There's "a great equalizer," Hawley points out, in the first episode of Alien: Earth. Kirsch ( Timothy Olyphant ), a synthetic, tells one of his hybrid charges, Wendy (Sydney Chandler), how humans used to be food but convinced themselves otherwise when they formed civilization. They're now being reminded to rethink that mindset.

In adapting "Alien" for television, writer/director Noah Hawley is looking to score another hit along the lines of his "Fargo" transformation.

FX’s new “Alien” prequel, “Alien: Earth,” batters viewers expecting Xenomorph horror from an additional, less expected angle: The series is practically drowning in “Peter Pan” metaphors that don’t quite work.