Is Alien: Earth a worthwhile addition to the Alien universe?

CBC

15 hours ago

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The Alien universe is expanding. The 1979 sci-fi movie now has its own TV show on Disney+, Alien: Earth. This prequel focuses on the "synthetics," who are androids that have the consciousness of children embedded in them.
But does Alien work on the small screen? Today on Commotion, guest host Ali Hassan sits down with TV critics Alison Herman and Rad Simonpillai to discuss Alien: Earth, and how it compares to its big screen counterparts.
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.
WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube:
Ali: Rad, what are your first impressions of the show? Alien, [the] 1979 film, is one of the greatest films… How much do I have to lower my expectations? Or is it a different world altogether?
Rad: When you're comparing it to Alien — and even the James Cameron sequel Aliens — which I think a lot of people talk about as not just like the greatest horror movie and then the greatest action movies of all time but just two of the greatest movies of all time. So, yeah, definitely do not go in expecting that, right?
I enjoyed this series. I shouldn't have been comparing it to those original movies, but you just can't help yourself. But I had a good enough time. I've only seen six of the eight episodes so far, and some parts were wobbly. But I was taken in by how the creator here, Noah Hawley, wasn't trying to emulate those movies. He was trying to make this something else, something of his own. And that's actually something that the whole Alien franchise has always made room for. It's always been incredible for how directors would always put their own stamp on the material, bring their own style.
Ali: Alison, is Alien: Earth bringing anything new to the larger franchise in your mind?
Alison: Yeah, I would say so, just by virtue of being a show instead of a film. There are different things that are valued by television as a medium — and one of them is the idea of a protagonist who develops and changes over time that you can root for. And I thought the idea of centring these synthetic children/newly minted adults was just an incredibly smart way into it. Something I noted in my review is that it almost feels like as much as it's an Alien TV show, it's also a Blade Runner TV show. It's almost as concerned with the ethics of creating artificial intelligence and what we owe to our own creations, and how humanity's work can transcend and catch up to it, as it is about: what are these cool creatures?