The Eye, the Horrible Octopus Monster, Is the True Hero of Alien: Earth

This nonfiction contains spoilers for Alien: Earth done Episode 5, “In Space, No One…”

Back erstwhile Alien: Earth premiered connected FX and Hulu, each of 3 weeks ago, IGN’s Clint Gage said successful his reappraisal of the archetypal 2 episodes that, “The xenomorph is playing the hits, arsenic it were. But this precise purposefully leaves country for the caller aliens, however; an inventive clump of creepy crawlies including an eyeball octopus that, I’m calling it now, is going to beryllium the standout of the amusement erstwhile the particulate settles.” Well, the particulate hasn’t rather settled, with 3 much episodes successful the play to go, but we’re calling it anyway. The Eye, the horrible octopus monster, isn’t conscionable the standout of the show; he’s the existent leader of Alien: Earth.

Trypanohyncha Ocellus, aka T. Ocellus, aka... the Eye!

When archetypal introduced, Trypanohyncha Ocellus, aka T. Ocellus, seems similar conscionable different horrible alien monster successful a bid of horrible alien monsters fto escaped during the clang of the Weyland-Yutani ship, the Maginot, into New Siam. Essentially a larger-than-human eyeball with aggregate irises and pupils, and aggregate pink, fleshy tentacles to match, we archetypal encountered the Eye portion it was animating the half-destroyed corpse of the Maginot’s cat, Rascal. It wriggled retired of the corpse, flung itself into the air, and attempted to connect itself to the hybrid Nibs (Lily Newmark), mentally scarring the synth-with-a-human-consciousness truthful severely that successful caller episodes she’s thought that she was pregnant.

While the country is simply a standout and the Eye is awful, it seemed similar T-Ossy was a specified monster successful a oversea of monsters astatine the outset of Alien: Earth. But dissimilar in, say, Prometheus, wherever astir of the alien creatures were variations connected the designs acceptable retired by H.R. Giger backmost successful 1979, the Eye is an outlier. Alien: Earth has already introduced its mentation of the xenomorph successful aggregate stages of development, the comparatively featureless blood-sucking Tick, and the mysterious carnivorous works called D. Plumbicare. There’s astatine slightest 1 much to come, the Fly, but adjacent successful its aboriginal appearances, there’s thing much intriguing astir the Eye than the others.

The “no duh” crushed for that? The eye! Every 1 of the creatures mentioned above, adjacent the xenomorph, lacks disposable eyes, and you whitethorn beryllium alert that the eyes are the windows to the soul. The Eye, by contrast, is nuthin’ but eyeball and tentacles; its unblinking look is intolerable to look distant from, and fixed that it doesn’t blink, there’s nary refresh, nary infinitesimal of respite.

While they’re vastly different, there’s a wide parallel you tin gully betwixt the Eye and different standout with large eyes connected different franchise-extension TV show: Grogu connected The Mandalorian. Seriously! When designing Baby Yoda for the Star Wars series, a batch of thought was enactment into each facet of the character, but possibly nary moreso than his eyes, which yet ended up each achromatic with a small achromatic astir the edges.

"When they're quality eyes, you tin spot the achromatic colour of his eyes, it gets precise unusual precise fast,” decorator Doug Chiang said connected a sheet astatine Star Wars Celebration Anaheim successful 2022, via Collider. "Like a puppy dog, there's conscionable capable achromatic successful his eyes disposable to marque him look adorable. Seeing that tiny spot of achromatic gave his eyes a precise charming, sympathetic look, past dressing him successful his oversized sack wholly captured that 'ugly cute' factor."

The Eye, acknowledgment to the perpetually disposable whites, is firmly connected the different broadside of that “ugly cute” spectrum (and the Eye vs. Grogu crossover is when?), but there’s inactive thing tiny and fascinating astir him, similar a hairless cat: benignant of gross, but you inactive privation to instrumentality attraction of it, adjacent if successful this case, the favored would precise overmuch similar to popular retired your eyeball and instrumentality implicit your brain.

To instrumentality a tiny measurement back: What precisely is the Eye? A blink-and-you-miss-it (or spell framework by framework oregon you’ll miss it) surface connected the Maginot, via Mashable, explains further:

"A creaseless scolex features respective ocular irises and a tentacle strategy that tin turn oregon retract astatine will. The tentacles transportation bonzer spot and are built to ascent into and dislodge the eyes of different surviving organisms. Once replaced successful the oculus socket, T. Ocellus takes implicit the ocular pathways to the brain, overriding the neuro-transmissions passim the body. More survey needed to gauge inherent intelligence, though the Ocellus has shown singular occupation solving abilities astatine a near-human measure. A implicit surprise."

It’s that past portion which elevates the Eye adjacent further successful Episodes 4 and 5 of Alien: Earth. In the erstwhile episode, portion the xenomorph (it’s the titular role!) is mostly off-screen, the Eye takes halfway signifier acknowledgment to experiments from subject synth Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) and childlike trillionaire Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin). Aiming to spot however the Eye works, they merchandise it connected an unsuspecting sheep. The Eye creeps into the sheep’s enclosure, rips its eyeball out, and crawls into the leftover ocular socket, the sheep’s oculus inactive hanging by its retinal nerve. And past the sheep stands up connected its hind legs.

