TV Recap: "Alien: Earth" Episode 6 - The Eye, the Fly, and the Lie

After a bottle episode detour to the crash of the USCSS Maginot, we’re back to the main plot of Alien: Earth in Episode 6, which gives a name to one of the new creatures - “The Fly." This episode further develops Boy Kavalier’s skills of manipulation, but it feels like he’s doomed to find his breaking point. Here is a recap of the latest installment.

Episode 6: “The Fly" – Written by Noah Hawley and Lisa Long

It looks as if everyone is studying each other. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) sits on the other side of the glass, communicating with the young Xenomorph, which occasionally hisses and tries to attack, but generally seems docile towards her. Wendy’s brother, Hermit (Alex Lawther), watches her from outside the lab with Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), asking questions about her maintenance and betraying his hopes to resume life with his sister away from Neverland. “She’s just a kid," he defends his sibling to the synth. “Keep telling yourself that," Kirsh responds. At the same time, they’re all being watched by the zombie sheep, under the control of the tentacled eyeball, aka the Eye Midge.

Nibs (Lily Newmark) lies on a table in the lab of Arthur (David Rysdahl) and Dame Sylvia (Essie Davis) in charging mode, unable to hear the conversation around her. Arthur has determined that Nibs’ issues are not mechanical, but Atom Eins (Adrian Edmondson) scoffs at the idea that a hybrid is having psychological issues. He wants a quick fix, turning down the suggestion that Nibs needs therapy. He orders a memory wipe to before the hybrids were sent to the tower, and a reduction in her processing speed. Arthur puts his foot down, saying this goes against the principles of the program they joined. Dame initially takes her husband’s side, but when Atom says he needs all five hybrids on stage talking to The Five in three weeks, she buckles. Arthur is shocked as his wife tells Atom she can complete the work herself. Arthur is fired and threatened with death if he isn’t off the island by the end of the day.

Hermit is waiting for Wendy when she exits the secure lab, talking about how the pronunciation of the Xenomorph language is tricky, but she thinks she’s getting the hang of it. Hermit shares his feelings that they shouldn’t have been brought to Earth, calling them killers. “So are we," Wendy defends them, saying she thinks this one could be good. When Hermit describes their instincts as foreign to Earth, Wendy compares their mentality to terrestrial insects. “This is a yes space, not a no space," she tells her brother, parroting one of Boy Kavalier’s philosophies. Hermit argues that when someone is trying to hurt you, “no" gives you power over your life. He promises to get Wendy out of Neverland. “What if I don’t want to go?" she asks.

Yutani (Sandra Yi Sencindiver) sits at the end of a long table, accompanied by her right-hand man Tanaka (Byron Bishop) and cyborg Morrow (Babou Ceesay). At the center of the table is a moderator for The Five, Barrister MacAfee (Andre Flynn), and they wait quietly for the remaining party to arrive. The door opens, and a barefoot Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) finally appears, followed by Atom Eins and Kirsh. Kavalier puts his feet up on the table as the moderator calls for cordiality during this business meeting.

The meeting is over possession of the USCSS Maginot and its contents. Boy Kavalier seeks damages for the three damaged blocks of Prodigy City and the thousands of lives lost. He hints that the crash may not have been accidental, which could result in criminal negligence charges for Weyland-Yutani. When Kavalier offers to show the moderator pictures of the predatory invasive species found on board, Yutani says they are proprietary specimens that were only intended to be studied at an off-planet research facility that she plans to transfer them to. She agrees to add $10 billion to the settlement, but Boy Kavalier is in the mood for a game, upping the offer to $20 million.

Boy Kavalier acts as if the meeting is over, saying Prodigy will send the specimens to Weyland-Yutani after the six-week quarantine is over, per the Brubaker Accord, with Barrister MacAfee nodding in agreement. Yutani offers $50 billion for the immediate return of the specimens. “It’s just not safe," Boy Kavalier taunts, “for the planet." Leaning closer, from one heartless CEO to another, he tells Yutani that her thoughts and prayers for the victims of the crash are welcome.

As soon as Boy Kavalier and his entourage are out of the room, Yutani asks Morrow what he can do. He tells her he has a plan to have one of the Xenomorphs by the end of the day via a recruited asset, although he is worried about their likelihood of failure. He’s aware that security has been substantially increased on Neverland. Yutani asks Morrow for his recommendation. “We destabalize the facility and exfil in the chaos."

Kirsh barges into Morrow’s elevator, with synth and cyborg mocking each other. “I’ll see you soon, old toy," Morrow says as he exits the lift.

Nibs wakes up in her room with Wendy by her side, confused when Wendy asks if she’s feeling better. Wendy brings up things that Nibs has no memory of - the baby, the crash, the eyeball. “I don’t have any of that… what’s wrong with me?" Nibs asks, disturbed. Wendy tries to remain calm, sure the memories will come back.

Smee (Jonathan Ajayi) doesn’t understand why Slightly (Adarsh Gourav) seems so anxious and keeps declining his request to play. “We’re grown-ups now," Slightly tells him, a reality they both hate. Slightly tries to smooth things over, offering to play games after he takes care of some stuff. Smee puts his arm around Slightly, calling it “a grown-up hug."

