The Cutprice Guignol

Metamorphosis is a decidedly appropriate title for Alien: Earth’s third episode.

It begins where we left off last week as Wendy attempts to save her brother, Hermit, from the clutches of the show’s first, and definitely not last, Xenomorph, leading to a game of cat-and-alien-mouse between the girl in a synthetic body and the alien. The action here picks up the excellent pace of last week’s setpieces, but then the episode metamorphosises into a slower, more character-driven affair that sets the table for the rest of the season to come.

I’m slightly disappointed the crashed ship plot is over. After the action-packed premiere I was hoping for more of the same – but I realise (somewhat reluctantly) that to continue the crashed ship plot any longer would turn the show into yet another stale Alien movie. This being long-form storytelling, an episode like this is both frustrating as a jam on the breaks, but also necessary for us the viewers to take Alien: Earth seriously as its own iteration of this series.

The first two episodes (and the first act of this one) are proof if you needed it Noah Hawley knows Alien. We have the bloodshed, the body horror, the eerie androids, and above all, the cold, corporate companies pulling the strings. Both Wendy and Hermit mostly sit this episode out after being gravely wounded after defeating the Xenomorph – Hermit isn’t anything special to the Xenomorph, but Wendy seems to be. Hermit seems to have been used as a lure for Wendy, who was rightly identified as the main threat to the Alien and the Facehugger eggs, and his suitably-grungy predicament places Wendy in a real interesting place with regards to the show’s iconic villain. It’s a great sequence, proof that the Xenomorph is a clever and tactical creature – something all too often ignored in the movies.

From here, we return to Prodigy island for some classic trillionaire assholery. It’s a credit to Samuel Blenkin that I truly despise Boy, yet understand his motivations. What’s disappointing, though, is the manner that the other creatures were captured with supposed ease by Prodigy, some even offscreen. They were one of the most exciting parts of the show, but now I’m not exactly dreading them getting loose, given that sticking them in plastic container seems enough to subdue them.

With the cargo “safely” on the island, we get to sit back and fill in the characterisation of the Lost Boys. These performances are a difficult balancing act: we are supposed to believe that these adults have the consciousness of children and the cast pull it off simply and effectively, in performances that are as unnerving as they are endearing.

Slightly (Adarsh Gourav) and Smee (Jonathan Ajayi) come across as two boys that know that they’re up past their bedtime and are hoping no one notices – Curly (Erana James) is the type-A little girl both confident in her own ability and eager to have someone else assure her of it, something that entices Boy to look beyond Wendy to her potential. Nibs (Lily Newmark), on the other hand, is just too traumatised by her encounter with the eyeball tentacle (much like myself when I saw the original Robocop when I was way too young. I’m mean his hand just exploded) to do much other than hauntedly stare at herself, while Toodles (Kit Young) hasn’t had much to do yet apart from being respectfully scared of Timothy Olyphant’s Kirsh. Yeah, me too. It’s a funny group, and a unique dynamic that I can’t wait to see torn to shreds because Boy can’t leave well enough alone.

In a largely-character based episode, we do get some movement in the plot. Prodigy, led by Kirsh, dissects a facehugger and places the baby Xenomorph seed into Hermit’s lung; he wasn’t using it, after all. Through this, we get confirmation that Wendy has some kind of psychic connection with the Xenomorphs, as the same dissection causes her to pass out. A little like Captain Hook and Tick Tock the Crocodile, some might say. It’s thin – but then, she did use a hook against the Xenomorph. I think Hawley puts this stuff in to screw with us, I really do, and I say that as a passionate fan of Legion and Fargo alike.

Metamorphosis is a classic table-setting episode, one that will work better as part of a full story than it does as a single piece. After the fireworks of the premiere, we now know enough about the characters and the stakes of what is to come. Whether that is the timebomb that is the Xenomorphs, the possible dissention in the ranks of the Lost Boys, or the looming threat of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation – the killers are inside (and outside) the house.

By Kevin Boyle

(header image via KTLA)