FX’s Alien: Earth closed its first season with a finale that turned the franchise on its head. In a world already haunted by Xenomorphs, it’s the children, or at least the human-minded hybrids in adult bodies, who are now calling the shots.
At the center is Wendy (Sydney Chandler), whose decision to seize power raises the series’ central question: will she choose humanity, or something far more dangerous?
Wendy Takes Control
By the end of the season, Wendy has rallied her fellow hybrids and even enlisted a Xenomorph to cage Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), Morrow (Babou Ceesay), Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), and Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis). Her declaration to “rule” leaves both her allies and her brother Joe (Alex Lawther) questioning what she has become.
“That’s the central question of the series, right? Is Wendy going to choose ‘human’ or ‘other’?” Hawley explained. “Her brother is realizing that whatever big brother pull he had is really gone at this point.”
Hawley points out the risk of giving unchecked power to children. “Their executive function isn’t great, and their sense of consequences isn’t necessarily fully developed. There’s a hubris there.” Wendy may believe her Xenomorph ally can be “good,” but the audience knows otherwise.
The Xenomorph Dilemma
Giving Wendy control of a Xenomorph opened new narrative possibilities, but Hawley stresses the moral weight of that choice.
“The moment she releases this creature, it kills a bunch of people, and she doesn’t watch. She isn’t facing the consequences of that decision,” he said. “If part of her power is in causing the injury or death of human beings, then where’s her moral high ground?”
Violence in Alien: Earth is not just spectacle as Hawley emphasizes that it should remain meaningful and confront viewers with their own expectations. “I never want violence to be entertainment. I always want it to be impactful and meaningful.”
Man vs. Machine
Another key moment in the finale was the long-teased showdown between Morrow, a cybernetically enhanced human, and Kirsh, a synthetic being who revels in his superiority.
“The hubris of Morrow’s statement ‘Man will always win. It’s a question of will.’ Then 25 seconds later, he’s choked out by the machine,” Hawley said.
For Hawley, the fight was about belief. “It becomes a question of whether you believe in authority, or whether you believe in rebellion.”
Don’t Count the Villains Out
With the authority figures caged and humiliated, the stage seems set for Wendy’s rule. But Hawley warns that humiliation only makes villains more dangerous.
“The worst thing you could do is humiliate them or hand them a defeat, because it makes them more dangerous in the long run.”
The Alien Eyeball
One of the strangest and most unsettling moments in the finale was the alien eyeball that entered Arthur’s (David Rysdahl) body. Hawley teased its significance for the future.
“If Arthur is the moral center of the show, and now isn’t even allowed to rest in peace, there’s a certain sort of final corruption that happens, in a Pet Sematary way. To take the thing that you love and bring it back as other can be really the most disconcerting for an audience.”
Looking Ahead
Although Alien: Earth takes place before Ridley Scott’s original 1979 Alien, Hawley isn’t rushing to tie directly into that story.
“A big part of the world-building was to build something that was coherent to itself, that worked within the construct of the movies — the first two movies,” he said. Connections may come later, but Hawley is focused on solving today’s problems, not tomorrow’s.
As for Season 2? It’s still in Disney’s hands. “No, it’s conversational at this point,” Hawley said about writing new episodes. “The show’s about to wrap, and we’ll get a really complete sense of what the viewership was. I would imagine that a decision would follow soon after. The moment they fire the starting gun, I’m out of the block.”
For now, fans are left to ponder Wendy’s choices, the fate of the hybrids, and the eerie promise of that alien eyeball.
Source: Variety
