Throughout the first half of this episode, they do a great job of having the xenomorph hiding in the background, so there’s this constant feeling of paranoia. There’s a great sense of dread with any character potentially being on the chopping block. Character interactions are also worth mentioning, with the hybrids in particular being interesting to watch. Each character is named after a member of the Lost Boys. There are plenty of allusions to the story of Peter Pan, which feels apropos given the story. Their interactions with one another, in addition to Olyphant’s character, work well without getting corny (the context of the characters does plenty of the legwork). Without spoiling too much, their behavior often contrasts with their new synthetic bodies. The most important character (the xenomorph) gets some more screen time, and it shines like a star. A majority of this episode is set in an apartment/crashed ship, which works surprisingly well for atmosphere, as well as adding some needed diversity to its setpieces. With regards to this episode in particular, the show is taking influence from Aliens (1986) with its emphasis on action. There’s a fast-paced chase in particular, which is guaranteed to get the blood pumping. 

Episode 3: “Metamorphosis”

Jumping right into the previous episode’s cliffhanger, it kind of misses its mark. Somehow, the show expects viewers to accept that the same xenomorph that took down a ship and a small army within a towering apartment was taken down by a singular hybrid. While in previous episodes, hybrids like Wendy were shown to have incredible strength and speed, it’s still difficult to see one get taken down single-handedly, but not really. Instead of viewers getting to witness this fight for themselves, the fight is instead left up to the imagination. This is every bit as much of a cop-out as it sounds. From this point in the episode, everything feels like it’s going downhill. Naturally, this is to be expected given that this is still a horror-oriented show. Granted, the show is using this downtime as a setup up but it still ends up feeling like filler at times. In general, the pacing feels off-key in no small part due to how fast they move past the xenomorph fight. An unintended side effect of this is that it portrays the main character, Wendy, as somewhat of a Mary Sue, as she’s able to fend off a xenomorph single-handedly. However, this idea, in and of itself, relies on the viewer to accept it.

At this point, Babou Ceesay has taken the title of standout performance. Playing Morrow, a cyborg, Ceesay’s character feels the least human despite technically being the most human from a strict point of view. He is hyper-focused on fulfilling his duties to Weyland-Yutani and never hesitates, making him colder and more robotic than the actual synths. His design is also interesting since he has an artificial arm that acts like a multi-tool. From a hidden blade that comes out like Wolverine’s claws to a lockpick, he has a tool for every situation.

Xenomorphs are Still Terrifying

These first three episodes have a library’s worth of lore to the Alien franchise and are a great way of starting the series. The show keeps viewers coming back as more and more mysteries are introduced. While there are plenty of media set in the universe of Alien, such as books and video games, this is the franchise’s first time using an episodic format. Even for hardcore fans, there existed some degree of doubt as to whether this show would actually work. While there are plenty of horror-centered shows out there, Alien is a specific type of horror that doesn’t seem like it would necessarily work when stretched out as a show. Despite this, these first few episodes of Alien: Earth have dispelled those initial doubts for now. Sitting at a total of eight episodes, it remains to be seen if it can actually keep up the pace.

Not caught up with the Alien lore? Check out Dead Talk News’s review of Alien: Romulus (2024).