The road has been a long and arduous one for Alien fans. While the original two films, Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, are considered to be some of the greatest pieces of horror/science-fiction media ever made, having served as an inspiration for countless homages, copycats, and rip-offs over the years, it’s been a much more controversial path since then.
The latter two sequels of the original quadrilogy, David Fincher’s Alien 3 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection, received far more mixed receptions from critics and fans alike. Then, the Alien vs. Predator duology brought even more negativity into the mix. Even Scott’s own return to his franchise, with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, was mired in mixed reactions.
Few people would have guessed that one of the best things that could have happened to the gruesome series, both critically and commercially, would have been it being purchased by Disney.
While the far more conventional legacy sequel Alien: Romulus was the studio’s first at-bat with the franchise, Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth sees the now Disney-owned property coming to television in prestigious, bold, and daring fashion.
Alien: Earth release schedule
Networks and streaming platforms are trying out release schedules of all different kinds these days, to see what audiences will respond best to. In the early days of formative platforms like Netflix, entire seasons would drop instantaneously; however, over the years, the drawbacks of this approach and its lack of cultural longevity became apparent.
To this end, streaming platforms such as Hulu have now taken to blending this approach with a more conventional weekly release schedule, dropping a handful of episodes on the premiere date, in the hopes that this will entice viewers to return for more on a weekly basis.
This is the approach the streamer is taking with Alien: Earth, whose first two episodes will be released simultaneously, while the remaining six episodes will be spread out weekly.
Episode | Title | Release Date | Release Time |
|---|---|---|---|
Episode 1 | “Neverland” | Aug. 12 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 2 | “Mr. October” | Aug. 12 | Hulu: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 3 | “Metamorphosis” | Aug. 19 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 4 | “Observation” | Aug. 26 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 5 | “In Space, No One…” | Sept. 2 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 6 | “The Fly” | Sept. 9 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 7 | “Emergence” | Sept. 16 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Episode 8 | “The Real Monsters” | Sept. 23 | Hulu and FX: 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET |
Viewers will be able to catch the show both on linear television, on FX, and on streaming, via Hulu, simultaneously. Internationally, the series will be housed on the Disney+ streaming platform, seeing as it is also owned by Disney.
The waxing and waning separation between Hulu and Disney+ has been a headache for many viewers for years, but that will soon be coming to an end thanks to a brand new deal Disney has made. Now, Hulu and Disney+ will merge into a single unified service all across the world, though that won’t be happening until 2026.
Sign up for Hulu
You can sign up for Hulu by visiting the streaming platform’s website. Like many modern streamers, Hulu offers different pricing tiers, depending on the number of ads you are comfortable with having interrupt your programming. Prices range from $9.99 to $18.99 a month for the regular plan, or you can choose from their bundle options.
Of course, you can also watch the show when it airs live on FX, with cable or Live TV platforms. Notably, because the show has been produced and edited to air on television first and foremost, each episode has its own specified commercial breaks integrated into the very structure of the storytelling. As such, even if you have a tier of Hulu that has ads, they will be inserted into the episodes in a far more natural and cohesive way.
Where does Alien: Earth fit in the timeline?
Alien: Earth is set in the year 2120, which means that the events of Hawley’s series take place two years before the events of Scott’s original film. Notably, this also puts the film several decades after Scott’s own prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, both of which centered around the original creation of the titular Xenomorph, which is obviously heavily featured in the Alien: Earth series.
This also means that the series is set several decades prior to the recent Alien: Romulus, which was set 27 years after the first film, and Cameron’s Aliens, which is set 30 years after that.
Cast and crew
Alien: Earth is the brainchild of Emmy Award-winning showrunner Noah Hawley, who has worked with FX several times before to great acclaim on series such as Legion and Fargo.
Hawley writes and directs several of the episodes himself. In fact, while there are a couple of different notable co-writers who work on various episodes, such as Bob DeLaurentis and Lisa Long, there is not a single episode of the season that Hawley is not credited as a screenwriter for. On the director side of things, Hawley’s work is complemented by several episodes directed by Dana Gonzales (Hawley’s go-to cinematographer) and Ugla Hauksdóttir.
The cast of the series includes Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, and Kit Young.
Why you should watch Alien: Earth
You should watch Alien: Earth because it is fantastic, I say as someone who has watched multiple episodes. The extent to which Hawley’s series works as both an integral element within the larger franchise and a wholly original work that utilizes the context of the series to reach astounding new heights is nothing short of incredible.
It’s thought-provoking and shockingly gruesome, full of wonderfully crafted set pieces and compelling characters. In short, it’s an absolute slam-dunk of an Alien project.
Watch Alien: Earth every Tuesday night and follow along with our coverage here at Winter is Coming.