The Alien Earth FX review starts where it should, with a spaceship and a sense of doom.
The new FX series Alien: Earth kicks off like a love letter to Ridley Scott’s original Alien, pulling us back into the cold metallic corridors of a Weyland-Yutani vessel, this time, the USCSS Maginot. The crew stumbles out of cryosleep, swaps dry jokes in the canteen, and inevitably pokes at alien lifeforms they shouldn’t be touching. So far, so familiar.
But this isn’t just a nostalgia trip. Alien: Earth, created by Noah Hawley, quickly makes it clear that while it can mirror the look and feel of classic Alien, it has its own ambitious story to tell, and it tells it with scale, horror, and surprising heart. The real action shifts to Earth, or more specifically, a lush island called Neverland, controlled by a mega-corporation named Prodigy. It’s 2120, just a couple years before the events of the original film, but canon timelines are more of a suggestion here than a rule.
Twelve-year-old Marcy (Florence Bensberg), who’s terminally ill, becomes the heart of this strange new chapter. Her mind is uploaded into an advanced hybrid synthetic body, with superhuman strength and the potential for eternal life. Renamed Wendy, she’s just one of several prototypes. When the Maginot crashes in nearby New Siam carrying a cargo of terrifying alien creatures, Wendy and her fellow hybrids are sent on a rescue mission, led by Timothy Olyphant’s cold, calculating synthetic, Kirsh. What follows is part rescue op, part creature feature, and part philosophical mind-bender about life, death, humanity, and corporate hubris.
Oh, and yes, there are xenomorphs. Lots of them. Plus new monsters too, including a nightmarish octopus-thing with an eyeball for a head. Hawley doesn’t skimp on the gore or the horror, and once the first half of the season finishes setting up its many characters and subplots, the back half kicks into full-throttle chaos.
But the real kicker is how Alien: Earth explores identity. Wendy and her fellow “Lost Boys” (yes, they’re all named after Peter Pan characters) behave like kids inside grown-up shells, awkward, impulsive, scared. It’s unsettling and tragic. Sydney Chandler’s performance as Wendy carries much of the emotional weight, but the rest of the cast holds their own. Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, Erana James as Curly, and Kit Young as Tootles are standouts among the hybrids.
Then there’s Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), Prodigy’s tech bro CEO with the charisma of a greasy eel and the ego of a Bond villain. He reads Peter Pan out loud, walks barefoot in the boardroom, and treats xenomorph eggs like NFTs, he’s the kind of villain you want to see get face-hugged.
The production design is gorgeously bleak, with Andy Nicholson crafting a universe that feels both epic and intimate. Black Sabbath and Pearl Jam soundtrack some of the most twisted scenes, giving the whole thing a rock-operatic edge.
Sure, the show’s packed to the brim, there are a few too many storylines, some characters who don’t get enough attention, and a philosophical bluntness that sometimes over-explains. But when things click, they really click. There’s a cyborg with human parts, debates over AI rights, power grabs over alien cargo, and some genuinely sick action sequences.
By the final stretch, Alien: Earth delivers the full franchise thrill: monsters, mayhem, and messed-up morality. It respects the legacy without being shackled by it. Noah Hawley manages to ask big questions while letting the xenomorphs do what they do best, destroy everything.
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