It seems like there are a lot of great shows coming out right now, and I am super happy to say Matt and I watched the first episode of Alien: Earth on Tuesday! I know we are a little behind on the party, since there are three episodes released so far (with new episodes being released on Tuesdays), but I am so excited for this new show!
Just to start, I want to say I was very nervous about this show because even though the trailers looked good, I feel like I haven’t been very impressed from things being released recently both for movies and tv. Initially when the first two episodes were released on the 12th, I was reading some negative Tweets on Twitter about it, which added to the nervousness of the quality and story. Thankfully as time passed on, I have seen nothing but positive words about it now (which goes to show Twitter nowadays is still just a foul place with negative views on the FYP).
Jumping in to the episode, I will say the two overlapping storylines isn’t hard to follow. The USCSS Maginot right off the bat is filled with nostalgia, looking like it’s filmed from the 80’s with the costume and set designs. I am a huge fan of filming utilizing different time periods, and I know some people don’t like it when filmmakers try to pull on familiarity and nods to fans, but I feel like the quality is there, and it is absolutely beautifully done. This is the same reason why I enjoyed Alien: Romulus, but the scenes of the inside of the ship look amazing! I think the people involved in creating this show did a great job mimicking the designs in present day. The clothes and hair also fit perfectly, and don’t look out of place.
Off the bat there is an impression that Teng is going to be the problematic synth, with him making people uncomfortable, and I was excited to get to explore more into this because history in this universe’s movies has the synths causing some of the issues (looking at you, David). They switch it up on the viewer, and security officer Morrow (who I thought was a synth but getting the character’s names they call him a cybernetic) was the one that actually locked another crewmate out of the room where he escaped from the Xenomorph, causing more issues later in the episode.
Seeing the Xenomorph and other creatures for the first time was also extremely exciting. I thought with it being a tv show and not a movie that the quality of the special effects for the aliens would be lower, or a cheaper looking CGI, but from what we’ve seen from episode 1 I am impressed. I really can’t wait to see more of them in more episodes!
As for the other story the viewer gets to follow, I am extremely interested in seeing where it takes us with Wendy. I have never heard of Sydney Chandler before, but she seems like she is super fitting for the role as our main character. She has a very unique look and vibe to her, doing a great job portraying a child who’s consciousness is now in a synthetic body. I have to say I also really love Timothy Olyphant’s character of Kirsh, of whom Matt couldn’t tell was a synth until I said something. He has the perfect unsettling and cold vibe about him, and I can’t wait to see how these two, along with all the other hybrids, work together.
The only thing that really made me cringe was the fact that Disney had to shoehorn their Peter Pan movie into it, with the island being Neverland and the main character being Wendy. It’s not the biggest thing, but I did find it silly that they had to throw it in there.
The episode was about an hour long, and it was definitely filled with story building that I feel like is enjoyed at a good pace. The entire time I was impressed and kept wanting more, and can’t wait to see where Episode 2 takes us!