REVIEW: ‘Alien: Earth’ Episode 3 — “Metamorphosis”

The meaning behind a metamorphosis is simply: changing from one form to the next. In Alien Earth Episode 3, “Metamorphosis,” the definition of the word can be taken in several ways for the characters and the alien specimens.

The two-episode Alien: Earth premiere introduced an array of characters, including Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and her medic brother, Joseph (Alex Lawther). In episode 3, they take somewhat of a necessary backseat in order to give the other characters time. And it works out because everyone’s personalities are shining through even more. 

In “Metamorphosis,” Wendy’s mission to save her brother is successful, but not without injury to them both as they are forced to deal with the xenomorph head-on. The scenes are full of suspense and terror, and they play into what people like seeing in the Alien universe. Chiefly, that’s strong heroines who fight back against the xenomorph. After slaying the xenomorph by herself, Wendy is damaged and requires repairs. But is she exactly as she was before, or was she changed somehow through the interaction?

The characters in Alien Earth Episode 3 don’t know that nothing good comes from studying xenomorphs.

During Alien Earth Episode 3, it becomes evident that Morrow (Babou Ceesay) is going to be a major problem throughout the season. Instead of being subtle about it like Ash (Ian Holm) in Alien (1979) was until a point, Morrow isn’t afraid to begin manipulating one of the hybrids. After hybrids Slightly (Adarsh Gourav) and Smee (Jonathan Ajayi) meet Morrow, their child-like way of thinking gets them into a bit of a pickle. And later in the episode, Morrow technologically gets into Slightly’s head. 

Instead of sticking around the ship and tower, the characters decide to leave, and it might have been a good decision to do so. Only, the hybrid team makes the grave mistake of bringing the specimens, including the xenomorph eggs, back to the Prodigy Corporation base.

As anyone who knows the Alien films knows, nothing good can come from trying to study the xenomorph. Even if the scientists studying these creatures aren’t human and aren’t in danger of being impregnated, the aliens still pose a threat to the human beings around them. 

The focus of the season momentarily shifting to experiments and currently unknown effects of the alien on a hybrid, instead of primarily fleeing and hiding from the xenomorph, isn’t a negative thing. But the pacing of the episode is certainly less action-oriented and is more meditative horror for the vast majority of the runtime. If you go into the episode with the expectation that the xenomorph will be tearing people apart, you might find the episode a bit slow in comparison to the previous two. 

Slowing down to flesh out characters is a benefit to Alien Earth Episode 3 after the premiere’s action.

Alien Earth Episode 3 is still quite enjoyable slowing down and fleshing out the characters. The episode provides further insight into the corporate war between Prodigy Corporation and the infamous Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

The former is being run recklessly by Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), who is seemingly drunk on curiosity. And the latter is being run without consideration for the harm they’re doing by Yutani (Sandra Yi Sencindiver). Given what established fans of the films know, Weyland-Yutani isn’t to be trusted, and they work in their own self-interest.

Very little outright chaos ensues throughout the episode because the focus is mostly on Prodigy finding out more about what the xenomorph eggs hatch. Alien Earth Episode 3 is also focused on how the characters are feeling about their journeys, whether they be hybrids, synthetics, cyborgs, or regular human beings.

However, one of the most fascinating aspects of the episode comes in the form of Wendy waking up and somehow feeling the same pain that the facehugger does when it’s being experimented on. 

Alien Earth Episode 3 adds a whole new layer of lore around human-xenomorph connections.

It adds a whole new layer of lore. Other than the clone of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) having a connection to the Newborn (a hybrid of a human and xenomorph) in Alien Resurrection, this hasn’t been explored before in the Alien franchise. The next episode will likely reveal more, but it’s obvious that Wendy’s human consciousness could be influenced somehow by the xenomorph. The possibilities are endless for how that’ll turn out for her, as well as everyone else. 

Alien: Earth has so far crafted characters that people are bound to care about, or at least be curious about, moving forward. It’s not always something that happens with a premise like Alien: Earth‘s because anybody can die at any time. But as the season stretches out, it will become clearer who was meant to be paid attention to from the beginning. If anyone’s money is on Wendy, then you’re going to win that bet. 

Overall, Alien Earth Episode 3 is paced decently. It’s necessary to slow down the events happening in a show like this to help make the plot last for more than a handful of episodes. Alien: Earth was never going to be just about the xenomorph. The endeavor remains a success, and the next episode feels primed to be a promising venture back into the universe again. 

Alien: Earth Episode 3 is streaming now on Hulu and Disney+ internationally, with new episodes releasing every Tuesday. 

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