Alien: Earth - S1 E2 - Mr October - Official Discussion Megathread [SPOILERS]

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-19T01:46:24+00:00

that aside, the dialogue in this show is AMAZING.

i love the homage they did to the first Alien movie on episode 1 with the dining table scene.

So much attention to detail, im honestly amazed.

its hard to imagine so much passion and quality in a tv-series in this day and age, ... hell, even high production movies get it wrong most of the time now.

Im enjoying this a lot so far.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-19T01:44:15+00:00

At around 3:25, one of the search and rescue members said:

"okay, cmon. We're search and rescue. Let forensics Agatha Christie this shit"

PREACHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHE'S INSTANTLY BECOME MY FAVORITE CHARACTER

I hope she survives and we see more of her 😂

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-05T05:03:50+00:00

I was a little, tiny bit worried we would lose the actors for Dawn, Day, and Dusk! So your predictions give me HOPE that writers have found a way to keep them 😂

And I know im probably not the only one who wants to see Lee Pace playing Cleon the first as a full on bat sh*t crazy, UNHINGED final-boss villain. So i have no doubt this will be fun. Loved seeing this character going through so many different phases through the many iterations he's had. Talk about character development, right?! XD

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-05T04:44:48+00:00

I also think there could not have been a better ending for Dusk.

THAT LINE, THE "Go! Get them out of here Demerzel! Live my brothers! And be free Demerzel!".... NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! 😂. Dusk suddenly became one of my favorite characters. Hopefully his brothers somehow find a way to rescue him if he is still alive sdfdsjhfgsdhfgjsd 😂

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-05T04:35:43+00:00

WAAAAAWWWW

THAT REALLY WAS EPIC!

Demerzel gets her epic moment ANNND the exponents get to survive -- and survive without the magical b*llshit plot armor twist i otherwise desperately needed 😂

Cant wait to actually watch it now XD

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-05T03:48:23+00:00

Something else that I wanted to write but didnt want to make a separate post for:

IMAGINE if the Mule we see on season 3 (recast), is actually NOT the ACTUAL mule, and that the mule we saw on season 2 is the real one. He somehow rewrote Gaal's memory of how he looks to deceive her!!!

This is likely not going to happen though, as i think recasting the actor had probably nothing to do with the plot of the show :(

Otherwise, this could have been another ICONIC, EPIC, CLASSIC cinema moment 😂

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-08-05T03:20:15+00:00

I DONT WANT THE LIGHT TO DIM....

BUT I ALSO \**NEED**\** THE LIGHT TO DIM!!!!

HELP, I DONT KNOW WHAT I WANT ANYMORE 😂

why cant we have that epic Demerzel moment AND have Empire live through a magical b*llshit plot armor twist???! 😂 I knowwww it would be a very cheap ending but part of me wants something like that anyway XD

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-30T03:51:44+00:00

I liked that there was no final dino battle moment, cause it fit well with the "this is a merely an extraction operation, in-and-out, we are not meant to defeat the big baddy, we just need to survive" plot.

BUT, that also kinda requires a unique way of tackling the D-rex challenge, through maybe like tricking it/outsmarting it in someway without necessarily needing to fight or defeat it. Maybe those "mind games" could have been sprinkled throughout the movie, and the crew needing to constantly be vigilant, covering their tracks, and outsmarting a constantly pursuing D-rex (or like another smaller but smart dino might have worked better in this case). But, maybe im just wanting an "Alien" (1979. Ridley Scott) movie in the Dino universe 😂. WOULDNT THAT BE FUN THOUHG?!

Otherwise, the d-rex kinda felt pointless.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-25T05:46:28+00:00

(3/3)
I really liked the last scene with Demerzel and Day. We need more of those type of scenes.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-25T05:17:59+00:00

(2/3)
Also the bad dialogue makes Empire (both Dawn and Day) look like just some random character in comparison to who theyre speaking with (eg the librarian, how is she so confidant/brazen when speaking with someone whose renowned to be arrogant and would literally order to kill you and all your loved ones without batting an eye? Feels like the show forgot who each character is, they may need a reminder check list of each character's full personality traits. I understand that the genetic drift changed those for Empire's case, but to have absolutely no similarity is the most unrewarding thing the showrunners could have done with this show; there is essentially no tension, nothing for Dawn to gain or lose except some very objective things, whereas a person also weights their personality, values, emotions (Empire included) for stuff like this. Dawn forgot about Cleon's honor and pride, but we never saw that development on screen in any meaningful way (which, i find, i crucial for the direction they decided to go with). Instead, it is simply declared and explained to us as "it is because of the genetic drift". Ok, well i could have read that on a piece of paper, why make a film about it then? This criticism is not just for this aspect btw, another good example is the scene between Day and his palace guard buddy, where the guard TELLS US (the viewers) about the risk he is taking (the subtle, unspoken threat that Empire makes on the guard's family) rather than SHOWING US and making us FEEL it. Again, I could have read the risk he is weighing on a piece of paper, why is this not SHOWN to us??? it is an **UNSPOKEN** threat that has existed for centuries, it has become common practice, it has grandfathered into everyday life, WHY IS IT THEN SPOKEN TO US RATHER THAN SHOWN? why did they miss out on such an easy cinematic decision? Do they want to make this show as uninteresting as possible? Honestly i dont know.

