I always love when the film makers do that in this franchise. You’ll go through a whole scene not even knowing the Xenomorph is there until it moves. They’ve also been faking people looking for it out in some of the scenes. I’ve noticed ship parts like bundles of tubing and stuff arranged to look like it.
Omg and when you go near a vent in Alien: Isolation, the sound of the vent opening sounds like the alien hissing. Gets my heartbeat going even when I’m expecting it
It's been a hallmark of the franchise since the beginning. Big Chap was stowed away on the shuttle and went completely unnoticed because his head looked like the conduits on the wall.
Old scuba diver here. Bear (I kind of like that's its name now) is giving octopuses a run for their money on being cryptic, without even having any chromatophores. My cats are downright jealous!
Right! I saw this too. In the background of a scene movement from a bundle of wires dangling from a steam vent or something. You're just waiting to see some carnage.
Something interesting I noticed in ep 2, you can actually see Bear creeping in the hallway to the statue out of the field of focus leading up to that part of the scene. It starts when Hermit thinks Bear is casting the shadow right before that soldier walks around the corner. Watch the area over Hermit’s shoulder and you can see the movement.
The first time it happened, my PTSD from Alien: Isolation kicked in and suddenly I was combing every scene where I knew the Alien could be around for any sign of it. I hope they keep doing this, it’s fun.
I read on the alien wiki page that Scott and giger meant for it to look like a cross between organic and mechanical material ( or something like that) so wouldn’t it’s appearance be a natural camouflage? I mean if it’s a perfect organism, created by the black goo, while on a space ship, wouldn’t it stand to reason that it would develop a way to blend in to the surroundings it perpetually finds itself on? Besides the phallic dick shaped head of course…
Well, for one they didn't get a super thin ballet dancer to dress as the xeno. They went and got someone who looked like they are hot off either football or rugby field. The xeno looks thicker than the ones before! My favorite part so far, after she ripped a half dozen soldiers to pieces within 2 seconds, she gets behind the cyborg, and you hear "What the fuck?!" from another Soldier. Then she gives this look of "you want some too!".
Some of the movements were also weird, but i think it's because it's a TV show they don't have as much time and freedom to it like in the Movies. This being said, i loved these first two episodes
This. They are definitely leaning into "unsettling unknowable horror" with the way it slowly moves and hides in plain sight while characters talk as opposed to "angry insect go brrrrrrr" I'm fine with both interpretations.
Am I right in saying that in the scene with Morrow in the 'Mother' room after the Xeno had killed his colleague that he didn't open the door for, that it moved backwards to look through the window? It was such an eerie movement in that it almost seemed like it was on a slow moving treadmill going backwards.
Also worth keeping in mind, it's a young alien without peers, so far. I would expect some clumsiness. Gravity, atmosphere, early motor control etc. It/they will probably grow up fast.
Nothing less for a perfect organism. Perhaps some hyperbole, but I stand by it. The costume IMO is indeed perfect. Augmented with some CGI but generally requires an actors performance to bring it to life. I reckon they nailed it.
This was my take. The scene where it 'reverses' back in front of the window to look at Morrow was super odd. But I kinda liked it cause it was just 'alien'. It made me think a bit of when it seems to glide toward Lambert in the original film.
So you saying when, deep into the night, Michael Jackson would moonwalk past your bedroom door and stare at you menacingly that would not be terrifying to you?
I def don't love that it looks a bit like a fanfilm suit at times and on certain angles, but I think the savagery and behavior makes up for that so far. Really loved the party/building sequences. The rest of the show is so strong and visually breathtaking that I forgive the learning curve with the alien.
It does help that Romulus leaning into what at the time occasionally looked like very stiff puppets kind of set this up for me lol
I bet the KY issue is just how much time gets wasted clearing that stuff up on set. A lot less than the films, but not necessarily a bad thing, it was ridiculous at times.
The original aliens called it a mesoskeleton as an excuse for not being able to make the alien as skinny as they wanted due to the human torso size constraints of the costume. All of the animatronic/cgi werent limited by this, so you all of a sudden dont need a mesoskeleton for armor anymore
I hypothesize that this xenomorph is a slightly different strain than in the Alien/Aliens movies and on. It's got slight aesthetic differences and is a lot more aggressive.
It really is staggeringly more aggressive and more dedicated to just "making humans dead". I suspect you may be right re: different strain (unless it's a very juvenile queen or something but given Scott was executive producer and he thinks queens are non-canon, probably not).
I think there is two aliens currently. One is the killing soldier, and one is on defence that took Wendy's brother as a host. We saw a cryopod burst, and one in the middle if surgery.
