “Emergence,” focuses heavily on the hybrid characters, with mixed results. It’s a brief episode primarily designed to build anticipation for the season finale. The episode’s enjoyment largely comes from how effectively the characters move the story forward, particularly through the darkly humorous experiences of Slightly and Smee, and the action-packed adventures of Wendy and Nibs.

As I noted last week, the characters Slightly and Smee, who are presented as childlike, sometimes come across as artificial and a bit annoying. This isn’t the fault of the actors, Adarsh Gourav (Slightly) and Jonathan Ajayi (Smee), who both fully commit to their roles, especially when reacting to things like swearing or monsters – they feel like characters who wandered in from an 80s adventure movie like *The Goonies*. This week’s episode includes a few scenes that would be difficult for any actor to pull off, such as when Slightly struggles to explain what happened in the lab, stumbling over his words and saying “cont-animation.”

Gourav beautifully portrays the growing sadness and realization in Slightly as he understands the adults don’t take him seriously. At first, Slightly desperately tries to keep Arthur alive – even comically attempting to feed him through a straw while a Xenomorph is attached to his face – because he still believes Morrow’s explanation: the alien’s host will suffer before the creature disappears. However, when Smee discovers the unconscious Arthur hidden under Slightly’s bed, everything Morrow told him suddenly seems foolish.

Things take a dark turn when the creature suddenly lets go of Arthur. Although Arthur initially seems fine, he quickly realizes the Lost Boys aren’t being honest with him about what happened. He points out they’re still learning how to lie. Just as he’s trying to reassure Slightly and Smee that their mistake isn’t permanent and he can help, he collapses in agony. Predictably, a baby Xenomorph violently bursts from his chest. Smee is deeply shaken by Arthur’s sudden death and the realization that Slightly wasn’t truthful.

Despite everything, they dragged Arthur’s body to the beach. Then, Morrow showed up with a whole squad of soldiers, landing right on Neverland Island. Poor Slightly was freaking out, yelling that he hadn’t signed up for *another* monster! Morrow’s guys just tossed Arthur’s body into the water without a second thought and started hunting for the Xenomorphs. Honestly, watching it all unfold, I got the feeling Morrow never had any intention of keeping his promise to Slightly about saving his family. It was a really bleak moment.

Meanwhile, back at Prodigy headquarters, Kirsh and Boy Kavalier are dealing with the aftermath of the alien attack on Isaac and Arthur. It’s been strange to see Kirsh’s calm reaction to everything that’s happening – almost as if he’s deciding if helping the humans is worth the effort. Kavalier’s response is also revealing. He initially makes light of Isaac’s involvement in the disaster, joking about punishing him, but he becomes serious when he learns the damage is so extensive that Isaac can’t be repaired. Kavalier views Isaac’s loss purely as a financial loss, and notably, he still refers to him by the nickname “Tootles.”

Wendy is horrified by everything happening and, surprisingly, uses her ability to communicate with the Xenomorphs to turn one into a loyal attacker. After protesting that they were promised better treatment – repeating Prodigy’s own claims – she manages to flee the facility with her brother, Joe Hermit, and Nibs, the only hybrid creature she can convince to join them.

The scenes with Wendy, Nibs, and the Hermit are among the most gripping and moving parts of the episode. A particularly disturbing moment occurs when the group fleeing discovers the graves of the children whose minds were transferred into the hybrid bodies. Wendy’s determined statement, “We’re still here,” is met with Nibs’ detached and haunting reply, “I don’t think I am anymore.”

While trying to escape the island on a boat, the group is pursued by the Xenomorph and repeatedly attacked by soldiers from both Weyland-Yutani and Prodigy, none of whom seem to care that the hybrids deserve to be treated with respect. Nibs is especially angered – particularly when a careless soldier throws away her beloved stuffed ostrich, Mr. Strawberry – and unleashes a fierce, ruthless side of herself.

Wendy, with help from her powerful alien friend, joins the fight, much to Hermit’s growing dismay. Like the rest of the episode, the action is exciting, darkly funny, and features a lot of over-the-top gore – but that’s typical for the *Alien* series. The episode ends on a tense cliffhanger: Hermit shoots Nibs with a stun gun, leaving Wendy trapped and yelling at her brother in frustration, “What did you do?!”

Let’s finish the week by considering Boy Kavalier. In reality, Hawley decided to feature children inhabiting artificial adult bodies. However, within the story, this was Kavalier’s plan, and it’s interesting to think about his motivations. Was he simply aiming to take advantage of the impressionability of youth? Or is there a hint of arrogance, with this supposed “boy genius” subtly ridiculing his older, more established rivals by creating an army of young, seemingly eternal soldiers?

It’s clear the incredibly intelligent Kavalier is deeply interested in intelligence itself, whether it’s natural or created. In this episode, Kirsch notices the strange creature with the eyeball deliberately frightened and cornered Isaac, not to help itself, but to aid another alien. Intrigued, Kavalier decides to communicate with the creature, beginning by asking it to state the digits of pi. The creature responds by having its sheep host stomp out two digits of pi, and then… it defecates.

I have to admit, that idea really got my attention! Kavalier started wondering what would happen if they somehow forced this disembodied eyeball into a person – someone who actually *lives* life, you know, talks and, well, uses the bathroom. He even suggested they find someone with a lower IQ, just to really see the contrast. And he claimed he already had someone in mind, which is… unsettling, to say the least.

Roger Ebert had a rule about characters – focusing on who matters most – and it makes me think he’d be keying in on the Hermit, the only character the show seems to consider less intelligent this season. Now, will the Hermit be able to create a human-alien hybrid before the existing human-robot hybrid stops him? I’m rooting for the Hermit siblings, but honestly, as someone who enjoys a good, complicated TV drama and thinks the eyeball monster is awesome, I’m thrilled about the potential chaos!

Screaming, Hearing, Etc.

• Wendy: “What happened to Isaac?” Kirsh: “Science.”

A key question heading into the season finale is figuring out where Kirsh’s true allegiances lie. He consistently seems to be one step ahead of everyone else – maybe even the audience! We see this when he quickly dismisses Slightly’s explanation about Morrow, already knowing the details, and then efficiently directs them to safety. It’s also hinted that he has a soft spot for the somewhat clumsy mechanical characters. Despite their disastrous handling of the Xenomorph plan and subsequent capture, Kirsh steps in to save them, expertly disabling Morrow’s forces and delivering a stern, “You two are grounded.”

While Smee’s awkward and childish behavior doesn’t usually appeal to me, he delivers one of the funniest lines in this episode. When Slightly tells him to leave because he’s occupied, Smee playfully responds, “What are you talking about? We’re *never* busy.”

One funny visual moment is when the cleaning crew at Prodigy uses an enormous dustpan to sweep up the dead bugs in the messy lab.

Okay, so Nibs just dropped this *really* unsettling line – he basically said we’re all doomed, and after that, it’s just bugs and ghosts! Seriously creepy stuff. Anyway, I guess I’ll catch you all next week… if we make it, that is!

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2025-09-17 05:56