'Alien: Earth' introduces a monster that’s even creepier than the Xenomorph

Alien Earth doesn't just rehash the same scares

It builds on the franchise's DNA to explore new angles of what makes us vulnerable

Just when you thought the xenomorph was peak nightmare fuel, along comes a new alien that doesn't burst out of your chest

but hijacks your eyeballs. FX's Alien Earth is here. And this is how it hits

When people think of Alien, they usually think of... It's Alien, if you can believe it

More commonly known as the Xenomorph, it's the ultimate sci-fi monster. Sleek, terrifying, and way too good at ruining dinner parties

What made the Xeno hit so hard is how it was first introduced in Ridley Scott's 1979 classic

You barely saw it at first, just flashes of teeth, claws, and shadows

but every glimpse made it feel less revealed and more imagined. And as the series went on, it didn't stay the same

Aliens made them into a swarm. Alien 3 gave us the animal runner Each new form stretched what the xenomorph could be

while for the most part keeping its core intact. A perfect organism built to hunt, kill, and haunt your dreams

The franchise carried that fear into other places too. Alien Isolation, released in 2014, put you directly in the nightmare, trapping players

in claustrophobic corridors with a xenomorph that could hear, hunt, and outsmart you

In my humble opinion, it really didn't get the praise it deserved at the time, and reviews

were mixed. But it did such a great job capturing the atmosphere of the original film

For my money, it's one of the best ways to experience what makes the Xeno so terrifying

I'd recommend it to any alien fan, and honestly, it still holds up

In Alien Earth, that tradition continues with a new lovely extraterrestrial addition called the T-Acellus

which is basically an eyeball with tentacles. Fun. Like the Xenomorph, it's a parasite

But instead of chest-bursting out of you like some sort of f***ed-up pinata

this thing slips into you or unfortunately your cat face We love you Jonesy it could never be you By replacing your eyeball latching onto your brainstem and taking the wheel of your body like it just hot your Kia Optima

Now, here's where it gets interesting. The fears at play are the same, but also completely different

The Xenomorph has always been tied to reproductive horror. Its life cycle is about invasion, impregnation, and ultimately taking control over your body

It taps into primal anxieties about violation and forced creation. But our new all-seeing octopus friend

It's about cognition. Your mind, your decisions, your identity. Completely hijacked. It's a different kind of body horror

One that asks you, what if you're still alive in there, but someone else is driving

And this is where Alien Earth really has its fun. It's not just recycling the same chest-bursting tricks

It's mutating the franchise's DNA to poke at new kinds of vulnerability

First our bodies, now our minds. Although, judging by what we've seen, at least in the first couple of episodes

once this thing bails on you, you're probably toast. So how alive its host is is let just say up for debate If we take a look back the Alien series has always pushed the envelope with its creatures The original Xenomorph gave us sexual and reproductive terror

Aliens added the Queen, diving into themes surrounding maternal instinct. Later entries

introduced the dog-born runner, experiments, mutations, and of course, the cutest baby only

a maternal predator with a heart full of acid could love. Now, Alien Earth throws the octo

optic- octopus into the mix. Along with the rest of this happy fun bunch, what makes all of this

work isn't just the gross-out factor. It's that these monsters reflect real human anxieties

about reproduction, autonomy, identity, and control. That's why Alien has endured for decades

and why Alien Earth seems to be setting the stage for it to endure many more

So, whether it's a mouth inside of another mouth, or an eyeball squid turning you into a zombie

it's clear that the Alien franchise knows exactly how to crawl under our skin

That's how Alien Earth keeps the nightmare alive, and how the Alien franchise continues to evolve

As always, thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time on How It Hits

That's it, man. Game over, man. It's game over