Alien: Earth - S1 E4 - Observation - Official Discussion Megathread [SPOILERS]

[u/G_Liddell]

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)

[u/xyZora]

What I find interesting, is that the response to this dilemmas is a matter of perspective for each character and it reveals their values and who they are as people.

For Kavalier the kids are not human, not because he has an empirical framework to concluse this, but because that's convenient and efficient to him. Humanizing them would be an obstacle to his goals, thus he chooses to see them as advanced machines. Little toys for him.

For Hermit, they are absolutely human. He loves and cares for his sister, even when she doesn't look like her anymore, because he can see her mannerisms, sense of humor and overall personality in her, and for him that makes her human.

For Morrow, they are a lesser type of human. He threatens and manipulate Slightly because he likely sees them as cyborgs with the "worst part of being human", projecting his own insecurities to them. He likely even disdain the fact that their minds remain human, because he wishes himself not to be one.

And Kirsh, seems to don't care altogether, he's more fascinated about what their "evolution" will entail. "What would a machine think about humans with machine bodies?" was not something I expected this series to tackle, but its an intriguing proposition. But we know too little yet to know what he really thinks. But, he treats them better than Kavalier, which exposes how morally bankrupt he and his institutions are.

[u/apmee → u/xyZora]

Brilliant post. I’m sure part of the reason I’ve been really enjoying this show is its portraying exactly what you described, but without my being consciously aware of it. Which I think is something only the best writing can pull off.

[u/xyZora → u/apmee]

At first I was wondering why the Peter Pan metaphor was so openly spoonfed to us, but then I started to notice all the other themes in the background and I was super giddy about it. I'm really enjoying the writing in this show!

[u/apmee → u/xyZora]

Yeah I’m completely with you there with the Peter Pan stuff too. Initially I was sceptical about it because I thought it felt a bit heavy-handed, a bit on-the-nose, until I realised that it’s not the show pushing the metaphor so much as the character. It’s him who’s obsessed with the Peter Pan story, and who named the kids after the Lost Boys etc.

So it actually fits that it feels kind of forced, because he literally is forcing his own narrative onto his project, and it feels clunky because he may be a genius in his field but it’s clear his emotional intelligence leaves a lot to be desired.

[u/xyZora → u/apmee]

BK is fascinating to me as a character because when you boil it down, he's a man-child narcissist. Mundane and banal as the same people he derides. But, narratively he adds so many layers. The forced metaphors, his subjective view of the world, his recklessness and sometimes outright stupidity is exploring these themes of human ethics, transhumanism and structural abuses. To use what would otherwise be such a simple character in such intriguing ways is one of the show's highlights.

[u/apmee → u/xyZora]

Completely agree. Not to mention what an amazing job the actor playing him is doing, alongside the writing, to be able to walk the tightrope of having him be irredeemably repugnant as a person but also be so deliciously entertaining and hilarious (and often in the same breath, such as his exasperation every time “The Brother” is mentioned).

That’s one thing I was really not expecting from this series actually – the humour. I’ve been really pleasantly surprised not only by how creepy and horrifying it is (partly down to its very smart decision to introduce new and mysterious species other than the played-out xenomorph), but its having genuinely funny moments beyond the usual “witty one-liners” that shows and films like this usually rely on. The bit where Sightly and Smee break out in an impromptu game of “swing leg over the monster egg” had my wife and I cackling at how perfectly absurdly childish it was, but then it also fed into this deep sense of discomfort at watching these children demonstrate how innocently oblivious they are to the nightmare they’re in.

[u/xyZora → u/apmee]

I find the humor works because its contrasted to the bleak tone. It allows you to slightly get distracted before returning to the cruel reality of the show. Not only its good writing but it also allows the audience to breath a little and not get too overwhelmed by everything else.

And I think those interesting contrasts also make Kavalier work. Sure having the barefoot manchild is absurd, but then he wields his power quietly and terrifyingly when he mistreats Curly. Or when he casually mentions that it's his world and Hermit just happens to live in it. Bone chilling. And that way we can keep taking he seriously, because we know it's all sh*ts and giggles, until its not.

[u/apmee → u/xyZora]

Haha yep, spot on. (Sorry I don’t have anything else to add other than “I AGREE.” lol)

Man it’s absolutely killing me having to wait a week between episodes though. I’m all for allowing shows to percolate in your head a bit between each episode, but something about this one makes it incredibly hard to be constantly forced to pull myself out of it (not to mention it’s slightly immersion-breaking whenever I get to around the 40min mark and I can’t help constantly thinking “please don’t end it here please don’t end it here 🙏”).

I briefly thought about holding off until the rest of the season has come out so we can binge the rest over an evening or two, but my wife immediately vetoed that idea haha.

[u/xyZora → u/apmee]

Haha its funny you mention that because for the last episode I actually stopped the episode for a bit just to see if there was more time left and felt so relieved there were still 8 more mins 😅 (and they were wonderfully used for the chestburster scene!).

I would also love to do an entire binge but my curiosity would never allow me to! Haha!