Alien: Earth debuted with not one, but two episodes this week and introduced a bit of corporate intrigue with a healthy dose of mayhem and carnage.

The episode, titled Mr. October, picks up right where we left off and focuses heavily on the xenomorph mayhem this time around. Many, many, people are ripped to shreds as the “perfect organism” makes its way through the Prodigy building where the ship crashed, wreaking havoc on both search and rescue personnel, as well as a group of lavish partygoers cosplaying as 18th-century French nobility who dismissed the warnings in favour of, well, more partying. At the same time, most of the Lost Boys and Kirsh are exploring the ship, trying to learn what it is and what could be on it, which is of course, more creatures, including a particularly nasty octopus creature with a giant eye who embedds itself into the eye cavity of its host, in this case, a cat. Nasty.

Unbeknownst to him at the time, but after a direct call from Yutani herself, Kavalier becomes obsessed with wanting whatever is on that ship that just so happened to land on his property. Kavalier fancies himself not only a young trillionaire but someone in search of an intelligence that could rival his own, and it’s what motivated him to create the Hybrid program. I do hope Alien: Earth leans more into the corporate espionage and backroom dealings between Prodigy and Weyland, as it’s an aspect that’s far more unique for this franchise. We’ve seen the Xenomorphs before, and we know about Weyland’s nefarious ways, but we’ve never seen how the company deals with its competition and rivals on its home turf.

While most of the episode was dedicated to horror and monsters, we did get a nice bit of character growth between Wendy and her brother Joe, after Slightly gleefully spilled the beans that his saviour is none other than his presumed deceased sister. It was great to see Joe come to terms with this, going from confusion, denial, grief, and acceptance in a few minutes as he processed the reality of the situation.

The episode concludes with the discovery of some Face Hugger pods and Joe being knocked off the platform by the Xenomorph, forcing Wendy to find her brother once again (and likely leaving Simply to become the next victim, I’d wager). The show has made a point of highlighting the “perfection” of the Hybrids and how invulnerable they are, so I’m curious if the show is setting up some sort of synth/organic/hybrid of its own, as it would fit conceptually with the narrative.

With the episodes cutting right into the middle of a major event, I have to wonder if Alien: Earth will end up feeling like an eight-hour movie, cut at specific parts. And while Hawley still wrote this episode, he didn’t direct it, with duties being passed to Dana Gonzales, and as such, the pacing felt quite different in this one, much faster relative to the opener, I’d say. Personally, I liked the slower pace more, but I know that kind of thing is subjective and that I may be in the minority with that statement. So overall, I’d say the second episode of Alien: Earth was still really solid, but maybe lacking a certain elegance that the premiere had. What did you think, though?