Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
I liked this episode, but it was more horror-themed than horrific, in my opinion. (I just watched Barbarian over the weekend, so brightly lit aliens just trying to kill you is a welcome relief at the moment.)
What I think this episode establishes is that that the real villains of the Alien franchise are Weyland-Yutani HR. There's no way anyone bothered to give a personality test to Yeng before putting him on the Manginot for 65 years where -- hopefully -- he was only masturbating in the cryochamber. Him happily sitting on the knowledge that someone was only faking being in cryosleep turns out to be the least objectionable thing about him. Never have I been so glad to see a minor character killed off in a horror franchise.
I thought the generally excellent cast did a great job with the crew of the Manginot. I was especially happy to see Richa Moorjani, whom I know from Never Have I Ever, get to stretch her wings.
Characters doing dumb things in Alien movies are par for the course, but I think it was pretty believable here. The acting captain has them cut on the captain's facehugger first because she was protecting her boyfriend. The biologist is sloppy with containment because she's been out there 65 years, is days away from getting home, and is exhausted. The saboteur knows what a cruddy gig this is and wants to get his. And the extremely uneducated and naive apprentice engineer is grossly underpaid and, like the rest of the crew, abused by Weyland-Yutani, who would have sent a chimp instead if a chimp could do basic engineering work.
And Morrow's story, as suspected, is deeply tragic. He gave up a lifetime with his daughter, whom I think he is the sole support for, with the goal of being able to come back and take care of her when they're both in their golden years. Instead, he's alone in the galaxy, with even Grandmother Yutani gone by the time he returns. The mission was all he had left and Boy Kavalier took even that from him. His anger and drive make perfect sense and the actor completely sells it. I don't think there's much chance he'll be able to knife Boy Kavalier, but he can certainly do his best to put him in real danger.
As for the other dangers, the ticks are interesting and gross -- and much smarter than Earth insects -- but as always, the real star is the eyeball monster. Whatever its goal was, it definitely seems familiar with the xenomorphs -- and the xeno with it -- and it appears to have a goal. Was it trying to take control of the ship and fly it somewhere?
Looking forward to the final two (?) episodes of this season, which I suspect will be even bloodier than this one.
What I think this episode establishes is that that the real villains of the Alien franchise are Weyland-Yutani HR. There's no way anyone bothered to give a personality test to Yeng before putting him on the Manginot for 65 years where -- hopefully -- he was only masturbating in the cryochamber. Him happily sitting on the knowledge that someone was only faking being in cryosleep turns out to be the least objectionable thing about him. Never have I been so glad to see a minor character killed off in a horror franchise.
I thought the generally excellent cast did a great job with the crew of the Manginot. I was especially happy to see Richa Moorjani, whom I know from Never Have I Ever, get to stretch her wings.
Characters doing dumb things in Alien movies are par for the course, but I think it was pretty believable here. The acting captain has them cut on the captain's facehugger first because she was protecting her boyfriend. The biologist is sloppy with containment because she's been out there 65 years, is days away from getting home, and is exhausted. The saboteur knows what a cruddy gig this is and wants to get his. And the extremely uneducated and naive apprentice engineer is grossly underpaid and, like the rest of the crew, abused by Weyland-Yutani, who would have sent a chimp instead if a chimp could do basic engineering work.
And Morrow's story, as suspected, is deeply tragic. He gave up a lifetime with his daughter, whom I think he is the sole support for, with the goal of being able to come back and take care of her when they're both in their golden years. Instead, he's alone in the galaxy, with even Grandmother Yutani gone by the time he returns. The mission was all he had left and Boy Kavalier took even that from him. His anger and drive make perfect sense and the actor completely sells it. I don't think there's much chance he'll be able to knife Boy Kavalier, but he can certainly do his best to put him in real danger.
As for the other dangers, the ticks are interesting and gross -- and much smarter than Earth insects -- but as always, the real star is the eyeball monster. Whatever its goal was, it definitely seems familiar with the xenomorphs -- and the xeno with it -- and it appears to have a goal. Was it trying to take control of the ship and fly it somewhere?
Looking forward to the final two (?) episodes of this season, which I suspect will be even bloodier than this one.
