Copyright Screen Rant
Alien: Earth has shaken the Alien franchise to its foundations. A fascinating tale of corporate politics, synthetic consciousness and, sure enough, big scary aliens trying to kill people, Noah Hawley's series blends the sci-fi intrigue of Ridley Scott's original movie with the introspective and philosophical depth of Prometheus. Alien: Earth season 2 remains unconfirmed at the time of writing, but even if another season doesn't materialize, Alien: Earth's existing eight episodes represent a bold and creative interpretation of the premise, albeit one that maintains the spirit of what came before. As good as Alien: Earth may be, it transforms into an even more enjoyable experience if you're able to ignore the show's biggest defining feature. Alien: Earth Could Easily Be An Original Series With No Connection To Alien The most surprising thing about Alien: Earth is how easily you could remove every single trace of the iconic franchise it belongs to and very little would actually change. Alien: Earth already occupies a questionable place within Alien canon. The story supposedly begins two years prior to Ridley Scott's first movie, but that informs the visuals and technology far more than the actual plot. Alien: Earth exists in isolation and could realistically be set any time around the first two movies. The specifics of the show's period really have no bearing. That becomes doubly true when trying to match up the events of Alien: Earth with the canon we know from the Alien movies. While not an explicit retcon, the notion of xenomorphs on Earth and Weyland-Yutani being so involved with them pre-Nostromo lines up awkwardly with past continuity. What Part Of Alien: Earth Actually Needed The Alien Franchise? If you take Alien: Earth and rename Weyland-Yutani to something new, then you replace the show's xenomorph with an original monster that's just as terrifying, Alien: Earth could have been a completely new sci-fi TV series not belonging to any preexisting franchise. A few superficial changes (like the synths' distinctive white "blood") and no one would ever suspect the show falls under the Alien umbrella. And yet, oddly, the story would still unfold exactly as it does currently. Viewers would likely notice some Alien influence in the retro-futurism, but plenty of sci-fi releases over the past 40-odd years have been inspired by the look of Alien and Aliens. By virtue of being set on Earth (a locale the Alien movies have never properly explored) and featuring a menagerie of extra-terrestrial monsters, Alien: Earth could have masqueraded as an IP-free production were it not for the xenomorph's familiar visage. Only one plot point in Alien: Earth actually relies on the franchise's specific tropes, and that's Arthur getting the chestburster treatment. From the moment Arthur's face is hugged, the audience knows his fate is sealed, and that realization serves to ramp up the tension as Smee and Slightly obliviously deliver the doomed scientist to Morrow. The entire facehugger-chestburster cycle is so famously Alien, it's the one aspect of the TV series that wouldn't transfer neatly to a non-franchise story. Fix that, and removing any trace of Alien from Alien: Earth would be surprisingly straightforward. Would Alien: Earth Be Better As An Original Sci-Fi TV Series? Belonging to the Alien universe naturally gave Alien: Earth a larger platform than it might have received otherwise, but it also put limits on how potential future seasons can develop. Noah Hawley is treating canon with a loose hand, but that leeway only goes so far. Alien: Earth won't be able to destroy Weyland-Yutani or depict a full-scale xenomorph invasion of Earth, whereas an original series absolutely could. Knowing certain eventualities aren't possible lowers the stakes by a degree or two - like watching the Star Wars prequels knowing Obi-Wan Kenobi can't die. Alien: Earth does an admirable job of coaxing viewers into caring for its characters, so the stakes are bound to them rather than the fate of the world at large. In later seasons, however, Alien: Earth might have wanted to expand onto a global or interplanetary scale where the fate of humanity really was at risk. The Alien connection can also become a distraction at times. Subconsciously or otherwise, you're always looking for the next movie connection or Easter egg. That sometimes pays off, but can also detract from the matters at hand. Similarly, the Alien brand creates expectations that Alien: Earth doesn't always meet. Wendy treating xenomorphs like Pokémon feels jarring given the species' brutal nature throughout the Alien movies, but if this were an original creature, no one would question it.
