It’s safe to say most fans tune into “Alien” projects to see what variation of Xenomorph is going to pop up next. However, the franchise isn’t solely interested in otherworldly creatures, but also in exploring the concept of androids and what makes humans human. The latest addition to the series, FX’s “Alien: Earth,” places three types of human-machine hybrids front and center, and if you need a primer on the differences between each one, watch Looper’s explainer video above.
Perhaps the most intriguing addition to “Alien” canon is the hybrid. “Alien: Earth” Episode 1 sees Prodigy CEO Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) develop a new merging of man and machine. His team takes the mind of a dying child and puts it into a synthetic, adult body, which takes on the name Wendy (Sydney Chandler). It’s a bold new frontier because humans could theoretically live forever, simply supplanting their consciousnesses inside robotic bodies that can be repaired if there’s any damage.
Wendy’s success allows Prodigy to move forward with developing more hybrids, and more dying kids get placed in synthetic bodies. Naturally, this raises a host of ethical and moral questions, like whether the hybrids are who they were prior to the transfer. Wendy still remembers her brother (Alex Lawther), but is she really his sister or just property of Prodigy Corp? These sort of big ethical ideas earned praise in Looper’s review of “Alien: Earth.”
Alien: Earth also has cyborgs and synthetics
Hybrids are the new kids on the block in “Alien: Earth.” They represent the most sophisticated merging of man and machine yet — a human mind in an artificial body. Prior to their invention, humanity created synthetics and cyborgs, both of which feature in “Alien: Earth.”
Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) is a synthetic, meaning he is an artificially intelligent being. He’s an AI that just so happens to have a physical form, and we’ve seen these types of entities before. Ash (Ian Holm) from 1979’s “Alien” is a synthetic, meaning he’s in the same boat as Kirsh where he effectively has programming he must obey, namely getting a Xenomorph to Earth. One of the more confusing aspects of the “Alien” franchise is how synthetics appear prone to malfunctions, which is probably why companies like Prodigy want to create something more sophisticated to replace them.
“Alien: Earth” also features a cyborg in the form of Morrow (Babou Ceesay), the head of security on the Weyland-Yutani Corporation commercial vessel USCSS Maginot. He has some synthetic components, including a robotic arm that can change into various tools, but he was born a human and experiences human emotions. Despite this, Morrow’s humanity appears lacking at times, as we see in “Alien: Earth” Episode 1 how he’s willing to sacrifice his crew to ensure the alien specimens, including the Xenomorph, make it to Earth alive.
Hybrids, synthetics, and cyborgs represent humanity’s race for immortality. Is it possible for mankind to go beyond its fleshy exterior and ascend to something new? The “Alien” movies have dabbled with this idea before, but “Alien: Earth” takes it a step further. Check out Looper’s video on all three of these guises to make sure you don’t get lost as you watch “Alien: Earth” on FX.
