Spoilers Alien: Earth Spoiler Thread
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Ruin Explorer
Legend
Seated and ready for dyed-blonde Raylan Givens and the "dodgy anime"-ass premise of the main character being a "little girl's mind in an adult robot body".
I josh but I am genuinely excited for this!
After Fargo I generally trust Hawley, and combined with extremely good reviews from people I trust and who have been like 75% of the episodes, I am prepared for this to not suck. Also from what little Charles Pulliam-Moore revealed in his review makes it seem like whilst the plot superficially resembles various '90s Aliens comics - there are certain obvious directions to go, I think - they're doing a lot more with it.
I josh but I am genuinely excited for this!
After Fargo I generally trust Hawley, and combined with extremely good reviews from people I trust and who have been like 75% of the episodes, I am prepared for this to not suck. Also from what little Charles Pulliam-Moore revealed in his review makes it seem like whilst the plot superficially resembles various '90s Aliens comics - there are certain obvious directions to go, I think - they're doing a lot more with it.
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BookTenTiger
Sad Dad of the Revolution
Is this the show where a Xenomorph tours Earth and reviews all the best food spots?
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Excited for this!
www.engadget.com
Alien: Earth succeeds where Ridley Scott's Alien sequels failed
Alien: Earth delivers everything you'd want from a series with "Alien" in the title.
Vael
Legend
That's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Saw the first two episodes. Rock solid so far, I'm engaged and intrigued. The characters are interesting, the new aliens pretty cool and interesting...I'm in!
The big thing that struck me is....honestly Earth doesn't look too bad. When your used to the sterile existence of space travel in teh alien universe it can be easy to think that Earth is just a complete and total garbage heap by this point. But....the old girl seems to be holding up well 100 years later, actually looks pretty clean from the few scenes we have seen. Not Star trek levels of optimism but hey I'll take it.
The big thing that struck me is....honestly Earth doesn't look too bad. When your used to the sterile existence of space travel in teh alien universe it can be easy to think that Earth is just a complete and total garbage heap by this point. But....the old girl seems to be holding up well 100 years later, actually looks pretty clean from the few scenes we have seen. Not Star trek levels of optimism but hey I'll take it.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I mean, Earth is controlled by 5 gigantic megacorporations. Democracy, meaningful choice and freedom have been deleted. Autocrats like Boy Kavalier (WHAT A NAME) rule the planet and anyone living on it is merely their plaything.
That's "a boot stamping on a human face- forever", which is like, the opposite of optimism in many ways.
As such, because it directly belongs to them, they probably did decide to actually do something about climate change etc. and prevent complete and total ecological collapse, in the same way a rich guy might reluctantly realize it's in his own interests to not pollute his own lands/gardens. That said, the only place we've seen is New Siam and Neverland (which is presumably fairly near New Siam as low-altitude subsonic transports were able to get there in what seemed like less than six hours, and it looks like approximately the same biome), and even in ecological collapse I don't expect the Pacific Rim to change appearance drastically.
Speaking of Boy Kavalier, let me get out of the way my three only semi-criticisms of this show:
1) It is incredibly on-the-nose and it is not even slightly ashamed of that.
I'm not sure this is actually a bad thing. Boy Kavalier's name is a great example of this, because is he is a cavalier and childish man, he's literally his name. All the "hybrids" (i.e. child + terrifying robot body & brain) are literally renamed after Peter Pan characters, and we're literally shown scenes from Peter Pan and read (amazingly terrifying) excerpts of Peter Pan, which is just screaming "DO YOU GET IT?!?!?" in the face of the audience. The Ice Age movie stuff too is very on the nose and slightly seems to think the audience is a little thick, but you know what? Some of them probably are, it's fine to be clear about stuff. The dialogue is also a little on-the-nose at times - I think they even had effectively quote or closely paraphrase Ripley at one point, though I couldn't swear to it.
So like, I need to say that, to note that, but - I'm cool with this approach. I actually like it for 2025.
2) It is extremely derivative of Alien and Aliens.
Again not sure this a bad thing per se, but this series could not remotely exist without both those movies (much as that might grind Scott's gears, this is Cameron's baby too in that sense).
It's also genuinely very reminiscent of a certain kind of manga/anime oddly enough ("weird science child mistreatment by government/corporations" genre you might say - i.e. Akira, Evangelion, Serial Experiments Lain, etc. etc.). I do appreciate that they addressed "child in an adult body" thing absolutely head on and basically said "Yeah that is weird" and whilst they gave a simple excuse, Boy Kavalier being a HUGE CREEP surely factors into this lol.
3) Why did you have to make it a 65-year mission? Not like, a 20 year mission, which has similar emotional heft but would make insanely more sense in the setting and aesthetics.
