Alien Earth 1×5 Review: “In Space, No One…”

Alien Earth season one episode 5, titled ‘In Space, No One…’, served as a flashback to showcase what happened during the tragic incident that took the lives of the USCSS Maginot crew before the vessel hit Earth.

Having watched ‘In Space, No One…’, I think I can confidently say that, in hindsight, such a chapter wasn’t necessary in the 8-episode-long Alien Earth season one. Yes, it featured a couple of big reveals and certain character-centric moments. However, I feel that information could have been sprinkled throughout the episodes set during the present instead of taking viewers back to a full-on flashback episode that we already knew the outcome of.

The premiere told us that only Morrow survived the ordeal that took place on the USCC Maginot as well as the crash landing that followed. We could also assume that some kind of sabotage likely occurred for things to go wrong in such a manner. And as someone who is way more interested in what’s happening on the Neverland research island in the present, I thought the flashback episode felt filler-ish. It also ruined a moment I had been looking forward to concerning a particular alien (which I’ll get to in a bit).

‘In Space, No One…’ opened with Morrow being woken up from cryosleep by his assistant about 17 days before the vessel reached Earth (from what I could understand). The reasoning behind Morrow being forced awake was that two members of the crew were dead, including the Captain, due to an alien attack. Why wasn’t the security lead made to get involved a lot earlier during such an emergency? Well, it’s because of plot convenience.

A lot of what happened in ‘In Space, No One…’ can be chalked up to plot convenience, and not in an enjoyable way. I understand needing certain things to happen or have certain characters act in a particular manner to keep the story going. However, what I don’t appreciate is going about making things happen in an eye-roll-inducing manner.

Like, what do you mean that Chibuzo, a science officer, forgot to properly seal the alien specimens? What do you mean the specimen containers were basically similar to traditional glass and thus, capable of shattering if they fell to the ground? What do you mean that the alarm systems meant to denote that the containers weren’t sealed properly had a delay?

Not only did the plot convenience involve the “science” side of things, but it also involved the fate of certain characters. The scene where Zoya was able to outrun an adult Xenomorph after it was only a feet or two away from her made me groan. Either that Xenomorph was slow as heck (even though we saw it sprint after Zoya!), or Zoya somehow tapped into the Speed Force.

I don’t appreciate creative teams not treating viewers with respect. All of these things could have still happened in a more “believable” manner with just a bit more brainstorming in the writers’ room.

As for the major reveal, it turns out that the vessel was sabotaged because of… drumroll… Boy Kavalier. Apparently, he was fully aware of Weyland-Yutani sending out a research team to space to collect and bring back alien specimens. Boy Kavalier had managed to bribe a crew member to deliver the aliens to him instead by promising he would give the man an immortal body by turning him into a Hybrid. Boy Kavalier’s plan involved having the ship crash into Prodigy City. The bribed crew member, named Petrovich, brought up the possibility of not surviving the crash, and Boy Kavalier was very dismissive of his concern. For someone who considers himself the smartest person on Earth, I do think he could have handled the situation better. But again… plot convenience.

With Morrow confronting Petrovich after becoming aware of his intentions, I think it was made clear that Petrovich simply continued to mess with the ship because he wanted Prodigy and Weyland-Yutani to suffer. Petrovich had realized that people like him were easily dispensable to their corporate overlords. The companies wanted “monsters”, Petrovich was going to give them “monsters”!

I mean, it’s not the most original narrative theme to explore in the sci-fi genre, but I would have still liked to have spent more time with Petrovich going around causing chaos and seeing him emotionally bend toward going against his boss and Boy Kavalier instead of having the writers make me follow a bunch of crew members reacting to things going wrong around them.

Also, going back to what I said about how such an episode wasn’t necessary in the first place, Morrow “figured out” Petrovich was the saboteur by watching a video log of him talking to Boy Kavalier. There was no actual mystery-solving taking place. Even the hint that led Morrow to realize what was happening with the cryosleep chambers was delivered by a Synthetic who knew quite a lot about what was going on. Why wasn’t the Synthetic loyal to Weyland-Yutani and didn’t try to stop the ship from becoming damaged? You know my answer. It’s because of plot convenience.

Frankly, Morrow could have become privy to information about Petrovich working for Boy Kavalier after he downloaded data from the ship post-crash. Doing so wouldn’t have changed anything about Morrow wanting to return the aliens to Weyland-Yutani, as well as enacting his revenge against Boy Kavalier.

Morrow’s emotional state involving the death of his daughter via flashback could have been added to any of the episodes set in the present.

As for the alien-related stuff, I’ve been excited about finally seeing the octopus-like alien taking control of a human. ‘In Space, No One…’ gave me just that, but in a very underwhelming manner. Seeing it use a human as a host in a flashback chapter has made me less excited about seeing it do a similar thing in the present.

‘In Space, No One…’ concluded with Morrow meeting with the current CEO of Weyland-Yutani and advising her not to trust Boy Kavalier in the present, especially after Boy Kavalier suggested bringing lawyers to settle their disputes. Morrow’s ready for war, and he’s going to bring soldiers to Neverland research island. Like I said, I’m way more interested in what’s about to happen instead of the (more or less) predictable stuff that occurred on the USCSS Maginot.

What did you think of Alien Earth season one episode 5 ‘In Space, No One…’?

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary