Spoilers Alien: Earth Spoiler Thread

[Snarf Zagyg]

Great points. I felt the same way with the mind wipe, that was the one thing that strained believability. I get the point in that the conversation needs to end with Wendy/Marcy realizing that Neverland ain't all it's cracked up to be but I think they could have reached that point by having the Dame Sylva wiping Nibs memory, show the Lost Boys gathered together where they learn that Nibs "got sick" and needed to be treated and then later on, Wendy talks to Nibs and realizes that not only has her memory been wiped but some of her abilities (whatever they said to dial down with her settings) have been messed with. Upon learning that, then she starts to question Neverland being a "yes" place.

Huh.

Okay, I may have read that wrong ... but I didn't view that necessarily as Wendy coming to a realization about Neverland. I read that conversation about Wendy coming to a realization about humans.

I'll go back my original post on this being more of a riff on Ridley's Scott's oeuvre in general (and Bladerunner) than Alien specifically. The theme I see running through is the nature of humanity- and how Synths, Cyborgs, and Hybrids are viewing themselves, and viewing their relationships with humanity.

Wendy was raised by two parents- Dame Sylva and Kirsh. A human and a synth. It seems clear that Kirsh's ... worldview is winning out. For now, at least.

(I'd also throw in the prophetic early scene with Wendy and Kirsch watching the scorpion trapped in the glass, and the payoff later (with Wendy watching the alien behind the glass).

IMO, YMMV, etc.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

As expected, Noah Hawley is really cranking up the dread in these final few episodes, Fargo-style. (This show in many ways feels like a season of Fargo to me, just set in the Alien universe.)

It says something about how awful the megacorps are that I'm kind of rooting for Weyland-Yutani in their arbitration scene. (The arbitrator is a synth, right, and not just a cold fish attorney? Or is the difference between those too minor to worry about?)

Anyone who shows up to a serious meeting and puts his bare feet on the table and sneers about living in the future -- as though everyone in the room aren't his peers -- totally deserves what's coming to him. The ultimate nihilistic twist this show could have would be letting Boy Kavalier live.

The face-off between Kirsh and Morrow was fantastic and their contempt for one another was both believable and fascinating. Looking forward to them having it out. And if Kirsh hasn't killed humans (or cyborgs) before, he's certainly imagined doing so.

I also hope we learn more about Kirsh soon. He's now concealing things that his knows the boss would want to know and that everyone needs to know, if only to preserve the island's safety and their alleged goals of studying the aliens and evaluating the hybrids. He feels more complex than David did in Prometheus/Covenant -- he has more emotional range than any synth we've met previously, even if that's still not saying much -- and I suspect he's got a much bigger agenda than we realize. Maybe he's working for another megacorp or maybe he has some ideas of synths getting free of humans. This franchise certainly does make it seem that Skynet may have some arguments worth listening to.

As previously teased, the missing alien species, the Fly, is indeed bad news and, as expected, it turns out that being synthetic is by no means magical protection against extraterrestrial life. (If you're feeding them silicon-based dinner, maybe don't have synths be the ones in charge of that.)

Watching Slightly maneuver various trusting humans into what the audience know is certain death is chilling, even if Slightly seems horrified by what he's done. It's a shame everyone involved in the hybrid project is likely to die before they ever get a chance to admit that maybe, just maybe, sticking traumatized kids' minds in the bodies of high-end synths was a terrible, terrible idea. Also, straight-up lying to Nibs -- speaking of traumatized kids -- is not going to work out well for anyone, even if they somehow manage to contain the rampaging aliens. (Narrator: They don't somehow manage to contain the rampaging aliens.)

Oh, crap, they're going to end up nuking this island from orbit, just to be sure, aren't they?

Also, the 1990s hard rock/grunge/alternative rock needle drops feel aggressively targeted at Gen X dudes, and I am here for it. Put these together on an album already.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I mean, it did look to be communicating with the "flies" (I notice we are still taking ques from real world biology here). It has been suggested that it controlled the ticks to engineer their escape. It may even have been able to implant a suggestion in Nibs.

Whatever, I would suggest it's intelligence is "a lot smarter than a human".

To be fair, "a lot smarter than a human" is a low bar to clear in this franchise.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I will say at this point, I'm tempted to start a betting pool on which experiment is going to kill/eat/make a meat puppet out of Boy Kavalier.

I'll take that, 20 internets on Morrow.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'll take that, 20 internets on Morrow.

