adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Episode was pretty good. Forward progression and some good beats for the finale.
Buncha jaded old cloud-yellers in here.
Buncha jaded old cloud-yellers in here.
Alien Earth Open Spoiler Thread
- Thread starter FatallyYours
- Start date
Alex11
Gold Member
Yeah, for sure, at least Romulus had that Alien feel to it and I'm in the minority, but I liked the ending surprise and I also feel it was in tone with the Alien mythos. Too bad it had some dumb stuff sprinkled throughout.
This show is, I don't even know what, even if you take the Alien name out, it would still be bad, the writing, the dumb stuff is still there.
Imagine if they had that budget for just one Alien movie.
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Rat Rage
Member
This show is everything, but "Alien". Just replace the xenomorph with ANY other monster/non-xenomorph-like creature and it would make NO difference!
In fact, I think the show would even be better without the xeno, because then anyone could JUST enjoy it for the sheer stupidity, without constantly being reminded how comicly god-awful of an "Alien" series it is.
That being said, I have to admit that it's almost kind of amusing how bad of an "Alien" series the show is.
In fact, I think the show would even be better without the xeno, because then anyone could JUST enjoy it for the sheer stupidity, without constantly being reminded how comicly god-awful of an "Alien" series it is.
That being said, I have to admit that it's almost kind of amusing how bad of an "Alien" series the show is.
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Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
Did anyone else when they heard the title 'Alien: Earth' think that the show would take place mostly on the mainland outside of a lab where the aliens run amok among the civilian population? Them being in a lab on an island makes it feel like the show might just as well have taken place on a very big space ship.
We knew nothing could spread, because this show takes place two years before the Nostromo even leaves
I'm kinda shocked they (so far) have avoided mentioning Ellen Ripley or having her be a rando pilot or something.
Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
Oh right, yeah. I only heard about that later on. I think it was a rather boring choice to have it take place at that time instead of much later. It puts cuffs on the writers and forces it to be a "spaceship" sized story instead of a true Earth one.
Very true, which makes the rationale to set it during that time kinda bizarre. And since they gave no indication of which planet they found these things on (all from the same planet, I believe) it wouldn't even tie in to having the Nostromo check out the distress beacon. It clearly wasn't LV421 since that planet is only 3 weeks from earth (unless travel speeds GREATLY improve in the 60 years between Alien:Earth and Aliens [or the 120 years since the Maginot took off mid 21st century, I suppose]) so there is some other planet out there with the xeno and these other critters. Maybe its too far away for a repeat trip (seems likely, 65 years is a once in a century type voyage) but it would have been nice for the show to explain these things but now Earth has confirmation of valuable aliens thus Ash has orders to collect them no matter the costs.
I can only imagine that each one of those guard guys has to pay for ammunition out of their own pocket because they are all SUPER TIGHT with ammo. They stand around while the redhead ripped apart a couple of them, they run around barely shooting when the xeno is ripping apart a couple of them, you can see the "if I pull this trigger it's $400 outta my paycheck!" calculation going on in their heads.
Alex11
Gold Member
Oh, I forgot that scene with the synths. I know they got orders and all not to hurt them, but come on, seeing your squadmate getting his face ripped like that, fuck that, they all should have started filing her crazy ass with bullets.
With the xeno, I think the first one did shoot at it, but he obviously missed on purpose, that or he went to the Star Wars Stormtrooper shooting school.
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poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
The Texas floods and the Texas school shooting and the (lack of) response in both those cases makes this seem closer to reality than the opposite.
'I don't wanna be the one who ends up on the hook for destroying a billion dollar research project/priceless alien specimen, Bob is the senior guy we should confirm with him it we have permission. He should be back in a couple of hours hopefully not too many people get killed before then'
RCX
Member
Much worse. And Romulus was member-berry trash.
Liljagare
Member
Pretty much, everything hated on by Gaf, I've liked.
:\
But atleast the trend is noticable, every ape calls everything "woke", it's like people just got hung up on it, and can't get over anything.. Meanwhile in Alien, we have Ripley as the main lead, and a very butch female of colour. Was that woke too?
