Episode Review: Alien: Earth 1x6 - "The Fly"

Welcome back to the blog readers. There is absolutely something special about Alien: Earth (2025), but I just cannot put my finger on it quite yet. Could it be the way it has expanded a nearly 50-year old franchise to heights it has never achieved before? Could it be for the excellent character work? I'm not sure yet, but last episode was such a treat to watch in all regards. Can we keep the momentum going with this episode, titled "The Fly," written by Noah Hawley and Lisa Long, and directed by Ugla Hauksdóttir? Stick around to find out.

NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode,

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Now that we are in the back half of this series, I am content in saying I am extremely satisfied in the product we have gotten thus far. I feel pretty comfortable saying that this is one of the best shows of the year, right up there with The Studio (2025-), Daredevil: Born Again (2025-) and The Last of Us (2025-). I was hopeful that the momentum of last episode would carry over, and thankfully it did just that. This is a worthy addition to the pantheon this show is already building, and these final four episodes are going to hit real hard. The performances are incredible, especially from Sydney Chandler, Adarsh Gourav, and Timothy Olyphant. The story is also getting real, real fucking good if I am being honest.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Sydney Chandler. Her performance as hybrid Wendy has been a revelation to me thus far, and she has been killing it despite only being a small role in both Don't Worry Darling (2022) and Sugar (2024). She has taken on this character with so much gravitas, so much charisma, and so much confidence. And it continues in this episode where we get a more affirmative version of Wendy that I loved this time around. Chandler brings the same level of gravitas, charisma, and confidence that she has been bringing in recent weeks, and this more aggressive side she brings as well is honestly addicting to watch. I cannot wait to see how the rest of this season plays out, but I know Chandler will continue to deliver the goods.

I next want to talk about Adarsh Gourav and his performance as "Lost Boy" Slightly. I have praised the performance of Gourav in past episodes as being able to mix a different kind of gravitas with the boyish charm of this character literally being a child's consciousness in a adult robot body. This time out, however, there is a mix of fear and terror with a slight determination that I did not know Gourav had in him. I do think that this character has been a total win for this show because a character like Slightly contains all the traits of a flawed hero that I love: those I mentioned before and a determination that really drives his point home of why he is doing the things he is doing. Family is at the center of everything, and you will know what I am talking about when I deep dive into the story of this week.

And finally, I want to give some first-time praise (at least for the purposes of this show) to one of the better guys in the business in Timothy Olyphant. You name it, Olyphant has probably been in it. From Scream 2 (1997) to Live Free or Die Hard (2007), I Am Number Four (2011) to Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019), Amsterdam (2022) to The Mandalorian (2019-), Olyphant has been one of the gold standards. But as the cold cyberpunk-inspired synth Kirsh, Olyphant digs his heels in and gets into another level with his character work. Like I said, he brings a coldness to the role of Kirsh, and that coldness is how we are able to get the second best scene in this episode aside from the ending. I hope he really gets to shine in the last few episodes because Olyphant can do some crazy shit.

And now, we can get to the batshit story that we got in this episode. We start this episode kind of slow, but it picks up in a big way by episode's end, and I am left salivating for next week. We pick up with the "Lost Boys" back at Neverland Island after the events of the fourth episode, in which Wendy has been communicating with the growing Xenomorph that has been placed in a glass enclosure, as the Eye (still in possession of the sheep from the fourth episode) watches on intently. Joe and Kirsh are watching Wendy communicate with what I will call Big Ugly 2 (again, he won't mind) and Joe is worried about this. Kirsh tells him that she took out an adult one by herself. He then tries to ask about the maintenance Wendy will have to undergo when she leaves the facility, claiming that he wants them to live like a family. Kirsh basically laughs Joe off by telling him that Boy Kavalier will never let Wendy leave the island.

