The series "Alien: Earth" was rated 90% on Rotten Tomatoes — the highest rating in the franchise since Cameron's Aliens

Critics have rated the series Alien: Earth as the third best project in the franchise, second only to Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s films.

At the time of writing, the series has had a 90% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 39 reviews. For comparison, Aliens has an almost perfect 94%, and the 1979 original has —93%.

The plot of the series “Alien: Earth is set two years before the events of the original Alien. At this point in the franchise’s timeline, Earth is ruled by five corporations: Weyland-Utani, Prodigy, Lynch, Dynamic, and Treshold. Cyborgs and synthetics coexist with humans, but Prodigy’s boss invents hybrids (humanoid robots with human consciousness), where the first prototype is Wendy (Sydney Chandler), who volunteers to take part in the removal of a mysterious cargo from an intergalactic ship after its crash landing on Earth Obviously, there was a something terrible, and not even of one kind.

This is the first series in the Alien universe and the first part of the franchise to be set on our planet. The showrunner of the project is Fargo creator Noah Hawley, while Ridley Scott is listed as a producer. The premiere will take place only on August 12 on Hulu and Disney+, but the first reviews give us a glimpse of what to expect.

Website Games Radar describes the show as “bold, often violent and fiercely entertaining,” while Rolling Stone compares it to Fargo, noting that Hawley “took a concept that has no right to fail on television and turned it into something exciting and surprising.” In the review The Hollywood Reporter “Alien: Earth” is described as something “incendiary and at times unwieldy” that ultimately becomes “a gripping epic about identity, pride, and of course the primal pleasure of watching humans get fundamentally affected by space monsters.”

Among the cons Seattle Times mentioned the “wrong balance” as the series “spends too much time creating a story that barely unfolds by the end of the eight-episode season.” Slash Film confirmed this statement, calling the show “boring.”

Here are some direct quotes:

• “Alien: Earth — is the ultimate sci-fi series for Alien fans. It feels like it perfectly captures all the best parts of the original film while embracing and developing new concepts to make the franchise feel fresh and new.” — Jamie Parker, CBR.
• “The series manages to shine when it’s not focused on exploring old themes and ideas that previous Alien films have done better. It’s hard to say if viewers will continue to tune in every week because of the slow pace.” — Ron Gillard, Discussing Film.
• “Noah Hawley has created an amazing piece of science fiction with solid production and creature design, an incredible cast, and sound effects that make me want to smoke.” — Clint Gage, IGN.