Alien: Earth

Why did the original "Alien" and follow up "Aliens", films work? The back story was far fetched certainly but it had a grittiness, a sense of realism, that denied disbelief. The characters were the sort of rough hewen, mature, resourceful people, you'd expect to find on a space freighter or in the military. It made sense. Now imagine mostly soft faced types, who feel like they belong teaching tutorials on a university campus or running a yoga class, in the same environment. Because that's what you get with "Aliens Earth". You could say its middle class leftist Californians, facing off against horrific, alien monsters. In the context of a dark comedy, it could have had potential. As you might expect the sense of plausibility, raw realism and creeping dread, isn't there. The characterisations and acting, are none too inspiring either. An unoriginal story, that borrows heavily from the original films and even manages to do a bad "Blade Runner" knock off, rounds out the sense of pervading blandness. In summary, the whole premise feels unconvincing. I really don't know how they managed to make something so amateurish out of high quality, iconic material but well, they did. Not recommended.

Two episodes in and it's ok at best. Good premise, but there's a real lack of tension and stakes. The main characters have plot armor: the xeno will tear apart a room of people in seconds but all the main characters get harmlessly thrown around or not attacked when there's a xeno around. The possibility of the xeno leaving the ship wreckage, being loose on Earth and multiplying is not even discussed and is not a source of tension. This feels like a complete misstep for a show called Alien: EARTH. On the flip side, references to previous films in the series don't feel as forced as Aliens: Romulus. The new aliens and learning their abilities are one of the bright spots but the show is limited by its characters. Besides the stoic synth team leader, the bulk of the other characters are essentially children and haven't had any individual personalities written for them beyond that so their reactions/motivations are all similar and flat.

Alien Earth is a bold and thrilling entry into the Alien universe, and for me, it feels like the franchise finally has fresh life. What makes this series stand apart are the incredible new creatures, not just variations of the familiar xenomorph, but entirely new designs that expand the mythology in ways that feel both terrifying and imaginative. Episode 5 deserves special mention. It plays like a self contained feature film, delivering more tension, atmosphere, and character work than many of the actual films in the franchise. I found myself completely immersed, unable to look away, which is something I haven’t experienced with Alien content in years. To be honest, the classic Alien itself has grown a bit predictable over time. The xenomorph is still iconic, but its scares are limited by decades of overexposure. Alien Earth sidesteps this by combining the familiar horror roots with fascinating science fiction elements, particularly the introduction of new species that feel truly otherworldly. This balance of horror and wonder kept me locked in from beginning to end. Someone really thought this through really well. The weaving of the Peter Pan and lost boys story was great. Overall, Alien Earth blows away most of what has come before in the Alien franchise. It respects the original DNA of the series while finally daring to evolve it. The result is something that feels terrifying, fresh, and full of possibility. I sincerely hope this isn’t the end, because if there’s a second season, I’ll be first in line to watch. 9/10