(will spoiler-block these so only those interested have to look at them, not because they're spoilers, this is a spoiler thread after all)
I'm hoping they justify this a bit, because that means the Maginot, an interstellar ship, launched in 2055. 30 years from now! I mean, I guess that means this is an alt-history setting? Maybe they developed the transistor 20+ years earlier? The Maginot notably has the following characteristics:
A) It has some kind of FTL drive, artificial gravity, seemingly inertial dampers or mass manipulators or something (given it's flying towards Earth front first engines on, not backwards engines braking as you'd expect or engines off if it was in trouble, but doesn't seem to be accelerating) and so on, okay fine. Maybe this is a Mass Effect situation and one tech jump allowed all of these.
B) It was an interior and systems absolutely identical to the Nostromo, which was constructed in 2101. Come on man. I guess we can write it off as wanting to use the same visual language, but again, why not make it a 20 or 30 year mission so it would make sense?
C) It has an android on it who seems to be, frankly, identical to the android on the Nostromo, over 65 years later. Did technology just not advance on androids? That's pretty insane. Maybe we'll hear the crew was changed out part-way through the mission? But nothing indicates that so far. (Not aging is fine if they're in cryosleep etc.)
D) Also has it really been going for 65 years without stopping at a station or w/e for maintenance? I mean I guess it must have?
This could all be explained if it had a "65 year mission" but like, hadn't been doing a single long journey, but rather kept coming and going (and thus had been maintained, upgraded, crew changed, android improved etc.) - but literally everything we've seen says otherwise, as does the dialogue about the android wanting 65 years of pay.
Oh well, not happy with that but like, the rest of the package is amazing.
A) It has some kind of FTL drive, artificial gravity, seemingly inertial dampers or mass manipulators or something (given it's flying towards Earth front first engines on, not backwards engines braking as you'd expect or engines off if it was in trouble, but doesn't seem to be accelerating) and so on, okay fine. Maybe this is a Mass Effect situation and one tech jump allowed all of these.
B) It was an interior and systems absolutely identical to the Nostromo, which was constructed in 2101. Come on man. I guess we can write it off as wanting to use the same visual language, but again, why not make it a 20 or 30 year mission so it would make sense?
C) It has an android on it who seems to be, frankly, identical to the android on the Nostromo, over 65 years later. Did technology just not advance on androids? That's pretty insane. Maybe we'll hear the crew was changed out part-way through the mission? But nothing indicates that so far. (Not aging is fine if they're in cryosleep etc.)
D) Also has it really been going for 65 years without stopping at a station or w/e for maintenance? I mean I guess it must have?
This could all be explained if it had a "65 year mission" but like, hadn't been doing a single long journey, but rather kept coming and going (and thus had been maintained, upgraded, crew changed, android improved etc.) - but literally everything we've seen says otherwise, as does the dialogue about the android wanting 65 years of pay.
Oh well, not happy with that but like, the rest of the package is amazing.
But to be clear, from these episodes, this show is 10/10 absolutely amazing.
Like, everything rules.
1) It looks totally amazing - incredible visual design, perfect colour grading, great editing, great choices on shots, really good integration of CGI and practical FX.
2) Brains were actually engaged in the writing! Hooray! It's rarely seen these days! Like, the muted emotions of the android from not having an endocrine system, thank god someone has an understanding of why uploading consciousness isn't trivial, and I even more loved that they were like "Yes we've tried to simulate that", because that's exactly what you'd do, and that it's not working right is very "real". And that's one example of many.
3) Characters who shouldn't be idiots aren't idiots. Obviously the children are maniacs, but they're children in superhuman, super-intelligent (that was an interesting development) robot bodies. They would be maniacs, most children are. But like the rest of the people? Most of them are sane in the same way as Alien/Aliens - i.e. some risk-takers and emotional thinkers but no idiot-ball or similar. The only thing that ran a bit false to me was the soldiers happily walking over a narrow metal strut (which could have collapsed at any second) into the spaceship without even attempting to run a line or get an engineer to fix something up - but equally maybe that speaks to how they're incentivized by the corporate overlords and/or how low the value of life is in this society? It's good to see this when multiple post-Aliens movies have relied on insane idiot-ball behaviour to propel the plot (most egregiously Prometheus, which took the bold move of equipping every character with their own personal idiot-ball that they carry at all times rather than passing one around).
4) Costumes, props, etc. are fantastic to an Andor-like degree. Appreciate little details like the weapons on board Maginot looking very different in design to those used by the Prodigy "marines" (albeit they looked more advanced, which doesn't make chronological sense but w/e).
5) Action, pacing, etc. seem to be very good - this is not a show wasting your time and they know how to shoot action scenes for the most part.
