Podcasts
‘Alien: Earth’ Delivers a Horror Show in This Week’s “In Space, No One…” [Horror Queers Podcast]
Spoilers for Episode 5 of Alien: Earth to follow.
We have officially passed the halfway point of Alien: Earth‘s first season, and after spending some down time observing things and laying lots of groundwork in last week’s episode, the series takes a narrative detour to show what really happened to the crew of the USCSS Maginot before it crashed on Earth in its pilot episode. Viewers clamoring for more Xenomorph action will no doubt find plenty to enjoy in the aptly-titled “In Space, No One.”
Written and directed by series creator Noah Hawley, the season’s fifth episode puts (most of) the characters and stories we’ve been building up for the past four episodes on the back burner, giving the director a chance to flex his horror muscles with an exciting, contained creature feature of an episode. We’re not entirely sure this story needed to be inserted at this point in the season, but as to where it should have been inserted, we’re also not entirely sure.
Some talking points:
- Learning the new(ish) cast of characters, which includes Captain Dinsdale (Tanapol Chuksrida), Science Officers Bronski (Max Rinehart) and Chibuzo (Fargo’s Karen Aldridge), Chief Engineer Shmuel (Kill List’s Michael Smiley) and his apprentice Malachite (Jamie Bisping), Executive Officer Zaveri (Fargo’s Richa Moorjani), Medical Officer Rahim (Amir Boutrous), and the mysterious Teng (Andy Yu).
- Morrow’s (Babou Ceesay) hunt for the ship’s saboteur.
- Tense set pieces involving the Xenomorph, the Tick(s) and the Eye, the latter of which is quickly becoming the series’ MVP.
- How much suspense mileage the episode gets out of that damn water bottle.
- The revelation that Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) was the mastermind behind the ship’s sabotage.
This is an episode that really worked for me, but Joe had a few qualms with its placement in the season. It’s understandable, given the fact that we don’t really learn anything here that we didn’t already know, outside of Boy Kavalier’s involvement with the crash, but one thing we do agree on is that Hawley directs the hell out of this thing.
And we must ask again: are we ever going to find out what that plant pod creature does? The show keeps teasing it!
Listen to Joe and me discuss the episode in full below on the Horror Queers Patreon:
Coming Up Next: Next week we’re discussing episode 1.06, “The Fly.”
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The Halloweenies take a break from the cenobites and dig up the deadites again to review Evil Dead Burn. It’s a full house for this installment and the feelings are all over the place with some divisive takes amongst the five of them. Lucky for you, there’s a seat at the table… join them and enjoy your mashed potatoes.
If you recall, the gang tackled the entire franchise — including Ash Vs. Evil Dead and unofficial entries like Drag Me to Hell and even Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness— in anticipation of 2023’s Evil Dead Rise. Be sure to revisit the entire season, starting with their two-part episode on Sam Raimi’s original DIY classic.
Stream the episode below. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, Chucky, Alien, and the Universal Monsters.This year? Hellraiser!
You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Re-Animator, Darkman), one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Manhunter, ), and even spinoffs like their recent run Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.
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