“Alien: Earth” of FX already breaks high expectations | TV / Streaming

Each episode of the brilliant “Alien: Earth” by Noah Hawley opens with what could be called an opening. While the title takes shape (a bit like the original and revolutionary film Ridley Scott), the images flash on the screen as a kind of “previously on”. But they also sometimes contain new data, a bit like a composer integrating the previous themes while previewing what will happen. Located on an atonal and disturbing score, these openings are designed to attract your attention. Place the phone. Sit for something that is not what you used to watch on television or streaming services. Something that seems a bit foreign.

Hawley, the creator of “Fargo” and “Legion”, did what only a few creators before were able to do: extend to a property well known in a way that makes him feel new while not betraying what fans know and already like. Tony Gilroy’s work on “Andor” looks like a logical comparison, and this is the level of quality on which this spectacle also lies. Working with a team of writers and crafts in razor, Hawley offers a first season of 8 episodes which somehow marries the philosophical depth that fans of “Prometheus” admired with the intense action and the frightening imagery of the “aliens” of James Cameron. He takes the essence of three art forms-the cinematic world of one of the greatest science fiction franchises of all time, the structure of episodic television and even the literary foundation of, believe it or not, Peter Pan– And does something that looks like nothing else on television. It is a show that takes such massive Swings that the early hours are almost disorienting. But once you have taken its wavelength, you won’t want it to end.

THE Peter Pan The connection is in the form of a young girl named Marcy, who agrees to be part of a breakthrough program in which the consciousness of a human can be placed in a form of synthetic life. Before dying of cancer, she is “transferred” in the form of Wendy (Sydney Chandler), joined by a group of other children receiving the same treatment, each appointed according to the members of the lost boys of the JM Barrie Classic. After all, these children will never really grow up.

The hybrids include slightly (Adarsh Gourav), Tootles (Kit Young), Smee (Jonathan Ajayi), Curly (Erana James) and Nibs (Lily Newmark), most of them received major arcs in the first season (especially feathers). However, the CEO of the company in charge of the program has a favorite, a technology brother who smiles Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin). His right arm is a synthetic named Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), while the nice lady Silvia (Essie Davis) and her husband Arthur (David Rysdahl) help manage the technical and emotional difficulties of the project.

In this technological breakthrough drops the extraterrestrials. Literally. The season opens with scenes that feel a lot with Scott’s original, describing what looks like working class travelers on a vessel in deep space as they emerge from hyper-sleep. Hawley has mainly out of screen (until mid-season, when he returns and delivers what is essentially an “Alien” autonomous short film which is one of the best television episodes for years). However, we learn that the ship is on a trajectory to crash into the earth when a cyborg named Morrow (Babou Ceesay) locks himself in a safe compartment just before the impact. He survives the collision, as is his cargo, including familiar and new extraterrestrials. Before you know, the soldiers investigate the crash scene, including the hermit (Alex Lawther), the brother of, you guessed it, Marcy / Wendy. Feeling a way for his business to take the competition in Weyland-Yutani, the Kavalier boy sends his lost boys to recover the cargo themselves. And these are just the first two hours. You will have no way to predict where the next six. Trust me.

“Alien: Earth” alternates the deeply philosophical currents that we would expect from Hawley with intense action and a gore that may not be seen to come. Let’s just say that you will get more action from real xenomorphic during these eight hours than the latest films combined, which underlines any concern that a television version of a massive franchise would be small in comparison. Hawley uses limited sets – does not expect the “earth” to mean that many extraterrestrials wandering in a crowded shopping center – a significant effect, offering a spectacle that feels both claustrophobic and sprawling at the same time. He presents new forms of extraterrestrial life, including an unforgettable little monster that treats the eye like the stomach of John Hurt. However, he never loses sight of human and human variations at the center of his history. It is constantly taking risks in terms of visual language, whether it is a double exposure, a divided diopter, inclined angles, quarters of pace or other tips for amplifying tension. It is a spectacle that is always off-center in a way that increases the atmosphere, mixing Hawley’s strange humor with some of the most knotted as science fiction imagery has ever seen.

Above all, Hawley does not let the creatures steal the show. There are remarkable performances everywhere on “Alien: Earth”, but the stars include Chandler’s ascent of the naive girl with Ripley’s heroine, Ceesay’s desire to finish her mission at all costs, and, above all, Blenkin’s ability to do his pajama technology in someone who is both captivating and fun with pajamas. Above all, it is a set that seems to be invigorated by the production that surrounds them, diving into the deep ends and trusting Hawley will not let them drown.

“Alien: Earth” is “on” too many things to summarize in a review, but the heart of the series to this spectator is something that the series has explored for half a century: what happens when human beings are no longer the summit of the predatory food chain? And, in the following films as well as here, what does it mean to be something between man and foreigners? Wendy is not flesh and blood or a robot; not a child or an adult. She is nothing and all at the same time.

“Extraterrestrial” films have also long explored the logical extremes of evolution and the way in which technology can distort it, by prioritizing the interests of companies in relation to human interests. Make heroes of this children’s tale in adult bodies amplifies many themes of the franchise, making the adults around them feel even more predatory, as a soldiers of the business world who are ready to sell the next generation to advance their own interests. Hawley twists and turns his captivating story in a designed way to make you ask you who is the real enemy in this story and who has always been. Maybe the monsters are already there.

Whole series projected for examination. Start on FX and Hulu on August 12^th At 8 p.m. HNE with two episodes, followed by new episodes each week.