Alien: Earth - Decoding some cameos and references in episode 1 of the science fiction show

The first and second episodes of Alien: Earth season 1 are now streaming on Hulu and FX. The show reimagines the Alien movie universe as a chilling eight-episode series. The rest of the season will be released weekly (every Tuesday). Created by Noah Hawley, the show explores what happens when alien life reaches Earth.

The first episode, Neverland, points towards thematic inspiration from Peter Pan. It’s the time when five major corporations, Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold, hold the same power as countries, using exclusive tech breakthroughs to shape a hopeful future.

Alien Earth season 1: Tracking Earth Easter eggs in the first episode

The show starts with an electronic beep drawn from the sounds of the Nostromo in 1979's Alien, the movie that heavily influences the new show.

The USCSS Maginot: The ill-fated ship carrying various alien lifeforms to Earth is a Weyland-Yutani science vessel. It’s quite different from the USCSS Nostromo seen in Alien, but its interior shares many visual similarities, including the mess hall, cryo chamber, bridge, and the room where Morrow communicates with Mother, all inspired by the Nostromo’s design.

Show is set in 2120: The series is set two years before the events of Alien, despite early comments from Hawley suggesting that "It's somewhere around the events of the second film, either before or just after," as quoted by Games Radar. The date was probably changed during production.

The alien: The host that “gave birth” to this xenomorph has not been seen, but, interestingly, it often moves on all fours, like the creature in Alien 3, which came from either a cow or a dog, depending on the version you watched.

The ship's cat: The Maginot has a ginger cat, as was seen in the promo ahead of the launch of the series. This is kind of similar to Ripley's feline friend Jonesy in Alien and Aliens.


The doom of the Maginot: The scenes on the ship play out like a speed run of the first Alien movie, with the crew of the ship busy at work when something goes wrong, the Xenomorph gets out, and the crew are killed.

MU-TH-UR/MOTHER: Morrow enjoys top-level access to the Weyland-Yutani AI, just like Ash did in Alien. It appears to be the primary link between Morrow and the Weyland-Yutani command.

Ice Age: Continental Drift: Joe, the human brother of Wendy, appears to be watching the fourth Ice Age movie just before the Maginot crashes into Prodigy City.

Facehuggers in jars: The scene that recalls the Colonial Marines investigating the deserted Hadley's Hope outpost in Aliens, the search and rescue team finds some dead facehuggers in jars.

Noah Hawley: Noah Hawley, the showrunner and writer, is playing Joe and Marcie’s father in a flashback scene.

The score: The unique horn theme that appears occasionally in the first two episodes sounds like it’s sampled from Jerry Goldsmith’s Alien soundtrack.