Earth’s eyeball monster may be the series’ biggest threat

The Xenomorph is the star of the present in Alien: Earth, however after catching episode 4, “Statement,” I am beginning to assume the eyeball-octopus monster could be a much bigger menace than anybody realizes.

After we first encountered the creepy little creature — formally often called trypanohyncha ocellus, or Species 64 — it was innocently floating in its containment unit on the USCSS Maginot in episode 1. By the point Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) and his group of adolescent android assistants, The Misplaced Boys, stumbled throughout it, it had escaped containment and burrowed its means into the cranium of a useless cat, changing the poor factor’s eyeball and hijacking its nervous system. In “Statement,” it did the identical factor to a sheep in one in all Prodigy’s labs, and had a reasonably unsettling stare-down with everybody’s least-favorite eternally barefoot trillionaire, Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin).

The foreshadowing appears clear: That factor’s gonna find yourself crawling into the Prodigy CEO’s cranium sooner or later within the in all probability not-too-distant future. However as of episode 4, the people aren’t who I am apprehensive about.

[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for Alien: Earth episode 4.]

From what we have seen to date, it is fairly clear that facehuggers, chestbursters, Xenomorphs, these bizarre blood-sucking ticks, and that odd, plant-like factor Kirsh discovered hanging out within the Maginot’s wreckage are, for essentially the most half, solely fascinated by creatures fabricated from flesh and blood. Even in episode 3’s massive Xenomorph vs. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) battle, the alien principally appeared fascinated by her human brother — Wendy was simply getting in its means.

By the tip of episode 3, Kirsh had caught onto this, and properly declared the lab at the moment housing the Xenomorph eggs as a synths-only zone, eradicating Boy Kavalier from the room for his personal security. In “Statement,” Kirsch gently caresses a type of eggs, and it does not reply. By the tip of the episode, Wendy is casually snake-charming a chestburster, petting it like a home cat. The message is evident: Synthetics are comparatively secure, people aren’t.

However this does not essentially apply to t. ocellus. When The Misplaced Boys first encountered it on the Maginot, it instantly deserted its feline host and went straight for nervous redhead Nibs (Lily Newmark), who managed to flee the encounter bodily unscathed, however has been having flashbacks ever since, and is now inexplicably satisfied that she is pregnant. However Nibs is artificial, and she or he wasn’t doing something to impress the creature, which had already discovered a bunch. So why on Earth did it go after her?

Photograph: Patrick Brown/FX

“Statement” appears to recommend that not like the opposite creatures from the alien homeworld, t. ocellus is one thing distinctive. My concept? It does not feed on flesh and blood. It feeds on intelligence. Which implies none of Prodigy’s synthetics or hybrids are really secure. If something, they’re in extra hazard than their non-synthetic counterparts, as they will obtain huge quantities of data into their brains, permitting them to be taught new languages and grasp tough scientific topics with ease.

So as an illustration, Tootles (Package Younger), who not too long ago re-christened himself Isaac, after Sir Isaac Newton, is probably going in an excellent quantity of hazard given his ever-growing psychological library of scientific information, and the truth that he works with Kirsh in shut proximity to Prodigy’s varied extraterrestrial check topics.

Should you’re questioning how feeding on intelligence would even work, properly, so am I. However notes taken by the Maginot scientists who had been learning the creature earlier than their ship crashed make it clear that this creature is to not be trifled with. In line with the Maginot’s science staff, t. ocellus shows “exceptional problem-solving abilities at near-human measure,” so it is definitely potential it may be taught to feed from an artificial host, and its fast want to climb into Nibs’ cranium appears to recommend it is completely able to doing precisely that.

T. ocellus‘ existence can also clarify one thing about Xenomorphs themselves. Within the unique 1979 film Alien, the Xenomorph is depicted as having small, seemingly empty eye sockets. In subsequent movies, Xenomorphs seem to don’t have any eye sockets in any respect, though they’re proven to have some type of sight. Since Xenomorphs and t. ocellus share a house planet, maybe Xenomorphs advanced this manner on goal. They’re identified to be very clever creatures, which might ostensibly make them a perfect host for t. ocellus. But when they’re capable of co-exist peacefully with the eyeball-invalding alien, it might be as a result of they do not have eyeballs which are simply scooped out, and so they bleed caustic acid — two protection mechanisms that in all probability make making an attempt to hijack them tough and even unimaginable for t. ocellus.

Regardless, one factor is fairly clear: Wendy’s artificial physique and peculiar, Parseltongue-esque capability to copy Xenomorph speech might maintain her secure from the Alien franchise’s massive unhealthy, however she and the remainder of The Misplaced Boys are in all probability t. ocellus‘ best prey.

As satisfying (and scary) as it will be to see Species 64 scoop out one in all Boy Kavalier’s eyeballs and puppeteer his physique, the considered it hijacking the mind of a extremely smart, extraordinarily robust, nigh-indestructible hybrid who can transfer on the velocity of sunshine is what’s actually conserving me up at night time.

The eight-episode debut season of Alien: Earth premiered on FX and Hulu on Aug 12. Additional episodes roll out on Tuesdays via Sept. 9.