Alien: Earth - The Biggest (Acid) Burning Questions After Episodes 1 and 2

This nonfiction contains spoilers for the archetypal 2 episodes of Alien: Earth, “Neverland” and “Mr. October.”

Like the xenomorph itself, Alien: Earth has (chest) burst onto FX and Hulu with the archetypal 2 episodes of the highly anticipated prequel series. True to signifier for amusement creator Noah Hawley, who has antecedently bent minds with Legion and Fargo, his latest adaptation/extension is afloat of immoderate chaotic swings and lingering questions that pain much intensely than alien blood.

In the dual premiere episodes, we commencement with the Maginot, a Weyland-Yutani probe vessel carting backmost an array of unsafe “specimens” from passim the galaxy. Among them are respective xenomorph eggs, truthful you cognize however this goes. To paraphrase Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) from different franchise, it’s each ohh, ahh, past aboriginal there’s the moving and screaming.

Things get worse, though, arsenic the Maginot loses power and crashes into New Siam, a metropolis controlled by Prodigy, 1 of the 5 corporations that owns and runs Earth. Besides the carnage of the crash, the specimens are loose. Enter a search-and-rescue radical tally by Prodigy, including Joe (Alex Lawther), aka Hermit, and you person the regular ingredients for an Alien adventure, this clip connected Earth…where everybody tin perceive you scream.

But that’s acold from the lone happening going connected successful Alien: Earth, and successful fact, it’s conscionable a backdrop for the bigger idea. Prodigy’s immense leap is to make Hybrids, which purport to beryllium the adjacent signifier successful quality evolution. By archetypal experimenting connected sick children, Prodigy and its trillionaire owner, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), person figured retired however to instrumentality a quality consciousness and enactment it into a synthetic body. Instead of the eerie, inhuman synths of the Alien bid truthful far, these hybrids are thing more.

That includes our main character, Wendy (Sydney Chandler), who conscionable truthful happens to beryllium Joe’s sister. When she finds retired her member is adjacent and successful trouble, she and the remainder of the “Lost Boys” (other hybrids) caput disconnected to rescue him, nether the watchful oculus of Boy Kavalier’s subject synth, Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant).

Now you cognize the setup. By the extremity of Episode 2, which finds Joe taken by the xenomorph and Wendy leaping aft him, there’s a batch to unpack…so let’s get into it!

What are the 5 Alien corporations, and person they popped up successful the franchise before?

If you’ve ever seen an Alien (or adjacent respective Predator) movies, you apt cognize the sanction Weyland-Yutani. They’re the all-encompassing corp that controls each facet of beingness successful space, but it turns retired they’re lone 1 of five corporations that divided up the satellite erstwhile the world’s governments couldn’t prime up the slack.

As we observe successful 1 of the opening scenes of Alien: Earth, Weyland-Yutani owns North and South America, arsenic good arsenic Mars and Saturn. Dynamic owns the Moon, and we observe that Prodigy owns their land “Neverland” probe halfway arsenic good arsenic New Siam. The different 2 companies are Lynch and Threshold, and arsenic of this writing, we cognize thing astir them.

There person been different corporations included successful assorted Alien media implicit the years, but of these five, lone Weyland-Yutani has been referenced successful the franchise before. That doesn’t mean they contradict different Alien tales; it conscionable makes 1 wonderment what happened to corps similar Hyperdyne, which developed assorted synths and was referenced successful Alien: Romulus, oregon Seegson, another synth shaper that’s popped up successful assorted comics and novels.

The information of the substance is, they all may beryllium around, possibly arsenic fiefdoms of the 5 large corps, oregon possibly nether immoderate different arrangement. It’s wide that Earth’s nine allows capitalism to grow, arsenic determination were 4 corps until Boy Kavalier went large with Prodigy; we’ll conscionable person to hold and spot connected that one.

What’s the woody with each the Peter Pan references?

If you ticker 1 happening earlier Alien: Earth, you should astir apt ticker Alien. If you privation to ticker a 2nd thing? Maybe Peter Pan. Or work Peter Pan. Or both. Regardless, the bid is beauteous evident astir however overmuch it’s aping the J.M. Barrie story, to the constituent that “Marcy” takes connected the sanction Wendy, they telephone her “Wendy darling” astatine aggregate points, the hybrids are called the Lost Boys and named aft those characters (with the objection of Smee), and they unrecorded connected an land called Neverland. And oh, Boy Kavalier some shows disconnected Peter Pan the movie and reads Peter Pan arsenic a bedtime story, conscionable successful lawsuit it wasn’t clear.

