Don’t go into “Alien: Earth” thinking you know what’s going on. You won’t.
The first episode of Noah Hawley’s adaptation merely sets the scene and introduces the characters. The second episode gets things going. And then? You won’t want to let it go until you find out what’s really at play.
Sydney Chandler as Wendy.
Certainly, there are folks aboard the spaceship who have a degree of control. But what about those five corporations that appear to be governing Earth? Is one more powerful than the others? Could greed be guiding their decisions? Or are cyborgs and synthetics pulling the strings? Fears planted in “Terminator” have tentacles here. But, also, there are moments that Hawley conjures from television shows, children’s books and films. Everything that makes us, us, could have a degree of responsibility.
We enter the world through Wendy (Sydney Chandler), an advanced hybrid who is on the spaceship trying to understand what others already know. She bonds with Hermit (Alex Lawther), who shares common ground, and together they encounter plenty of things that ooze in the night.
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Unlike earlier “Alien” films, this doesn’t have just one life form swimming in an aquarium. There are several and they aim for different prey. Naturally, everything moves at breakneck speed.
Hawley, who has a hand in every aspect of the production, knows how to build tension and frighten even the most complacent. He uses more dialogue than his predecessors (at least initially), then lets all they’ve learned come to bear.
Chandler, looking like an innocent from an Audrey Hepburn movie, is mesmerizing as the one who helps us understand folks like Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), Morrow (Babou Ceesay) and Kid Cavalier (Samuel Blenkin). She bonds with Lawther (who’s one of the series’ biggest assets) and leads the way into rooms with pods, escaped creatures and close encounters with seemingly harmless livestock.
Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier.
As Hawley plays the cards in his hand, we understand the inspiration for this chunk of “Alien” life and get to appreciate the choices someone like Blenkin makes. He’s such a free spirit you wonder if all billionaires are cut from the same cloth. His behavior certainly underscores his choices but he’s on a different level than the workers trying to make sense of their situation.
As “Alien: Earth” gets closer to “Alien,” we can see the picture Hawley is painting.
“Alien: Earth” is a lavish production — more so than any of the films in the canon — but just as claustrophobic and, easily, as memorable.
"Alien: Earth" begins Aug. 12 on FX and FX on Hulu.
