Sci-Fi Alien: Earth (Noah Hawley and Ridley Scott) | FX on HULU

[DarthSkywalker]

I like the show. But I'm honestly surprised by how rehash it all felt. There is nothing new here. It's the same Alien story, told again. A lot like Romulus. But it's not as pretty as Romulus. Better acting though.

The first episode is such an inelegant exposition dump, I was kind of surprised it came from Hawley. Like they felt like they needed to rush it, so here, let me explain it all to you. Which is strange, because this so far feels like a movie script stretched to TV length. So a lot of padding.

I really don't like the use of the Xeno so far. They're showing far too much of it in action. I don't need to see it kill folks in detail. It's the idea that brings the terror. Not subpar CGI ripping and tearing. It looks worse and feels less like a threat because of it. Should've kept to the Evil Dead style camera. Far more effective.

The production design is also a mix bag. Some stuff is really cool. Other stuff looks very artificial. I get it's TV and a budget, but that's what happens when you try to copy a very specific film atheistic and then build around it. This is before we get into the fact that the Star Beast itself looks plastic. Honestly never seen it look worse. Very disappointing.

That said, I'm digging Raylen, Karis, and Wendy. All are really bringing it on the acting front in different, fun ways.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Watched the first two episodes and yeah this is definitely a banger and honestly probably the most I've enjoyed anything from this franchise since Aliens.

Babou Ceesay and Timothy Olyphant are the MVP's so far and I'm still amazed with how cinematic and big budget this looks. I also thought Shogun looked incredible but this is on a whole other level.

New creatures are pretty horrific too and they definitely aren't holding back when it comes to the brutality and savageness of the Xenomorphs which I feel like we haven't seen in this franchise since Alien 3 and Resurrection.

 

[Snow Queen]

I didn't hate it, but I did leave the two episodes feeling let down. The first episode feels very scattershot and sloppy in its exposition, while the second might be the worst outing the big guy's ever had on screen for my money. The way it's shot and the constant contrivances involved really sucked any presence away from it. It's not all bad. I like Nemik and Raylan and Wendy well enough and the young tech guy, the potential interplay between these different companies, but it took two episodes to get a hook in me and I'm not sure how long that hook can carry me if it doesn't find a bit more meat to it. I was just hoping for more here, I guess. I liked some of the atmosphere and intrigue it seeded, but any time the alien showed up in the alien show, it suddenly felt very 2000s in a bad way.

I also find myself a bit let down by the Earth here. It's not bad, I'm not sure what I'd ideally want, but it just feels kind of generic so far. Could be any sci fi future Earth.

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Link]

The first episode was very cool, the show seems expensive and I love how atmospheric it is. Jeff Russo's soundtrack is exceptional, it works so well in blending the Alien of old and new together. The opening homage to Alien 1979 was well done, but the pacing felt a bit off to me, and that was something that lingered throughout the episode. I'm excited to watch more, it doesn't come as a surprise that there's something special afoot.

This does feel very Blade Runner to me. I wonder if that show can compete. I sure hope so because of its tremendous cast.

 

[Link]

Spoiler: The biggest jumpscare tonight

 

[Spider-Fan]

I saw the 1st episode so far. For reference, Alien and Aliens are 2 of my all-time favorites. Alien 3 has stuff I like, but a lot I don't. Resurrection sucks. Prometheus and Covenant both are really boring and I like their ideas more than I do the actual movies themselves. Romulus I loved 2/3s of but was turned of by deaged Ian Holm and the finale flat sucked and heavily ruined the movie for me. Way too Resurrection in the finale in all the worst ways.

Now the 1st episode of Earth, I love the visuals. Story I felt was....hard to track a bit. Meaning it didn't really hook into an actual narrative for like 40 mins. Too much setup. But I am excited to see the next episode to see if it picks up. I am encouraged but been burned way too much by this franchise to get excited just yet

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Alien and Predator are so back, baby!

 

[Link]

I'm about to hit play on Romulus. I've seen it only once, so I'm excited to go back. It's a beautifully made film, even if I did have the same issue as Spider-Fan with "Ian Holm" and the nostalgia baiting in general (the ending I loved, though.)

 

[Elayis]

This was probably my least favorite Alien installment since the AvP films. I didn't care for how much of a rehash Romulus was, but at least it was aesthetically top-notch.

Earth, however, is just a mess. It needlessly overcomplicates the narrative with a bunch of lore that isn't dramatized. The characters feel more like puzzles pieces than real people, and I honestly don't understand why the cast is predominantly British when they're playing Americans (with questionable accents).

There's a lot of cheap jump scares which don't work, the production values are hit and miss (the green screen work is really rough, and the editing is trying to hard to make a drab story interesting. A lot of people obviously don't like Prometheus or Covenant, but at least Scott was exploring interesting concepts about creation, parenthood and humanity's hubris. But beyond some lazy exposition about immortality, it's unclear what Earth's big ideas are.

These two episodes already match most of the movies in length, but they haven't done a good job at getting me to invest in the world and its characters.

 

[Weather Witch]

With Noah Hawley I was expecting something much more unique. Lot of things here that we've seen before. I think they're also showing the aliens way too much. Some bright spots, acting is good, but unfortunately still feels a bit bland so far.

