New Alien Creature Impresses in FX Series ‘Alien: Earth’

AUSTIN, Texas — Writer-director Noah Hawley has crafted a unique and unsettling alien for his FX series ‘Alien: Earth.’ The creature, known as The Eye, is an intelligent eyeball with sucker-tipped tentacles that infects its victims, controlling them like puppets.

In the fourth episode, titled ‘Observation,’ characters Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) and Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) conduct a chilling experiment using The Eye on a sheep. The result is a disturbing creature that now stares back with an all-knowing gaze.

According to Hawley, the sequence featuring the sheep is one of the most disturbing scenes viewers will see this year. “Every 5 percent improvement in visual effects made that sequence 100 percent ‘worse’ in terms of effectiveness,” he said. He praised director Ugla Hauksdóttir for capturing the sheep’s fearful reaction to The Eye, remarking that using a live sheep added authenticity to the scene.

The Eye’s design evolved during production. Initially, it was just an eye with legs. A visual effects supervisor suggested adding tentacles that allow it to crawl and propel itself across surfaces. Hawley compared its relentlessness to the facehuggers from the ‘Alien‘ franchise, explaining how it enhances the creature’s horror.

“The fact that it can stick to you, and you’re trying to fight it off is terrifying,” Hawley explained. “Plus, it enters your face, which adds to the genetic revulsion people feel about eyeballs.”

Hawley has consulted with ‘Alien’ director Ridley Scott about his project. However, he mentioned he has not contacted James Cameron, who directed the sequel ‘Aliens.’ “There’s no obligation for him to talk to me about a movie he made 40 years ago,” Hawley said.

‘Alien: Earth’ airs Tuesdays on FX and streams on Hulu. Viewers are encouraged to catch the next episode, titled “In Space, No One…,” directed by Hawley.