Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Rise of the Synths
What is Prodigy’s endgame here?
Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 3 ramped up the intrigue in the aftermath of the ship’s crash-landing, doubling down on mystery while broadening the scope of this prequel’s story.
Instead of easing off the gas, the episode peeled back new layers of Prodigy’s agenda, revealing just how much potential this series has to stand alongside its cinematic predecessors.
After two installments heavy on Wendy and Hermit, sidelining the brother-sister duo to spotlight the other synths was a smart creative pivot. These characters aren’t just window dressing; they’re crucial players in the larger narrative puzzle.
The thing Prodigy seems to overlook is that Boy Kavalier’s group of synths are, at their core, children. They may look like weapons, but they think and feel like kids.
That means they’re clinging to pieces of their past instead of surrendering completely to Kavalier’s vision.
Alien: Earth is Fantastic So Far
Perhaps he believed their malleable minds would make them easier to mold, but as Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 3 proves, the more he pushes, the more resistance he encounters.
Take Nibs, for example. She’s grappling with an identity crisis, told to erase her past but unable to shake it. With little to occupy her time inside Prodigy’s walls, she’s consumed by questions: about her place, about the existence of aliens, and about her own traumatic encounter with one of the aliens.
Lily Newmark nails the performance, balancing fragility with simmering unease. Nibs is an enigma, and enigmatic characters tend to be the most unpredictable — and dangerous.
Her resentment toward Wendy feels inevitable. Why does Wendy get to be the golden child, even named after Peter Pan’s most iconic character, while the others languish in uncertainty? Prodigy is putting all its chips on Wendy, which is a surefire recipe for jealousy to fester.
On the flip side, Curly’s arc is just as fascinating. She’s laser-focused on proving herself as Prodigy’s best asset, refusing to waste time on nostalgia. Her conversation with Kavalier revealed both her drive and her awareness of his favoritism toward Wendy.
The danger here isn’t that Curly will fade into the background of the FX hit — it’s that her ambition could evolve into direct rivalry. She carries herself with a maturity the others lack, which hints that her backstory may be more complex than we’ve been told.
Mark my words: Curly’s going to be a major adversary for Wendy as Alien: Earth Season 1 deepens.
Speaking of Wendy, her connection to the Xenomorphs grows more puzzling by the week. During Kirsh’s dissection of the egg, Wendy’s collapse hinted at a psychic or biological link to the alien species.
On the Alien: Earth series premiere, she displayed a near-telepathic awareness of the creature’s movements — an ability that suggested her very creation may have involved alien material. If true, that puts her in a dangerous position. Humanity has always feared what it can’t control, and if word spreads that a synth is bonded to the Xenomorphs, she could be hunted down as a threat.
Is Wendy the Biggest Asset to Prodigy?
The series flirted with greatness during Wendy’s showdown with the Xenomorph, showcasing the synths’ power. But the fight itself was frustratingly truncated. This is Alien, after all. Viewers crave that blend of horror and spectacle.
A full sequence would have cemented the synths’ strength while dialing up the terror.
Then there’s Hermit, whose role grows murkier by the episode. Kavalier implanting a Xenomorph embryo into his lung raises chilling questions. Is this a sadistic experiment designed to test Wendy’s loyalty?
If Wendy collapses whenever a Xenomorph is harmed, does Kavalier hope this forces her to sever ties with her brother permanently? Or is it a more sinister play to weaponize Hermit in ways Wendy can’t predict?
Kavalier could’ve easily killed Hermit, so the fact that he didn’t suggests long-term calculation. Kavalier himself continues to be one of the show’s most fascinating elements. He struts around Prodigy like a man untouchable, lingering near danger (like the egg) with reckless confidence.
But arrogance always has a cost in the Alien universe. If he underestimates Yutani, the other looming power player, he may find his empire crumbling beneath him.
Though she’s only had a handful of scenes, Yutani radiates quiet menace. As the heir to a mission launched six decades earlier by her grandmother, she represents legacy, patience, and ruthless determination.
Yutani and Morrow Mean Business
She isn’t the type to let Prodigy hoard its toys for long. With Morrow, her fiercely devoted cyborg lieutenant, Yutani has both brains and brawn at her disposal. Morrow’s manipulation of Slightly made for a compelling subplot, though it was hard to watch.
Again, these synths are children, and watching them used as pawns adds a layer of tragedy to the show’s already bleak landscape. Alien: Earth works best when it leans into that tension: children forced into adulthood, technology blurring into monstrosity, and corporations treating both as disposable assets.
That’s the DNA of the franchise, stretching all the way back to Alien’s critique of Weyland-Yutani.
If Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 1 was about setting the stage and Alien: Earth Season 1 Episode 2 was about testing loyalties, the third episode pushes the series into darker, more complex territory.
Questions are multiplying faster than answers, but that’s not a bad thing. A prequel thrives on suspense, and this chapter left me equal parts unsettled and excited for what’s next.
With Wendy’s fate seemingly tied to the aliens, Nibs spiraling, Curly plotting, Hermit unknowingly hosting a nightmare, and Yutani circling like a shark, Alien: Earth has officially hit its stride.
The prequel isn’t just content to rest on the franchise’s legacy — it wants to carve out its own, terrifying story.
What are your thoughts on Wendy’s tether to the otherworldly species? What’s your take on what’s happening to Hermit? Do you think Boy Kavalier is already making grave mistakes?
Hit the comments.
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