Alien: Earth, episode 4: The moral quandary of only briefly touching on your title subject

This is the episode in which the series has made the jump from using the xenomorphs as a shell by which to attract eyes to their story about artificial life/intelligence/whathaveyou to actually having a dual plot about the alien intelligence among us (the synths/cyborgs/hybrids) directly interacting and perhaps even relating better to the alien intelligence that's external (the xenomorphs.) It's not the cleanest of transitions, but those are often the best kind, since they leave all kinds of nooks, crannies, and other non-Euclidean angles that can be explored, expanded upon, or ignored until the time is right (aka Season Two after a long session in the writers' room.) Given that HR Giger's artwork (the original visual designer of Alien) has often been referred to as "Lovecraftian" and HP Lovecraft was fond of citing non-Euclidean geometry as something beyond the ken of humankind, this whole thing has just about come full circle. Or circles. Or, y'know, bubbles. I'm being slightly facetious here because I'm still watching the series with a sense of detachment, as I'm still not quite sure where to place it on a level of interest. In truth, I was watching tonight out of a sense of obligation to write about it, since I assumed that the two or three people that follow what I'm saying here might want to see me continue.

That's not to say that there aren't some interesting discussions or reactions happening. One of the foremost is Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) as a synth with ego, as he struggles under the assaults on his competence by Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) whose role has become one of increasing obnoxiousness as he feels his control of the new situation growing. "What kind of an intellectual argument is 'please'?" 

And, yet again, I'm wondering about the meta-ness of it all. In the same way that I question if Noah Hawley and his writing team really believed in the tiresome trope of The Lost Boys, I wonder if he deliberately had Kavalier misquote Isaac Asimov. The famous "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" was a line delivered by Arthur C. Clarke as one of his three laws essentially about science fiction writing and the future. Certainly, Hawley has to be aware that there are enough SF nerds out there watching his story that would catch that. So, again with the SF references and the obvious parody of Elmo Musk and the references to other stories in this neo-cyberpunk milieu and we come back around to questioning whether all of this is worth it or simply a grandiloquent statement on the current mindset. (Are xenomorphs 'immigrants'?)

On top of that is the devoted attachment of so many around the hybrids to insist that they're children, as opposed to products or potentially lethal threats as Nibs (Lily Newmark) demonstrates to Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis.) The inherent uncertainty of the main team, including Arthur (David Rysdahl) about everything that they're doing, despite having been presumably recruited by Kavalier specifically for this project and having been involved with it for years is a significant plotting question. Yes, it's certainly possible to not have realized the implications of the scientific exploration that you're engaged in, but to continually harp on your subjects' well-being not so that their operation continues successfully but because you're doing a Helen Lovejoy seems more than a bit disconnected to me. That, again, makes Morrow Babou Ceesay) one of the two best characters, since not only is he aware of how to manipulate Slightly (Adash Gourav) but it's obvious that he can do so because he relates to him, despite being so old that everyone he knew and loved is long dead, as he stated in episode three. That brings us back to the "minds of children in the bodies of adults" Blade Runner quandary, which is still a great plot angle which here still lacks the subtlety of the original and kinda suffers for it. But at least Morrow and Slightly's dialogue touches on a lot of those issues of ethics that both adults and children can question at different levels without becoming tedious. Two exchanges: "I didn't know if you were a villain or a hero." "... Hero." and "How can you steal from a thief?" "A riddle?" "A moral inquiry." were great points accompanying the broader picture of corporations ruling the planet in the name of profit and the question of ownership of other lifeforms and ideas.

Like most science fiction, it draws back to the present day in order to elaborate upon accelerated tenets of society. In some instances, it's an obvious parallel, like Kavalier's parody of Elmo. In others, it's slightly removed, such as when Joe (Alec Lawther) is confronted with the ultimate example of present-day American health insurance by being told that if he doesn't continue to serve Prodigy, they'll just bill him for the rest of his life for the lung that they graciously replaced for him. Similarly, while I don't spend much time in Starbucks, I have to imagine that, even in comparison to our current era of earbuds and tiny microphones, where the technology for communication in the show is so much more advanced, it might still be a little disconcerting to others in a coffee shop to see the one guy talking to the empty space surrounding his table for so long. But maybe not. And this is all centered on the one storyline about manufactured "alien" life. The other storyline of actual alien life doesn't play much of a part in this episode until the last couple minutes. The lone exception is the eye creature's takedown of the poor sheep, who is then transformed into the most threatening ungulate that isn't adorning some ancient depiction of Satan. In some ways, you can see the discussion in that writers' room, where someone had to stand up and say: "Hey. We have nothing "alien" happening in our show called "Alien: Earth" and the eyeball scene was dropped in to remind people that this isn't just a variation on Blade Runner, rather than a derivation of Alien.

Overall, I have to say that my dismissal of the Helen Lovejoys is at least partly motivated by the complete lack of concern I have over the idea that these are "children" inside the hybrids because it's a well-trod road and the whole concept was set up to engender sympathy and I don't respond well to setups. I've seen a lot of "kids slowly realizing stuff" over the years and I'm not particularly eager to go down that road again (Too late, I guess.) So, as much as I'm willing to keep watching, I'm still going to be doing so from a distance. We could've done without the entire scene to elaborate upon the face hugger process, too, unless that was just another way to remind audiences that this isn't solely a show about androids. ("Don't tell me what I wanna hear! Tell me the truth!") Plus, although I appreciate Jane's Addiction far more than Dio Sabbath, Tool, or Metallica, I'm still not sure what reference any of these ending tracks is making other than "sounding cool." "Ocean Size" is about being homeless. If that was the implication for the newly-spawned xenomorph... yeah, I don't get it.

Alien: Earth, episode 3: Metamorphosis (into something mildly interesting)

The opening moments of episode 3 were emblematic of some of my thoughts on the first two, as Nibs (Lily Newmark) questioned with some disdain why she and the rest of the hybrids were named after Peter Pan characters. My thoughts, exactly. Here's where we really get meta. Was Hawley doing that to show how shallow Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) is, despite his genius (shades of Elmo yet again)? Or was Hawley genuinely using that as I thought before, simply because it's a trope that a lot of people will latch onto? And, again, it is a Disney property. (Marketing! Woo!) But I'm starting off with a heavy dose of similar disdain for an opening to an episode that, as it went along, actually turned into the best of the initial three. There were still some predictable parts and it's still part of an origin story, which is always below the degree of originality that I'm usually looking for these days, but there are a couple interesting things going on.

What stuck out to me overall were the number of references to other elements of our sci-fi culture over the past 50 years. Once might call them "homages." One might also call them "obvious touchstones." If you want to really be dismissive, you'd call them "ripoffs designed to evoke familiarity because, once again, your story is lacking originality." I'm not sure that I'm quite that cynical, as of yet, but it's something that's going to continue to rear its head as long as the central plot is the overtly Blade Runner-esque "What does it mean to be human?" There's nothing wrong with that plot. It's a great premise for any number of stories. I'm just continuing to draw this comparison and my mild frustration with it based on the assertion at the very beginning of episode 1, which stated that the major corporations were engaged in a race to find "immortality", despite synths and their cyborg simulacra being not suitable for what you'd assume "immortality" was intended to do (i.e. preserve the rich.) The only model that's come close is that of the new one: the hybrids. Presumably, this is supposed to define Kavalier's "genius", in that he's finally found a way to accomplish this desired goal of people like him. But synths and cyborgs were never going to be part of that goal, so that whole element still seems a little hazy and more of a sop to Blade Runner fans (like me.)

But Hawley is at least spreading his net wide. Not only are we doing the replicant thing, but it's obvious that someone among the story team was a Netrunner player, since the identities of the corporations that we've seen are much like the major players of that legendary card game: Haas-Bioroid specialized in android design. Jinteki was about biological enhancement. And the Weyland Consortium had a wider portfolio than any other. And, yes, the name of that Consortium was almost certainly a reference back to Weyland-Yutani from the original film, who still exist here. Can you do an homage to an homage? If the next corporation we're introduced to is a media conglomerate (NBN!), my suspicions will be confirmed. Similarly, although slightly more subtle, we have Kavalier's exclamation: "New lifeforms! With acid for blood! Like an undiscovered country!" Hello, Star Trek fans. At least they cited the best of the films. (Fight me, Khan fans.) But some of that referential material is self-referential and, as with the first two episodes, gets a little annoying. Morrow (Babou Ceesay) confesses to Smee (Jonathan Ajayi) and Slightly (Adarsh Gourav) that he was given the same instructions and found some of the same internal conflict that Ash would find two years later (or, y'know, almost 50 years ago when the original film was released): Mother told me to do this and I had to struggle with the ethical complications of making the crew expendable. I get that major corporations tend to lack innovative thought but my first question had I been in that writer's room would have been: Haven't we been here before?

