With its fourth episode, “Observation,” Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth cements its place as not only a fascinating and enriching entry into the overarching Alien saga, but also as a terrifically compelling work of science fiction in its own right.
If the first two episodes of the series, “Neverland” and “Mr. October,” were Hawley and co. establishing a foundation that utilized the form, aesthetics, and craft of the original 1979 Alien film, and the third episode, “Metamorphosis,” was them articulately evolving away from the expected template of the franchise, then “Observation” is that new form put on display for all to see. As if the characters and the show itself are the ones being put on observation, on full display for the audience to see.
That’s not to say that this latest episode is any less indebted to Ridley Scott’s original film; in fact, it’s the exact opposite. In highly surprising ways, “Observation” might actually take the most from Scott’s work of any episode so far; it’s just that it’s utilizing these odd elements to incredibly different end results.
Alien: Earth episode 4 is bonkers and awesome
After bringing the various extraterrestrial specimens back to the Prodigy headquarters, the final moments of the previous episode saw Wendy (as played by Sydney Chandler) suffering as she seemingly heard the cries of the facehugger and the Xenomorph spawn it was carrying as they were dissected by Kirsh (as played by Timothy Olyphant).
The story of “Observation” revolves around unraveling this mystery while simultaneously delving deeper into the interpersonal relationships, character arcs, and themes that the series had previously established. Like the specimens themselves, viewers get to see the fruits of Hawley’s labor come to bear here, as many of the story threads that were started in the first three episodes become particularly taut and affecting here.
Not only is the script by Hawley and co-writer Bobak Esfarjani incredibly astute at developing these threads, but it also interweaves them with a real sense of nuance and maturity.
The adeptness with which the writers of the series thus far have handled the entire central story element of the Lost Boys, for instance, pays off in spades in this episode. The idea of a handful of children whose brains have been put into the bodies of adult synthetics is an immediately thought-provoking, existentially enticing one, but also one that presents several monumental challenges.
In order for it to really work, the writers needed to go all in on the childlike innocence and blissfulness of these characters early on, so that their contrasting maturity and sorrow in the face of later trials and tribulations would feel genuinely impactful. Fortunately, Hawley and co. did precisely that, and in “Observation,” audiences begin to see the cord tightening on every front.
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Further elevating the already stellar script is a trio of invaluable assets: Ugla Hauksdóttir and David Franco’s visual language, Curtis Thurber’s superb editing, and the phenomenal performances of the cast themselves.
“Observation” is Hauksdóttir's first in this series as a director, and she absolutely knocks it out of the park. From the opening frame of the episode, there is a confidence, assuredness, and cohesive concentration to the visual vernacular on display that makes this episode soar.
Whether it be selling the more grisly moments of the episode, such as eye ball-based specimen infecting a sheep in containment in highly unsettling fashion, or plucking on the underlying tension of a conversation, such as the one between Nibs (as played by Lily Newmark) and Dame Sylvia (as played by Essie Davis), Hauksdóttir is able to pull it all off with razor-sharp clarity and impact.
I also absolutely adore the way that she, Franco, and Thuber’s work coalesces alongside the strengths of the script to make voyeurism such a potent and pervasive literary and literal theme throughout the episode.
Like some of Alfred Hitchcock’s or Brian De Palma’s best works, “Observation” makes a feast out of not only showing the audience characters discreetly watching other characters, but also directly turns that notion back upon the audience themselves, forcing us to reckon with the knowledge that we are the most voyeuristic of all in a perverse way. Thurber also takes the established visual motif, as taken directly from the opening scenes of Scott’s original film, of overlapping transitions to bold new, deeply motivated heights here.
The cast as a whole is incredible. Chandler continues to deliver remarkable work, as does Alex Lawther as her brother, Joe. Samuel Blenkin is a standout here as well, with his performance of Boy Kavalier given more time to shine, with all of its eccentricities and distantly sociopathic tendencies. Olyphant continues to be both incredibly compelling and very funny to watch as the put-upon but uncaring father figure, Kirsh. And Newmark takes her character’s more villainous and deranged turns in stride, and makes them some of the episode’s very best beats.
But for my money’s worth, the very best stuff in this episode is, perhaps unexpectedly, the conversations between Morrow (as played by Babou Ceesay) and Slightly (as played by Adarsh Gourav).
Not only are their conversations phenomenally well-sculpted by standout writing and thoroughly motivated pictorial choices, but they are also delivered with such gravitas, pathos, and authenticity. Gourav is wonderful as the child caught in the midst of warring adults, attempting to navigate these murky moral areas with such heartfelt conflict. And Ceesay is nothing short of astounding, turning every morsel he is given here into a meal. In a series full of great, fully developed characters, his turn as Morrow manages to stand out as one of the most phenomenally compelling ones here.
While “Observation” is made up exclusively of genuinely phenomenal sequences, its final one is sure to be the one that gets audiences talking the most, as Chandler’s Wendy comes face-to-face with a new kind of infant Xenomorph.
Established earlier in the episode, it was clear that Wendy could understand some formerly imperceptible language between the creatures and perhaps even replicate it, but here, we see her full-on soothing the Xenomorph by communicating with it. This is an incredibly bold stroke on Hawley’s part, taking an unused ending to Scott’s original film (which saw the Xenomorph aboard Ripley’s escape pod killing her and then mimicking her voice over communication devices) and reconfiguring it for his own purposes here.
And of course, Hauksdóttir perfectly punctuates this haymaker of a scene with a shot that sees Wendy replicating an exact pose of Ripley’s from the third act of Alien, only where Ripley was fearful for her life, Wendy is smiling and at peace with the creature.
This ending is objectively bonkers and subjectively awesome. It sends the series careening even further down its own distinct, idiosyncratic path, all while continuing to engage with the substance of the original film in absolutely fascinating ways. “Observation” is the best episode of Alien: Earth so far, and promises even greater things to come.
Grade: A
New episodes of Alien: Earth are released every Tuesday night on FX and Hulu.