When Alien: Earth started, the main novelty was the idea of seeing an alien on Earth. Now, a few episodes in, we’ve seen that and things have moved along. Then it became about the idea of scientists actually studying these legendary creatures, a moment the franchise always hinted at but never fully got around to. In those ways and more, Alien: Earth was doing things the movies could never, and had never, done. But with its fourth episode, creator Noah Hawley and his team have taken that notion to a whole new level. It’s going from things fans always wished they could see to things fans never in a million years even imagined and, maybe, aren’t quite sure about.
The fourth episode of Alien: Earth season one is called “Observation,” and as usual, that can refer to several of the main storylines. The most obvious one is Wendy, who ended last week’s episode passed out on the floor, in pain due to a mysterious noise she’d been hearing. It also refers to her sibling Slightly, who is now fully under the observation of not just the Weyland-Yutani cyborg, Morrow, but also his boss, Kirsh, who is keeping his knowledge of the communication secret. There’s also our shocking observations of Nibs’ new attitude and, finally, Wendy observing and communicating with a baby Chestburster, which is the moment we’re referring to above and will dig into below.
First, though, Wendy is in a lab being observed after passing out after she explored the origins of a mysterious noise. Kirsh, Boy, and the rest have discerned correctly that it’s some kind of communication she is experiencing solely with the xenomorph, and Wendy explains that she heard the baby screaming as Kirsh performed experiments on it. Most of the group sees this as a very bad thing, but Wendy and Boy do not. They are desperate to know why the xenomorphs are communicating with Wendy, how they are communicating with Wendy, and what specifically they are saying. Boy asks her to imitate what the creatures sound like by using her mouth as a speaker, which she does. And in an instant, a noise we’ve heard for decades across Alien movies becomes not just the sound of fear; it’s a language. There’s a moment of hesitation from Boy’s right-hand man, Atom, but Boy cuts him off. He wants to know more.
Slightly walks out to a private spot on the island to continue his conversation with Morrow. We can tell Morrow is doing his best to convince this child at heart to help him in his quest to retrieve his aliens and, eventually, Slightly makes the mistake of telling the cyborg his real name. Kirsh is observing all this, as he recently noticed the moment Morrow secretly placed the communication device on the hybrid. Later, Kirsh gently confronts Slightly about it to see if he’ll confess, but he doesn’t. So, Kirsh knows he’s going to have to keep a close eye on the situation. Like Boy, Wendy, and the xenomorphs, he wants to let it play out to see how it all goes.
In one of the show’s most gruesome scenes, Boy, Atom, Kirsh, and Isaac (who changes his name from Tootles) observe as the eyeball octopus creature is unleashed upon a helpless goat. It’s a bloodbath as the creature rips out the eye of the goat and takes its place. But, instantly, what was previously a normal animal completely changes. It’s now “highly intelligent,” Kirsh explains, and begins observing and staring right back at the scientists.
The scene is a strong reminder of what happened a few episodes before, as the same creature attempted to attack and control Nibs. She hasn’t been the same since, and after interrupting Dame Sylvia and her husband, Arthur (who are quickly growing apart in terms of what’s happening at Prodigy), Nibs claims she is pregnant. Considering she’s a hybrid without a reproductive system and also a child, they both know this is impossible, but she seems so sure of it. So Sylvia decides to let her explain more.
Nibs claims she knows how babies are traditionally made, but that she is different, like Jesus. No matter what, she simply believes she’s pregnant. Sylvia continues to gently press her on this, including the fact that it’s not physically possible, but Nibs jumps across the room to attack her. Sylvia stays impressively calm but, eventually, has to call security to help her. Something is not right with Nibs, and there will have to be consequences.
We don’t see those consequences yet, but we do see several characters make crucial decisions about their futures. First is Joe, who is threatened by Atom that if he doesn’t help Prodigy by observing and answering questions about Wendy, he’ll be forced to leave her and the island. Another is Wendy herself, who is also threatened about her brother leaving so, in exchange, she agrees to continue to monitor and communicate with the aliens. Then there’s Slightly, who finds himself blackmailed by Morrow. Morrow finds Slightly’s mom and says that if he doesn’t help him sneak a xenomorph off the island in 24 hours, he may kill her and his brothers. Slightly has to choose someone to bring to the lab, get implanted with a Facehugger, and then escape. A tough task to be sure but when Slightly sees Joe hanging with Wendy and his fellow Lost Boys, the jealousy over her getting to have family there while no one else can makes the choice clear. He’s going to kill Joe.
Okay, we covered a lot there because this episode covered a lot. And yet, as crucial and fascinating as most of it was, it all paled in comparison to the end. Wendy holds up her side of the bargain and heads to the lab with the xeno. It hatches out of Joe’s lung and blasts out into the lab. Normally, these things scurry away at this point but this tiny xeno does not. Wendy tries to talk to it, and it hears her. It calms down, moves closer, and allows her to pet it. Wendy looks at the dangerous creature with the eyes of a mother looking at her baby for the first time.
And with that, it’s confirmed. It’s been teased since the second episode when Wendy heard a noise at the crash site, but now we know. Somehow, some way, Wendy can communicate with the xenomorphs. Are they letting her do that? Is her advanced technology making it possible? How much further can this go? Whatever the case, it’s taking the Alien franchise into a direction we never thought imaginable. Our lead character is now, it seems, not just teamed up with an alien; she’s infatuated with it.
So what do you think? Was that too much? Are you willing to go along for this ride? And which of the other hybrid stories—Slightly’s plan, Nibs’ psychosis—do you find most compelling? Let us know below.
Assorted Musings