Alien: Earth premiere shows that even on T.V., no one can hear you scream

Noah Hawley, best known for his television series Fargo, does a fantastic job giving fans the first T.V. show for the Alien franchise. While the show is still ongoing, so far, Alien: Earth is a worthwhile followup to last year’s film, Alien: Romulus. 

The premiere follows newcomer Sydney Chandler as Wendy, the first artificial person, or synthetic, with a real human mind as she acclimates to her life on Earth. When a ship carrying dangerous alien specimens crashes into her city, we’re hurled once again into the Alien franchise’s world of old and new extraterrestrial horrors. 

Hawley’s show benefits highly from his cast, who give excellent performances throughout the story. Chandler lends a child-like warmth and a loving humanity to Wendy that enhances her brief scenes with Timothy Olyphant as her mentor Kirsh. They create an engaging father-daughter dynamic, while their simple dialogue conveys the meaning of power over life and death.

There’s also fellow newcomer Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, the ambitious leader of synthetic company Prodigy. Blenkin gives a youthful spirit to Kavalier, playing him like he’s the Willy Wonka of synth technology. He portrays him skillfully as a double-faced schemer, using an easygoing persona to hide arrogance and ego. 

The premiere starts slowly, not only to patiently introduce characters and allow for world building, but to also unravel rich philosophical themes about human identity and technology. This approach balances wonderfully with the cold, atmospheric universe of Alien before throwing us into the horror show that is to come.

The theme of immortality is a big one on the show, as Hawley uses Peter Pan allusions as a unique take on the costs of living forever. He tells a compelling story about pushing biotechnology and science for the chance to live forever, the chance to never grow up. 

The show also uses the industrial landscape of rival companies vying for the next technology and hopefully profiting from eternal life. In doing so, it raises important questions about corporations commodifying human health, abusing scientific breakthroughs, and resorting to ethical extremes for wealth, power, and status.

Rest assured, though, the premiere doesn’t stay a philosophy class for too long, as the first two episodes have plenty of Xenomorph horror action to enjoy. 

With the show just starting, it already has incredible visuals from sets that pay homage to Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien film. The silent and pitch black expanse of space, the gray science labs, and analogue computer monitors excellently recreate the signature gloom of Scott’s movie. It’ll definitely be fun for fans to point out these designs during the show.

By the time the premiere gets to the crash site, every shot gets tense and claustrophobic fast as characters walk through dark, narrow corridors and more blood-stained labs. Dangling cables or hissing steam clouds could easily be an alien creature lying in wait — or not. The blend of shadows and sound elevates tension, making you question the characters’ surroundings with fright.

As for flaws, during scenes in the crashed ship, there are too many successive shots where the camera is trained on a character while something moves behind them. This happens repeatedly to the point where, by the time a creature appears, you’re not as surprised when it pops out. 

With the Alien franchise expanding to television, it feels quite exciting to jump into the world of Xenomorphs, greedy corporations, and intellectual philosophies. With a universe seen in films, comics, novels, and video games, having a T.V. show to enjoy these stories even more is a welcoming treat for sci-fi horror lovers. 

Alien: Earth premiered on Aug. 12 and can be streamed on Disney+.