(NEXSTAR) \u2014 Following its bombastic (and terrific) two-episode premiere, FX\u2019s \u201cAlien: Earth\u201d<\/a> furiously pulses deeper into chaos in the series\u2019 third episode, which finally brings the action \u2014 and the monsters \u2014 off the Weyland-Yutani ship that crash-landed in episode one.<\/p>\n Spoilers for Tuesday night\u2019s episode ahead.<\/strong><\/p>\n In \u201cMetamorphosis,\u201d Prodigy CEO Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin<\/a>)\u2019s plan to get the five alien species found aboard the ship and to his island comes to fruition. These include a dead xenomorph (more on that below), several xenomorph eggs, the eyeball-octopus creature<\/a>, giant locust-like bugs, and the mystery plant thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n Seriously, what is that thing going to be? Probably nothing good but we won\u2019t find out just yet.<\/p>\n Fake Labubu dolls may be dangerous, CPSC warns <\/a><\/p>\n Before her own return to the island, hybrid Wendy (Sydney Chandler<\/a>) gets critically damaged while saving brother Joe from a near-fatal xenomorph attack. She kills the xeno but not before it tail-stabs Joe through the abdomen. It\u2019s looks pretty bad for Joe but soon, Prodigy surgeons save him with an emergency artificial lung transplant.<\/p>\n Back on the island, the rest of the (hybrid) kids aren\u2019t alright.<\/p>\n Curly (Erana James<\/a>), meanwhile, takes Wendy\u2019s momentary decommission as an opportunity to move in closer to her \u201cfather,\u201d Kavalier. Earlier in the episode, she expresses frustration at being treated as if she\u2019s less important than first-born Wendy. Later, in a private conversation with the Prodigy wunderkind, Curly expresses what she views as Wendy\u2019s lack of vision.<\/p>\n When Kavalier ask if it bothers her that Wendy\u2019s \u201chis favorite,\u201d Curly says it doesn\u2019t \u2014 even though, in her opinion, he\u2019s \u201cwrong.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> FX\u2019s Alien: Earth \u2014 \u201cMetamorphosis\u201d \u2014 Season 1, Episode 3 (Airs Tuesday, August 19) \u2014 Pictured (L-R): Alex Lawther as Hermit, Sydney Chandler as Wendy. (Credit: Patrick Brown\/FX Networks)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cAll she cares about is her stupid brother,\u201d says Curly. \u201cBut I think about things\u2026 I have ideas. I\u2019m saying I think I could be<\/em> you one day. More than you, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s enough to intrigue the CEO, who agrees to work with her on some yet-to-be-revealed project in exchange for being in \u201cin the running\u201d to be his favorite. Even hybrids have one-sided beefs.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a promising new wrinkle, and it\u2019ll be interesting to see how far Curly\u2019s will go to become the new synthetic star. James\u2019 performance, though brief, is among the most memorable and unnerving of the episode.<\/p>\n We also can\u2019t totally disagree with Curly\u2019s claim about Wendy: All she does<\/em> care about is her brother! We\u2019re not entirely sure we\u2019re as invested in their relationship as the show thinks we are. As a viewer, it\u2019s frustrating how often Wendy and Joe\u2019s scenes fall flat. Through no fault of the actors, we simply haven\u2019t been given enough of a reason to care about the sibling reunion. Come on, \u201cIce Age\u201d<\/a> isn\u2019t that<\/em> good.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the weakest element of an otherwise strong series.<\/p>\n \u2018The Breakfast Club\u2019 returning to theaters for 40th anniversary <\/a><\/p>\n The weakest moment of \u201cMetamorphosis\u201d overall comes early on, in one overly long (and somewhat obnoxious) scene between hybrids Slightly and Smee that drags on only to expose some of the series\u2019 least-effective writing. It\u2019s undoubtedly challenging writing children in adult bodies but the writing of these characters in this scene \u2014 particularly Slightly (Adarsh Gourav<\/a>) \u2014 veers slightly<\/em> into being so juvenile it becomes annoying. We\u2019re not holding that against \u201cAlien: Earth,\u201d though, because we\u2019re having too much fun.<\/p>\n Despite this unfortunate lull, the scene thankfully produces an interesting new problem for Prodigy. Weyland-Yutani cyborg security officer Morrow (Babou Ceesay<\/a>) chances upon both Slightly and Smee near the end of the aforementioned scene, and he realizes the pair are Prodigy\u2019s newest synthetics. By episode\u2019s end, Morrow has figured out how to hack into Slightly\u2019s communications system to speak privately.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t learn exactly what Morrow, played with menacing magnetism by Ceesay, wants, but like Slightly, we\u2019re nervous about it.<\/p>\n <\/a> FX\u2019s Alien: Earth \u2014 \u201cMetamorphosis\u201d \u2014 Season 1, Episode 3 (Airs Tuesday, August 19) \u2014 Pictured (L-R): Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh. (Credit: Patrick Brown\/FX Networks)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n A truly thrilling (and novel) thing happens by episode\u2019s end, as synthetic researcher Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant<\/a>) does something we\u2019ve never seen: A facehugger extraction and dissection. In this goopy and impressively practical scene, Kirsh slices the creature open to remove the sperm-like embryo it would have implanted inside a host. Refusing to let any organic tissue go to waste, Kirsh drops the organism into a vat containing Joe\u2019s punctured lung.<\/p>\n You won\u2019t see what becomes of this just yet but we promise it\u2019s worth waiting for.<\/p>\n Finally, Wendy\u2019s up and repaired but something\u2019s different.<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon World Championships 2025 delivers record-breaking action <\/a><\/p>\n During Kirsh\u2019s facehugger dissection, Wendy starts hearing the creature\u2019s cries in her head. In fact, she\u2019s begun \u201chearing\u201d the movements of the alien species brought to the Prodigy labs. The episode ends as Wendy tries quieting her mind against a cacophony of monsters.<\/p>\n \u201cAlien: Earth\u201d\u2018s premiere was pretty stellar and episode three weaves in several exciting new threads we\u2019re excited to experience along with you. Each episode so far has leveled up over the previous one, and we\u2019re happy to say creator Noah Hawley\u2019s series keeps (pleasantly) surprising us.<\/p>\n Grade: A-<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAlien: Earth\u201d airs Tuesdays on FX and Hulu.<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n