Episode 7 of Alien: Earth is now streaming, and "Emergence" left us with a lot to unpack as we head towards next week's season finale.
Spoilers follow.
Joe finally convinces Wendy to leave Neverland, along with a clearly unstable Nibs, who goes full-on murder-bot towards the end of the episode when she tears a Prodigy soldier's jaw right off his face (don't f*ck with Mr. Strawberry). We also lost another principal character, as the chestburster that had been gestating inside poor Arthur decided to come out and see the world.
But arguably the biggest talking point among fans of the long-running franchise was the reveal that Wendy, aka Marcie, can actually control the xenomorph she's been communicating with since it burst from her brother Joe's surgically-removed lung.
This is a concept that has never been fully explored (there was an attempt to train the xenos in Alien: Resurrection... it didn't go well) in the movies, but showrunner Noah Hawley makes it clear that things aren't quite as simple as Wendy having a "pet alien" now.
"One of the big question marks was if fans were going to go with this idea," Hawley told The Hollywood Reporter. "I don’t want her to have [a Xenomorph as a] pet. But if it seems like an alliance has been struck, what are the interesting possibilities that we can pull out of that? And because this is a horror story, we have to assume that, ultimately, I wouldn’t bet on this working out."
"The other thing, of course, is that an Alien movie is a two-hour survival story, and a television show has to be an ongoing series," he added. "You have to use the monsters in a different way. You certainly want to use them in the classic way, but you also have to figure out how to sustain having monsters in your show when the reality is they would kill everyone, or that you would kill them — and then that would be it. Bringing in other creatures allowed me to take the pressure off the xenomorphs to fill that void."
Wendy does seem to be able to convince the xenomorph to do her bidding... for now. The creature wipes out a platoon of Yutani soldiers and doesn't attempt to attack Joe, and appears ready to assist when Wendy, Joe and Nibs come under fire towards the end of the episode.
"They are predators. They are very intelligent. They’re calculating," Hawley continues. "But they don’t have ulterior motives. One of the most fascinating things to me about the Alien franchise is you never see them eat. None of their killing seems to be about food. They’re really about reproducing. So they’re kind of fascinating on that level. This all plays into this question driving the Wendy conversation. Humanity is a choice for her now, and the more she chooses to be human, the safer everyone will be. The more alienated and detached she feels from humanity and human morality … well, that’s not good. So there is a question of whether she is going to become a monster, too. I think that core tension makes the show really interesting."
Be sure to tune in to next week's season finale to find out.
“When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, “Wendy” (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.”
“In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this Corporate Era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. But the game is changed when the wunderkind Founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named “Wendy” marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, “Wendy” and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.”
Alien: Earth stars Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Timothy Olyphant, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, David Rysdahl, Adrian Edmondson, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diem Camille, and Moe Bar-El.
The show's supporting cast includes Richa Moorjani, Karen Aldridge, Andy Yu, Enzo Cilenti, Max Rinehart, Amir Boutrous, Victoria Masoma, Tom Moya, Michael Smiley, Jamie Bisping and Tanapol Chuksrida.