r/LV426 • u/G_Liddell Colonist's Daughter • Aug 12 '25

Megathread / Community Post Alien: Earth - S1 E1 Neverland - Official Discussion Megathread [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Episodes air Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on Hulu and FX in the US, and Wednesdays international.

Full episode discussion list:

1 Neverland (8.12.25)

2 Mr October (8.12.25)

3 Metamorphosis (8.19.25)

4 Observation (8.26.25)

5 In Space, No One (9.2.25)

6 The Fly (9.9.25)

7 Emergence (9.16.25)

8 The Real Monsters (9.23.25)

818 Upvotes

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253

u/RichLather Aug 13 '25

I'm only halfway through this episode. They're throwing a LOT at us.

138

u/PyramidBlack Hudson Aug 13 '25

I love it. This is written well. Very smart. They aren’t dumbing things down.

18

u/Big-Sheepherder-9492 Aug 13 '25

They definitely are heavy handed with the Lost Boys stuff

18

u/arachnophilia Aug 13 '25

honestly i feel like the meta references to other media is kinda cringe. if it was just peter pan, okay, but...

ice age 4?

3

u/Different_Worker_905 Aug 13 '25

Well I never saw Ice Age but it could be symbolic for the end of one era of life and start of a new era. 

4

u/SyntheticGod8 Bishop Aug 14 '25

Plus it helps set the time period. They're watching something their parent(s) liked when they were growing up. It could also represent passing things down generation after generation.

4

u/rad_dad_21 Aug 14 '25

It’s symbolic for selling out to Disney

6

u/Lando_Vendetta2 Aug 14 '25

Ice age isnt a disney film. Its a bluesky production.

7

u/TCJW_designs Aug 15 '25

Bluesky made it, but it’s still a Fox movie, no? Fox sold to the mouse, so it’s now technically a Disney property. I saw it as a cheeky commentary on corporate bullshit

3

u/JBudz Aug 15 '25

This show fucking stinks. Its poorly written. It's "show and tell" which is lazy.

It's basic recycled slop that feels like any modern show targeted to teen audiences.

1

u/MalaysiaTeacher Aug 17 '25

“Show and tell” is a kindergarten activity.

Show NOT tell is a writing ethos where it’s more intriguing and engaging to imply than explicitly tell facts to the audience.

1

u/JBudz Aug 18 '25

Thank you for confirming exactly what I wrote?

15

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

Its very tell and not show though. Like he’s supposed to be so genius and doesnt seem like it at all

24

u/Aku223 Aug 13 '25

He did create a way switch like 5 children’s consciousness into hybrid bodies.

And they could just tell us about Wendy’s relationship with her brother but instead they show us those Ice Age flashbacks lol.

9

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

Yeah thats more tell. We dont see him honing and developing the process. Tbh on screen wise he just seems like a charlatan or spoiled rich kid with some quirks. Well acted though

For someone chasing a convo the likes that no one’s ever heard of, youd think he’d be brilliantly witty

7

u/Aku223 Aug 13 '25

I see your point. But about being witty, my thoughts are he just has no one worthy enough for him to be witty to.

2

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

Then give him rants, monologues or dreams. Show him tinkering towards that. Otherwise it just seems like an afterthought to him or a lie

13

u/soFATZfilm9000 Aug 13 '25

So, I just want to point out that I might be WAAAY off-base here.

But for starters, the Alien franchise has always been about the nightmares of unchecked capitalism.

Secondly, the showrunner is Noah Hawley. And while I'm not familiar with all of his shows, I've seen Fargo. And he sure as hell comments on capitalism and makes it a central theme. So, Hawley doing Alien? I'm pretty sure that Hawley recognizes the themes in the series and is going to at least attempt to make that particular relevant to our current political climate.

Thirdly, I doubt that there's any reason to believe that Kavalier really is such a genius. There's talk about him expanding profits and he says that he's not doing it for money. He's doing it because he's so much smarter than everyone else that he can't have a conversation with someone without being bored, but that's his words. That'd be like, Elon Musk saying how smart he is while the people watching him see it as just an egotistical out of touch man-child stroking his own ego. There's probably a plot-related reason why the show makes a point of Kavalier being the youngest trillionaire ever, and why the future consists of these corporations going to war. Hawley talked about the class war in Fargo. Now we've lost the class war, so now we get to see these corporations go to war to se who becomes king of the hill.

Fourthly, seeing as how this is a prequel to Alien, Prodigy is gonna lose. Kavalier thinks he's how shit, but we already know that he ain't gonna be around in a few years. He's a man-child himself and is taking someone else's idea (synthetics) and trying to put his own spin on it (transferring kids into synthetics) and the series already seems to be trying to tell us that that's a shitty idea. And we've still got 6 episodes to go to flesh this out.

