Alien: Earth – Send it Back Into Deep Space?

This article contains NO spoilers for Alien: Earth.

I’ve been watching Alien: Earth with my partner, and we’ve both been thoroughly enjoying it. They’re not particularly into horror, while I am completely desensitized to it, but the series has multiple aspects that we both love. The setting, the expansive lore, and the fantastic practical effects—there’s so much to appreciate. While I do have a few minor gripes to get out of the way, let’s save those for later. For now, let’s talk about what absolutely rocks about this new Alien series.

Retro-Future Tech and Practical Effects

Nothing sells me on sci-fi harder than absurdly advanced technology that looks like, pardon my French, total shit. We can shoot entire movies on our phones these days, yet trillionaire tech moguls in this series have camera feeds with fewer pixels than the first Super Mario Bros. You see synthetic humanoids, near-perfect recreations of humanity, working on clunky, beige keyboards with cheap, light-up buttons. Deep-space vessels and consciousness-transferring machines are contrasted by command prompt GUIs that scroll across bulky monitors and janky, industrial interiors. Seeing this kind of hardware still used in a modern series deeply immerses me in the setting.

This blend of old and new is also perfectly complemented by the show’s fantastic use of practical effects. Alien: Earth continues the franchise’s tradition of putting tall, gangly performers into xenomorph suits. The expertise of these artists brings the creatures to life in a way that CGI simply can’t replicate. You feel the weight and physicality of the monsters in every scene—the way they move, the sounds they make, and the visceral sense of their presence. It makes the horror feel raw and immediate, grounding the fantastical in something you can believe.

The New Aliens

We’re all familiar with xenomorphs, but Alien: Earth decided there’s much more to be afraid of than a perfectly engineered, self-propagating murder machine. Without revealing the specific kinds of alien life we encounter in the show, we can talk about the terrifying qualities they all share: a chilling intelligence, profound malevolence, and the simple belief that we are nothing more than a food source.

The intelligence of the aliens in this show is truly horrifying. But they have another quality that is even more terrifying when coupled with their smarts: malice. These creatures don’t just kill to eat, propagate, or survive. They kill to escape insurmountable odds or to gain small advantages. They kill for all those reasons, and they kill because they seem to simply want to know what you look like on the inside. This malicious streak elevates the horror from a simple fight for survival to a psychologically terrifying battle of wills.

Fan, Meet Shit

The tension of the show is the same as most others in the Alien franchise. It comes from the fact that a bunch of greedy humans think they can safely study aliens they don’t know the first thing about. As always, humans getting in the way of other humans causes intense stress for us, the audience. These petty conflicts fill us with dread as we watch who is really in control: the aliens. Every idiotic decision made in the name of science, money, or power feels agonizing because we know we are always one mistake away from a full-blown alien invasion. At no point do these highly intelligent but incredibly unwise scientists and tech bros have the situation under control.

Unfortunately, this does tie into my most major gripe about the show: everyone is an idiot. And I have to reiterate, every single character is an absolute moron. Time and again, pure luck prevents a multitude of idiotic mistakes from becoming a complete catastrophe, which strains my suspension of disbelief to its limit.

Back From Neverland

Despite these occasional plot hiccups, there are a ton of great ideas in this show, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it. While eight one-hour episodes can feel short for a season attempting to juggle multiple complex plots, the series has laid the groundwork for a rich world with a lot of potential. It’s a worthy addition to the franchise and, despite what I would call a “not so great” ending, I’m looking forward to more Alien.