Alien: Earth - On This Planet, Everyone Can Hear You Scream
By John Kirk
Rating: A
Fans have always been curious about the thickly woven background in the horror saga of the Xenomorphs of Alien franchise fame. We saw threads of this in the 1979 Ridley Scott film that showed humanity’s soulless corporate future.
The military reared its proud head in James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), but the idea of artificial life has remained a constant throughout the entire franchise. Its latest iteration - the FX/Disney+ series Alien: Earth - finally ties these themes together in a rich and terrifying story that asserts itself as one of the best sci-fi horror franchise in cinematic history.
… because you’re screaming at more than just aliens.
Timothy Olyphant is a synthetic who protects Wendy and the hybrid Lost Boys in Alien: Earth
Here’s the official synopsis: “In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this Corporate Era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans.
“But the game is changed when the wunderkind Founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named “Wendy” marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, “Wendy” and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.”
Not only does this series build on the rich foundation of the Alien franchise, it makes it even more relevant by exploring the themes of AI that were touched on by the synthetic forms we already met in the previous films.
But those were just robots. In this series, there is now the presence of Cyborgs and Hybrids whose existence and implications, quite frankly, can be even more terrifying than a 7-foot tall xenomorph with claws, fangs and acidic blood. Well, I guess not in the moment, but you know what I mean.
The series shows its loyalty to the original film with a very familiar opening. We see cryopods with an awakening crew who are into immediate breakfast just like the crew of the Nostromo. The ship, the USCSS Maginot is a deep space science vessel designed to search and recover alien species. That’s right – not only is the H.R. Giger designed xenomorph well known but it’s even fully anticipated, and the corporation we were first introduced to in that film – Weyland-Yutani – is intent on bringing it back to Earth for research and study. What could go wrong?
However, the Xenomorph is not the only alien they are bringing back. There is an entire menagerie of scary creatures in its hold that add to this obvious monster level of fear.
What’s also disturbing is the work of the Prodigy Corporation, run by the insidious and amoral Wunderkind, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) has developed an AI process that can actually transfer living consciousnesses to synthetic bodies. But to defeat death in this way, he has to use terminally ill children as their young minds are elastic enough to withstand the process.
Put into adult bodies that can bend steel and leap immense distances, these children have to suddenly grow up. The first of these, Wendy (Sydney Chandler) assumes leadership over the others in a Peter Pan “Lost Boys” motif. She is the one that manages the transition by holding on to her humanity in a sad but loving way that endears her to the audience.
To add to this unease is the political struggles between the great corporations. In particular, the Maginot crashes to Earth and though it is a Weyland-Yutani spacecraft, it lands in Prodigy City, demolishing buildings and killing thousands in its wake.
It’s a perfect breeding ground for espionage and intrigue. It reminds the audience of the bleakness of this new corporate future and how the humanity of everyday people is reduced to mere contracts. The need to be gainfully employed is a basic survival skill that means the difference between life and death.
The crash site is an even better hunting ground for the different life-forms that the Maginot has brought with it. Remember the horrific scene in the first film, when the xenomorph unleashed its inner jaw? In this series, the ways these new grotesqueries hunt and devour their prey is even more shocking and raises the bar on alien death scenes.
Definitely not a show for those with weak constitutions, writer Noah Hawley makes effective use of gore to add yet another layer of horror to this well crafted series. All of these elements are intricately tied together in a way that not only adds entertainment value but effectively builds upon the story without supplanting any of its original storylines. Of course, that should be the aim of every creator working within an established franchise.
Alien: Earth is more than just the threat of an alien inflicting itself upon an unsuspecting population. There is a complicated array of frighteningly different themes that make for a show that surprises you, jump-scares you, terrifies you and then shocks you into fearing for the future. It’s a sophisticated and stunning series filled with horror, suspense and sci-fi concepts meant to terrify fans of this franchise in new ways.
If that isn’t a solid basis for good science fiction, then I don’t know what is.
Alien: Earth – Season One. Creator/Director: Noah Hawley. Executive Producers: Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Joseph Iberti, Dana Gonzales and Clayton Kruege. Starring Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay and Adrian Edmondson. Premieres with two episodes August 12 on Disney+ in Canada at 5pm PT / 8pm ET, and on the FX linear channel at 8pm ET/PT.