Honest first impressions of Alien: Earth

It got to be better than the prequels and Raised By Wolves where AI was featured lot. I can't watch it since I don't have the channel where they'll show it, but I hope that it'll be good.

I'm 15 minutes into the second episode, and I have mixed feelings so far, though I am enjoying it.

The show looks beautiful, great cast and the acting is wonderful, but somehow it doesn't feel right. It looks like Alien, but I don't know how to explain it, it's like an off-brand Alien, if that makes any sense. I'm keeping an open mind, hopefully things will improve. 

I really like Kirsh (I knew I would, lol), though I find him slightly cruel. And I loved Noah Hawley's cameo as Wendy's father in the flashback. 

It got to be better than the prequels and Raised By Wolves where AI was featured lot. I can't watch it since I don't have the channel where they'll show it, but I hope that it'll be good.

I loved Raised by Wolves! 😂 It was different but certainly in the same vein as Prometheus which I enjoyed a lot. I was disappointed it got canceled.

I just finished episode 1 as well, heading into episode 2 now. I’m 50/50 so far, will digest more after I finish the second episode. I do like Kirsh as well, though. So far I think he’s my favorite character.

Okay, after finishing episode 2 my excitement for the series is already dwindling. I'm loving the practical sets and visual effects but as I originally feared when the series was announced – I'm worried they're trying to do too much with it. Also - when did actors forget they're robots?! The most convincing characters so far are Morrow and Kirsh, the rest just all blend into each other. And the soundtrack is killing momentum completely. Ironically, I loved Prometheus but everyone praised its visuals and complained about the acting and score and now here I am liking the show's visuals and hating on its acting and score lol... Ugh

***Spoiler free first two episode impressions***

Just finished watching the first two parts. I really tried to like it, I really did. The production value is high, the xenomorph is properly terrifying just like it should be, and I like the inclusion of new dangerous alien life forms. Set props and practical environments are convincing and so is the cgi for the most part. The issue then?

The writing. Again. 

There's no real tension, nothing gets your adrenaline pumping. In part because the series shift scenes back and forth at times between the crashed spaceship followed by a search and rescue team- which I'm sure is supposed to be "tension building", to moments where we follow our protagonists lead by Not Battle Angel Alita (yes she has a katana which means Japanese sword) and her group of synths (androids?) in scenes that doesn't only gear down the revving machine but completely halts the previous scene because the tone is completely different.

Imagine watching a horror film where people enter a spooky abandoned building? The scary ambient music sets the feeling and they proceed down the basement....

You want to see more right? Well let's shift to the the Derek Zoolander Center for Adult Child Androids who Can't Read Good, and hear them pondering about things because that's how you keep the pacing!

So anyway, what do these synths have in common? They are indeed adult size humanoids with minds of children(!) I'm not joking. Regardless of the concept and similarly to the writing, it's not coherent. Sometimes they act with expected childish curiosity and sometimes the script forgets this. Even worse are the decisions made by some characters and moments so bafflingly stupid I couldn't believe what I was watching (which I can't reveal without spoiling too much) Add a lot of unconvincing acting, odd story aspects and we've got what I can only describe as another mess in the alien franchise.

Granted, this is only two episodes in but I doubt it'll change its qualities, or rather lack of.

I hope you enjoyed it more and I promise I won't rain on your parade. These are just my two cents.

I'm in the same camp, Neomorph. I wanted to be blown away by this and the critical hype building for the show really had me convinced this was going to be a knock-out. But beyond the initial cryo wake scene which felt very Alien, everything since felt like incoherence. The VFX and sets are phenomenal though - production value is definitely there. But, the writing and score are where it fall short for me. I'm not a fan of the child-minded Lost Boys - like you said - they're not consistent with their behaviour. Kirsh is great, Morrow is great but I just can't get into the rest.

ALSO - How anticlimactic was Hermit's reaction to realizing his sister - who he thought was dead - is revealed to be embodied in a Hybrid body?! You'd think that would have been groundbreaking and a major shock... But he seemed so indifferent to learning his sister is alive. 

Makes me wonder what 2 episodes the rest of the critics saw before the show debuted which prompted them to tout this on par with James Cameron's ALIENS - cause this certainly weren't the two episodes we've seen so far.

I don't want to sound like a buzzkill either - but I love this franchise and I just don't want it to meet the same fate Star Wars and Marvel have met since Disney's acquisition... 

It's hard to pace ourselves since this is episodic. Hopefully by the end of the season I see the purpose for everything and it comes together in a interesting way by season finale. Unfortunately so far it is very underwhelming. I made sure to see NOTHING except for some promotional stills and the first teaser trailer or two. So I had a clean slate (except for one spoiler about one of the creatures)! Still didn't help this feel fresh or interesting. I also have to fight through how Alien adjacent this feels. Especially since Romulus came out and did what I like (tie it all together even if it was bit much in that regard). Plus I'm not used to the FX TV kind of look we have here and it's tough to get past. I am not a fan so far, but am trying to just take it easy and let it do it's thing and then we'll see 

For sure Chris, it's all a cluttered mess. I did like Morrow as well, he played the cold and calculated W-Y android perfectly. We've seen this concept before but at least it's tried and proven to work given the right script and actor to play the android (Ash, David and reprogrammed Andy with the W-Y protocol chip, the latter being my favorite android btw.)

Also, maybe it would be slightly better if they focused the series or at least these two episodes on fewer characters to flesh them out more, and limiting the environments to one place? Either on the island, or on the ship prior to or after the crash? At least not shifting back and forth so much as it kills any suspense a scene sets up. 

Damn it, with these episodes in mind I'd even be fine without the xenomorph appearing so early, but instead they had to cram so many things (way too many characters and organizations at once) and complex ideas (child minds transfered into adult bodies, an autistic brother, references to Blade Runner existentialism) within two hours when it would surely be more suitable when spread out through several episodes or even seasons.

That being said there are still remaining issues but sometimes less is more and it can offer a better and more coherent experience. There's absolutely nothing wrong with either keeping it straightforward or simple but I feel writers nowadays by themselves or especially together (and too many chef's usually spoil the broth) have so many grand ideas that I'm sure sounds cool or interesting in their heads or even on paper but doesn't flow or come out as nicely or smoothly when actually filming, particularly to the audience. We cannot always understand the vision the storyteller wants to tell us and without sounding too harsh it's their job, similarly to comedians, to convince us and keep us engaged in the end. 

As for Disney, well Star Wars, Marvel and even their classic beautiful and beloved cartoons have been tarnished by themselves and it's mind-blowing how they still haven't changed track. 

I have so many questions. One at a time: How come the xenomorph leaked all over the man in the spaceship and the teenager and their faces weren't burned with acid?

Would someone answer my question about the acid blood?

I found the development of the child characters and their transformations into adults distracting. My interest is in the aliens and understanding the events unfolding aboard the ship. I hope that the series provides clarity on all of them before the season concludes. I really hope this series ties all the movies together somehow and answers all the questions I have.