It's tiring, lets just enjoy some decent scifi.
Alien, the shorter version:
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OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
The vast majority of us are dogging on it for the writing. I've seen very little of the "woke" talk.Pretty much, everything hated on by Gaf, I've liked.
:\
But atleast the trend is noticable, every ape calls everything "woke", it's like people just got hung up on it, and can't get over anything.. Meanwhile in Alien, we have Ripley as the main lead, and a very butch female of colour. Was that woke too?
It's tiring, lets just enjoy some decent scifi.
Alien, the shorter version:
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Poppinfresh
Gold Member
The writing is so bad it's legitimately hard to tell if it's woke or not.
No one has called this show woke, ir mocked the casting, as it feels organic to the world. There is no dunking on men to prop up girlbosses. No one is confused about their gender, all the children were put into synthetic bodies appropriate for their anticipated maturation as cis people. There is like 1, maybe 2 sexual relationships in the show and they are cishet. The one who thinks she is pregnant was a female originally.
What this show IS is a travesty of morons masquerading as professionals and insulting to the viewer.
What this show IS is a travesty of morons masquerading as professionals and insulting to the viewer.
Alex11
Gold Member
Who said anything about woke?Pretty much, everything hated on by Gaf, I've liked.
:\
But atleast the trend is noticable, every ape calls everything "woke", it's like people just got hung up on it, and can't get over anything.. Meanwhile in Alien, we have Ripley as the main lead, and a very butch female of colour. Was that woke too?
It's tiring, lets just enjoy some decent scifi.
Alien, the shorter version:
And if you like it, that's more than fine, but don't call us fucking apes if we dislike it, what is this?
You know what's tiring, other people critiquing other people's critiques.
It's not like I had nothing better to do and one morning I'm like "What's missing from my life? I know, shitting on the new Alien show just because"
All here expressed valid reasons for writing, themes, symbolism and whatnot and we praised the show where it deserved it, the visuals, design, sets, some characters and actors.
Alien, the shorter version:
NGL this show shoulda been 30 minutes of the cat on the Maginot just catching and killing all the aliens that idiot crew kept losing control of.
The final scene would be the cat and the "eyemidge" (as Noah calls it) each saluting the other as they descend to earth on separate escape pods, having tried and failed to dispatch the other on several occasions.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I agree with one thing that the early episodes dragged. This would have done much better as a 'limited series' of 4 or so parts.
Ulysses 31
Member
Were you really expecting Aliens to run loose on the mainland and take over cities? That surely would've come up in the movies.
Naw, there's gonna be a giant reset at the end of the series and characters who aren't killed off are just gonna disappear.
Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Love this show. Best thing to come out of the franchise in decades.
Edit: forgot about Romulus, that was good too!
Edit: forgot about Romulus, that was good too!
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That's exactly what I expected and the marketing teasers reinforced this belief by showing an out-of-control ship with xenomorph eggs careening towards Earth. I thought it'd be a show about Earth at-large dealing with a global xenomorph infestation following that crashed ship.
There was a comic series or something that dealt with this very thing, and the Alien Theory channel narrated an audiobook of sorts on it and I listened to it years ago. When I heard 'Alien Earth' my first thought was they're adapting that exact story for t.v.
Edit: Yeah, that's it. There was a 1990 Aliens: Earth Wars comic series. Very easy to assume the t.v. show would be an adaptation.
Aliens: Earth Wars
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Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
That's very interesting. I'm gonna look up those. I would much rather have watched that kind of show.
Honestly, the show should have been called Alien: Island or Alien: Neverland instead.
RCX
Member
So you like it because it looks nice and kinda like the original film?Pretty much, everything hated on by Gaf, I've liked.
:\
But atleast the trend is noticable, every ape calls everything "woke", it's like people just got hung up on it, and can't get over anything.. Meanwhile in Alien, we have Ripley as the main lead, and a very butch female of colour. Was that woke too?
It's tiring, lets just enjoy some decent scifi.
Alien, the shorter version:
That has to be it because you clearly aren't listening to the dialogue or following the "story". If you were you'd see its massive deficiencies in a second.