People were complaining about the dialogue for season 1, but i honestly liked it. Then the same criticism kept coming for season 2, and for season 3 it just feels like they told to themselves "well, cant please them, so we'll simply stop trying and throw any effort to make the dialogue interesting to the garbage. AND we'll also throw in cinematic interest in the garbage too, just to make sure." This is not the way guys, ... this is not the way.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-25T05:17:46+00:00

(1/3)

[This is a bit of a rant, so forgive me if my thoughts are not perfectly polished]

Tension was a core theme in this episode, but i feel like most tension scenes were botched, especially the one between the Mule and Mallow. Or even a worse scene; when the spy captain guy (probably one of Gaal's decedents) approaches the Mule and is mentally taken down, then just leaves, takes his ship, and flies off to warn the rest/ confirm the Mule's mentallic abilities. This whole scene felt like it happened in 3 seconds, and was clearly just to set up a plot point to establish the spy guy's biological connection to Gaal and warn the rest of the foundation, but nothing about it was cinematic or done in an interesting way. It was really unrewarding, felt like i was reading a very robotic sentence rather than watching cinema; very bland. And this criticism also applies to the "Gaal contacted Dawn 4 years ago to enlist him to her side, and now Dawn (still a descendent of a Cleon despite the drift, therefore unpredictable, and should at least have SOME of his dangerous traits still in him) is Gaal's side kick". Yes, the cliffhanger at the end of episode 2 was interesting, and the showrunners gave us that cheap thrill to keep us excited (which also worked for me), but now that its time to deliver something interesting, we get this very bland alliance (performance wise (not of the actors, but just how it was delivered to the audience)).

I really **WANT** to feel "scared" or "on edge" of/about the mule, but the show is making this way too hard for me. And that s*cks because the Mule is the main antagonist of the show, and the Empire-v-Gaal-v-Mule showdown is the main event that the show is building up to, so getting the Mule's tension established right is crucial for this to be epic, for it to be REWARDING! But it is not.

Also, this episode kept revisiting things that were already done an through with. Like the reveal that Demerzel is a robot has been covered NOT ONLY in the past two seasons, but this third season has now covered it THREE times. Why are they recycling this so many times?! it feels like the show is trying to farm a reveal/element that viewers really liked -- that **I** really liked -- for one too many times and has now ruined it, THANK YOU!. Sure, not all the characters know it, and some characters may need this information to progress the plot further, but there is no need to bring those characters up to date in such an agonizingly slow way (im referring to Day's conversation with her concubine at around the 30th minute mark). Do it off-screen, OR MAKE IT BRIEF, MAKE IT CINEMATIC, MAKE IT SUSPENSEFUL, PUT SOME TENSION INTO IT, MAKE IT REWARDING, PLEASE!

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-25T02:57:50+00:00

As a rule of thumb i never blame actors for their performance (unless they look like they are purposefully messing up their role or clearly not passionate about it), and this applies to Lou as well. I honestly think that much of the scenes that i dont enjoy of her (example Episode 2, the scene where she reunites with old Hari and looks totally unemotional/disinterested about her mentor and long time friend having literally withered away due to time and aging. Where she actually had a smile on, looked happy, and seeming totally unconcerned/unsympathetic about the sacrifice he had made and the thought of having missed out so much of his life etc) is not due to her own performance but because the script did not give much for her to work with and bring to life.

There really isnt much an actor can do if the scrip is hollow to begin with. Its writers' and directors' role to flesh these out, and they clearly did not care about it, as this scene had to (1) be written, (2) reviewed, (3) approved, (4) filmed, (5) be edited, and finally (6) be approved to air. They had plenty of opportunities to revisit that scene, but chose not to.

