By Michael Boyle

Copyright slashfilm

It’s fitting that King praised the TV show’s critique of corporations, as that’s where the series is really staying true to the franchise’s roots. The “Alien” movies, at their best, are stories about working class people being repeatedly screwed over by greedy, short-sighted corporations.

Indeed, Ridley Scott’s original 1979 “Alien” film reveals that the corporation that the movie’s true protagonist, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), is working for has fully intended to sacrifice the lives of her ship’s entire crew just to get a sample of the other-worldly — and extremely dangerous — Xenomorph for scientific study. The second film, James Cameron’s 1986 sequel “Aliens,” then features a twist where the corporate nice-guy Burke (Paul Reiser) is actually revealed to be a vindictive, sleazy jerk who is willing to get countless more people killed to protect his company’s bottom line.

“You know, Burke, I don’t know which species is worse,” Ripley tells him, in the process stating what might be the “Alien” franchise’s main thesis. “You don’t see them f***ing each other over for a godd*mn percentage.”

“Alien: Earth” continues the property’s anti-1% bona fides with its unsettling depiction of a futuristic Earth that’s been taken over by mega corporations, none of whom are treating the responsibility that comes with their immense power with the seriousness it deserves. There’s still one episode left in the show’s first season, but here’s to hoping the duplicitous CEOs in this series suffer a fate similar to Burke’s in “Aliens.” What a shame it’d be if the series’ worst character, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), didn’t get some sort of karmic comeuppance.

“Alien: Earth” is streaming on FX on Hulu.