Stop using your phone while you're watching it next time. Focus, young fella, focus.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
RCX
Member
Yes they're a setup for sure, but the setup has some intelligence and mystery to it. In Alien all we really know is that The Company wants the alien. Why they want it is largely left up to the audience. Where it comes from isn't known, the ship is a derelict. The more the IP expounds on these mysteries, the less interesting it becomes.
The crews reactions are largely acceptable because they initially think the creature is still small and for that reason more manageable. Once Dallas is dead they are somewhat rudderless and things naturally fall apart with too many cooks in the kitchen. I can go with them because the actors play their roles in a grounded, serious way. This show does nothing of the sort.
Aliens is definitely on shakier ground as far as decision-making goes but I remember seeing Cameron talk about this years ago and he explained a lot of it as being the result of the Marines thinking their weaponry and training made them invincible. Coupled with Gormon's total naivety it led them to disaster. I can buy that. The fact that, again, the actors play their roles in such an engrossing way and the action-packed nature of the script keeps things humming along really well. I always think that a sign of a good movie is that you don't feel 2 hours going by. Aliens more than measures up in that regard.
Every film after that doesn't need explanation, they're all genuinely bad (I'll give a 1/2 pass to the assembly cut of Alien 3). The first 2 films are really good, not flawless, but really good. Everything after that is experimental trash or, in Alien Earth and Romulus' case, a hollow, idiotic photocopy that shouldn't even win a fanfic contest.
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efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
I agree that the first two films are by far better than almost everything that's come out afterwards, and that a lot of that comes from not knowing much about the setting and the world, let alone the creature.
Which is why I think going in a new direction was the right decision for this series: introducing new aliens with their own rules and behaviors, a new corporation with its own agenda, new types of synthetic humans, and having all these interact with the familiar entities, while maintaining stylistic similarities.
I don't think the characters in the original films were considerably deeper or more relatable, but that's just me. I'll give you that the dialogue, especially in the second film, was smoother and more fun to watch than in Alien: Earth.
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Folks now have a hard time rewinding to BEFORE Aliens. They don't know shit about the xeno, half didn't even read Ripley's brief (and as a manager, this is 1000% the case, even 50% reading is being generous!). But RIPLEY didn't know about hives either. The Dallas entombed bit was cut from Alien, so she wouldn't have an explanation for why all the colonists were in the reactor other than "maybe they are all hiding out there". So the marines know something happened because there is evidence of a fight at the colony, but it sure does look like all the colonists are just living under the reactor. So going in to meet them with just flamers and light weapons isn't so outlandish an idea as it seems in retrospect. No one knew the Xeno built hives, or had the capacity to organize and drag victims around, or could hide in plain sight. Ripley never saw that stuff either.
So was Gorman an effective leader? Certainly not. But did he send his troops KNOWINGLY into a suicide ambush? Absolutely not. It wasn't a totally unreasonable plan and really, what other options did they have? Shut down the entire reactor so they could go in fully armed? Just send in a fire team as a probe? Wait around and see what else might happen? Was there video footage in the colony that would have shown increasingly larger waves of xenos carrying people away? I'm not sure there was as blanket CC cameras were not a thing in the 80's like they are now.
The long and short of it was they had a small team, which was SOP for the Colonial Marines as they seemed to be in a relatively peaceful period of time and were complacent. The company deliberately handicapped them, I believe, knowing Burke could influence Gorman. They were up against an enemy with virtually unknown capabilities but apparently no technology, so they were waaaay overconfident in their own fire superiority.
And even after the first reactor battle, they had the APC with all it's weapons, until Ferro crashed into it in a freak event. Sure, was Spunkmeyer lax in rear guard security? Yup. Does that happen in real life? ALL THE DAMNED TIME. Had they the APC I think they may have been better supplied with a stronger position, may have even been able to call down another dropship with it. But Cameron set up a plausible (for Hollywood standards) sequence of events leading to them being desperate and isolated and that's why Aliens holds up so well.