Hermit sits in his room, drawing a map of the complex. When he turns around, Slightly is standing in his room watching him. He asks Slightly if he’s seen Marcy, and Slightly seems eager to help him find her. Instead, Hermit asks what Slightly’s name was before. In that moment, Morrow talks to Slightly, asking him to hurry up. “I want to show you something," Slightly says, unwilling to tell Hermit what it is. But before they can get going, Rashidi (Moe Bar-El) enters, needing Hermit to join his patrol since they’re short a person.

Hermit joins Rashidi and Siberian (Diêm Camille) on an outdoor patrol in the rain. They’re very curious if Wendy really is Hermit’s sister; he says he thinks so. Rashidi has heard rumors that Yutani is sending cyborgs to get her monsters back. Hermit starts to ask about ways off the island, learning about a path to a boat dock, and that the island has its own security that isn’t part of Prodigy’s army. But as he presses on, Siberian pushes back, accusing him of trying to ruin the good deal they have. He questions why anyone would want to stay on an island full of creatures. She says at least here, she knows where they are.

Aboard a flight home, Kirsh calls Tootles (Kit Young) to tell him he will be back by dark. He needs him and Curly to feed and water the creatures, check data from last night, and pick another experiment on the list to run. Curly (Erana James) was sitting on the dock with Smee when Tootles got the call. He tells them he has to go to the lab, and when Curly asks if he wants her help, he says no. Tootles seems intent on proving that he can do this alone.

Entering the secure lab, Tootles prepares feeding trays for the specimens, which are meant to pass through a set of double doors to avoid any breakouts. When he gets to a container with a hive on the ceiling, the feeding door won’t open, and in Slightly’s frustration, he accidentally breaks it off. He decides the risk of opening the main door is low, but he didn’t account for the zombie sheet in the next crate, which shares a pane of glass. As Slightly unlocks the door and steps in with the try, the sheep rams the glass, startling Slightly, who trips. The door closes behind him, locking him in. The bugs in the hive begin to emerge, filling some kind of fluid sack near their mouths and spitting on Slightly’s face. His synthetic skin starts to melt as the acid gets into his servos. He spasms before going still, leaking white fluid from his mouth.

“What did you do to her?" Wendy confronts Dame Sylvia, upset about Nibs. Dame Sylvia tells Wendy that Nibs had some corrupt data, but Wendy emphasizes the word corrupt, asking if she gave Nibs a choice. “I gave her medicine just like any other doctor," Dame Sylvia defends herself. Wendy talks about how Kirsh thinks the hybrids should stop pretending to be people, and how, if people only live to kill and take things apart, she agrees with him. Dame Sylvia begs Wendy to trust her and tell her what’s wrong so she can help fix it. “What if you’re what’s wrong?" Wendy coldly counters.

Arthur is packing up the last of his personal items in his lab when Hermit comes in, learning he was fired. Hermit noticed how much Arthur cared about Wendy when adjusting her ears and feels he’s the only one who will give him an honest answer. “Is my sister safe here?" Hermit asks. Arthur glances at the security cameras before motioning for Hermit to come behind his computer to see his screen, verbally talking about how safe Wendy is and saying she’s in good hands, while writing “Take her and get her out. Boat code 102-770." As he continues to speak, he shows Hermit that he’s deactivating trackers on the hybrids. Hermit leaves. Before Arthur walks away, the screen gives him an error message. Tootles is offline. His last known location: the Secure Lab.

“I can’t do it," Slightly panics outside of the Secure Lab. “Sure you can, you’re a good boy," Morrow says in his head, offering to let Slightly say goodbye to his mother before she dies for his failure. But just then, Arthur rushes over, asking Slightly if he’s seen Tootles. When he says no, Arthur opens the door and enters the Secure Lab. Slightly follows him in.

Arthur sees Tootles’ still body in the cage, rushing to the computer to unlock it. He opens the door and tries to pull the heavy robotic boy out, but his body is very heavy. He calls to Slightly to help, but Slightly is at the computer, unlocking the door to the egg cage. Arthur looks up and sees the flies starting to emerge from the hive. He hears something else moving. He decides he should leave the lab, only to find Slightly on the other side of the door, keeping it closed. “He has my family," Slightly tells Arthur. “I have a family, too," Arthur responds, begging Slightly to open the door.

It all happens so fast. A facehugger jumps onto Arthur’s face and begins strangling him while planting its seed. The Xenomorph in its cage jumps with excitement. Slightly returns to the Secure Lab, opening a large vent and pulling Arthur’s body in with the facehugger still latched on. A fly heads to the vent as Slightly closes it behind him. We don’t see if it made it through, but the zombie sheep baa’d as if all went according to plan.

Kirsh watched the whole scene unfold on a table from the flight. Boy Kavalier stands behind the pilot in the cockpit with his arms spread as if flying. He looks back at Kirsh and detects worry in his face. “Everything ok?" he asks. “Affirmative," the synth lies.

Next Episode: “Emergence" - Tuesday, September 16th, at 8/7c on FX and Hulu

An escape plan is hatched leading to a breaking of factions, betrayals, and a shocking confrontation.