Alien: Earth episode 3 review—Metamorphosis—Questions multiply, Wendy transforms, and friendship echoes in the dark

The third episode of Alien: Earth, titled Metamorphosis, delivered a chapter that felt both thrilling and unsettling. Rather than clarifying the conflicts that were seeded in the premiere, it layered on even more mysteries, pulling the audience deeper into its shifting narrative.

By the end, what remained was the sense of witnessing a transformation in motion, both in the characters and in the very language of the show itself. A true Metamorphosis.

A story that grows heavier with questions

Episode 3 of Alien: Earth followed Wendy, Hermit and Slightly as their paths crossed with alien eggs and a fresh attack from a Xenomorph. Hermit’s fate became a central thread after his damaged lung was removed and replaced, while the extracted organ was used for a disturbing experiment, infused with alien matter.

Meanwhile, Wendy’s journey revealed new dimensions to her sensibility. She felt pain, she heard the clicks, she responded in ways that suggested her very biology may be shifting after contact. This thread gave the episode a tension that resonated beyond the action.

At the same time, Nibs’ emotional state loomed large. Her condition seemed fragile, her mental balance precarious, hinting that her arc may carry a heavy weight for the rest of the season. Alien: Earth refuses to spell out answers, and that deliberate withholding is part of what made this chapter so enthralling.

When machines ask about humanity

One of the episode’s most striking moments came in the form of a question:

“When is a machine not a machine?”

the Cyborg called Morrow asked Slightly. The line crystallized the episode’s fixation on the fragile line between technology, alien biology and the essence of being human. The line captured the tension of Metamorphosis, placing identity and transformation at the center of the story.

Rather than offering a clear answer, the moment left the question echoing, unsettling in its simplicity and in how it reframed the bond between human, hybrid, and machine.

Wendy’s transformation and the unease it brings

If Hermit embodied the intrusion of alien power and Slightly stood for friendship, Wendy embodied metamorphosis itself. Her sensitivity to death, her reactions to pain and the alien clicks she heard pointed to something deeper at play. There was a sense that she was crossing a threshold, caught between human vulnerability and something other, something she did not choose.

The strangeness of her arc is what gave the episode its unsettling edge. Wendy’s journey was less about answers than about the sensation of slipping into a role she may not fully control. Watching her struggle with this shift felt like watching Alien: Earth find its own voice, daring to explore a middle ground where humanity is porous and uncertain.

A finale that hit like a riff in episode 3 of Alien: Earth

Closing with Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam,” the third episode of Alien: Earth chose to underscore its restless mood with music that carries the weight of wandering identity. The track landed as more than an aesthetic choice; it was a statement about what Alien: Earth wants to be.

Nomadic, fractured, searching. By the end of Metamorphosis, we were left with more questions than answers, but also with the clarity that this disorientation is deliberate.

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This was not an episode about resolution. It was about shedding skin, tearing at definitions, and daring to leave us adrift in a world where friendship, family, and humanity itself are constantly being rewritten.

Rating with a touch of flair: 5 out of 5 alien eggs pulsating in the dark.

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