Compare that to Alien:Earth, which has to use NUMEROUS illogical moments to drive their forced plot forward. NOTHING on the island feels like a natural chain of consequences, it's all been artificially driven because the writers never walked their plot backwards to fix all the brain dead moments. Their priority was to hit certain beats to fit the "Neverland" concept, not to tell a tale of logical consequences of hubris and greed. I also think the directors assumed previous episodes would do more foreshadowing and set up than what actually happened, so we get seemingly bizarre actions that weren't orchestrated properly.
Take Wendy's ability to open the cage door. We see her do a similar thing ONCE prior, Kid K and Kirsch I believe see it happen, yet they never once consider it interesting or important, or take any measures to mitigate that capability in the event Wendy disobeys. Was that hubris? Possibly. But because the super-power is so poorly explored and only referenced in a much earlier episode, it comes off as EXTREMELY deux ex machina when it happens in ep7. It feels like cheating because it IS cheating. They needed that door open, couldn't or wouldn't figure out a logical way for it to happen, so they just invented a magic power to solve this tiny gordian knot.
Wendy surely knew the xeno would kill everyone, yet she doesn't seem to care. Is that the response of a child? Unlikely. Is it the response of a childs memories inside an unfeeling machine? Perhaps, but we get SO LITTLE about that possibility it doesn't seem natural to Wendy as she just like the other emotional hybrids in most respects. Using the xeno to kill the Yutani troops makes more sense, though she didn't seem particularly scared so it again comes off as cold and callous murder rather than lashing out or a fear defense (versus the redhead who does seem to attack because she is threatened).
Anyway, its these types of character inconsistencies, combined with the bizarre hoops the show needs to jump through to move the plot forward, that differentiates this show from Alien and Aliens.
Fbh
Member
I swear the local Chuck E Cheese has tighter security than this multi trillion dollar company has on their private island where they conduct secret alien research and groundbreaking R&D.
I feel like a lot of the issues with the writing could been at least diminished if they had made it so Wayland-Yutani somehow got a spy into a high ranking position at Prodigy. Have a few scenes of the spy messing with security, looping camera feeds, manipulating the synth kids and setting them up to fuck up, etc.
It would help make it feel a bit more like some of the dumb shit is due to active sabotage instead of everyone being dumb and/or incompetent and the whole island feeling like it's apparently run by 3 people.
The eye monster is still the best part. They could have probably made a way better show focusing on that one, but I guess you can't get funding these days if you don't push a known IP.
I feel like a lot of the issues with the writing could been at least diminished if they had made it so Wayland-Yutani somehow got a spy into a high ranking position at Prodigy. Have a few scenes of the spy messing with security, looping camera feeds, manipulating the synth kids and setting them up to fuck up, etc.
It would help make it feel a bit more like some of the dumb shit is due to active sabotage instead of everyone being dumb and/or incompetent and the whole island feeling like it's apparently run by 3 people.
The eye monster is still the best part. They could have probably made a way better show focusing on that one, but I guess you can't get funding these days if you don't push a known IP.
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
I thought it was stupid when Arthur woke up from the facehugger he didn't act the least bit alarmed or weirded out. He kinda just pops out of nowhere like "Hey guys, how's it going?" And not him waking up on the ground in the jungle wanting to know how the hell he got there or what the fuck happened to him. He didn't find it odd that he just woke up on the ground in the middle of the jungle? It wasn't like he woke up at the facility and could've just assumed he hit his head or passed out or something. He woke up outside on the ground. That whole part of the episode felt super off. It didn't feel at all like someone typically acts when they just got face hugged. Out of it, confused, etc. He acted in that scene like he just arrived at a friend's house.
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NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
It seems to be doing very well in ratings and engagement, so it would seem to be a success regardless of our opinion of it.
But it was also RIDICULOUSLY expensive, so I can't imagine FX/Hulu/Disney/Fox or whoever is controlling the pursestrings is too psyched to do more in the current environment.
I hope this show ends with finality and we can get some more Alien shows of different eras. Kinda like what they are doing with Predator, just explore different aspects of it without trying to tie it all together in some lengthy arc.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
They've been edging us pretty hard on the plant thing, they better pay it off before the season finale, have someone die horribly by the plant thing.