I would guess we get a Murder on the Orient Express situation where the eyeball gets him moments before Morrow arrives to hand-blade him moments before Kirsh opens the doors to let a xenomorph kill them all even as Yutani gives the order to nuke the island.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Another thought: What is the xenomorph saying to Wendy? She seems sympathetic to it, but it's hard to tell if she's just projecting a lot of what she's saying about it onto it, or if we have proof that these creatures are actually sapient. The latter feels like a game-changer for this franchise, if so, and I kind of hope Hawley doesn't go there or at least leaves things ambiguous.

As irritating as Scott showing us, apparently, the Engineers' home world in Covenant (and then immediately destroying it), the prospect of a xenomorph planet with xenomorph cities and xenomorph farmers and everything else would be really dispiriting.

 

[Aellic Mornbringer]

I would guess we get a Murder on the Orient Express situation where the eyeball gets him moments before Morrow arrives to hand-blade him moments before Kirsh opens the doors to let a xenomorph kill them all even as Yutani gives the order to nuke the island.

In my mind's eye I've created a scene where the Eye inhabits a human host other than Kavalier, and they both sit down to have a conversation. Kavalier's grin is so wide as he is finally engaging with someone/something he truly considers a peer...then the camera zooms out and tracks to the orbital platform with a big WY painted on the side, launching nukes at the island, just to be sure.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Another thought: What is the xenomorph saying to Wendy? She seems sympathetic to it, but it's hard to tell if she's just projecting a lot of what she's saying about it onto it, or if we have proof that these creatures are actually sapient. The latter feels like a game-changer for this franchise, if so, and I kind of hope Hawley doesn't go there or at least leaves things ambiguous.

As irritating as Scott showing us, apparently, the Engineers' home world in Covenant (and then immediately destroying it), the prospect of a xenomorph planet with xenomorph cities and xenomorph farmers and everything else would be really dispiriting.

I think that there is a difference between "sapient" in terms of "building cities, and having farms, and playing fantasy xenofootball," and "sapient" in terms of having some level of intelligence and (perhaps) a very rudimentary language. There's a big spectrum of intelligence between a rock and a human. Heck, dogs (to use one example) have some level of sapience, and communicate with each other on a rudimentary level.

I'd argue that they've been "sapient" in the second sense ... at least since Cameron's Aliens.


ETA- there's also the extreme creepy sapience of Octo-eye... err, the eye midge.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think that there is a difference between "sapient" in terms of "building cities, and having farms, and playing fantasy xenofootball," and "sapient" in terms of having some level of intelligence and (perhaps) a very rudimentary language. There's a big spectrum of intelligence between a rock and a human. Heck, dogs (to use one example) have some level of sapience, and communicate with each other on a rudimentary level.

I'd argue that they've been "sapient" in the second sense ... at least since Cameron's Aliens.

I lack the scientific vocabulary I need in this case. Xenos being as intelligent as predatory Earth animals is fine with me. Xenos having a sophisticated language, the ability to think abstractly and having a society significantly more complicated than a bee hive, though, no thank you.

ETA- there's also the extreme creepy sapience of Octo-eye... err, the eye midge.

The real protagonist of this series and the character I most hope makes it to a theoretical season two. I'd love to see it roaming the Earth, causing chaos before getting back out into space.

 

[Aellic Mornbringer]

Huh.

Okay, I may have read that wrong ... but I didn't view that necessarily as Wendy coming to a realization about Neverland. I read that conversation about Wendy coming to a realization about humans.

I'll go back my original post on this being more of a riff on Ridley's Scott's oeuvre in general (and Bladerunner) than Alien specifically. The theme I see running through is the nature of humanity- and how Synths, Cyborgs, and Hybrids are viewing themselves, and viewing their relationships with humanity.

Wendy was raised by two parents- Dame Sylva and Kirsh. A human and a synth. It seems clear that Kirsh's ... worldview is winning out. For now, at least.

(I'd also throw in the prophetic early scene with Wendy and Kirsch watching the scorpion trapped in the glass, and the payoff later (with Wendy watching the alien behind the glass).

IMO, YMMV, etc.

Hmm good point. I'll have to rewatch the episode but your point about Wendy coming to the realization about humans vs Neverland does line up better with the observation you made about the series riffing on Ridley Scott's themes.

I would definitely agree that Kirsh's worldview seems to be the most realistic one. I'm wondering if that will be a twist near the end, where his worldview ends up not winning out for reasons.

Good call out on the foreshadowing between the scorpion and xenomorph behind the glass.