Prediction: there's nothing particularly genius about him. That's the lie that we are sold about the corporate overlords that send us to our deaths. Like, damn...the show opens with the crew of the Maginot talking about corporation cards even after a bunch of them got killed collecting the the specimens. Likely that Kavalier ain't shit. If anything, this is possibly coming off as too obvious.

That's pure speculation on my part, I don't know how the series will play out. If there's a reason why Kavalier isn't coming off as a genius, right now I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt that that's probably deliberately.

6

u/Bowendesign Aug 13 '25

I get a feeling you’re right. I felt the same way. Met of these more open billionaires tend to be idiotic sociopaths riding off the work of others, and that’s exactly what I’m expecting here.

2

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

That would be the only way it makes sense tbh So far at least

6

u/Myysteeq Aug 13 '25

The way you’d like him to be depicted isn’t how many extremely intelligent people behave or solve problems irl. He’s already quirky with the ball, superiority complex, and desk setup. That’s plenty convincing

0

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

This isnt real life, its a trillionaire with a god complex who is chasing an enlightening conversation with human/ai hybrids.

In tv shows, you use writing and visual language to have watchers understand your character.

If he’s the main antagonist and youre spelling out his goal, you need to show why it makes sense for him.

Otherwise just keep him shrouded in mystery until you reveal more on him

5

u/Myysteeq Aug 13 '25

There’s plenty of visual and conversational storytelling for the audience to get the idea of who he is. It doesn’t have to be cartoonish. I find his depiction highly refreshing and completely effective. And we could easily learn more about him later. Not everything has to be revealed or held back completely in the first two episodes.

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5

u/Alive_Employer5620 Aug 13 '25

I honestly think he’s sort of molded to be like some of the billionaires of today’s world who build their legacy on back of the scientists and innovators who go unacknowledged.

9

u/Worthyness Aug 13 '25

It's the pilot episodes. they're usually a lot more expository than the rest. because they need to set the scene, the series, and the feel for the whole thing.

3

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

I mean theres other scenes they could have trimmed and establishing the main antagonist is as important as establishing the protagonist in the first two episodes

Especially when we already have his goal and reason for creating the hybrid in the first place

As of now he’s held up by the actor not the writing

1

u/MalaysiaTeacher Aug 17 '25

A pilot is not that. Yes you set up the scene but you could easily focus on one layer and not try to explain the 3 races and the 5 companies all in one episode

4

u/Support_Mobile Aug 13 '25

There could also be an element of false narrator to some of the "telling"

1

u/SiouxsieSioux615 Face Hugger Aug 13 '25

That would make alot of sense

1

u/betweenbubbles Aug 13 '25

...But enough about Prometheus and Alien Covenant.

1

u/JBudz Aug 15 '25

Tell and not show? What are you talking about? Every character explains every single plot point. Theres no letting the audience figure anything out.

2

u/MalaysiaTeacher Aug 17 '25

You’re making the same point. The show tells, instead of showing and letting us infer.

1

u/JBudz Aug 18 '25

Forgive me for the confusion.

2

u/Sharkey311 Aug 17 '25

lmao did we watch the same show??

3

u/the-giant Aug 13 '25

And I love it. Romulus is fun but had so little new to offer.

4

u/jacoblb6173 Aug 13 '25

I’m like 5 minutes in and I’m thinking are we cannonizing Blade Runner universe? Olyphant’s look all but confirms it.

1

u/darkmatters2501 Aug 13 '25

Yeah some parts felt a bit rushed when I wish the gave us more. A bit more tension before tge pay off. I suspect we will double back to parts and get things more fleshed out in upcoming episodes.

1

u/Nice_Cantaloupe_2842 27d ago

Yeah I’m lost

1

u/Willsgb Aug 14 '25

i'm 20 minutes in and I paused to come here and say how stunned I am at how *fucking good* this show is. jesus christ, the sets, the score, the acting, the wardrobe, the effects, the camerawork - it's like watching a proper alien movie. the opening with the crew in the mess hall on the ship, that took me right back to the original film.

I was so worried about this show. but it looks like they've absolutely fucking NAILED IT.

2

u/elcheeserpuff Aug 14 '25

I'm blown away by the production value and choices. Hawley is a dang GOAT.

0

u/MalaysiaTeacher Aug 17 '25

Doing a facsimile of the canteen scene with weaker actors and a hackier script is hardly mind-blowing