The Xenomorphs featured in the Alien films represent, in my view, the ultimate movie monsters ever crafted. Interestingly, they are the least captivating element of FX’s Alien: Earth.

This does not imply that the Xenomorphs in Alien: Earth are uninteresting. On the contrary! These legendary horror beings have numerous moments to excel in the series, attacking victims, showcasing their dual jaws, and drooling profusely. Classic Xenomorph antics, and quite thrilling as well, but not much beyond what we have witnessed previously. After four primary Alien films, two prequels, the “interquel” Alien: Romulus, and the canonically inconsistent Alien vs. Predator movies, viewers are thoroughly acquainted with the Xenomorph.

Noah Hawley, the creator of Alien: Earth (Legion, Fargo), recognizes this fact, presenting the Xenomorph early in the inaugural episode and not holding back in showcasing its design. (Its design is striking, primarily achieved through practical effects and stunt performer Cameron Brown.) Instead, Hawley preserves the enigma of Alien: Earth for novel entities and factions that encounter the formidable Xenomorph. These components end up eclipsing my favorite creature, but for justifiable reasons. With them, Hawley broadens the Alien universe, exploring captivating new territories and crafting sequences as enthralling as a Facehugger. Nevertheless, the series retains the oddity and existential trepidation that is fundamental to the franchise.

Alien: Earth envisions the scenario of a Xenomorph arriving on Earth. It comes as part of the cargo aboard the USCSS Maginot, a Weyland-Yutani research ship that crashes in New Siam, Prodigy City, which is named after the Weyland-Yutani competitor Prodigy Corporation.

The CEO of Prodigy, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), seeks the deep-space treasures contained within that ship; thus, he dispatches a team of soldiers to collect it. However, these are not just any soldiers. They are hybrids: synthetic bodies imbued with human consciousness. Since Prodigy’s hybrid technology is in its infancy, the only consciousnesses capable of transferring are those of children. Consequently, Boy Kavalier is sending children — albeit in billion-dollar robotic forms — into a perilous zone where a Xenomorph is present.

The first hybrid test subjects of Boy Kavalier are terminally ill children offered a second chance at life. The foremost among them, and thus the leader, is Wendy (Sydney Chandler), named after Wendy Darling from Peter Pan. Her fellow hybrids are also named after the Lost Boys (Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and Tootles, with Smee being the lone exception), and Boy Kavalier regards himself as their Peter Pan. He’s even labeled his island research facility Neverland, narrates J. M. Barrie’s story to the hybrids at bedtime, and screens Disney’s 1953 Peter Pan on the rooftop of his laboratory.

The Peter Pan allusions soon become monotonous, serving as a reminder that the hybrids will not grow up — at least, not in a physical sense. Mentally, however, the situation is different, and that’s where Alien: Earth devotes a significant portion of its narrative. How will these new iterations of humanity — if they can even be defined as such, Wendy wonders — develop? Especially when they are treated as test subjects? Furthermore, how will these innocent children react when confronted with the abyssal horrors of space aboard the Maginot?

The hybrids in Alien: Earth offer multiple thrilling prospects for the show that extend beyond the excitement of witnessing a human battle a Xenomorph. (Although that is, in its own right, quite thrilling.)

To begin, hybrids serve as a contrast to the synthetics of the Alien franchise, like Ash (Ian Holm) or David (Michael Fassbender). Alien: Earth’s resident synthetic is Prodigy staff member Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), an android entrusted with overseeing the Lost Boys during their mission. His supervision of the Lost Boys appears to be a form of detached parenting and also as if he is monitoring the forthcoming wave of technology that will render him obsolete. A challenging role. In Olyphant’s portrayal, Kirsh displays a cool cynicism regarding humanity, which stands in stark contrast to Chandler’s sweetly genuine Wendy, who remains connected to her brother Joe (Alex Lawther), a Prodigy military medic who believes she has passed away.

This sincerity adds another compelling dimension to the show, as the adult actors portraying the Lost Boys — Chandler, Kit Young, Adarsh Gourav, Erana James, Jonathan Ajayi, and Lily Newmark — must embody children. Their performances generate a disjunction between their physical forms and their thoughts and actions, evoking effects that range from unsettling to humorous within a single scene. Special recognition goes to Ajayi as Smee, who infuses believable childhood petulance and bewilderment into any scene, even when probing a laboratory full of aliens.

Regarding extraterrestrials, the Xenomorph is not the sole alien entity the hybrids encounter. It forms part of five alien species within the Maginot cargo. Hawley wisely ensures that all the new aliens are smaller.