And that extends to Kersh (Timothy Olyphant) somewhat, as well. He begins to take on a minor deus ex machina role (how drolly appropriate...) as he deftly uncovers and explains all the little mysteries about what happened, what's happening now, who Morrow is, how the aliens function, and why it's dangerous for the inferior human, Kavalier, to be near the eggs. He's the walking exposition guy that kept the story below 60 minutes. But you can only have that ultimate info key walking around for so long before suspension of disbelief begins to fail. That said, Kersh and Morrow are still, by far, the most interesting characters, based on Olyphant's gravitas and Ceesay's genuine inhuman struggle with his nascent humanity. That comes out even more strongly in this episode than it did in the opening two because this script is stronger in character action than either of the openers. The inclusion of Joe (Alex Lawther) with Wendy (Sydney Chandler) has grounded some of the more emotional content in something that's real, as opposed to plot-driven. Of course, Joe spends most of this episode unconscious, but the fact that he still has the opportunity to be so is one of my major story questions. As noted, the xenomorph in the first two episodes was like an ever-expanding cloud of shrapnel, eviscerating everything in its path. But, suddenly, Joe is the first choice for it to do the "phlegm them for the eggs" capture routine. Why him and why now? Is it just the plot armor for a starring role? If so, that's quite weak.

And there are a couple more points of interest that pop up outside of the airspace of Kersh or Morrow. One of them is Curly's (Erana James) insistence to Kavalier that she should be the favorite: "She's my favorite because she was first." "My dad always threw the first pancake in the trash." She's demonstrating the hyper-awareness and unbridled ambition of some youths, which does play right into Kavalier's complaint to Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis) that he's creating this multi-billion dollar project because he's bored and wants to have a decent conversation with someone (obvious segue) but it also at least gives James and her charisma some screen time. Now I'm just waiting for her to do a floor spin at some point to kick away an alien threat. Kavalier also asserts that he created the hybrid project in part because "Children have access to a world of infinite imagination." Not only is this another tired Peter Pan reference but, hey, man: I'm 55 years old and my imagination is still pretty damn good. The other interesting bit is Wendy reacting to the shrieks and pain of the face hugger that Kersh dissects... perfectly. Somehow. That's at least a worthwhile mystery for now. I also have to say that I appreciate the cynical design of the Prodigy logo, as our camera recedes from Wendy's throes of agony to end the episode. Just like with the first two, I'm not sure how relevant Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" is for the end credits but, yeah, whatevs. Overall, it was an improvement from the first two. Still not classic, but worth watching episode 4.

Might be TTH: Alien: Earth, episode 1 and 2

Those of you who've followed my work here for any length of time know that I'm a Ridley Scott fan... to a point. I think his first three films (The Duellists, Alien, Blade Runner (the director's cut; no voiceover, ends in the elevator)) are as fine a contribution to the history of cinema as anyone's. Indeed, I still consider Blade Runner to be the finest SF film ever made and one of the greatest films period. Its influence is rampant across my own fiction work. And not far behind in that SF film and film ranking is Alien, which demonstrated that you didn't need lasers or robots or heroic prophecies to make a solid story in the near future. You just needed regular people in extraordinary circumstances, which is the root of a lot of good fiction. Noah Hawley's new series, Alien: Earth unfortunately evades that premise entirely in its first couple episodes. Whether that's just a different take or a significant flaw in the overall story is open for question.

The problem that a lot of creators have struggled with within the constraints of the Alien "franchise" is how to keep drawing people back to the perceived threat of the xenomorphs once they've been "solved" in this or that film. James Cameron produced (and directed) what is probably the greatest sequel ever made with Aliens, when he took the horror film and turned it into an action film without sacrificing story or character. That's because he recognized that what Scott did is create approachable and memorable characters against- again -the backdrop of extraordinary circumstances. (Shakespeare alert!) That's exactly what most creators have failed to do since, instead relying on a new alien gimmick, rather than a story about the moving things on screen that the audience can actually relate and connect to (Full disclosure: When I saw Alien at the age of 7, I was rooting for the creature, but I was like that (far more enthralled by Darth Vader than whiny Luke Skywalker, etc.))

On the one hand, Noah Hawley recognized that his series likely wouldn't be a hit if the story was about the creatures and people just having to figure out the "villain of the week" gimmick like a police procedural or any of a number of mostly DC comics throughout the ages. Instead, he inserted a broader plot that examines the question of why both humanity and the xenomorph's reactions to each other are so foreign. I'm not sure if it's going to work, but it was at least a decent effort so far. The main premise is the competition between the five major corporations that rule the planet Earth to produce a new form of "immortality", be it synthetic (like the androids from the film franchise), cyborg (a single prominent character in the first two episodes), or hybrid (human consciousness transmitted into a synth.) The latter are the creation of the "world's youngest trillionaire", as if this were something to aspire to for all the current tech bro followers of Elmo Musk. They're also the central focus of the plot. I believe the idea is that, since they inherently have human consciousness (and, supposedly, conscience), they'll be the most interesting to follow and most relatable to the audience. Since all of the hybrids are created from terminally ill children, Hawley chose to cloak this whole aspect of the plot in the regrettable Lost Boys trope from Peter Pan, which has been so done to death that not even supposed immortality can rescue it. It's also an interesting insight into current world circumstances, in that it allows a company owned by Disney (Hulu) to produce a show that also uses Disney properties as central themes of the story in the form of that film, as well as Ice Age. Something something corporations ruling the world and all that. I mean, the whole premise of the xenomorph reproduction process is parasitic, so this should come as an easy turn for a company like Disney...

