Alien Earth 1×1 and 1×2 Review: “Neverland” and “Mr. October”

Alien Earth Season One Episode 1 ‘Neverland’ and Episode 2 ‘Mr. October’ served as an exciting two-chapter premiere for a new live-action entry in the long-running Alien IP.

Created by Noah Hawley, the first two episodes of Alien Earth had a whole bunch of alien-related gore as foreign species decided to kill numerous humans. However, the narrative seemed more interested in bringing up questions about humanity and AI. And you know what? I was okay with it, because of how the discussion was handled.

Allegedly set two years before the events of the OG Alien film (1979), ‘Neverland’ opened with the crew of a research vessel belonging to Weyland-Yutani experiencing the horrors that accompanied trying to transport alien specimens to Earth. You knew things were going to get worse the moment the crew awoke from cryogenic sleep. But before we got to that eventful moment, the writers used the crew to do some world-building.

In this particular reality, five companies controlled the Solar System instead of countries having their own governments (from my understanding). There was Weyland-Yutani, of course. However, there was also Lynch, Dynamic, Threshold, and the newly formed Prodigy. Headed by CEO Boy Kavalier, Prodigy was working on a secret project meant to cement humanity’s victory in the race against AI (which I’ll get to in a bit).

Coming back to the research vessel, named USCSS Maginot, we saw a bunch of aliens inside. One of the things I enjoyed about Alien Earth was how the writers were into expanding the lore. Yes, we know about the iconic Xenomorphs. We’re aware of their attacking and breeding habits, etc. That’s why adding new species to the mix helped amp up the curiosity and creepiness levels. The moment I saw the non-Xenomorph beings, I wanted to know how they would go about killing humans.

With the ship crashing on Earth, the only survivor on board was a cyborg named Morrow. Acting as a security officer on the vessel, I have no idea why he’s so loyal to Weyland-Yutani. Not only did Morrow not appear to have helped rescue his fellow crewmembers when the aliens broke free, but he wasn’t interested in saving the lives of the Search and Rescue Unit that entered the ship after the crash.

I would assume cyborgs retained their humanity. But Morrow’s cold demeanor made me side-eye him big time. So, yeah, I would like to learn the reason behind his actions to aid Weyland-Yutani ASAP, especially with him being a cyborg and not a completely synthetic that is devoid of emotions.

Along with cyborgs, we got to learn that Prodigy’s been working on hybrids by transferring the human consciousness into a synthetic body. To ensure the transfer would succeed and the “brain” would be flexible enough to adapt to a synthetic body, the test subjects needed to be children.

Our protagonist, Wendy, was the first ever successful transfer. And for those wondering why she’s called Wendy, well, the opening episode is called ‘Neverland’ and the show doesn’t shy away from bringing up Peter Pan every few seconds. The test subjects following Wendy were even called the Lost Boys, with Wendy needing to act as their big sister. It’s quite on the nose and frankly, I would have preferred some subtlety with the subtext and thematic layers.

But yeah, ‘Mr. October’ had Boy Kavalier reveal that he wasn’t a fan of AI possibly taking over humankind. That’s why he decided upon giving humans a synthetic body and the tools to process a whole lot of information while retaining the capability of original thought (something synthetics were unable to do) without worrying about old age, death, illnesses, etc. Wendy’s the “special” one, as she might be capable of granting Boy Kavalier’s wish, aka his need to have a conversation with someone smarter than him.

It’s clear that Wendy’s progressing at an unexpected rate. She demonstrated computer hacking abilities that the team had no idea about. She’s also not very good at following orders, being more focused on rescuing her older brother. That’s why I think that if Boy Kavalier does get a chance to talk to her down the line about philosophy, it might not be a conversation he’ll enjoy.

Having a bunch of kids run around in adult synthetic bodies with enhanced speed, strength, reflexes, and processing power is an interesting concept. It also allowed for some comedic moments during the horror inside the crashed spaceships because the Lost Boys acted as kids would, complete with making a bunch of mistakes while their team leader, Kirsh (a full-on adult synthetic), tried to keep them focused on the mission.

I wonder if the Lost Boys have a memory backup somewhere in case their synthetic bodies ever got injured or destroyed. I don’t know a whole lot about the Lost Boys yet, but I think I’ll feel bad if something did happen to them.

The way they all walked into the spaceship without any weapons boggled my mind. I get that they were essentially kids with superstrength, but they were still limited to using their limbs against powerful and creepy aliens. At least give them a taser or something to defend themselves with.

I liked how the narrative decided to have the core emotional relationship be between Wendy and her brother, Hermit. I’m so done with romantic subplots. Another thing I appreciated was how the show didn’t drag out Hermit realizing Wendy was his sister (who had been presumed dead when she agreed to be experimented upon to cure a terminal disease). Some other shows would have dragged out the reveal up to the middle of a season, if not longer.

With Wendy being a curious little girl wanting to reconnect with her brother (her feeling guilty over keeping Hermit in the city, even though he wanted to cancel his contract, was a nice touch), Hermit was showcased as a capable medic. He wasn’t the best with firearms, but he demonstrated some good leadership skills and kept his cool during the danger he had walked into.

As for the alien-related horror and action sequences, the Xenomorph continued to be a menace, killing everyone in sight because it was attracted to fear. The scene where it attacked a bunch of rich people because they refused to listen to the orders from the Search and Rescue Unit, thinking that Boy Kavalier would personally warn them if something was indeed wrong, was hilarious. Full of gore, but still hilarious due to their hubris.

We got to see a couple of leech-like aliens killing two men after drinking their blood. I have a feeling those creatures will be back after having used all the blood to transform into something more dangerous. There’s also a weird-looking plant alien hanging from the ceiling that extended a tendril when left alone with one of the Lost Boys.

The octopus-like alien with a bunch of eyes was definitely the coolest looking of the new parasites. Apparently, it’s capable of controlling the host body. That poor cat.

With how ‘Mr. October’ ended, I’m certain Wendy will be able to save Hermit from the Xenomorph. The buzzing only Wendy could hear might be the sound frequency the Xenomorph operated on. Weyland-Yutani will likely send in a special unit to retrieve the specimens, even though Boy Kavalier warned them not to enter his territory. And Morrow will continue to collect the creatures for his employer even if it means going up against Kirsh and the Lost Boys.

I’m not the biggest Alien fan out there, but I’m looking forward to the third episode of Alien Earth, especially because of how the narrative seems to be handling the thematic aspects concerning humanity and advanced machines.

Did you check out the first two episodes of Alien Earth season one? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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