Wendy and the Lost Boys search for answers, honesty, and identity in a near-perfect finale that sets up an even more suspenseful sophomore season.
“Your time is done. It’s our time now.”
There are a lot of things to love about Noah Hawley’s inspired interpretation of the Alien franchise, whether it’s the production and creature designs, confident world-building, or the permeating sense of dread that’s progressively leaked out since the premiere. An unexpected highlight of Alien: Earth is the overt parallels that have been drawn with Peter Pan. Alien: Earth has presented plenty of Peter Pan analogues throughout its first season, right down to the crocodile with the ticking clock that haunts Captain Hook. Up until this finale, Alien: Earth had yet to really indulge in its Tinker Bell stand-in, which may inexplicably be the Xenomorph itself.
In Peter Pan, Tinker Bell represents the fickle nature of emotions, but she also becomes a surrogate for the audience’s belief in the fantastical. Kirsh and Kavalier have been the respective Angel and Devil on Wendy’s shoulders as she grapples with new emotions and abilities. Wendy learns to believe in the impossible, not necessarily because of Kirsh or Kavalier’s teaching – as crucial as they are – but because of the spectacle of the Xenomorph. There couldn’t be more of a stark visual contrast between a delightful fairy and a murderous alien, yet Alien: Earth equates these creatures as conduits who make the impossible a reality. The sight of the Xenomorph in action – in all its glory – will make the audience believe and stand up and applaud, just like Tinker Bell does for Peter Pan.
The Xenomorph has floated through Alien: Earth’s first season in different capacities, although it’s usually been left to lurk in the shadows. “The Real Monsters” becomes the Xenomorph’s time to shine. It’s a season finale that makes the audience believe in the fantastical, but also that the show has what it takes to be the best sci-fi/horror series on television for years to come.
A lot of this finale revolves around belief and devotion – or lack thereof – but it’s also deeply interested in the loss of innocence and youth. These “children” are thrust into adulthood and left to play house in a burning building. Wendy may think that she has all the power in “The Real Monsters,” but her role here is just as precarious. Belief can be an asset that’s aided Wendy throughout Alien: Earth. It can also be a crushing weakness, like how it’s been an albatross around Nibs’ neck all season. “The Real Monsters” uses this urgency to explore the future of synths, the loss of innocence, and if it’s possible for these Lost Boys to become “Lost Men.”
One of the most exciting moments from Alien: Earth’s first season is when Wendy and her surrounding synth siblings decide to turn the tables, stop acting like children, and start haunting this house, so to speak. The first seven episodes have been a lot of fun. That being said, it’s a riot to see these powerful beings let loose and unleash themselves to their full potential and then bask in the chaos. It’s some wonderful “Hack the Planet!”-level mayhem. All that Wendy and the synths need to do is believe hard enough that they’re the ones who are in charge and calling the shots, and they will be. The scariest moments in “The Real Monsters” aren’t when the Xenomorph tear apart their prey, but when the Lost Boys hunt down Kavalier.
Boy Kavalier has been a tough pill to swallow all season, which has been beautifully handled by Alien: Earth. This whole season has created rich tension regarding when Kavalier will screw up and finally get his cathartic just desserts. “The Real Monsters” doesn’t fully push the needle all the way in this regard. However, there’s still a satisfying humbling of Kavalier that flips the power dynamic that he’s conceivably been used to for his entire life. He refuses to evacuate, despite how such a decision would save his life, but doing so would be admitting defeat in Kavalier’s eyes. Curiosity is a glorious thing, but not when it’s latched onto hubris and ego. Kavalier is still very much alive by the end of Alien: Earth’s first season, but he might as well be dead the minute he ignores Atom Eins’ pleas to evacuate.
Kavalier is a character who is designed to be lovingly hated, but Alien: Earth understands that such a dynamic can only work for so long before it wears thin. A brutal, bloody Kavalier kill would certainly be satisfying, but there’s greater value in keeping him around, albeit in a capacity that forces the character to change. Kavalier doesn’t have hardware that can be upgraded and overwritten like Nibs or Curly, yet he’s set to experience a comparable catalyst that will improve him or erase him. Kavalier’s backstory, curiously enough, is a bit of a “Reverse Pinocchio” in the sense that he built himself a new — better — father, rather than a child. There’s no question that Kavalier, despite his intelligence, is guilty of some extreme arrested development. His name is literally “Boy,” after all. However, he’s no child. He enters this episode with infinite swagger, yet he might as well be crawling by the time that it’s over.
The other major hurdle — and instance of belief — in “The Real Monsters” surrounds Wendy’s ability to forgive Hermit. Alien: Earth started with these two desperate to reunite, so it’s rather fitting that much of this finale involves Wendy’s struggles over whether she should forgive him or leave him behind. She can have exactly what she wants, but she needs to choose it, rather than their union being a byproduct of Prodigy and Weyland-Yutani’s bureaucratic gymnastics. She needs to believe that Hermit is still on her side and someone who can be trusted.
There’s a lot to love in “The Real Monsters” between its Xenomorph carnage, intimidating trust exercises, and ghost in the machine madness. This finale also quietly delivers an exceptional combat sequence that’s fueled by a season’s worth of animosity between Kirsh and Morrow. Every punch is rich in emotion. There’s such a visceral intensity to this fist fight that’s reminiscent of the epic fight between Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford from Hannibal’s second season finale. “The Real Monsters” is full of impressive action setpieces, but this moment between Kirsh and Morrow is unlike anything that’s previously been featured in Alien: Earth. This is all made even more chaotic as rogue elements threaten to release the specimens. I wouldn’t have expected Kirsh to be killed off in this first season. However, it’s still deeply reassuring that he survives this strike and will hopefully be just as sardonic in season two.
“The Real Monsters” is everything that fans could want from an Alien series and it’s a strong note to end on after a series of consecutive home runs. Alien: Earth’s first season is successful. However, this short eight-episode endeavor almost feels like an extended prologue or proof of concept before it really goes for broke and gets comfortable as a series that could be around for four or five seasons. To this point, “The Real Monsters” sets up a potential sophomore season for success as an unlikely alliance will likely need to be forged by Kirsh, Kavalier, Morrow, and Dame Sylvia, as they work together to overpower the synths and take back control, all in addition to the evolving Xenomorph dilemma.
Alien: Earth has done great work regarding this cast’s development over the course of eight episodes, which makes it the perfect opportunity to shake this up and reset the status quo as the series moves forward. The Xenomorphs are more than enough to keep audiences invested, but the shifting dynamics between the show’s human/humanoid characters is already season two’s most exciting element. “The Real Monsters” is an impressive distillation of Alien: Earth’s accomplishments throughout this first season, while it’s also a finale that conjures such dread for what’s to come.
J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan demonstrated the unwavering power of belief with the audience’s clapping as a tool to bring Tinker Bell back to life. Alien: Earth’s Lost Boys are destabilized, Neverland is in ruins, and Wendy has gone rogue while the proverbial Tinker Bell sizes up its prey. The audience may applaud loudly after this season finale masterpiece, but it’s not going to save Alien: Earth’s prisoners.
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