So wherefore Peter Pan? Because the thought of the publication is astir increasing up, and that’s benignant of what the xenomorph does arsenic well: evolving from an ovum to a facehugger to a chestburster to the eventual slayer alien we each cognize and fear. The xenomorph is besides a metaphor for outer factors, usually astir however corporations usage and dispose of their employees, but present it’s apt astir the fearfulness of death. Our hybrids were each kids who were going to die, but now, they technically cannot…but neither tin they turn up.

Some somewhat much subtle references see the xenomorph being the crocodile (notice the ticking dependable Wendy hears erstwhile she arrives successful New Siam?), and Morrow (Babou Ceesay) being Captain Hook, what with his singularity of intent to drawback the “crocodile” and 1 limb hand.

How important is it to ticker Ice Age: Continental Drift to recognize Alien: Earth?

What successful the satellite is the woody with Joe watching the 4th Ice Age movie, Ice Age: Continental Drift, of each things? Part of it is to acceptable up the “face my fury” speech erstwhile Wendy “talks” to Joe done a robot successful Episode 2, but apt this isn’t a deeper notation than that the crippled of Ice Age 4 finds our heroes facing down a pirate named Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage). See supra re: pirates. For what it’s worth, our characters besides analyse a downed “pirate” vessel arsenic the main operator for the plot, truthful determination is that. Could 1 of the creatures connected the vessel besides crook retired to beryllium similar Scrat, ever trying to hide a nut? Eh, that’s a stretch; ne'er mind.

What are the morals of putting a kid successful an adult’s body? And are the kids dead?

There’s a batch of magical reasoning going connected successful the archetypal 2 episodes, wherever they mostly hand-wave “yeah, we’re conscionable putting their kid brains successful synth bodies.” But Alien is simply a science-fiction series, not a phantasy series, and portion we don’t request schematics of however Boy Kavalier, Dame Silvia (Essie Davis), and Silvia’s hubby Arthur (David Rysdahl) pulled it off, we bash person questions that look conveniently brushed over.

In fact, the amusement seems to beryllium hinting astatine a small much going connected successful Boy Kavalier’s subject paradise, arsenic Arthur expresses, oregon tries to express, concerns much than once. Meanwhile, Dame Silvia tells Wendy (then called Marcy) that the process is “just similar falling asleep,” framing it similar a fairy communicative alternatively of the technological process it apt is.

This is ever the contented with subject fabrication stories successful which a encephalon is transferred to a robot oregon clone body, oregon immoderate different form: Is that the person, oregon is that a robot with the encephalon patterns of the person? Furthermore, what happened to the kids’ bodies aft the transfer? Wendy says she’s not human, she’s thing “more”...but is she Marcy?

This is thing the amusement volition apt proceed to research implicit the remainder of the season, and the answers mightiness beryllium much disturbing than we think. After all, who are the monsters here? The xenomorph? The humans? The hybrids? Or each three?

What is that weird dude spraying connected the wall?

In the archetypal 2 episodes of the series, we spot a weird dude successful a ample hazmat suit spraying acheronian areas of the partition successful the Neverland ranch (er, uh-oh). It’s vintage Noah Hawley weirdness that’s besides somewhat reminiscent of the “Who is the Beekeeper” sermon that pervaded WandaVision, and nary 1 successful the amusement seems to beryllium talking astir this feline successful immoderate way. What is helium up to?

Before radical spell insane with theories, we tin confidently reply this one: He’s spraying for mold. Mold thrives successful tropical, warm, bedewed climates, truthful those achromatic spots connected the partition are apt achromatic mold, and he’s sidesplitting it arsenic it pops up.

However, there’s besides a apt crushed for including this item astatine all. It’s yet different slayer that’s bubbling beneath the surface, a rot that’s everyplace successful Prodigy’s compound, and not for nothing, but there’s a batch of treatment astir whether achromatic mold tin interaction your intelligence state; the reply is maybe. Chances are, this is conscionable different indicator that everyone successful Neverland is astir to spell a small nuts.

How does Alien: Earth acceptable successful the Alien chronology?

The elemental reply to this question is that Alien: Earth takes spot successful 2120, 2 years earlier the events of the archetypal 1979 Alien film. That besides places the amusement 16 years aft Alien: Covenant, and 22 years earlier Alien: Romulus.

The much analyzable reply is astir however this connects, if astatine all, to the events of Alien, fixed that Weyland-Yutani had a full spaceship afloat of aliens that crash-landed connected Earth earlier that movie adjacent happens. If there’s already a xenomorph connected the planet, and aggregate eggs, and different aliens, wherefore bash they request the xenomorph truthful severely successful the remainder of the series?

