Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 5 “In Space, No One…” is an extraordinary hour of television for one simple reason: it changed my mind. For four episodes I have been going on and on about the evils being portrayed on the show. And one of those evils/bad guys has been Morrow. But in “In Space, No One…,” they’ve changed my mind completely on this character. Because while before I saw him as a cog in the machine, I now see him as the most pragmatic of all of the characters who understood the danger of the situation.
Back in episode 1 of Alien: Earth I was ready to sign off Morrow as being like any of the other synths (didn’t realize he was a cyborg) we’ve seen. You know the ones that value the cargo more than anything else. Now I agree with Morrow about not opening that door to the acting captain. Because everyone on the Maginot, or at least the ones that were awake, were making the dumbest mistakes and making me wish for their deaths to come sooner because of how annoyed I was.
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Sitting at home it’s easy for me to scream at my TV at the severity of the situation that all of these space long haul truckers are going through. But at the end of the day, it’s human complacency that was their downfall.
Look at the scientist Chibuzo. She was so sure of her knowledge making her the smartest being in that room that she underestimated the creatures that opened their cage and laid eggs in her water. She also underestimated the eyeball creature who realized they weren’t locked in and pushed themselves over their ledge and to freedom. Chibuzo had probably done all these checks and balances so many times that she didn’t think anything wrong would happen if she didn’t nitpick at everything like it was her first day. Her complacency was her downfall.
Even that security meeting that they had reeked of how complacent all of these people had become.
The young engineer’s assistant heard that a xenomorph had gotten loose somehow on the ship and he didn’t even blink an eye. He ate his food, freaked out about how hot it was, and then drank the cup full of little baby creatures. All those people thought they were untouchable in that room and in space. They thought they were smarter than all the creatures that they captured and they didn’t think that a real threat was actually coming upon them. But Morrow knew. That’s why he was sitting there, silently seething at the audacity of all of these people.
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Human connection is another reason why the crew of the Maginot died.
And I’m not saying that having a connection is a weakness in the vastness of space. We have seen time and time again within the Alien franchise that our humanity is what makes us distinct from the xenomorphs and what gives us the strength to survive. It’s the combination of complacency with this hubris that they’re the top of the food chain and not seeing the bigger picture. That last part is super important. Because none of them, besides Morrow, saw that they were on the precipice of something catastrophic.
They made jokes. Had lunch. Or acted like creepers to sleeping crew mates. None of them took the threat seriously.
The new acting captain Zaverni in particular was also frustrating because I kept thinking about how aren’t these people trained for these situations? Aren’t they psychologically evaluated to go into space? Aren’t they given the tools and training to survive such a strenuous situation, especially if they’re the captain of such an expensive ship? A lot of my frustration with her went out the window when I realized the answer was no. They haven’t been trained besides how to keep the ship running because the businesses are not investing in humans. They’re investing in their ships and what can be brought back for research and development.
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Think of everyone on this ship as being a long haul trucker. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from long haul truckers is that you don’t need extensive training to drive those trucks. You just need a little spark of competence, a Class A Commercial Driver’s License, and you’re hired.
Businesses don’t care about who drives their trucks. More than anything they just care about you getting the cargo from point A to point B. The cargo is the most important thing. Not the driver. And the same thing goes for space in the Maginot. Yutani doesn’t care for these humans. Neither does The Boy Kavalier. And this has been a central part of the Alien franchise since the first movie.
Money first. Alien first. Research first. Human second. Or last.
Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 5 “In Space, No One…” is also jarring in the fact that it takes us backwards instead of forwards. Last we left off in “Observation” it felt like the calm before the storm. Morrow was threatening Slightly and Wendy had just communicated with the chestburster. But we needed an episode like “In Space, No One…” Not only so it could give us perspective in the form of Morrow. But also to give us a little bit more background on the communication of the aliens themselves, especially after Wendy talked to the chestburster. Or clicked.
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In “In Space, No One…” saw the eye creature attack the xenomorph with zero hesitation. It literally went for the xenomorph’s throat as if it were on the same scale as this iconic alien. And I find that to be very refreshing because the xenomorph has never had someone who can stand toe to tentacle with it. But this little alien eye thing had no problem with it. Now imagine what will happen when the other aliens get out on Boy Kavalier’s island. Will they also fight amongst each other? Or will they see the humans as the weak prey that they are just like they did on the Maginot?
Whatever may come, it all comes back to one spoiled rich prodigy who thinks he’s God. Boy Kavalier.
Additional thoughts about Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 5 “In Space, No One…”:
- I’m absolutely loving the little we’ve seen of Sandra Yi Sencindiver’s Yutani. Seriously, FX Networks can do a whole show about the complexities of these businesses and I would watch.
- The flashbacks with Morrow were really sad. He left home knowing he would probably never see his daughter again. I don’t know if I would be able to make that decision. But he did.
- It makes me wonder how much those Yutani shares are really worth. And how they change the lives of those left behind.
- “We’ll Meet Again” by The Ink Spots always gets me.
- Teng was an absolute creep and had it coming. Thank you xenomorph.
Alien: Earth is available on FX and Hulu with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays at 8pm ET.
