Drama
Alien: Earth
FX’s ‘Alien: Earth’ is just the latest graphically violent entry in the already graphically violent ‘Alien’ franchise.
It’s 1986. Ronald Reagan is in the White House, Peter Gabriel’s on the radio, a gallon of gas costs less than a dollar … and four clueless freshmen pledge to Hayes University’s Omega Sigma fraternity. A mistake? They don’t think so, but you might.
College fraternities, at least those in popular entertainment, all receive secret charters from 1978’s Animal House (Pi Sicka Icko) and, as such, they insist that members adhere to the not-so-secret motto of “everything in excess.” Omega Sig, compared to some of its fictional brethren, is only a middle achiever, really. Beer comes out of the taps. A 32-year-old dope fiend lives in one of the house’s colossal rooms (he’s been there since the Ford administration). And a largish ram loiters in the common areas.
If Glory Daze has a point—and at times that’s debatable—it’s about the importance of loyalty, and about building lifelong relationships with folks who will never let you down.
When Omega Sig prez Damon makes a huge gaffe and staggers through the campus drunk and despondent, for instance, Joel tracks him down and tells him that he should be proud of all he’s accomplished with the fraternity. Joel goes on about how great it is to belong to the group and expresses confidence in the fact that, if he was in the same boat, “one of my brothers would come find me, refuse to punch my face and bring my a‑‑ back home.”
That’s nice. I guess. I mean, we’re all looking for a sense of community. We all want to be friends with someone we know will have our backs. And if we find such a person, we should treasure him or her.
But in Glory Daze, brotherhood often looks more like a series of codependent relationships, where all vice is excused and often encouraged in the name of loyalty and comradeship. Seems to me that enrolling in a local street gang would give you pretty much all of that and more—and you wouldn’t have to plunk down a check for tuition.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Jared, an Omega Sigma bigwig, pays a visit to the fraternity, forcing its members to temporarily overhaul the house. No more beer in the plumbing. No eight-foot beer bong in the backyard. Most importantly, they’ll have to keep Stankowski, their 32-year-old brother, away from his weed.
Well, that doesn’t go too well. The giant bong winds up crushing Jared’s car and Stankowski can’t stay clean. He smokes a hidden stash by an air duct—and the fumes make the frat’s mascot ram so high it escapes from the basement and smashes into Jared during the fraternity’s quasi-religious Harvest Moon ceremony. Jared is ready to disband the frat—until the brothers find out that the official has two wives and is engaged to a third woman. Thus, the threat of blackmail keeps the frat intact.
The episode is soaked in alcohol and hazy with pot. Somebody references Jared’s penis; others make vague sexual remarks and allusions. Language includes “d‑‑n,” “p‑‑‑ed,” a‑‑” and several abuses of God’s name.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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