Meanwhile, Atom Eins, Dame Sylvia, and Arthur are watching over Nibs, who had a bit of an outburst in the fourth episode and has since been shut down. Eins is not happy about Nibs' outburst and wants it fixed, leading Dame to say that Nibs has trauma from the crash site that is leading to her erratic mood. He then tells the two to wipe her memory to make her forget everything from after the crash. He wants her to be calmer as well, but Arthur fires back and blatantly refuses, leading Eins to fire him on the spot. As the memory wipe is successful, Joe talks to Wendy where he tells her that bringing the alien creatures to the island was not a good idea, but she is nonchalant about the whole idea. She tells him that the island is a "yes place," where anything is possible, and even muses on the idea of not wanting to leave the island at all when he brings up working on a way out for the both of them.

Meanwhile, Boy Kavalier has Kirsh and Eins accompany him to a moderation with Yutani, who is flanked by Morrow and another unnamed man. Barrister McAfee is the moderator, and he has been hired on behalf of the Five to mediate this meeting. Kavalier does not take this meeting seriously, even going as far as to put his bare feet up on the table. Yutani claims that the ship is Weyland-Yutani property and wants it and all of the specimens on board back. He tells her that thousands of people were killed on his land and because of that, he is keeping the ship and the specimens. He also accuses her of a cover-up but Yutani counteroffers by giving him $10 billion to get it all back. He gets her to agree to $20 billion and wait for a six-week quarantine (that is actually required). After admitting that the specimens were intended for a research facility, she tries to give him an additional $30 billion to get them back now but he is not having any of it and leaves. Morrow tells Yutani that he is working on getting an Xenomorph by the end of the day, and outlines a plan to disrupt the facility on Neverland Island. In the elevator on the way out, Kirsh confronts Morrow as they talk about each other and their existence, with Morrow promising to see the "old toy" that he calls Kirsh soon.

Nibs is brought back online and the first person to greet her is Wendy, who is confused when she does not remember anything from the last few days. This disturbs both hybrids, with Wendy later confronting Dame about this. She tells Dame that Nibs never had a choice in the matter, but she deflects by claiming Wendy spends a lot of time in the secure lab. Wendy expresses disapproval that the alien specimens are being experimented on here, and does not want to be a person if taking things apart is what people do. She also says that Kirsh told her hybrids do not have to feel but see the world the way it truly is, but Dame tells her to stop listening to robots, leading Wendy to have an existential crisis on the need for humans in this world. Meanwhile, Slightly, who still has Morrow in his ear, tries to get Joe to come to the lab, but he is brought along on a patrol with fellow Prodigy soldiers, where they urge him to stop thinking about escaping the island after he hounds them with questions on it. Also, Kirsh has Tootles, now named Isaac, feed the aliens while he is gone, and he begins to do this before breaking the containment door for the enclosure of two fly-looking creatures. As he is opening the door to put the food in the enclosure, the Eye (who is in the very next enclosure) bangs on the glass, leading to Isaac falling in and the door closing behind him. The fly creatures spit a corrosive acid on Isaac that ends up killing him while the Eye watches them suck on his skin and body.

While packing up to be escorted off the island, Arthur is interrupted by Joe, who is still intent on leaving the island. He asks Arthur if Wendy is safe on Neverland Island, to which Arthur replies that she is (knowing that Kavalier is watching him). He shows Joe something on a computer screen, but unbeknownst to the viewers of the camera, Joe is given a boat code and Arthur shuts down the hybrids' trackers and turns off the monitors, while Arthur types out "Take her and get out." After Joe leaves, Arthur gets a notification that Isaac's tracker is turned off and that he is in the lab. Slightly, who has been trying to get in the lab and has Morrow threatening to kill his mother, accompanies Arthur into the lab and opens the door to the eggs while he is not looking. Slightly then locks Arthur in the room and tells him that "He has my family," leading Arthur to beg for his life before a facehugger jumps at him and warps itself around his face, knocking him unconscious. Slightly drags Arthur's unconscious body into a vent before the fly creatures (whose enclosure Arthur left open to get Isaac's body out of there) get the two of them, all while the Eye watches this unfold as well.

Alien: Earth is getting real good in its second half, and I cannot wait to see where we go in the final four episodes. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.