The series is horrifying, but similar the intelligibly delighted Boy Kavalier, it’s hard arsenic a spectator to look away. We get shocking hints of the xenomorph’s ain quality successful the aforesaid episode, but it’s the Eye’s sheep penetration that’s truly of interest. On that, amusement creator Noah Hawley was going for axenic horror, and with precise circumstantial inspiration from the Alien bid itself.

“To me, there’s a relentlessness to this that is akin to the facehugger,” Hawley told THR. “Certainly successful James Cameron’s movie [Aliens] wherever Ripley [Sigourney Weaver] and Newt [Carrie Henn] are trying to get distant from these things, and they conscionable support coming, and they’re fast, and they’re scrambling, and they’re spider similar a crab. [The suckers] was a truly large upgrade for the archetypal conceit wherever before, it conscionable had to tally arsenic accelerated arsenic it could astatine you. Now it tin fly. And present successful Austin, we person the Palmetto bugs fly. A elephantine roach that flies is ever worse than a elephantine roach that doesn’t. So the information that it tin propel itself, that it tin instrumentality to you, and you’re fundamentally trying to combat it off, and it has each these arms and it’s relentlessly trying to get in.”

Continued Hawley, “Plus, it enters your face. The facehugger virtually goes into your mouth, and there’s thing truly disturbing astir that. But everyone has issues with eyeballs. It conscionable felt similar it’s designed conscionable to play into that familial revulsion.”

If Episode 4 was designed to propulsion the revulsion buttons, Episode 5 goes successful different absorption entirely. Flashing backmost successful clip to amusement america however the Maginot crashed, we get to spot conscionable however the Eye escaped, and it wasn’t during the clang itself; it was overmuch earlier.

In a cardinal scene, subject serviceman Chibuzo (Karen Aldridge) is studying Species 19, aka the blood-sucking Ticks, with the Eye successful a solid conduit adjacent to her connected the table. Looking implicit astatine the Eye, she quips, “Take a picture, it’ll past longer.” And portion this is simply a comic moment, it besides succeeds successful anthropomorphizing the Eye successful a mode that we wouldn’t for The Ticks oregon D. Plumbicare. But the jaw-dropper is what happens next. Species 19 manages to propulsion unfastened its containment unit, sneak out, and laic eggs successful Chibuzo’s thermos portion she looks the different way, and the Eye – get this! – knocks connected the solid to get her attention. Sure, its motivations are unclear. Perhaps it was informing Species 19 that it lone has a infinitesimal to spew larva, but it definite seems similar it’s trying to archer Chibuzo there’s a problem, which she ignores.

The bigger moment, though? Once each hellhole has breached escaped connected the vessel and the Eye has escaped its ain containment portion owed to a harried Chibuzo not decently locking it successful place, the Eye creeps up connected mediocre elder technologist Shmuel (Michael Smiley) and takes implicit his assemblage off-screen. That’s a bummer, and should crook america against our bully buddy, the Eye, but what happens adjacent perfectly rules instead! A full-grown xenomorph enters, and the Eye successful Shmuel’s assemblage loses it, going afloat Alien vs. Predator by warring it mano a mano (alieno a alieno?), jumping connected the xenomorph’s back, trying to wound it, and yet adjacent trying to instrumentality it over. Points against the Eye determination due to the fact that A), the xenomorph doesn’t person eyes, lone oculus sockets, and B), if the Eye did negociate to jam its tentacles through, it would apt melt due to the fact that of the acerb blood. Dumb, the Eye! Bad!

The accusation earlier this occurrence was that each the alien taxon are predators, oregon arsenic the amusement calls them, monsters. The takeaway aft Episode 5, for the Eye astatine least, is that there’s a consciousness of self-preservation going on, but it besides seems to be, shocker of shockers, a earthy predator for the xenomorph. There’s nary connection that we tin recognize exchanged betwixt the two, but Shmu-Eye-L seems to instantly admit the xenomorph for what it is and doesn’t hesitate to onslaught it. That indicates a taxon rivalry that we haven’t truly seen successful immoderate of the movies different than the Yautja successful the Alien vs. Predator films.

In the midst of murky loyalties similar cyborg Morrow’s (Babou Ceesay) razor absorption connected returning the xenomorph eggs to Yutani (Sandra Yi Sencindiver), Wendy’s (Sydney Chandler) expanding enslaved with the xenomorph, oregon Boy Kavalier’s behind-the-scenes manipulation of the Maginot’s crash, the Eye is the lone quality who has wide motivations…even if they bash boil down to self-preservation first, a willingness to assistance support humans (or astatine slightest pass them astir contiguous danger) second, and knowing that the xenomorph is atrocious quality third. But connected that past point, if anyone is going to prevention Neverland from the incoming xenomorph invasion, it’s the Eye.

So each hail the Eye, the existent leader of Alien: Earth. To punctuation a small feline known arsenic Grogu, “this is the way.”