 

[Drizzle]

I'm all caught up with the second episode.

Me when I saw what happened to that poor kitty



Me when the Xenomorph showed no mercy on those Dangerous Liaisons cosplayers



I really like the show. I do like that it jumps right into things fairly early but what I'm finding the most intriguing are the other alien species besides the Xeno. The characters seem mostly interesting so far, at least the leads do.

There is nothing new here.

Show me another Alien movie that has Ice Age in it, I'll wait.

Actually I did find that to be a little too distracting. Peter Pan is one thing because it fit with their names but the Ice Age thing felt pretty jarring. Like, okay guys, we get it. You own all these IPs.

Enjoying the direction of this so far. Again, as someone who hasn't seen any Alien films, I can only approach this as a show, and Hawley has proven between Legion and Fargo that he can take an existing property and seamlessly weave in his own story. This pilot felt like it could've been made for the big screen, and I imagine that Hawley more than has FX's trust at this point.

I'm actually a little jealous of you because the original Alien is one of those movies that I would totally erase from my brain just for the opportunity to watch it for the first time again.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

I liked enough to continue on, a bit less than I was hoping too.

There's a lot more alien(s) action on screen than I expected. Maybe too much. There's a lot of episodes to go still!

Wendy and her situation and connections to other characters are like a better or more robust version of Ridley Scott's robot fascination that took over franchise in his latter entries.

Have to remember that the show wants new audience people to check it out not just old people who are already tuned into this world. What's old to you/me is new to someone else. They have to explain if not repeat things to a new audience that wasn't around for the past 50 years.

Production value sometimes looks really good or really not good. It's a mixed bag at best.

The way every episode so far ends with a song reminds me of the Disney+ Willow show. lol

 

[Snow Queen]

Show me another Alien movie that has Ice Age in it, I'll wait.

Actually I did find that to be a little too distracting. Peter Pan is one thing because it fit with their names but the Ice Age thing felt pretty jarring. Like, okay guys, we get it. You own all these IPs.

Iconic images in the Alien series:

Spoiler

 

[Spider-Fan]

I am almost done with episode 2. I like this episode more, but I am acutely aware that I have an entire series to go and it doesn't feel like this should be a like 8-10 hour experience. This feels like a movie that I am worried is inflated into a show

Just finished episode 2, and I am very worried about this lol! I just don't know if there is enough show here for it to not feel padded. Even if I like most of it

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

This actually feels like its set in Ridley Scott's universe and it didn't beat me over the head with callbacks like the studio produced fan film that came before it. If some of the stuff doesn't get fleshed out, I'll be disappointed. I also liked that we got to see

Spoiler

Yutani

I'm happy with it right now, but the bar has been set so low for this franchise, that I might be grading on a curve. Time will tell.

 

[Char]

Not feeling the Xenomorph design. Something feels off. Wendy jumping off the cliff didn't work for me either. Some plot armor is really off the charts. I like the atmosphere and the score thus far...bit a mystery is good too. Don't like the Rock music. The fist ten minutes of EP1 was cool and so was the cinematography. EP2 > Why do they always have to stick their bloody face right in front of the face hugger eggs...ugh! I'll continue watching of course.

 

[Char]

I am almost done with episode 2. I like this episode more, but I am acutely aware that I have an entire series to go and it doesn't feel like this should be a like 8-10 hour experience. This feels like a movie that I am worried is inflated into a show

Just finished episode 2, and I am very worried about this lol! I just don't know if there is enough show here for it to not feel padded. Even if I like most of it

I honestly now wonder, if by the end of this, I'll be glad Hawley never got to make a Doom movie. Even though I like Legion.

 

[Morg]

crap! Not thrill what happen to the cat

 

[Spider-Fan]

I feel like the Alien is a hard concept to make interesting for the 8-10 hours a series needs to. You can only see what looks to be tubing in the background turn out to be a Xenomorph or people being morons and getting killed by a face hugger or whatever so many times before it feels the same. There is going to need to be a whole lot of great character work to keep this interesting.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

They have a podcast

https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/alien-earth/podcast

FX’s Alien: Earth - The Official Podcast. Each week, host Adam Rogers, is joined by guests including the show’s creator, cast, and crew in this exclusive companion podcast. They will explore the story elements, deep-dive into character motivations, and offer an episode-by-episode behind-the-scenes breakdown of each terrifying chapter in this new series.

 

[Sithborg]

Finished the first 2 episodes. Really enjoying is. Sydney Chandler's Wendy has sold me on it, even if there is a creepiness to them putting children into adult bodies. And Ryland's Kirsh does a fun new view of the synthetic's admiration for the xenomorph.

I like the xenomorph itself, even if they are having it move more like the dog alien from Alien 3, which I think does a lot to demystify the xeno.

And I see enough bones that I think Hawley can make a decent length series. Just delving into the political/corporate relations is interesting to me.

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Sithborg]

I will say, the music outros has me missing Willow again....

God, what are we going to lose in the merger this time...

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I'm finally indoctrinated.

The first two episodes were alright IMO. Felt like they did what Romulus thought it was doing.

Love the visuals. That opening sequence in the first episode looked like it was plucked straight from Alien.