After episode 5 of Alien Earth titled "In Space No One" I'm trying to process what the hell happened because this is the episode that finally showed us what Noah Hawley has been cooking all along and honestly its about damn time. This episode takes us back to the Mino ship to fill in all those gaps from episode one and it delivers everything you want from an Alien story plus some stuff that will make you feel chills in the best possible way. The opening scene alone had me gripped as we see the crew dealing with face huggers breaking loose while some of the specimens got out, creating this perfect storm of chaos that explains how everything went to hell on that ship. Morrow continues to be the most interesting character on this show, fkn high af levels of intensity as he tries to keep control while his own crew falls apart around him, the guy is basically watching his life mission crumble while dealing with idiots who don't follow safety protocols. The best about this episode is how it balances the creature horror with human drama with dumb ass crew, never letting one overshadow the other but instead keeping them together at similar levels like a perfect nightmare sandwich. The episode goes straight into the meat of the story with the crew trying to figure out who sabotaged their ship while face huggers are literally humping peoples faces, its that classic Alien vibe we have been waiting for all season long.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13623632/
- Platform: HULU
The backstory we get about Morrow hits different than anything the show had offer before, learning that his daughter Estelle died while he was away on this 65 year mission adds this tragic aura to his character that makes him way more than just another corporate super soldier. The whole time and distance thing really messes with your head when you think about it, this guy left Earth with a young daughter and by the time he gets the news that she died in a house fire he still has decades left on his mission, imagine getting that message and knowing you cant even attend the funeral or grieve properly. The letters from Estelle talking about college and asking how important her dad is within the company are heartbreaking because you can see this kid just wanting to connect with her father who was literally unreachable, trapped in space chasing monsters for a corporation that doesn't give a damn about his personal life. Morrow's relationship with Utani becomes clearer too, she basically saved him as a feral child and gave him purpose, which explains why he is so loyal even when she treats him like disposable equipment, its that classic toxic parent child dynamic where gratitude gets twisted into blind obedience. The scene where he reads her final letter while that 1940s music plays in the background is probably the most emotional and the most sad moment this show has delivered so far, you can feel the weight of all that lost time and missed opportunities. This whole subplot about corporate exploitation and family sacrifice feels way more personal than your typical evil corporation story, these people are literally selling their lives for money and the company doesn't even pretend to care about the human cost, if you could, would you?.
Now lets talk about the real stars of this episode which are obviously the creatures themselves because they went all out with the practical effects and body horror. The face huggers look absolutely disgusting in the best way possible, when they are crawling around in full CGI mode they move like actual parasites but then switch to practical puppets for close ups and it creates this perfect blend of digital and physical horror that feels so real, when they are basically breathing through their host body, you can watch them getting air like a lung and pass it on once the host is down. The scene where one of them tightens its tail around someones neck while Morrow watches the security footage is pure nightmare fuel, you can practically feel that thing cutting off the air supply just from watching it happen on screen. Then theres this whole thing with the ticks that get into the water bottle, watching those little bastards swim around in Chibuzos water bottle while she almost drinks them multiple times had me literally yelling at the screen, its like watching the worst possible version of Russian roulette. When those ticks finally get into Malachite system and start sucking him from inside out, the medical scenes become absolutely brutal with all that blood and the failed attempts to save him, showing you exactly what these creatures do to human bodies. The Ocellus creature steals every scene its in with those tentacles slingshotting around the room like some kind of alien acrobat, this thing is smart enough to cooperate with other species when it benefits them but also ruthless enough to take on a full grown Xenomorph without backing down. The final confrontation between the Ocellus and the Xenomorph feels like watching two apex predators clash, every impact feel bone crushing, its exactly the kind of creature on creature violence that Alien movies have been missing for years except for some Predator vs Alien fights
The episode work so well because it handles the investigation subplot with Morrow playing detective while everything falls apart around him, the pacing builds tension perfectly as he pieces together clues about who sabotaged the ship. Petrovich being the traitor makes perfect sense once you learn his backstory about losing his wife to these creatures, the guy has every reason to want revenge against Wayland Utani even if it means betraying his entire crew, grief makes people do crazy things and selling out to Boy Kavaliere probably felt like justice to him. The whole double agent thing adds this sense corporate espionage that feels very relevant, these mega corporations are basically at war with each other and regular people get caught in the middle, Petrovich thinks he is getting revenge but really he is just another pawn being used by someone with more power. The revelation that Boy Kavaliere arranged this whole crash to steal the specimens shows how calculating these corporate leaders really are, they don't care about human life as long as they get what they want and Petrovich asking to be put in a synthetic body after the crash shows how desperate he is to escape his human limitations. Morrows final confrontation with Petrovich where he stabs him with that cyborg blade feels earned after watching this betrayal unfold but it also shows how the violence is setting the bar higher as the episode unfolds and nobody escape the episode without blood on them. The way this episode ties back to the present day with Utani and her royal guards sets up the kind of conflicts coming up, although this five companies stick a lot to political and practical money solutions.
Looking back at episode five I think this might be the turning point where Alien Earth finally becomes the show it was always meant to be, the slow burn setup from earlier episodes pays off here with character moments that actually matter and creature sequences that deliver on the horror as it was promise while this show was under production, we got space, we got horror, we got Aliens. The production quality in my opinion are through the roof with set design that recreates the Nostromo perfectly at the same time adding new elements that feel organic to the universe, you can tell they spent serious money making this look authentic rather than just slapping together some generic spaceship interiors. Noah Hawley and his team have created something that honors the original movies, the corporate politics feel real and I think it hits harder because it feels personal between Utani and Kavaliere. This episode proves that when the show focuses on what makes Alien special, the claustrophobic terror mixed with themes about capitalism and exploitation, it transport you to the movies we have all seen from this franchise and not just a TV adaptation, the waiting game finally pays off with an hour that justifies all the setup work from previous episodes. If they can maintain this quality for the remaining episodes then Alien Earth might actually become something special instead of just another franchise cash grab, the foundation is solid and the payoff potential is huge if they stick to this style of storytelling and horror.
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