One of the most impactful moments of the original Alien is the reveal that the Nostromo’s science officer Ash (Ian Holm) isn’t human. Instead, he’s a synthetic, or android, programmed to carry out Weyland-Yutani’s alien-gathering wishes, even at the expense of the Nostromo’s human crew.
The Ash reveal completely recontextualizes what we’ve known about him and Weyland-Yutani up to that point, opening up the world of Alien to new kinds of technology. It also kickstarts a mini franchise tradition: that of the surprise synthetic.
That surprise synthetic returns in Alien: Resurrection, the fourth film in the franchise. Partway through, Resurrection reveals that Annalee Call (Winona Ryder), engineering assistant on the Betty, is actually an Auton, a second-generation synthetic. Now, FX’s Alien: Earth gets in on the fun, revealing a surprise synthetic of its own in its Season 1 finale.
Who is the surprise synthetic in Alien: Earth?
Adrian Edmondson in “Alien: Earth.”
Credit: Kurt Iswarienko / FX
The surprise synthetic in Alien: Earth is none other than Atom Eins (Adrian Edmondson), Boy Kavalier’s (Samuel Blenkin) right-hand man.
The truth comes out in the finale showdown between Atom, hybrid Wendy (Sydney Chandler), and her brother Hermit (Alex Lawther). Atom ditches his buttoned-up corporate persona — literally, as he shrugs off his suit jacket — and takes on the role of enforcer. He battles Wendy and Hermit with superhuman strength, only halting his attack when Wendy commands him to stop, which freezes him in place.
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Turns out, Atom’s mechanical. Being mechanical, he’s connected to Neverland’s grid, just like the security cameras and doors that Wendy has been controlling all season long. That means she can manipulate him just as he can manipulate other parts of Neverland tech.
But Atom isn’t just any Prodigy synthetic. Instead, Alien: Earth‘s finale reveals, he’s the first synth that Boy Kavalier ever built.
Earlier in the episode, Boy Kavalier lays out his tragic backstory. He had an abusive father who, jealous of his boy genius son, threatened to kill him. So at six years old, Boy Kavalier built his first-ever synthetic — a “distinguished” grown man — and used him to kill his father.
As Boy Kavalier tells this story, Alien: Earth cuts to a scene of Atom awaiting Hermit in his room, ready to unleash T. Ocellus on him. The implication is clear: Atom, himself a “distinguished” man, is the first synth Boy Kavalier ever built. And just like how he killed his own father, Boy Kavalier’s still using Atom to do his dirty work.
How did Alien: Earth hint at Atom being a synthetic?
Adrian Edmondson in “Alien: Earth.”
Credit: Patrick Brown / FX
Even before Alien: Earth revealed that Atom was synthetic, the series hinted at it a few times. In episode 4, while he and Boy Kavalier are observing the T. Ocellus-infested sheep, Boy Kavalier tosses a ball against the lab’s glass enclosure. Atom catches it with superhuman reflexes, similarly to how Wendy caught a ball Boy Kavalier hurled at her all the way back in episode 1.
Episode 4 also features a key visual clue, lining Atom’s face up next to three synthetic faces hanging on a lab wall. The brief moment positions Atom as being linked to these disparate synth parts, suggesting that he, too, was once disparate parts hanging in a lab. By the finale’s end, the linear imagery takes on a new meaning, as the episode confirms that Atom was the first in a long line of Prodigy synthetics.
Alien: Earth is now streaming on Hulu.
