Sydney Chandler (Coach Taylor's Daughter), Bizarro Timothée Chalamet, & Terrifying Xenomorph Action Are Some Of The Many Reasons 'Alien: Earth' Definitely Deserves A Watch

'Alien: Earth' just wrapped up its 1st season last week and I gotta say, it was pretty damn terrific. Definitely deserves a rainy day binge. Whether you're a diehard fan of the Alien franchise or someone who's never seen a second of that sci-fi horror, it really did have something for everyone. Slow boiling Xenomorph suspense, new disgusting creatures, robot battles, mortality morality, and a clear love for the source material too. 

Plus the set pieces & vibes felt like it was ripped right from the 1970s. And I mean that in the best way possible. Plus SO many soaking wet chains randomly hanging everywhere. That's how you know they cared. 

"When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in the sci-fi horror series “Alien: Earth.” As members of the crash recovery crew search for survivors among the wreckage, they encounter mysterious predatory life forms more terrifying than they could have ever imagined. With this new threat unlocked, the search crew must fight for survival and what they choose to do with this discovery could change planet Earth as they know it."

And above all else, we got an A+ introduction to Sydney Chandler, AKA Coach Taylor's daughter. She only had a few minor roles before this but really shined like a star throughout this whole series. And showed off an incredibly nuanced level of acting playing a 12 year old girl with cancer who died and was uploaded into a nearly indestructible supercomputer body. Neither child, nor adult, nor human. But 100% badass. 

Maybe nepotism is fucking awesome after all? I've certainly been convinced. 

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I was also really impressed by Samuel Blenkin AKA Bizarro World Chalamet. He plays a super smart/super rich boy genius douchebag and arguably the villain of the show, and whew boy does he play that weasel to perfection. So good that you have no choice but to hate him and actively root against him in every moment. 

It ain't always easy pulling off being an ideal heel!

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And I probably should've included Timothy Olyphant in the headline because he's also a goddamn delight here, per usual. This time playing a robot that's a similar model to Ian Holm's "Ash" in the original 'Alien'. His main nemesis is a newer robot model played by Babou Ceesay, and shout out to him for crushing it as security officer "Morrow". The young guns really showed out in this show. 

Sidenote, give the movie "Go" a watch, really fun 1990s romp with intersecting stories. Timmy is great in that one as well. 

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Of course a stellar cast only goes so far, but thankfully the writing and story plots on this show are quite strong as well. It was all made by show runner extraordinaire Noah Hawley, who's worked a lot with FX in the past. Years ago he made the show 'Legion' which I still think is criminally underrated. Also A++ role for Aubrey Plaza to be a batshit crazy hot chick. And then more recently Hawley did the TV version of 'Fargo' for a number of seasons, and those were always well received and had stacked casts. He's an absolute professional. 

But the biggest compliment I can give to this show was the satisfaction I got per episode. There was always something that either made me jump, made my skin crawl, made me shout at my TV, or all of those at once. 

They give you BRUTAL Xenomorph violence from the very 1st episode and that holds strong throughout. Although I gotta say, I came out of this series being way more creeped out by the new creatures they found. As the tagline says, maybe we were safer in space. 

I'd be surprised if it isn't renewed for S2, even the Alien Queen herself Sigourney Weaver is a fan! I thought it was a pretty fun 8 episodes that blended slow boiling with flash frying, and left us with a satisfying cliffhanger that could go so many directions. 

But all I know is, give me more Sydney Chandler or give me swift death FX. And hurry up before that actual alien goo monster in Panama becomes self aware.