6) Great casting, no notes. I was wrong to be skeptical about Wendy's actor - she's absolutely nailing it and calls to mind particularly Alien: Resurrection of all things with how both Ripley and Call were, whilst being her own thing. Grabbing the paper-slicer blade to use as a makeshift katana was just incredible childlike whimsy whilst also stressing she's a terrifying android (just casually ripping it off and sticking it to her back with presumably electromagnets inside her). Boy Kavalier is as noted, incredibly creepy, like, terrifying in way that is yes obviously Peter Pan but also Willy Wonka and Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, particularly the insane self-regard and faux-humility of the latter. Enjoying how twitchy the brother is too. And let us not forget Olyphant's delightfully demented turn as Kirsh, who is at times almost paternal, then analytical, then nigh-messianic, existing at a sort of juxtaposition of David and Bishop.
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Ruin Explorer
Legend
Further thoughts:
1) This Xenomorph is like, insanely more dangerous than any Xenomorph we've seen before, and is ruthlessly focused on killing and nothing but killing pretty much as fast and efficiently as possible if there's more than one person present (except when it's the typical Alien "staring" thing). I'm willing to believe there's a good reason for that, because there have been good reasons for other things so far, but it is notable. It's also I would say sleeker and definitely has much shorter "exhaust pipes" (dorsal spines is I believe the accepted term), than the Xenomorphs in Alien/Aliens/Resurrection/AvP. Also it's using the classic slasher movie "offscreen advantage" where when you can see it, it's of limited effectiveness, but when you can't, it can kill like 8 people in a few seconds lol. Respect for the statue disguise though! Classic Xenomorph move.
Wait is it a very juvenile queen? That would explain it seeming to be smarter and more aggressive and a slightly different shape. Current Alien lore says they don't get the "wide head" until much later in growth so the lack of that doesn't rule it out.
2) Wait the faintly menacing aide-de-camp guy is Ade Edmondson, he of Bottom fame? He somehow turned into looking like a hard bastard in his 60s? Incredible as is his character's name, which I see is "Atom Ein" (hell yes these names).
3) Was his lordship a cyborg? I guess we'll probably never know, but man, he survived being cleft in twain better than I would. Pretty sure all my blood would fall out long before my torso could start crawling away. I do like the idea that some oik telling you "spaceship hit the building mate, probs gonna to fall down innit" isn't a good enough reason to stop your 1700s-themed debauchery party.
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4) Also the children (the Lost Boys?), like, really follow Kirsh's orders, more than most kids would follow anyone's orders. I guess part of that is them being androids and having "muted emotions", but it's interesting.
1) This Xenomorph is like, insanely more dangerous than any Xenomorph we've seen before, and is ruthlessly focused on killing and nothing but killing pretty much as fast and efficiently as possible if there's more than one person present (except when it's the typical Alien "staring" thing). I'm willing to believe there's a good reason for that, because there have been good reasons for other things so far, but it is notable. It's also I would say sleeker and definitely has much shorter "exhaust pipes" (dorsal spines is I believe the accepted term), than the Xenomorphs in Alien/Aliens/Resurrection/AvP. Also it's using the classic slasher movie "offscreen advantage" where when you can see it, it's of limited effectiveness, but when you can't, it can kill like 8 people in a few seconds lol. Respect for the statue disguise though! Classic Xenomorph move.
Wait is it a very juvenile queen? That would explain it seeming to be smarter and more aggressive and a slightly different shape. Current Alien lore says they don't get the "wide head" until much later in growth so the lack of that doesn't rule it out.
2) Wait the faintly menacing aide-de-camp guy is Ade Edmondson, he of Bottom fame? He somehow turned into looking like a hard bastard in his 60s? Incredible as is his character's name, which I see is "Atom Ein" (hell yes these names).
3) Was his lordship a cyborg? I guess we'll probably never know, but man, he survived being cleft in twain better than I would. Pretty sure all my blood would fall out long before my torso could start crawling away. I do like the idea that some oik telling you "spaceship hit the building mate, probs gonna to fall down innit" isn't a good enough reason to stop your 1700s-themed debauchery party.
EDIT:
4) Also the children (the Lost Boys?), like, really follow Kirsh's orders, more than most kids would follow anyone's orders. I guess part of that is them being androids and having "muted emotions", but it's interesting.
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pukunui
Legend
@Ruin Explorer your comments are getting me excited to watch this show. My 17 yo is into the Alien franchise, so I'll watch it with her.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Hopefully she doesn't mind uh, a fair bit of gore because whilst it's not super-dwelled on, there definitely a lot in episode 2.
But that said I watched Alien/Aliens at like 12/13 and it was fine so...
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