I’ve been watching Alien films for quite a while now. Ever since I first saw Alien as a kid, I’ve been scared out of my mind. Then Alien came out, and I was equally scared, but also excited because this franchise has gone in a different direction than just a horror franchise.  It was a sci-fi horror franchise, which meant it could go anywhere from there. Ever since Ridley Scott and James Cameron gave filmgoers something to be scared and excited by,  this franchise has gone in new and interesting directions. Now it’s coming to Earth with the new series on FX called Alien: Earth from creator Noah Hawley famous for his show Fargo on also FX. This is the direction this series should take, and I’m excited to see where it goes from episode 1, which I saw a special early preview of. 

In the deepest darkest bowls of space, a ship called Maginot is on a mission to deliver a bunch of samples of Alien species back to earth for the owner of the company Walen Yutani. As such, things tend to happen in shows involving Aliens, and they did here as well. The ship is overrun by an Alien who is devouring the crew that was in stasis for the journey back home to Earth. The only survivor was a synthetic human Morrow (Babou Ceesay). He puts the ship into its protocols to send it back to Earth and goes into hiding himself. Once the ship crash lands on Earth, a band of soldiers starts to deal with the wreck of the crashed ship that lands in Siem City. A Prodigy City run by Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), a boy genius. He sends his faithful synth Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and her lost boys to help. They find something they didn’t expect that could be the greatest threat in the history of the human race.  

Hawley creates a show that expands on the lore of the Alien franchise. It takes place between Alien Covenant, Prometheus, and Alien in the year 2120. Before all of the other Alien films have come out. Not a lot is known about the Xenemorph at this time in history. The Earth is about to learn about this vicious race of creatures that puts their newborn inside the bodies of whatever they can find. The series falls back on the horrific nature that has been the calling card of the franchise. Bloody violent horrific kills. Sci-fi action and character interaction between people who don’t always agree on what to do against something they don’t know anything about. As a pretty advanced civilization by the point of when the series takes place, this is not a good thing. Fans are in for some nightmares.

With the impending release of this show on FX next week and Hulu the next day, the marketing campaign has ramped up for Alien: Earth. They have released a bunch of character posters similar to that of Shogun,  another original series on FX that came out last year. When FX knows it has something good, they go all out to let the viewers who will be watching said show know about it. That is no different here. These character posters help people learn a little about the cast of the series, which is quite vast. Some of the cast haven’t been introduced yet as of the first hour and fifteen minute episode, but a teaser trailer after the episode was finished showed that there are more characters to come in the rest of the episodes. 

The show mainly focuses on two groups of people to start with and expands on them afterward. As mentioned, Whalen Yutani has played a big role in the series since the ship that crashed is hers, but because it lands in a Prodigy City Boy, Kavalier takes responsibility for it and tries to deal with it in his own way with his people. So once again, the human factor comes in when it comes to an Alien series. I love how there are so many characters. This helps to expand the world of the Aliens franchise. With only seven episodes, the show can’t dilly dally around too much. As such, it has to get into the story and action quickly, and it does just that. I was completely sucked into this world from the very first episode I saw. It expands on this world and franchise quite nicely, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. Hopefully, in a great direction.

With a film or show about the Alien franchise, you have to have an Alien threat. This first episode has that. It’s a big drooling Xenomorph that wreaks havoc right from the get-go. There were bloody carcasses everywhere on the ship that crashed, but that all happened before the crash landing. It just tells you it doesn’t do anybody any good to explore in this franchise because this is what you’re going to get. The production design of the Xenomorph, ship, and world as a whole that Hawley and his team created is nothing short of astounding. I felt like I was literally living in the version of Earth. It was that realistic to me. Seeing it on the big screen helped with the scope of what the show is going for. This is a cinematic vision that he was trying to achieve. He absolutely accomplished that from episode one. I was blown away by what I was watching. 

Another facet of the filmmaking style Hawley and his collaborators were going for is a dark and moody look to the show. The cinematography infused that style into the show. The music also played into that vibe as well. The cinematography and score both help give the series a distinct look and sound that I haven’t seen much this year in television or streaming shows. When you have a good filmmaker like Hawley and a great team around him, you know that they aren’t messing around when it comes to IPs like the Alien franchise. People have come to expect a great looking film or, in this case, now a show that gives them the vibes of the films. It does just that as far as I’m concerned. Fans of this franchise, I’m sure will as well.

Alien: Earth is the continuation of something great that was established years ago by Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and most recently by Fede Alvarez. These men have created something that has lived on for years now. This series is the inevitable next step in that process. In the hands of Hawley and company, this may well turn out to be the best of the  Alien franchise yet. That still has to be seen, but things are going in the right direction so far. I was completely engulfed in the world that was created for this show. The characters that have appeared so far are fascinating and very engaging. I want to learn more about them and the show processes.  I’ll be doing that along with everyone else. This was a great start to what could be some incredible television/streaming in the weeks to come. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. 

1/7 episodes of Alien:Earth have been reviewed. This series streams on FX & Hulu August 13h 2025

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen