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See, I initially had a similar thought, but on thinking about it as the scene went on, it didn't really make sense for the eyeball to make such a stupid error after the level of intelligence it had shown up to that point. So I think it was just trying to take out the xenomorph as a threat, rather than a potential host.
And while that's likely down to self-interest rather than a desire to help the humans (as it's definitely not shy about taking over a human when convenient), it didn't kill Zaverni, just knocked her out of the way.
So I think it's intelligent enough that it's just trying to survive and eliminate obvious threats, rather than going on a 'kill all humans' rampage like the other critters.
Spoiler:
Not sure I see why the error is stupid? Isn't this the first time the eyeball has ever seen an adult xenomorph (I know, I know, xenomorph just means "alien" and all five critters are xenomorphs, but it's a handy way to distinguish the classic creature,) and a very rapidly moving one at that? I don't think it's unintelligent that it didn't notice the creature's lack of eyes. It's possible that the eyeball's never even encountered an eyeless creature before, or had any reason to believe its usual tactics wouldn't work. No reason it would know about the acid for blood, either. If it had understood what it was up against, it probably wouldn't have attempted using an unarmed human body, no matter how adroitly piloted, to take down a xenomorph in the first place - arguably a stupid choice, except it had no experience or knowledge to go on. When it evacuated its human host and facially attacked the alien, it was a last ditch maneuver to avoid being brain-gouged.
That attack surprised and flustered the xenomorph, but without a way "in," the eyeball ultimately couldn't hurt it. To cite "My Octopus Teacher," it was a bit like the scene where the octopus clings to the back of the shark's head, where the shark couldn't bite it. It didn't hurt the shark, but it seriously weirded it out and drove it off. I think in both cases, the last thing the alpha predator expected was for the "prey" to attack it. The xenomorph had as little knowledge of the eyeball's host-leaping capabilities as the eyeball had of its superior strength etc.
As for just trying to survive and eliminate obvious threats rather than going on a kill all humans rampage, are any of the five alien species doing that? All of them were captured by hostile beings that don't wish them well. The ticks seem to be just following their biological protocol, feeding and reproducing. Even the xenomorph is basically just doing what it does to survive and propagate. It's how the Giger xenomorphs seem to see the world (so far - we'll see what Wendy discovers) - other creatures are for eating, reproducing, and / or are threats to its own kind that must be eliminated. It looks demonic, but it's behavior is instinctually and biologically driven (as far as we know so far,) making it amoral rather than immoral, instinctual rather than psychological. The xenomorph kills a lot of humans, but I imagine if it discovered tigers prowling around, it would see them as a threat and go after them, too. And while it may seem "pissed off" after being kidnapped, have we ever seen a xenomorph that didn't act the same way, regardless of the circumstances? It's what they do.
Rather than rampagers vs. more reasonable aliens, it's a question of different levels and kinds of intelligence, as well as instincts. Perhaps, just like in real life, you just can't make any sort of reason-based alliance with a tick ever, because they don't have the capacity to understand that. The eyeball seems potentially smart enough. The xenomorphs might be smart enough, too, but it seems that their instinctual programming is so strong that they basically can't extend any sort of trust beyond their own kind (but Wendy might be changing that?) (In "Aliens," the Queen was smart enough to understand Ripley's gesturing with the flamethrower to mean "if you try to kill us, I'll torch your babies," so she initially allowed the humans to back away. Not an alliance, but some ability to temporarily restrain the impulse to kill a threat to the hive in order to save the hive. Then of course Ripley just torched her babies anyway as soon as she was at a safe enough distance. Typical human!)
The eyeball had no need to kill Zaverni - it already knew she posed no real physical threat - and wasting time killing her while the much more dangerous xenomorph was bearing down on them both would have been very stupid. If and when it defeated the xenomorph, it could always kill Zaverni afterwards without much trouble. Maybe it was never going to kill her, and if the xenomorph hadn't come along, it would have attempted communicating, with the ultimate goal of pleading to be taken back to its home. I just don't think that's something we know yet.
What the alien creatures ultimately want looks likely to become future plot points. They all want to survive, but the ticks may just "want" to do so by feeding on whatever they can. The eyeball might be smart enough to "want" to return home. And the xenomorphs - we all assume they'd just "want" to dominate the earth, since they hijack hosts, establish new homes across space, and dominate whatever ecosystems they encounter - but before Wendy, the idea that xenomorphs could actually communicate with other species, not just understand them in limited ways, just wasn't there. (Except perhaps for David's brief, suggestive moment in Alien: Covenant with the proto-Alien deacon: "It trusted me!") So perhaps we'll learn more about what they "want" in future episodes?
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2025/09/04 01:41:25
Dakkadakka: Bringing wargamers together, one smile at a time.™
Normally I'm not a fan of flashback episodes as they frequently take the viewer out of the flow of the narrative and just slow things down but I think this was really well done. Last week's episode was quite slow-paced and without much traditional action so this felt like a good change of pace and tone. It's refreshing to see the crew are vaguely competent and a lot of the problems with the aliens comes from underestimating them as a result of a lack of understanding. Bugs on earth aren't exactly known for their intelligence, so I can see why the scientist wouldn't think they would be capable of complex problem solving and strategic thinking. I do have a minor quibble with the containment alarm not going off when the eyeball escaped. Surely they'd have a much better containment/alarm system given the nature of the organisms they're transporting? I'd expect the lab to be able to be completely sealed off from the rest of the ship in an instant, for example.
I like that we also get some forward momentum on the "present day" plot with BK being shown to be involved from the get-go. It wasn't clear to me after one viewing whether he was aware of how the Maginot would be delivered but he's obviously much deeper into this whole situation than we first realised. It also now makes sense as to why he'd send the hybrids. Presumably he's aware the ship is transporting a bunch of apex predators with rather unique hunting methods. All but the xenomorph itself require biological hosts/victims so sending synthetics now makes a lot more sense even with the concerns around their emotional maturity (assuming he actually cares about that in the first place).
Two quick observations:
1. There are now a large number of the blood bugs loose on Earth, right? We saw dozens being spawned from the engineer's body and crawling all over the ship. Seems safe to assume they escaped, or will escape, in the crash.
2. There was a hole in the floor of the containment room that seemed to be caused by xenomorph blood when Morrow was investigating at the start of the episode. This was before the chestburster hatched from the captain. Is there another xenomorph loose that we don't know about? Did I just misunderstand that scene?
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
I can help!
Spoiler:
Acid damage I assumed was them trying to cut the Facehugger off in-situ. They then carted both victims up the lab/medbay after.
The lack of alarm? I think that’s because she didn’t lock its bottle away properly. So the system didn’t respond to the bottle not being in its alcove any longer.
On the Ticks? Maybe that’s what Nibs is “pregnant” with?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/09/04 11:42:30
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The Eye, once it started tapping on its glass cage to warn the crew member, has gone from ‘tribute to 50s’ B-movie monster’ to cute little alien, and may actually end up being the hero of the story! And while some of the crew displayed Prometheus level idiocy, maybe this is what you get for a 65 year sleeper mission.
A great episode. As Doc says, it’s a long week to the next instalment.
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Particularly with the last episode, but also the whole of thing?
I’m really taken with how well this show has slotted into the wider saga. It’s nailed the look and the atmosphere. It’s delivered the tropes we expect to see, without being lazy about it. It’s not try to change the Xenomorph in anyway, and not should they have tried.
It’s deeply rooted in everything great about the franchise, but is doing it its own way in terms of narrative.
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Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Also
Spoiler:
The Maginot was aimed at Boy Genius’ territorial jurisdiction entirely by design. Precisely so Weyland-Yutani couldn’t just waltz on in and reclaim it.
Prodigy has jurisdiction and presumably Salvage Rights. Doesn’t seem to matter it’s a Weyland Yutani ship.
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[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
I don’t recall, no.
Spoiler:
We see requests to Mother, but that’s about it.
The repair attempts were interrupted though, and by that point it was all kicking off - so unless I missed something in the episode (happens a lot, there’s lots going on!) I assume it got left by the wayside in the generalised chaos.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/09/05 09:41:20
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Right from the start the crew knows with absolute certainty that they're aimed straight at and will crash into Earth. So they don't just have their super precious cargo to worry about but also going up in a huge ball of flame when they get there. I find it hard to believe calling something like that in if they in any way have that capacity at all would slip their minds.
Especially the chief of security who is very collected in spite of everything.
Nehekhara lives! Sort of!
Why is the rum always gone?
Morrow has 100% erased either his non-work related memories or more likely any emotions that would be regarded as potentially compromising, which would explain why everything he does is as meticulous as it is.
Also, as far as the crew knew, they could fix the problem. The contaminant was secured and the repair team were able to get started fixing the problem.
It wasn't until the crew started getting munched by all the aliens that things got irredeemable.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/09/05 14:15:01
I’m really taken with how well this show has slotted into the wider saga. It’s nailed the look and the atmosphere. It’s delivered the tropes we expect to see, without being lazy about it. It’s not try to change the Xenomorph in anyway, and not should they have tried.
It’s deeply rooted in everything great about the franchise, but is doing it its own way in terms of narrative.
Except the xenomorph was different. It did the one thing we only saw in Alien³... it ran on all four legs.
BorderCountess wrote: Just because you're doing something right doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing...
That's a limitation of technology when the original Alien came out, not a lore breaking universe ender retcon like the Alien was actually just some guy called Gareth.
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Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
And in Aliens. And when you’re suited to bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion? Different circumstances will benefit from each.
Tear arsing around fairly tight corridors? With your tail for counterbalance, having a good old scuttle about on all fours allows you to corner better, and to launch off the furniture and that with greater aplomb.
Granted in Aliens it’s when they’re having their scuttle in the roofspace - but we still see it,
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Geifer wrote: I believe the question is with regard to a rescue operation before the Maginot even gets to Earth. Does the current episode say anything about...
Spoiler:
... sabotage to the comms equipment?
Spoiler:
IIRC the very first episode mentions the comms equipment was not working. The last episode shows why - the chief engineer sabotaged it, presumably so W-Y couldn't be contacted. I'm still not clear if the plan was to crash the ship, though. Seems like a bad plan if you want to be alive to spend your blood money.
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
On that?
Spoiler:
Crashing the ship, introducing Salvage Rights (presuming all the crew go splat for current salvage laws as I understand them) seems to have been the idea.
To simply nick it is mutiny/theft, giving Prodigy no legal right to the goodies inside.
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Gert wrote: That's a limitation of technology when the original Alien came out, not a lore breaking universe ender retcon like the Alien was actually just some guy called Gareth.
They were bipedal in newer films like the Praetomorph in Covenant or the Xenomorphs in Romulus...
Maybe the bug from Alien Earth didn't come from a human.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/09/05 16:57:26
BorderCountess wrote: Just because you're doing something right doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing...
Geifer wrote: I believe the question is with regard to a rescue operation before the Maginot even gets to Earth. Does the current episode say anything about...
Spoiler:
... sabotage to the comms equipment?
Spoiler:
IIRC the very first episode mentions the comms equipment was not working. The last episode shows why - the chief engineer sabotaged it, presumably so W-Y couldn't be contacted. I'm still not clear if the plan was to crash the ship, though. Seems like a bad plan if you want to be alive to spend your blood money.
Thanks. May be worth revisiting the first episode then. Would be a bit awkward to miss something big like that. As for the Plan™:
Spoiler:
You'd need mad skills to calculate a trajectory that hits Earth at the right time and angle and lets the ship come in shallow enough to gracefully touch down and minimize damage to it the way it happened, and also bang up all the right parts to prevent repairs but not touch anything automatic landing systems might need to assist a crash landing. And you'd benefit from flawless topographical knowledge and truckloads of dumb luck. Considering all that, I conclude that yes, that was indeed the plan.
Maybe the chief engineer was hired to make the average IQ on the engineering team look good on paper. Considering how the young trainee or whatever he was comes across, the chief engineer might just have the necessary genius to make it all work.
Crashing the ship, introducing Salvage Rights (presuming all the crew go splat for current salvage laws as I understand them) seems to have been the idea.
To simply nick it is mutiny/theft, giving Prodigy no legal right to the goodies inside.
Spoiler:
Not sure drawing on current law is any good here. The setting is supposed to be a corporate dystopia. I'd expect loony laws like if it lands in one corporation's territory and isn't insured via specific contracts, that corporation can do with it as it pleases.
Nehekhara lives! Sort of!
Why is the rum always gone?
I was expecting a MacGuffin to explain how a ship moving on thrust with no navigation actually made what was clearly a forced landing rather than a crash.
And a MacGuffin to explain why W-T or Space Traffic Control don't freak out at a communication-less ship barreling in-system doesn't have a bunch of space tugs racing out to prevent a crash.
Lathe Biosas wrote: They were bipedal in newer films like the Praetomorph in Covenant or the Xenomorphs in Romulus...
Maybe the bug from Alien Earth didn't come from a human.
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
Bipedal doesn't mean they can't go on all fours, and the Xenomorph in Earth clearly walks on two legs plenty. This gripe is just weird because it's total nonsense.
Geifer wrote: I believe the question is with regard to a rescue operation before the Maginot even gets to Earth. Does the current episode say anything about...
Spoiler:
... sabotage to the comms equipment?
Spoiler:
IIRC the very first episode mentions the comms equipment was not working. The last episode shows why - the chief engineer sabotaged it, presumably so W-Y couldn't be contacted. I'm still not clear if the plan was to crash the ship, though. Seems like a bad plan if you want to be alive to spend your blood money.