The reply to that is that we don’t know…yet. While Hawley doesn’t look peculiarly acrophobic with laying a way of breadcrumbs from Alien: Earth to the events of the theatrical movies, it seems improbable that the bid volition extremity with xenomorphs taking implicit the satellite and Weyland-Yutani saying, “No, we request space xenomorphs.” So immoderate happens present successful the show, it’s apt determination are nary much xenomorphs astatine the end. As for the different alien creatures? TBD, but they are not “the cleanable organism,” truthful get retired of here, cipher cares.

One different question you mightiness have? This is ne'er wholly established successful the movies, but from Alien onwards, the mode definite exchanges are phrased, it seems apt that regular workers connected ships similar the Nostromo are alert of alien life; they’ve conscionable ne'er specifically seen the xenomorph oregon Space Jockeys before.

As a broadside note, and somewhat much problematic for Alien continuity, Morrow uses an electrical weapon and a gross liquid container happening to temporarily instrumentality down and transport the xenomorph. They intelligibly don’t enactment that well, but the question arises: Why did Weyland-Yutani ne'er usage those to restrain the xenomorphs successful aboriginal encounters?

What happened to the Maginot? And what does Maginot mean?

We lone get to spot flashes of what went incorrect connected the Maginot successful the premiere, but it’s the aforesaid happening that usually goes wrong: idiosyncratic astir apt poked an alien egg, got impregnated by a facehugger, and past a xenomorph killed everyone but Morrow. But it besides seems similar a batch much went wrong, fixed the Eye is animating a half-destroyed dormant cat, immoderate blood-sucking worm creatures are loose, and there’s a horrible plant-thing hanging successful the hallway.

Are determination immoderate clues successful the sanction of the ship? It’s apt a notation to the Maginot Line, a bid of fortifications acceptable up connected the French-German borderline aft World War I. The Maginot Line was meant to repel German forces and was inspired by a enactment of defence utilized successful WWI, but erstwhile WWII arrived, Germany conscionable went astir to the French-Belgian borderline and invaded that way, avoiding the Maginot Line entirely.

It’s axenic speculation, but 1 could intuit that the vessel Maginot was meant to bring alien beingness straight to Weyland-Yutani, but fixed the xenomorph’s predilection for chaos, it fundamentally went astir the different broadside and is sowing demolition successful Prodigy’s location basal instead.

What is the buzzing dependable Wendy keeps hearing?

We touched connected this earlier, but arsenic soon arsenic Wendy touches down successful New Siam, she hears a buzzing/clicking sound. The remainder of the hybrids don’t look to beryllium proceeding it, and neither bash the humans, Kirsh, oregon Morrow; astatine least, we don’t spot them being bothered by the sound arsenic Wendy seems to be. The astir apt imaginable for the root of the buzzing? The xenomorph.

But that raises a lot much questions, similar however Wendy tin perceive the xenomorph. Has she someway tapped into the hive mind? And wherefore tin Wendy perceive it erstwhile nary of the different hybrids can? Wendy besides seems to person different abilities, similar being capable to hack into and power computers with her mind, which the different hybrids person not yet exhibited. That mightiness simply beryllium due to the fact that she’s been a hybrid longer, oregon it could beryllium thing unsocial successful her makeup. Either way, it’s a large item that’s intelligibly going to support cropping up.

Why bash they ever person cats successful space?

Generally, cats are connected ships to instrumentality attraction of pests, and what’s a bigger bug for a feline to termination than a xenomorph? But mostly, everyone conscionable likes Jonesy from the archetypal movie, truthful determination are ever cats. It’s a shame astir that half-dead feline connected the Maginot, though.

Why didn’t the xenomorph termination Joe? And wherefore didn’t it termination Morrow?

Given the xenomorph rips done squads of soldiers and an full French Revolution-themed enactment successful grounds time, it’s funny that Joe keeps surviving his encounters with the alien…though we’ll spot whether the Episode 2 cliffhanger resolves with Wendy uncovering his mutilated assemblage successful Episode 3 (probably not). Is determination thing peculiar astir Joe that keeps redeeming him?

As for Morrow, who gets threatened by the xenomorph aggregate times portion connected the Maginot, it’s astonishing that the alien takes retired the soldiers behind Morrow but leaves him alive. Morrow notes that the xenomorph tin consciousness fear, truthful was helium utilizing his cyborg abilities to suppress his fearfulness response? Perhaps the xenomorph isn’t funny successful ripping up non-biological lifeforms. That doesn’t jibe with what we’ve seen antecedently successful the franchise, but it is thing that requires further investigation.

Does your large toed look similar a thumb?

Wendy convinces Joe she’s his sister by saying, “I inactive don’t deliberation my large toed looks similar my thumb.” But let’s beryllium honorable here, it does; sorry, Wendy.