TV Show Review: Alien: Earth
As a long time Alien fan, when I first saw the teaser announcement for Alien: Earth, my biggest question was ‘how are they going to do that?’. Anyone who has watched the previous movies knows that if ONE of those xenomorphs made it to Earth it would be game over man.
Official Summary
When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat.
Quick Information
Release Date: August 12, 2025
Number of Episodes: 8
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Where to Watch: Hulu
Review
Alien: Earth takes place in the (hopefully never) far distant future where there is an arms race in technology between Cyborgs, Synths, and a new Hybrid by the major corporations that run Earth.
In the very first episode Weyland-Yutani is in full swing “building better worlds” by bringing several new lifeforms, including a xenomorph back to Earth. We see a snapshot from the crew of the USCSS Maginot before we’re transported back to Earth to see a corporation named Prodigy taking dying children and transforming their consciousness into a synthetic body. This hybrid premise was interesting as it is a new take on the old cyborgs and synths we’ve seen across other Alien media.
In contrast to this peaceful time in the same episode we’re thrust out into the darkness of space where something has gone very wrong onboard the Maginot. The dark hallways of the space ship are illuminated in blaring red alarms alongside flashes of carnage and the image of something running towards the last bastion of survivors.
At twenty-six minutes in, this is where the episode really felt like an Alien movie. That high level of suspense, dread, and terror washing over you as you watch the characters on the screen wondering how they are going to survive. These high tension moments are where this franchise truly excels. Alien: Earth taps into that strength from episode one.
For being a television show the acting, set design, and both the practical and special effects are well done. The future technology is back with its beautiful retro-futuristic aesthetics of an analog time which is long forgotten. The use of an actual xenomorph live actor in specific scenes is a good choice, making for a balanced blend between practical and special effects depending upon the scene. For those who don’t know, this is how the first Alien movie was done: a human in a xenomorph costume.
Babou Ceesay does a terrific job acting as the cyborg Morrow, balancing both his calm side and the unhinged. He’s both man and machine, and sometimes these parts are incompatible. On the counter side to this is Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh who is the perfect calm foil as a synthetic. These two are my favorite hands down in the show. These characters are pillars which made me want to continue watching for the scenes with them in it. Even the hybrid actors do a great job acting like children in adult bodies.
There were several callbacks to the Alien series such as the logo itself on the poster being the same iconic egg ‘crack’ from the original Alien (1979). We see recreations of the “breakfast” scene from Alien (1979) along with the sleeping pods down to those familiar long dark hallways. All of these references and the overall atmosphere brings a wave of nostalgia, and to me feels very much a part of the universe with the rest of the Alien series.
I was super on board with this series… at first.
Alien: Earth started to lose me midway through the season when the show started being less a show about the xenomorphs and more about the new synthetics. The kids in adult bodies being labeled smarter than super computers and yet never really “growing up and learning” started to become an anchor the show couldn’t pull itself away from. While I can appreciate the central story theme and plight of our main character and her family, this plotline’s pacing feels wildly erratic and disconnected from the events of the overall plot.
Contrived story beats and egregiously inept characters started being the only things moving the story forward in the worst way possible. This undermines all the headway the show built up in the beginning.
Alien: Earth feels more akin to Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) than the abomination that was Prometheus. Its aesthetics and atmosphere pay homage to what has made this franchise special. Despite some unfortunate turbulence with regard to the narrative, if you’re a fan of this franchise, I believe this show is still worth your time. You’ll feel right at home with the suspense and horror of a xenomorph or worse stalking you through dark hallways.