The Dominoes Begin To Fall As The Xenomorph Gets One Step Closer To Taking Over
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Alien: Earth episode 6, “The Fly.
As the title would suggest, Alien: Earth episode 6, “The Fly,” is all about metamorphosis, as well as some body horror to keep us interested. After the flashback in Alien: Earth episode 5, “The Fly” brings us back to the island with the additional context of Kavalier’s role in the crash. The nebulous ticking clock of when the hybrids will be shown to the world and made profitable is brought up in “The Fly,” as we see that even the strength of the children’s new bodies can’t undo the fact that they’re still manmade, and therefore fallible.
The chain reaction of their small mistakes and lapses in judgment begins to come to a head in “The Fly.” Unfortunately, for Kavalier, as soon as he’s off the island for only a few hours, everything goes wrong. However, like Kirsch, the audience has been waiting for this moment since the Xenomorph came to Earth. The detached, icy observations the synth makes while watching the island tip over the edge into chaos will be important to challenge as the violence inevitably escalates throughout the remainder of the season.
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While we’re most concerned with the events on the island, the scene between Kavalier and Yutani is fun. It provides some additional context and insight into the world outside Neverland. Though Kavalier and Prodigy have been our main focus as viewers, Yutani’s desire for the aliens and what initially motivated her company to seek them out is interesting. Kavalier’s arrogance and unfettered belief that he pulls the strings are on full display in their meeting, which nicely juxtaposes Kirsch’s decision to let the events of the episode play out without intervention.
His end goal is unclear, but it could be that Kirsch feels similarly to Kavalier, but without the messy human emotions that make us capable of error. Kirsch was built to be a scientist, and the Xenomorph’s evolution might be his greatest experiment to date. As always in the Alien franchise, the line between fate and cause-and-effect is blurry. The powers of the aliens and the just-right sets of circumstances that lead to the unraveling of the lab’s ecosystem are a little too convenient.
Of course, it just so happens that Tootles/Isaac gets trapped with the creatures that feed on technology when all the others are only interested in flesh. Arthur’s firing comes at the perfect time to make him reckless enough to enter the lab alone, and the ideal victim for Slightly to take advantage of, as no one will notice he’s gone. The cause of this firing, being Nibs’ memory erasure, spurs Wendy to lose faith in Prodigy’s cause, and gives Hermit the opening he needed to find a way off the island.
On their own, these events could mean nothing, but together, they’re emblematic of how and why the Xenomorphs will always escape. Alien: Earth, like its titular creature, has been planting seeds since the beginning, and one of the most exciting parts of watching the show has been seeing where and when these plans come to fruition. This doesn’t make it any easier to stomach when we see poor Isaac die, or watch the disgusting eyeball creature biding its time, but the gross-out factor has its place in the story as much as the emotional appeals do.
Hermit’s naivety will soon come crashing down around him, as even though Wendy is having her eyes opened to the corruption of Prodigy in the wake of Nibs’ treatment, it’s unlikely that she’ll pick up and leave with him. She’s too attached to the Xenomorphs, and every living thing for that matter, which might become a problem, as she’s the only being who’s proven themselves capable of taking down an adult Xenomorph. However, the fact that Hermit now has the boat codes is an opening for a potential escape route, for humans and aliens alike.
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Alien: Earth might have taken episode 5 to give us context, but the series more than made up for this in “The Fly,” moving the plot forward more than it has all season. However, I’m still wondering about Wendy, her connection to the Xenomorphs, and what her role will be as things escalate. Her empathy is proving to be a skill and a liability, as this quality usually is, but it could also be what saves her in the end. The viewers’ context makes us quick to agree with Hermit about the Xenomorph’s nature, but that doesn’t mean Wendy is wrong when she zooms out and looks at the creatures in the context of evolution.
As something new, experimented on, and undoubtedly dangerous, Wendy can’t help but identify with the things caged up in the lab. Alien: Earth is setting her up to play a pivotal role when the story reaches its climax, and with two episodes left, we know it’s coming soon. While the coming action is exciting and has the potential to give us our goriest moments yet, Alien: Earth must take the time to let us deeper into Wendy’s world before she has to make the decisions to come.
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