Alien: Earth Finally Reveals One of the Deadliest New Species It’s Been Hiding

Alien: Earth is built on a simple premise: a Weyland-Yutani ship carrying five of the most dangerous invasive species in the galaxy crash-lands on Earth. Of course, the show put Alien franchise icons, the xenomorphs, front and center of the horror and action in the first half of the series; however, as we enter the back half, the other beasts are stepping into the spotlight.

In Episode 5, we learned just how conniving the Eye Octopus monster truly is, as well as what a deadly infestation of blood-sucking “Tick” bugs looks like. Episode 6, however, marks the official debut of one species that has been hiding in plain sight throughout the series: the episode’s namesake, “The Fly”.

Alien: Earth’s Fly Monster Explained (Episode 6 Spoilers)

The only hint we got of the Fly creatures prior to this episode was the brief glimpse of one during the opening scene of the show, in the cargo hold of the USCSS Maginot, as well as brief glimpses of their hive, during later shots of the Maginot cargo hold after the crash, or at the Prodigy Neverland lab facility, where the specimens eventually end up. It’s that clever bit of hiding in plain sight that leaves viewers unprepared for Episode 6, and the true danger of the Fly.

The first clue we get that this creature is different is when “Lost Boys” hybrid squad member Smee (Jonathan Ajaji) is taking on the job of feeding the specimens. Smee stacks a tray with metallic objects like junk tech and metallic ore to feed to the Flies, which is a massive red flag reveal: these creatures eat metal. Smee’s fate is sealed by the Eye creature, which uses the sheep’s body it’s infesting to ram the wall and trigger the door to the Fly’s holding cell, locking Smee inside. One of the Flies comes down from the hive and promptly spits a gel onto Smee’s face, which melts his android body down into liquid, which the Flies then suck up through a hose-like proboscis.

Read Next

Scary Movie 6 Will Spoof These Great Horror Movies, According to Marlon Wayans

The Fly creature in Alien: Earth is a nightmare extraterrestrial spin on the actual biology of the common fly, which also uses acidic liquid to melt items down to liquid form for consumption (see: Cronenberg’s The Fly movie). Of course, in the Alien universe, a Fly from another planet would have the horrific upgrade of consuming metallic matter instead of biological matter. It’s no coincidence that this ability is a direct threat to the hybrids – possibly the only real one we’ve seen in the show, thus far. The late introduction and the lethal effect on the show’s protagonists suggest that the Fly could end up being a game-changing factor in the slow trainwreck that we are watching unfold. If they get loose, man and machine alike are going to be in peril, given the other beasts lurking in the mangerie.

Alien: Earth is streaming on FX-Hulu. Want to stay up to date on the biggest geek entertainment news? Add us as a preferred source in Google – HERE, and join our community over on the ComicBook Forum for deeper takes and discussions!