In last night's Alien: Earth finale, the group of Peter Pan-inspired Lost Boys (children housed in synthetic adult bodies) finally turn the tables on the humans that created them, with Wendy (Sydney Chandler) declaring, "Now we rule," as the episode ended.
The series has established that Wendy can communicate with the Xenomorphs, and she appears pretty unstoppable with an adult and a baby alien at her side. Other major developments saw Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) and Morrow (Babou Ceesay) finally come to blows, while The Eye found a new home inside Arthur's (David Rysdahl) dead body.
With so much going on in Prodigy City and the Yutani troops closing in, it's clear now that Alien: Earth is not a standalone anthology series. The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com) caught up with showrunner Noah Hawley and asked him about setting the stage for season 2.
"I think there’s an artistic answer to that, and there’s a commercial answer to that, right? Obviously, I had to plan and execute a story that that’s going someplace. And then, this whole thing is a proof-of-concept experiment to see if enough people on the planet want to watch an Alien TV show to justify the expense of a second and third season of an Alien TV show."
"So for me, I never hedged my bets. This is not a closed-ended season. This chapter is closed, but Yutani troops are landing. The balance of power has shifted. These children have no idea what’s coming. The last line of, 'Now we rule' is triumphant and uplifting. But cut to 10 minutes later, what is going to be happening? So I like that it has that real-time urgency to it."
The trade wondered whether season 2 is a sure thing, but even with a cliffhanger ending, it seems the next chapter is neither guaranteed nor heading our way any time soon (like most high-concept TV shows, we'd bet on a 2-3 year wait for more episodes).
"I don’t have a destination in mind. I don’t know how long it will take me to get there. It’s been such an amazing act of play for me to enter this franchise and bring my own ideas to it. And just like with Fargo, I think, 'Who am I kidding? As long as they let me tell stories in this tone of voice, I’m going to tell stories in this tone of voice.' Right now, I feel flush with enthusiasm for this hybrid show that I’ve made between Alien and looking at the future of humanity in a way that feels entertaining. So I don’t know."
"And look, there are artistic goals and the commercial goals. I think we’ve launched incredibly well. I’m certainly hoping that it’s not a long nail biter of 'Can we do this again?' My hope is certainly in the next couple of months to get some kind of sign from them as to whether I should get another job or get back to work."
Hawley did offer a less cryptic response in a separate interview with Screen Rant. "We're talking about the future of the show, and FX does their homework. They really make sure that they understand what the viewership numbers are," he explained. "And on some level, it’s where you end more than where you started that tells you what the appetite for a season 2 is."
"I’ve been doing my part creatively and really thinking about where I would take the show going forward," Hawley added. "Certainly, I don’t want the show to be off the air for any longer than it absolutely has to be. So, there’s some urgency there to get us going as quickly as possible."
That's a positive update, but the Alien franchise looks set to be put on ice for at least the next couple of years (the Alien: Romulus sequel still doesn't have a director following Fede Álvarez's decision to step down). However, given it's found renewed success in recent years, we're sure that whatever comes next will be worth the wait.
The entirety of Alien: Earth's first season is now streaming on Disney+.