OK. I normally don't like to write about something more than once. There have been a few exceptions like The Rise of Skywalker or Thunderbolts, but in general I like to write something after I m completely done watching something to collect all of my thoughts.
But Alien Earth was anything but "normal". It was one of the most extraordinary shows I have ever seen. It honestly felt like watching a trilogy of excellent movies. I finally watched the season finale so I can finely say that this show came out of the gate on fire and never cooled off. Although some people have called the finale "tame" or "weak", I absolutely loved it! I loved seeing what Wendy and her fellow Lost Boys had become. And oh my god, the world better look out if Wendy gets off that island. She is a badass. More importantly, she is a badass with an even bigger badass as a friend.
I loved the pace of this show. Just like the original movie, the show was a slow burn... until it wasn't and a creature scared the hell out of you. I even enjoyed the use of practical effects to really give the feel that you were watching a direct prequel to the original Alien. While some may bristle at the fact that the Xenomorph was obviously someone dressed in a black leotard and covered with H.R. Geiger sculptures, I found it a refreshing break from non stop CGI. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of CGI in the form of the other creatures the Boy Genius stole from The Weyland-Yutani Corporation, but it was nice to see the combination of the two. It was actually a nice metaphor for the marriage of high and low tech in the show's world run by corporations... oh wait. Isn't that describing our world? Never mind.
Because the creator of the show, Noah Hawley, is no dummy, the finale ended with an excellent cliffhanger. As soon as the episode was over, I screamed "Shit"! Not because I was upset with the episode, but because it ended and I'll have to wait a couple of years to see what happens next.
Luckily, all signs seem to be pointing to the fact there will indeed be at least a second season of Alien Earth (and there better be!). Back in July, Hawley told Variety magazine, "Season 1 is the proof of concept". “And if it works commercially, then season 2 is about building a model upon which we can envision making a season 3, 4, 5.” back in 2024, FX's boss John Langraf said, "We’re pretty bullish on ‘Alien: Earth’ and we’ve told him that assuming, as we hope, ‘Alien: Earth’ is a returning television series, we want him to focus on on at least writing two seasons of it before returning to a possible sixth season of ‘Fargo,'”.
Add the fact that the show earned a 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes (which happens to be even higher than Alien or Aliens) and the studio must know it has something special on its hands. I am a bit surprised the audience rating is only a 67% but I wonder if that is because it is such a slow burn at times. Either way the show averaged over 9 million viewers so the interest is there.
If you were waiting until all episodes of Alien Earth dropped so you could binge it, clear your weekend calendar and get to it this weekend!