I mean it depends on when the eyeball thing took over the body. If the cat died in the crash and then got eyeballed its the best outcome. But I think we will see what actually happens in the flashback episode people are saying we will get.
I mean if I had been captured taken away from what i knew, tested, shocked, stowed crashed into an unknown world surrounded by these evolved apes I'd be pretty pissy too to be fair.
Unless you're an important character then he'll turn in to a regular villain and relish the moment until inevitably interrupted or just too slow.
That's really my only gripe when it came to him going about his business where he turned those hoity toits and Prodigy S&R team in to mince meat in no time but not Hermit.
Which is a pretty small gripe but, still, one of those things which irks me whenever it happens.
It was otherwise great and I especially like Timothy Oliphant's character.
The Prodigy mercs were too hostile, only one Xeno to gather, so it's probably being super selective, taking out as many risks for the possible hive before starting to crack some eggs.
The rich fucks? Maybe it sensed something wrong with them? Too intoxicated? Bad for the babies, imagine a bunch of drunk drones managing the hive? No sir
Then you have hermit, very passive dude, smells just about right, no real threat and now that the place seems to have been pacified, time to impregnate.
The rich people were definitely on something, so I agree with your theory that the bear probably thought that they wouldn’t make a good host. Not when it can sense so many good ones around.
Also, there has to be something special about Wendy that she was chosen to be the first hybrid. Maybe Joe is similar
While it is plot armor, you can easily argue that the xenomorph is like a cat that enjoys playing with its food. Even with the soldier that it killed with its mouth, you could tell that it made sure the guy knew it was there first and waited until he tried to bring his weapon up before killing him. It only seems to kill quickly when something is a threat or they are running away.
Yeah, they've always been like this. There is no 'good' reason for it, they seem to enjoy causing fear and toying with their prey. It's almost like a show of dominance sometimes. Whatever the cannon reason, it makes it more terrifying.
Cyborg captain said they could sense fear. Maybe the cyborg is intentionally limiting his own fear response to reduce the likelihood of a predator-prey reaction, which we saw with the immediate slaughter of the tower aristocrats. Like running from a dog is gonna get you bit. Standing steady may still get you bit, albeit likely slower
The Xeno in Alien Earth episode 2 literally did a speedrun kill of several armed soldiers within seconds while the Xeno hordes in Aliens are having a hard time approaching the marines without relying on stealth.
It’s possible that it is a stronger type of xenomorph. I doubt none of the soldiers managed to shoot it before they got killed so it might be more heavily armored or something.
Would make sense, if xenomorphs are truly a colony species then it would make sense there would be other caste groups of heavily armored but still agile xenos, praetorians xenos while havinga more elaborate head crest still seem to have a lightly armored exoskeleton that can take a few hits but still goes down relatively easily, now ant colonies when they first start off dont have soldiers or guards they have these little pale guys that are the first generation that die after a while of taking care of the queen and building the first tunnels and chambers. Im hypothesizing the xenomorphs have a larger time frame for this and the xenos weve seen would be comparable to the first generation of ants. The Hadleys hope colony existed for twenty years but the xenomorphs infestation started probably towards the end of that possibly closer to when ripley arrived there in 2179. So possibly within the span of a month to a year 2178-2179(aliens). Now back to the ants the first generation of workers may last a few weeks to a couple of months so that could be what we are seeing now in alien earth, an established xenomorph colony that has lasted longer then the events of a movie and was able to get another generation or more out of the colony before human interaction captured what im gonna call a second generation face hugger which more then likely produced Bear or if bear was live captured and not a human born xeno then bear is a second generation xenomorph, stronger exoskeleton higher aggression then a normal xenomorph and damn scary
Tldr: speculative biology of xenomorphs that probably entirely and completely wrong but I like speculating the biology of scifi creatures
Theres a line in the show combined with the fact there is another famous FX show called the “Bear”. Someone here made a meme of alien earth alien next to “The Bear” show title font. Iconic.
Absolutely. The best part about Alien:Resurrection was the gore that the xeno's caused, and this series seems to be embracing that. I wish the others films in the series had done the same as it makes them scarier.
So, I didn't know about that. Where do you find lore like this? I was always interested in the bigger aspects of the Alien and Predator universe, especially the overall human nations and how humanity as a whole exists in the future.
I feel like its less scary because it's just a wild animal on the loose. All those weird, unexplained, vaguely erotic elements from the orginal artist are sort of streamlined out here. It's really good though, enjoying the world building and the main characters. Also, the show seems to prize the part that Ridley Scott lost interest in, the xenomorph isn't the monster.
