(NEXSTAR) — Following last week’s bottle episode aboard the ill-fated UCSS Maginot research vessel, FX’s “Alien: Earth” got back to business with this week’s sixth episode, which returns to Prodigy’s island headquarters, where things are really going south.
Tuesday’s episode, titled, “The Fly,” co-written by creator Noah Hawley and Lisa Long, moves a ton of plot and delivers one of the series’ most electrifying scenes yet.
Spoilers ahead for “Alien: Earth” episode six.
Brother-sister drama, husband-wife drama
Boy Kavalier and Kirsh leave Prodigy island for a meeting with Yutani, giving Joe (and everyone else) time to do their own covert bidding. Joe tells Wendy he’s working on plans to get them both off the island. But Wendy (Sydney Chandler) does something that adds an interesting wrinkle to this (somewhat tedious) relationship with her brother: She says she doesn’t want to leave the island.
Wendy’s recent work with the xenomorphs has brought new life to the hybrid’s eyes, as she now has a sense of purpose. Moreover, Wendy appears to have found kinship with the beings who, like she, is considered an asset more than a being.
“They didn’t ask to come here,” Wendy says, adding that she believes the xenomorph that she’s bonded with could be “good.” Yes, Wendy, xenomorphs are so kind.
Meanwhile, husband and wife science team Arthur (David Rysdahl) and Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis) come to an ethical breaking point. Prodigy senior exec Atom Eins (Ade Edmondson) orders the Sylvias to wipe the Maginot mission from Nibs’ memory — in addition to other emotional and intellectual tweaks to make her easier to manage. Arthur refuses, saying this would fundamentally alter Nibs’ personality and Atom fires him.
Despite her husband’s protestations and firing, Dame Sylvia reluctantly agrees to do the wipe. This is the type of marital conundrum that r/AITA would eat up.
Kavalier vs. Yutani
Back on the mainland, Prodigy CEO Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) and Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) arrive for a meeting with Yutani (Sandra Yi Sencindiver) and a moderator, who will preside over the negotiations. But the “Boy Genius” isn’t here for peace-making.
Arriving late and barefoot, Kavalier takes a seat across a long board room table from Yutani and immediately refuses her requests to return the Maginot’s research assets to Weyland-Yutani Corp. What ensues is the series’ first real diva off.
After Kavalier is reprimanded for his conduct by the moderator, Yutani calls Kavalier a “little boy” who’s going to get sent to his room without supper. It’s an electrifying power move, since thus far, no one’s had the gravitas to go toe-to-toe (no pun intended) with Kavalier. But Yutani’s quip is the last one she gets over on the Prodigy head today.
Kavalier physically antagonizes Yutani (whom he refers to as “honey”) by crawling across the table before laying out the negotiations he’s decided on. Kavalier explains that the crash (which he is responsible for) is being investigated to determine whether W-Y did it purposely or out of negligence. Moreover, he reminds Yutani that bringing alien species back to Earth was in violation of dozens of intercorporate laws.
With this in mind, Kavalier makes his demands: Prodigy will return the assets after a six-week quarantine and after W-Y pays $20 billion, plus damages, to Prodigy. With no bargaining chips of her own, Yutani acquiesces.
I’m positive I’m not doing this tense, cat-and-mouse scene justice, but it’s the episode’s highlight. Major props to both Blenkin and Sencindiver, who pack this moment with icy venom. While we’ve only gotten brief moments with Yutani, the character is undoubtedly one of the coolest characters in “Alien: Earth.” I hope we get more verbal jousts with these two messy CEOs.
In episode four’s recap, I shouted out costume designer Suttirat “Anne” Larlarb, for her styling of Kavalier and that same futuristic-but-earthy aesthetic is again on display here. Boy Kavalier’s fuzzy sleeved coat with silver patterned brocade (seen above) is fresh and functional. I need it! But I’d also be remiss not to mention Yutani’s impressive power outfit and hat (seen below), which helped elevate the drama of the scene.
He had one job
Back on the island, Wendy’s disgusted after discovering what happened to Nibs and confronts Dame Sylvia. While the hybrids’ “den mother” tries assuring Wendy it was the right decision, the hybrid says she believes Sylvia and Prodigy, not the hybrids, are what’s “wrong” in the situation.
All of this leads Wendy to protest being called “Wendy,” screaming “That’s not my name!” Looks like, Marcy’s the one in the driver’s seat of “Wendy” now, which will be interesting to see play out. Or else, she was just referencing the Ting Tings’ iconic 2008 hit of the same name and I’m reading too much into it.
Next, Kirsh remotely asks hybrid Isaac, who changed his name from “Tootles” in episode four, to feed and water the lab specimens. Though Kirsh advises him to follow lab protocol by the book, this is an “Alien” property and the young synthetic immediately follows in the footsteps of Chibuzo from episode five by making horrible laboratory safety choices.
After feeding the sheep through its cage slot, Isaac next goes to feed the creatures in the cage directly beside it. In case you forgot, it contains the insects that have been hiding inside a spooky-looking nest on the wall. Isaac accidentally breaks off the door to the fly cage feeding slot and rather than waiting to feed them (or asking for help), he does the absolute dumbest thing he could do.
Carefully, Isaac enters the cage with the tray of food. Watching this, the sheep (still controlled by the T. Ocellus eyeball monster) takes its opportunity to butt the glass — causing a startled Isaac to drop the food and let go of the door. It locks behind him.
Isaac is quickly attacked by two massive alien flies that spit acid all over the hybrid’s body, melting and killing the child inside the machine.
Lesson: Don’t be dumb inside a lab with alien creatures. (But also, thank you to the characters who have been dumb inside labs. We wouldn’t have this beloved franchise if not for you).
Don’t do this after you get fired
As Arthur Sylvia packs up his things, he’s interrupted by Joe (Alex Lawther), who’s still looking for a way to get him and Wendy off the island. Circumventing prying surveillance, Arthur subtly confirms that Wendy is not safe on the island. With nothing left to lose, Arthur types out the code for boat access for Joe to read. Next, he does Joe one final solid by disabling the island’s hybrid tracking.
Joe sets off as Arthur notices something odd: Isaac’s tracking is completely gone.
The recently fired employee (for some reason) heads to the lab to see what’s up, encountering Slightly on the way. After unsuccessful attempts to trap Joe with a facehugger, the hybrid realizes Arthur may be the best shot he’s got right now. Following Arthur inside, Slightly opens the facehugger cage while Arthur is distracted attending to the dead Isaac.
Slightly locks Arthur inside before a facehugger leaps through the air and attaches to his face. Sorry, Arthur. No one deserves to be fired and facehugged all in one day.
The sheep looks dead into the camera as Godsmack’s “Keep Away” plays and credits roll. We had no idea T. Ocellus was such a nu metal fan.
Final thoughts
While last week’s episode, “In Space, No One…” was tightly paced and well-modulated, “The Fly” is a little bit more scattered, and has a real “place setting” (dare I say “filler”?) feeling. Multiple scenes of characters moving through the jungle paired with the clunky pace was giving me major flashbacks to episodes of ABC’s “LOST” that seemed to be more about the next episode rather than the one we’re actually watching.
No true shade to “LOST,” intended. That’s a messy classic, but a classic nonetheless.
Anyway, “Alien: Earth” continues to suffer from an overabundance of characters/plot lines that don’t work and take time away from what does. Wendy has really started clicking (no pun intended) a bit more for me since she became The Xenomorph Whisperer, but her entanglement in the Joe storyline keeps preventing the character from soaring. While the hybrids are a terrific “Alien” lore addition, at least three of them (Slightly, Smee and Nibs) are more annoying than interesting.
Boy Kavalier and his synth scientist Kirsh are the characters working well at the moment. I’m personally thrilled every time Kavalier appears. He’s fun to hate and Hawley (in addition to co-writers Bob DeLaurentis, Bobak Esfarjani and Lisa Long) have done a great job crafting the arrogant man-child into someone who can be as alluring as he is off-putting.
Ultimately, I like this episode’s parts, I just wish they were better assembled. Coming off last week’s series high point, “The Fly” at times has a feeling of merely getting x character to x place or x conclusion.
Last week’s episode highlighted the best of “Alien: Earth,” episode six, unfortunately centers some of the series’ weaker (and sometimes frustrating) threads. Nevertheless, this is still the most exciting TV show running right now and I wouldn’t be anywhere else on a Tuesday night.
Grade: B-
“Alien: Earth” airs Tuesdays on FX and Hulu.
Nexstar’s Russell Falcon can be found on Instagram, X and TikTok.