Hawley has done good work in the production process by borrowing extensive elements from the original film. Given that this is technically a prequel (le sigh), most of the technology on the Weyland-Yutani ship retrieving the specimens is drawn from the original film, from the text sounds to the light panels of Mother, the ship's AI. That's interesting for a bit but it eventually veers from homage to near-mockery. And I'm fine with cross-time technologies, in that their space travel is vastly more advanced than ours but their Internet and communications aren't. That's just a fact of SF only being able to predict so much (people still using pay phones in Neuromancer, etc.) But said advanced space travel also completely ignores the laws of physics when a ship crash lands on Earth under some measure of thrust and somehow doesn't create the mile-wide crater that one would expect. When there are obvious ways to defuse these kinds of glaring plot points (and when you have Disney money to do it with), it does leave you wondering. But those are details.

The main problem with the premise of the superhumans (whether synth, cyborg, or hybrid) engaging with the vastly physically superior aliens is that, well, we lose that whole "regular humans in extraordinary circumstances" element. We do have the hybrids being impaired by the immature emotional responses to events, which is similar to Blade Runner's replicants having difficulty dealing with their own existence. But that was interesting because the entire focus of the film was the question of what it means to be human. This is not that. Instead, it's about what it means to be more than human, which isn't quite as exciting in a genuine Marvel vs DC heroic fantasy comparison. On top of that, there are not yet any genuinely compelling characters to propel the story (in true adventure comic fashion.) In truth, the most interesting people are Morrow (Babou Ceesay), a Weyland-Yutani cyborg determined to serve the company, and Kersh (Tim Olyphant), a Prodigy synthetic determined to be as icy and distant as possible in every circumstance. The most notable thing about Morrow is how much of a fanatic he is to serve the mission (retrieve and protect the specimens, akin to Ash from the original film) but also how utterly inhuman he is when the definition of cyborg is a cybernetically-enhanced human. Again, are we attempting to hearken to the Blade Runner conflict of the inhuman human and the human inhumans? If so, why do we need aliens?

The visuals have been good. I'm finding the architecture to be very Mega City One, which would be an interesting reach if that was their intention, given the far different structure of that society to this one. And, of course, when our gang of hybrids set out to encounter the xenomorphs, the staging shifts into a very familiar "superheroes setting out on a mission" approach which again raises the question of just which aspect of (non)humanity are we focusing on here? Both? Neither? Episode two also branches into high action a la Aliens to Alien. But it also bends distinctly into John Carpenter's The Thing territory with the amount of blood unleashed by the primary alien and some of the other specimens brought back. It's not just the cool tentacles and the disturbing parasites (and not even Face Huggers.) It's the sheer torrent of blood. The original creature was a stalker. People mostly died offscreen. The creatures in Aliens were soldiers, but still mostly did the dirty work off-camera, presumably because people had to be at least partially alive to propagate the bugs. Hawley has taken a very different horror angle in this show, going from the eerieness of The Haunting to something like Friday the 13th, which is vastly less interesting to me from a storytelling angle. I have bloody scenes in my Dystopia work, too, but it's generally meant to be detail, not a starring role. I'm also not entirely certain what the relevance of the 18th-century French party was nor the baseball angle. Is this our sign of actual humans, in that they have hobbies and distractions where the synths and the cyborgs don't? I'm also questioning the choice of credits music, going from Black Sabbath's "Mob Rules" to Tool's "Stinkfist", neither of which seem to have relevance to what's happening onscreen, except in the broadest sense.

So, yeah, overall I'm kinda lukewarm on the whole thing. It's not awful, but it's not exactly compelling, either. Again, watching Ceesay and Olyphant perform means I'll probably continue to see if they can take it somewhere interesting, but it's certainly not in The Wire/Breaking Bad/Game of Thrones (seasons 1-5) territory of something that must be seen or even a "you really should watch this" effort like Andor. I know that's a tall ask, so I'm certainly willing to give it a couple more episodes to see if it can at least aspire to get there.