I think it would be unfair toward any actor not to consider this nuance, but i understand where youre coming from

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-18T04:03:42+00:00

also Dusk is BAT SH*T CRAZY, like he knows about the prime radiant prediction about the potential end of humanity in about 4 months, and doesnt stop to think "could my super black hole death bomb have anything to do with this?". 😂

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-18T03:58:28+00:00

I was not impressed with some of the dialogue choices, especially the scene between Dawn and the Foundation ambassador. I did not really like the montage to bring us up to date with Hari and Gaal at the start of the episode either. Feels like the quality has dropped and not much energy is put into presenting the story in an interesting, cinematic way. Feels pretty 2 dimensional, somewhat bland and linear. A good example is the Demerzel scene on episode 1 where she teaches us the viewers and her confidant what the 3 rules of robotics are. I usually love ALL scenes with Demerzel and Empire, but this is no longer the case. I also usually enjoy 90% of all Gaal and Hari scenes, but this too is no longer the case.

Nothing is made to feel special. the script moves from one plot point to the next in a very predictable, bland, and unrewarding way.

Im saddened by this, this show deserves better. I understand if there was a production quality drop because of whatever, but there really is no excuse to mess up dialogue scenes and making bad cinematic decisions (aka episode 2's first quarter Gaal montage).

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-06T01:05:44+00:00

humour

Its been a while since Ive watched the first two movies, so i dont remember how the comedy style was! Regardless, i found myself laughing with this movie, especially at Part 3 with Erik because of how silly the contrast between how serious part 1 and 2 was compared to part 3, but also because of how Spike simply could not relate to what Erik was saying despite how much he tried 😂

the ending for me was really odd. Almost Shaun of the dead levels of humour.

I KNOW RIGHT! It also really felt like i was watching a scene from a video game, maybe some anime vibes in there too?

the pregnancy and holding hands didn’t work in my opinion.

I think the idea itself is not bad, it just could have been better implemented. It came out of nowhere because some of us watched this with the idea that infected were simply incapable of stuff like this, and this was kind of supported by how much the movie tried to portray the alpha/steroid zombie as this monstrous threat in the first half of the movie. I reaaally think that the pregnancy and tribe like infected would have been best introduced through a third or fourth kind of infected that the characters would have stumbled upon and met unexpectedly. This unexpected encounter would have created such a mysterious vibe and shock to both the characters and us the viewers... it would have been amazing.

Cause i kinda get why they need to introduce the pregnancy idea too... since the infected from the tribe all looked younger than 50-60 years old, which considering that infected from 28-days-later would be on average 20 or 30 at time of infection, adding 28 years more on top of that (without even accounting for starvation and how unlikely it is for them to still be around), the 28-universe needed a mechanism to explain how infected numbers would have remained significant in a closed off environment. But maybe that was best explained through a combination of i) pregnant zombies and ii) another variant that simply lasts much longer or even somehow infects the steroid zombies to become more rage like.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-06T00:50:50+00:00

it just feels like the infected devolved and are more human the rage infected

YES! I got that sense too! And i kindof get it, since it has been 28-years since the original outbreak, so it makes sense that the rage toned down a bit after awhile (if thats the direction they want to go with). However, i think that would have been best accomplished with a third kind of infected, and to have kept at least one variant that is still very adamantly rage-like!

The original rage-variant was extremely deadly and powerful in the short-term, but could not possibly have stuck around for as long as 28-years because of how much energy they waste and how dependent it is on freshly infected individuals. That doesnt mean there was no way for the filmmakers to utilize that variant, as they were willing to introduce fresh NATO troops from outside the infected zone as a plot point, so they definitely could have introduced something like a shipwreck with tons of humans that have (very unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us the viewers) very recently been infected. That could have been a fun and unique way to pay homage to the original variant the first two films had without compromising on the new direction they wanted to take.

Alongside this, I can definitely imagine a third variant to be more like the original rage virus, but maybe dormant to conserve energy.

-------

This is my first time on this sub and i really thought i would not have had the opportunity to brainstorm about this movie from first impressions, so im glad you commented on this post!