Thanks. May be worth revisiting the first episode then. Would be a bit awkward to miss something big like that. As for the Plan™:
Spoiler:
You'd need mad skills to calculate a trajectory that hits Earth at the right time and angle and lets the ship come in shallow enough to gracefully touch down and minimize damage to it the way it happened, and also bang up all the right parts to prevent repairs but not touch anything automatic landing systems might need to assist a crash landing. And you'd benefit from flawless topographical knowledge and truckloads of dumb luck. Considering all that, I conclude that yes, that was indeed the plan.
Maybe the chief engineer was hired to make the average IQ on the engineering team look good on paper. Considering how the young trainee or whatever he was comes across, the chief engineer might just have the necessary genius to make it all work.
Crashing the ship, introducing Salvage Rights (presuming all the crew go splat for current salvage laws as I understand them) seems to have been the idea.
To simply nick it is mutiny/theft, giving Prodigy no legal right to the goodies inside.
Spoiler:
Not sure drawing on current law is any good here. The setting is supposed to be a corporate dystopia. I'd expect loony laws like if it lands in one corporation's territory and isn't insured via specific contracts, that corporation can do with it as it pleases.
I’m gonna offer a Truly Honest Cop Out here. And I accept that right now, as answers go? It’s pretty weak.
But, if you recall or wish to go back through the posts in this thread, especially for the early episodes? Many good and equally honest questions were raised. Good questions, with interesting possibilities. Most of which were answered in last week’s episode.
Which means I kinda suspect we’ll Find Out More over the next three,
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heh. Considering its immediate hostility, perhaps Eyeball's original host? Heck, perhaps Eye critters actually have a stage of life where they have their own body, and eye-mode is just a detachable escape intelligence for them.
Assuming there was no xenomorph stowaway before the crew ran afoul of it, I think the Alien Earth xeno is of human extraction. That being said, it's an awfully big galaxy. And I imagine a race that mutates depending on its host has tendency to retain traits of their queen- so a quadrapedal queen + bipedal host equals 4 legged and 2 legged locomotion.
Or, possibly, centaurmorphs.
Klawz-Ramming is a subset of citrus fruit?
Gwar- "And everyone wants a bigger Spleen!"
Mercurial wrote:
I admire your aplomb and instate you as Baron of the Seas and Lord Marshall of Privateers.
Orkeosaurus wrote:Star Trek also said we'd have X-Wings by now. We all see how that prediction turned out.
Orkeosaurus, on homophobia, the nature of homosexuality, and the greatness of George Takei.
English doesn't borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark alleyways and mugs them for loose grammar.
Lathe Biosas wrote: I was simple trying to point out that the Xenomorph in Earth was probably not based on a human... due to its mode of travel.
Like the runner in Alien³.
Dude, it came out of the guy the first officer was bumping uglies with. That was the whole thing where she didn't want to do her job cos she was sad he got facehuggered, and then Morrow gets annoyed because nobody is doing their jobs, and he threatens to take command himself if she doesn't step up.
And again, the Xenomorph only carts about on all fours when it's in speedy mode; there are multiple points where it's fully upright.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2025/09/05 22:34:23
Lathe Biosas wrote: I was simple trying to point out that the Xenomorph in Earth was probably not based on a human... due to its mode of travel.
Like the runner in Alien³.
Dude, it came out of the guy the first officer was bumping uglies with. That was the whole thing where she didn't want to do her job cos she was sad he got facehuggered, and then Morrow gets annoyed because nobody is doing their jobs, and he threatens to take command himself if she doesn't step up.
Ok. Sorry.
Apparently I'm one episode behind.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/09/06 04:03:59
BorderCountess wrote: Just because you're doing something right doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing...
[DCM]
Chief Deputy Sub Assistant Trainee Squig Handling Intern
Oooh, another thought!
Spoiler:
See when the tick farted its babies into the water? I feel they faked us out just enough with when, and indeed whether, someone was going to drink them.
I halfway expected the bottle to get knocked and people be spared that particular demise. Then Mr Thicko sealed his own fate.
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This one wasn't as strong as episodes 4 or 5, but that's hardly a fair comparison, as both those eps were exceptionally good.
A couple of interesting elements in this ep.
Spoiler:
Wendy continuing to bond with the xenomorph I think will have interesting (yet probably predictable) results.
The eyeball continues to be a creepy son-of-a-bitch, and the new synthetic eating bugs are a pleasant edition to the alien menagerie.
Kirsh continues to be a fantastic character. Interesting to see how far he was prepared to let Slightly go with his corporate espionage.
Really cool to see the Xenomorph in it's adolescent(?) stage, which I'm pretty sure we never have before. Which also reminded me, that the end of episode 4 is probably the longest we've ever seen a chestburster on screen, isn't it? Normally the pop out and scurry off.