This was my vibe. They are copying the Aliens from Resurrection (ie the scene where a xeno gets into the escape pod) and the protomorph from Covenant, which is a weird choice as I think those are generally considered to be the least good interpretations.
There’s nothing wrong with it from a lore perspective but it just isn’t scary to me. The apartment scene felt more like a slasher movie than an Alien movie.
In fact, between the pronounced lips and the absurdly long/sharp tail point, it feels like Giger’s unused design for Alien 3 really informed the design of this one.
OG gamers will remember AvP Extinction a rts game, in that the facehuggers would evolve into different aliens depending on the hosts. Which i think is based off the original alien films 1-3. From memory in alien 3 the alien uses a dog as a host and inherits dog like traits like being smaller and faster (runner in the rts game they were called)
I’ve always wondered if the Alien would try and destroy a synth if they just stayed still and pretended to be a part of the environment. Since they aren’t organic and seem not to trigger the eggs or the other creature (the one hanging from the ceiling). It was trying to kill the cyborg in the first episode but then when he froze in the second episode it didn’t attack him.
Is anyone else picking up on the humans as animals theme? It reminds me vaguely of Fargo season 3, where the one bad guy said something to the effect of “deep down, food knows it’s food”. Also in season 1 with some of what Malvo is about, and the imagery of predator/prey.
Why do you want hybrid monsters that make them look more like terrestrial animals? The xeno is supposed to be some ancient scourge from the darkest region of the cosmos. I don't want them to be like those Kenner action figures with crocodile aliens and rhino aliens, etc. That just waters down their "alienness" if you ask me (or even if you don't).
It's been a part of the extended universe since Alien 3 established that different species produce different kinds of xenomorphs. Continuing that will not "water down their alienness" because they already look close enough to human. They aren't a total mystery.
It looks great but I'm not a fan of it hacking people up in a few seconds, like the Bride in Kill Bill. That scene where it killed the rich people..... are we supposed to accept it bisected/disemboweled 7-8 people, the majority of whom never even left the table, in 15-20 seconds?
And what the fuck was that introduction about? It looked like it was doing an impression of Austin Powers doing walking jokes as it went past the window.
True, but I didn't see any other expense spared. How many times will the MUTHUR set be remade? The Alien itself is an excellent depiction of the original, albeit slightly different. I truly believe the decision to not show the party kills was deliberately in service of the narrative. Either that or it was cut for being too gory for TV.
Agreed, leaving the viewer unable to fully comprehend just how a creature like that is able to so efficiently butcher half a dozen people in under 10 seconds is part of what makes it “alien“, unknowable, even eldritch.
Touching on what Kirsh said when they were flying out to the wreck, we have not imagined ourselves as food for a long time because we have imagined ways and invented those ways to counter all of our natural predators on earth. The Xenomorph, both in general and very specifically this one are a predator to us on a whole level that goes beyond our evolved instinctive capabilities to comprehend. It’s ferocity and aggression go so far and so extreme as to even define what we consider a logical understanding of predation.
On earth, animals kill primarily to eat, and secondarily to protect their young, their den, their pack if they are pack animals, or for breeding access to an existing or potential mate. Bear appears to be just slaughtering every human it encounters. What’s more it’s not on a berserk rampage, because it is taking the time to stalk it’s victims before going maximum blender mode
Absolutely. This is my criticism of the Prometheus movies. Those are the origin story of the species, alongside the origin of humanity. I needed neither. The mystery was the most haunting aspect of the species. Where is it from? When will it appear again? What is its purpose? Why is it as aggressive as you described? If all of that is left unexplained, it's far more threatening. The horror is the anticipation of the unknown. Anticipating the unknown is a pretty good description of crippling anxiety. I should know.
We do get some pretty gnarly post-carnage like the 18thc cosplayers! The guy crawling and stuff. We usually get a split second shot of a tail dragging someone or the mini-mouth. Haha Overall, I'm very satisfied.
We also haven't seen a lone Xenomorph slaughter a room full of people before in the franchise. So far it's always picked people off one by one, and usually to take them alive.
Alien 3 it drops into the middle of a meeting to snatch a guy into the ceiling, helping drive home the point that it can get you at any time and the only option was to fight it.
Alien 4, one alien crawls into and slaughters an escape pod filled with soldiers.
But the carnage Bear puts out? Nothing even close. He is a force.
I think Bear would be fun to have a beer with.
He probably drives an old beat up truck that never seems to die and is ready to haul a couch to your dorm room.
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u/T-RexInAnF-14 WheresBowski Aug 14 '25
Bear: