timmyhollywood

Creator, writer, director Noah Hawley's "Alien: Earth" is off to a good start. The auteur pays high compliments to Ridley Scott's original by recreating the aesthetic, while the story feels fresh and headed in an intriguing direction. Humans have been augmented into cyborgs, there are full synthetics, and there are hybrids - synthetics with human consciousness. The effects are well done, and the aliens - ever so important - look great. On with the show!

I dunno man. I've liked N&A in other iterations. The Last One Standing. Some of the XLs. There can be something to learn. The survivalists start out pasty and chubby and end up carved out of wood. Here, they're filthy by day two. They're in an area devastated by climate change driven drought, struggling in the way millions of people have to struggle for real, and it's a game. True to the nature of apocalyptic survival, I suppose, it's not a very fun one to watch. People dragging around rusted corrugated metal and drinking dirty puddle water. No thanks. And I swear to god the show superimposed a lion in one scene to make it look closer than it was. Gonna pass on this one; Naked & Afraid has jumped the shark.

I've watched all four of these and this one is definitely the tamest. Like another reviewer pointed out, it's Europe. So, less adventurous and more epicurean. We spend ten episodes watching two middle aged men sample the baked goods in a dozen countries while witnessing the quirky sporting events unique to those nations. Not exactly thrilling, not even a little bit edge of the seat, but like a travel documentary that moves too quickly from one thing to the next and leaves you ultimately feeling a bit empty. Despite the beautiful high def imagery and a couple of transcendent moments (usually around the colorful characters the men meet along the way; in one case some lovely music that's made) this season was a little disappointing.