It’s been a wild ride so far when it comes to Noah Hawley’s small screen take on the Alien franchise that delivered spaceship crashes, synthetic people and more Xenomorphic carnage you can shake an inner mouth at, however, with the finale looming, it’s time for the show to focus a tentacled eyeball on the final lap. One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about the show thus far is how furiously experimental it’s been as its ladled on heaps of weird sci-fi to equal the disorientation of Ridley Scott’s original Alien while boldly trying something new.
However, as fascinating and engrossing (key word: gross) the show has been, it feels like the series needs to tighten up a bit as we head into the final stretch – however, with Emergence, we curiously find that, if anything, the show is getting progressively looser, which is weird tactic to take with so many narrative irons in the fire and a climax on the horizon. Could it be that, just like the scientists on Prodigy Island, Hawley has become so preoccupied with experimentation, he’s forgotten what the original goal was?
It seems like every single thread of drama that’s been building since the “rescue” attempt at the Maginot crashing site has finally come to a head. Slightly’s attempt to smuggle out a Xenomorph embryo at the threatening behest of Weyland-Yutani muscle, Mr. Morrow has resulted in Arthur catching a Facehugger to the dome and in a panic, the compromised Hybrid has hidden his comatose victim under his bed until a curious Smee finds him. Lying about the severity of the situation, Slightly convinces his friend – with some enigmatic guidance from Kirsh – to help him carry Arthur’s body to the rendezvous, but before Morrow can arrive to pick up his delivery, the alien chestburster errupts from its host and slithers off into the forrest.
Meanwhile, still seething over the mind wipe Nibs received to cure her of some trauma, Wendy is further incensed when she discovers that Toodles has been melted into food by one of the fly-like alien species on board. Boy Kavalier seems way more interested that the T. Ocellus creature knows the numbers that make up pi than the still steaming remains of one of his “children” and for Wendy, this is the last straw. Releasing the captive Xenomorph she’s been communicating with, she, her brother Hermit and Nibs all make a break for freedom, but it seems that even having an alien killing machine watching their back isn’t enough to counteract the double crosses that have been put in place.
Essentially, Kirsh’s cold, calculated assessment of all the building tension allows him to not only catch Morrow and his strike team in the act of corporate espionage, but Wendy, Hermit and Nibs are captured as they attempt to get on a boat. However, when the already delicate Nibs goes on a jaw-ripping rampage, Hermit has no choice but to switch sides and shoot her leaving Wendy with no one left to count on. Well, almost no one…
I have to say, considering that Alien: Earth thus far has done a phenomenal job of balancing bizarre, icky sci-fi with a mixture of wonder and tension, it’s quite alarming that Emergence not only is about as tight as a freshly snapped rubber band, but it seemingly has lost the tight grip it once had on its wonderfully edgy tone. All the pieces were there too in order to deliver quite the pulse pounding experience I was hoping for. In fact, despite some high stakes elements in the mix, I’m surprised how plodding the pace of the episode truly is. Take the plot thread of a progressively panicked Slightly as his mission to deliver an alien embryo off the island has gotten even more complex. However, instead of delivering a sweat soaked extravaganza of tension (not that Hybrids can sweat), director Dana Gonzales treats things as almost farcical that may throw in a classic jump scare and a spot of chestbursting (bye Arthur), but its restrained nature manages to drain away that edge-of-the-seat drama the series had – up until now – managed to replicate with great skill.
Faring not much better is the other major plot point that sees Wendy suddenly pulling a huge 180 degree turn and stopping at nothing to leave Prodigy Island and while I’d admit that having a “friendly” Xenomorph watching your back, the decision from Wendy to remotely let the alien out of its cage seems uncharacteristically bloodthirsty of the character.
Yes, some die hard Xenomanics might rankle at the sight of cinema’s greatest space monster reduced to not much more than a guard dog, but if Wendy is communicating with the creature much in the same way an Alien Queen would, it’s entirely feasible that this would work – and beyond that, now that we have proof that the Xenomorph can actually be controlled, it really does help explain why Weyland-Yutani are so blasé about sacrificing ship crews two years into the future. But again, despite the rather gnarly sight of Nibs finally snapping and ripping a man’s jaw off (that’s what you get when you throw her cuddly toy in the sea), the plot is once again delivered rather casually despite the ramifications it could possibly cause.
However, while it’s still admittedly cool to see Facehuggers, Chestbursters and a grown Xenomorph once again wipe out entire clusters of people in less time it takes to sneeze, the best moments of the episode belong to the continuing riddle of the T. Ocellus and the seemingly random machinations of Kirsh as he still continues to operate under his mysterious parameters. But while Kirsh clandestine game of chess has us wondering who the hell he’s actually loyal to and what his endgame might possibly be, it’s that darn, irresistible eyeball who steals the show yet again with only a single scene. We all knew that the T. Ocellus was smart, but after Boy Kavalier discovers that the creature was indirectly responsible for Toodles’ death thanks to a well timed distraction from its sheep host, the billionaire chooses to integrate the being with remarkable results. It seems that on top of all it’s other surprises, the blinky little bastard also knows math as it stamps its sheep feet (and shits) the correct answer to Kavalier’s question. This in turn gets the boy wonder’s cogs turning with a plan to get T. Ocellus into a human host to see if an actual conversation brewing between two rather ruthless lifeforms.
With T. Ocellus negotiating it’s way to a new host, the Weyland-Yutani strike team captured, Wendy and Hermit at odds and two Xenomorphs on the loose, the expectation for Alien: Earth’s final episode of the season should be at an all time high. However, a lackadaisical pace, some character irregularities and a strangely consequence free environment (Two Xenos on the lose and everyone’s chill? How’s that happen?) means that the show is hardly firing on all retroburners as it swings in for a landing. Hawley has already claimed that the show would (or should) be a multi-season affair, but that doesn’t mean we should be entering the finale with a sense of ease.
Bring the tension, guys. Bring the fear. And let the eyeball take care of the rest.
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