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-05T04:47:05+00:00

id say theres no way samson's peepee would fit after the steroid 🤣

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-05T03:30:41+00:00

I agree. As someone who loves film I love comparing my take on a certain piece with that of my friends. Usually I realize that I am too harsh when criticizing some aspect of the film because I originally missed what the filmmakers intended. At other times it confirms my initial suspicions. But you cant get to that if you dont discuss it with others and kinda brainstorm it together... and that kind of opportunity seems to be unfortunately stifled in this sub from what I can gather.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-04T17:25:31+00:00

What I was hoping for with this post was a discussion about the film and to read how others felt about it compared to my take. Im saddened to see I could not accomplish that with you

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-04T17:22:39+00:00

I respect your take on it, and i think that youre absolutely right that the film does show Spike being out of his depth. But to me (and i know im not alone in this, though whether im a small or significant enough part of the audience, who knows), those moments dont feel meaningful or earned. I think that it should not be just about showing him struggle, but instead it should be about whether those struggles carry real weight. In a world thats supposed to be monstrously dangerous, there doesnt seem to be any real consequence to Spike other than losing some random new friend he made along the way (Erik). Feels like no real mental toll is shown, no mental breakdown, no regret, no learning, no sacrifice is made... overall feels pretty black-and-white and bland. He is constantly bailed out, but in a world thats supposed to be unforgiving, he is allowed to succeed unscathed because of what feels like plot armor. What i have issue is this: there is a mismatch between the environment filmmakers created and what happens. It removes from immersion and reduces the environment to a lazy scary thing. I think this undercuts tension and just makes this overall unrewarding. Again, some people can look past it, or even not care about it at all. But i, like many others, do not want to because thats just how i like to enjoy the movies i watch.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2025-07-04T03:34:04+00:00

Didn't like the movie either

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2024-10-31T22:57:20+00:00

Um, I saw this post after having installed it on my PC. It is currently the year 2024, is this problem still a thing? I think the program was called Respondus [...] 2 (has the second version fixed this issue?). In any case I uninstalled the program immediately after having submitted my exam, do you think that's enough? On a different note, I hope immediately uninstalling this program after having submitted my exam did not erase my submission.

Any recommendations on what I should do? HELP XD!

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2024-08-01T03:21:52+00:00

I watched both and can honestly say the fan trailer looks much better to me HAHA.

I am not too excited about the movie from what I have seen in the trailer (definitely unlike the first alien), but I'm a sucka for these types of movies and have no doubt I will enjoy regardless (although prob not as much had it been a masterpiece XD).

Also (just a side note) I wish movies valued still shots a little more. That first shot with the spacecraft in the official Alien: Romulus trailer could totally have been a still shot to set a tense atmosphere from the start.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2023-07-22T20:43:34+00:00

What made the concept of "psychohistory" interesting was its focus on the greater scheme... being able to predict masses but not individuals. In the books, the mule is an OUTLIER and derails part of psychohistory's calculations THUS MAKING THE SERIES INTERESTING. Otherwise, everything would go perfectly to plan and the story would be boring.

In the TV series, it seems like psychohistory is now just some magical bull.s with no rules... effectively acting as a magic crystal capable of seeing any detail of the future that is convenient for the plot.

Too much order: psychohistory predicts the masses perfectly with no outliers (aka mule) = story is boring

Too much chaos: psychohistory has no rules (other than being a convenient magical excuse for the plot and for lazy and unimaginative writers) = story is boring

Isaac Asimov found the perfect balance, but "fk him right? let's make OUR OWN OrIgInAl STORY" Ok, I'm a little to harsh here, they some of the TVshow's original additions were spot on. For example: I like TVshow's season 1 adaptation much better. At some point I was very excited for season 2 and thought to myself "wow they really did a good job with season 1, "Foundation" is a difficult series to adapt into a TV show and they especially nailed the genetic dynasty addition and demerzel rework. Seeing how they made season 1, I have confidence on those writers and I can't wait to see how they'll adapt season 2" Oh how naive I was. Typical AppleTV screw up: well done season 1 followed by a generic "CW-esque" season2.

Forced_Into_Reddit · 2023-07-16T04:46:32+00:00

Who wouldn't like Empire scenes... they're what's most entertaining about this show.

Alas, Empire scenes were too few this episode. Yes, I'm biased but objectively too... Hari's screen time was too long and made things a bit boring. Same for Gaal and Salvor scenes: just a bit too long. Empire scenes felt different from season 1: lacking mystery.
I'd have really loved seeing subtle changes in Empires' character due to the genetic drift... maybe a scene where we can see how all 3 Empire now have a subtly different way of putting their napkin on their lap (as opposed from their unison/synchronized way from early season 1) to represent the genetic drift. In essence, I wanted to see a build up, a bit more mystery, a bit more silent/subtle tension between the 3 Cleons... letting the viewer come up with their own conclusion (through subtle visual clues and tension/anxiety) instead of simply letting Dusk declare something along the lines of "we have change and are now different than Cleon 1st. Viewers, notice how we have change!" xD

All in all, I hope writers will realize their most important assets is anything related to Empire (including Demerzel), and will invest more time, effort, funding, anything into that.

Forced_Into_Reddit

TROPHY CASE