Alien: Earth - Season 1 (2025) Cre: Noah Hawley

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Anyone who has read my reviews on the 'Alien' films, or indeed, anyone who knows me in real life, will know that the iconic franchise holds a very special place in my heart. Although not all of them are classics, they all have a feel and an entertainment to them that makes them so rewatchable. As such, when a new Noah Hawley created series was announced, it will come as little surprise to know that I was extremely excited. In fact, it was the most excited I'd been for a new series of any kind in a long time.

The series had a great soundtrack - I really liked how it utilised modern rock and metal music to finish some episodes. It gave them a crash, cliffhanger feel to each ending, which in-turn made the events they depicted feel more exciting. Something else I enjoyed a lot about the series was its costume design - it was fairly subtle, but easy to appreciate. It felt very much in line with the original 'Alien' film's aesthetics, and there were even specific visual nods to it. In fact, the visuals, on the whole, were pretty solid. There was the odd scene in which the CGI didn't look as strong, but, for the most part, it looked good.

I really appreciated the world-building that show-runner Hawley put into the show, particularly because it expanded the audience's knowledge of not only the extraterrestrial life in the 'Alien' universe, but also the human lore, which has, until now, been fairly cloak and dagger. The series gave a fascinating glimpse into the future of A.I. and corporate governance - a step beyond late-stage capitalism, with some of the hallmarks of this being extremely, uncomfortably, familiar.

The narrative was, perhaps, where this series struggled a little. It started off very strong, with an action-packed, hugely interesting pilot episode, and lead into a string of mostly compelling and well-built storytelling, which provided a lot of juice, especially in regards to character development and dynamics. Episode Five was a particular standout for me, albeit that was partially because it felt so tied to the original 'Alien' film. However, the last two episodes were not quite as strong, particularly what turned out to be a surprisingly underwhelming finale. Not much seemed to happen, compared to the other episodes, and frustratingly, it seemed to be content to set-up a second season, rather than significantly wrap any of the established storylines up.

Sydney Chandler went from strength to strength in this series, and was by far the best thing about the show. She was a very endearing and relatable protagonist, and made her character's traits and divergences feel both interesting and likable. Her facial expressions were a pivotal feature of the show, and Chandler expressed herself wonderfully. Her character arc went in some slightly odd directions, but Chandler's acting matched it at every level.

Other series standouts, for my money, were; Timothy Olyphant - who looked and felt very 'Roy Batty', Samuel Blenkin - who was the most interesting part of the series for large portions, and Babou Ceesay, who had some of the most compelling acting of anyone, at times. I also enjoyed both Lily Newmark and Jonathon Ajayi, but felt like they deserved a lot more attention throughout the series.

Alex Lawther and Adarsh Gourav were good at points, but were a little inconsistent, in my opinion. Lawther's problems lay more in the writing, where his character seemed to run out of steam towards the end of the season, whereas Gourav was the other way around - he started off weakly, but improved as the season went on. There were also a few cast members who I really hope have a more significant role in the next season, because they were interesting, but very underutilised; Essie Davis, Erana James, and Sandra Yi Sencindiver.

Overall, I thought this series provided a lot of interesting new strands of life to the 'Alien' universe, and in a much more unique way than fans have been used to, to this point, at least. The show definitely wasn't perfect, but there is a lot of potential growth to be seen in a second season. I really wish the last couple of episodes had lived up to the first few, because it put a little bit of a dampener on my overarching thoughts on the series. I think this show won't be helped by people comparing it directly to the 'Alien' films, which is both fair and not, but, for what it is, I liked it a lot, for the most part.