Take off and nuke he site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure......
The Goddamn Mike
Neo Member
I'm conflicted: I fucking hate this show but I also love discussing how shit it is with GAF. I think I'm going to miss it when its gone
The discussion is definitely entertaining. I don't see any way this redeems itself in the last episode. I'm not coming back to it, having jumped ship, until someone here indicates the final episode is so fucking batshit-stupid, it transcends our perception of reality and results in some kind of television equivalent of Tenet - in which quality-entropy has reversed and I have to wear some kind of gas mask to watch it. In that case, I'll check out episode 8. Otherwise...
Book: read. So smart, me. Enjoy book so much. Maybe I write Alien TV show?
th4tguy
Gold Member
I don't hate the show and have enjoyed it for what it is. BUT I really hate how early on, I was surprised by the NOT dumb characters did that would have resulted in outbreaks/ death in the movies... and now in the last two episodes, everyone seems to be making even dumber mistakes than expected that are resulting in outbreaks and deaths.
Wendy releasing the xenomorph and even sicking it on people intentionally killing humans feels extremely out of character for her. Then she getting mad at her brother for putting the other cyborg down when she was actively killing humans also felt really off. They haven't really given me a reason to think she had been pushed to not care about human lives like that.
Wendy releasing the xenomorph and even sicking it on people intentionally killing humans feels extremely out of character for her. Then she getting mad at her brother for putting the other cyborg down when she was actively killing humans also felt really off. They haven't really given me a reason to think she had been pushed to not care about human lives like that.
Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
Now see, this thing could have been really good if they had been building up to her getting weirder and weirder and us seeing her losing her humanity or feeling superior. And then her finally snapping and having her set the xenopet free and murdering people. But I haven't seen any such signs, she just out of the blue went all psychopath. I'm not a writer, but I feel like this kind of stuff should be Writing 101. Keep your characters coherent and stuff.
I honestly have no idea what is going on. I know that something is messed up with the redheadroid, but the rest have been calm as cucumbers. Even the brunette android hasn't been scheeming against Wendy like I expected, so there isn't a widespread bug in them. The script should have been completely rewritten before production. In better hands it could have been saved and would have made actual sense.
There are too many characters in my opinion. Lots of them were actually interesting, but not a single one feels like they have gotten enough time to grow or develop. I understand that in Alien 1 they didn't have especially full-fledged character archs either, but that's a movie. A show is supposed to be able to delve into this stuff thanks to the runtime being a lot longer.
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Liljagare
Member
I think you are viewing the OG movie through rose tinted glasses. Actually, did you even see them?
The sheer idiocy of characters, and writing in the story was present in Alien, Alien 2 and it was a integral part of the first few movies.
"Gaaaame over, maaaaaan, game over", said by a character who then acts like a complete moron? Maybe you should pay attention and rewatch the OG movies?
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RCX
Member
I hope it is. I can't imagine where the fuck they could go with it after this. Not sure even where it stands in terms of viewership.
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
I guess you missed the part where Hudson was losing his shit because of everything that happened. It's called character. Something this show has little of. I can't believe you think the writing in the first two movies is just as bad as this dreck. Talk about a terrible opinion lmao
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Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
Movie mini review power post
Prometheus was the best alien movie.
Aliens was the most alien we love movie
Alien was the best movie when we got adult in hindsight.
Alien 3 directors cut ending was the shit. The movie was also not that bad
Alien resurrection that lab scene was graphic also why does this movie look like the fifth element?
prometheus 2 was how fucking dumb can people be the movie and lol let's fuck with the alien lore.
alien high school teen movie was pretty dope.
Thanks for trying
Prometheus was the best alien movie.
Aliens was the most alien we love movie
Alien was the best movie when we got adult in hindsight.
Alien 3 directors cut ending was the shit. The movie was also not that bad
Alien resurrection that lab scene was graphic also why does this movie look like the fifth element?
prometheus 2 was how fucking dumb can people be the movie and lol let's fuck with the alien lore.
alien high school teen movie was pretty dope.
Thanks for trying
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NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
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