The original post: /r/television by /u/whatismypain on 2025-08-22 18:20:18+00:00.
My biggest criteria for shows are that they have compelling characters, interesting dialogue, and a well-paced plot that works for the genre. The genre itself isn’t a huge factor for me. Some shows I’ve enjoyed immensely are Andor, Deadloch, This Country (BBC mockumentary), Better Call Saul, Broad City, Giri/Haji, The Wire, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Fargo, Lost, Last of Us, and (most recently) Murderbot.
My go-to horror movie is Carpenter’s The Thing, but I’ve also enjoyed some movies in the Alien franchise. I think I’d fall into the target audience for Alien: Earth and was actually stoked for it. To be clear, I don’t mind any of the illogical plot points that other people seem upset about – those just don’t bother me. My gripe is that I find the show devoid of character complexity and interest. The acting feels strained (Wendy is especially difficult to watch), the dialogue feels lazy/hollow/cringey, and the exposition feels incredibly forced and boring. The worldbuilding leaves a lot to be desired.
I think it was a clever idea to have adults playing kids instead of child actors, because children are notoriously terrible at acting. I actually really appreciate this idea. But I feel like it only works if you hire extremely experienced adult actors. The only Lost Boy that is convincing and enjoyable to watch is Smee (Jonathan Ajayi). Aside from the “kids”, Alex Lawther is obviously an extremely talented actor, but I feel that his talent is wasted here due to the terrible script.
I think there’s just too much focus on the visuals at the expense of the characters and the story. It feels hollow. I could see why some folks would still enjoy it as is, but I was hoping for something more interesting and captivating from Noah Hawley. I think Alien: Earth is bad TV. I think it’s likely it will not get any better, and eventually (after the hype has faded) this will be the consensus.