The demise of Tootles (Kit Young) in Alien: Earth episode 6 is both avoidable and frustrating, but the silver lining is that it allows the show’s greatest character to shine.
We’re talking, of course, about alien sheep, the fluffy monstrosity stealthily stealing the show despite having no lines of dialogue whatsoever.
What happens with the sheep in episode 6?
Alien sheep is brought to life in Alien: Earth episode 4, the product of another misguided Prodigy experiment to test the capabilities of a new — and truly hideous — specimen: T. Ocellus, that nasty little octopus-like creature that can burrow into eyeballs and essentially take over creatures’ brains.
Prodigy’s plan? Release T. Ocellus into the same laboratory pen as a sheep, and observe what happens after it inevitably tunnels its way into the poor beast’s head.
“The wavy lines are totally different now,” says soon-to-be-dead hybrid Tootles, observing the sheep’s intelligence chart once the octopus creature has completed its attack.
“Those are gamma waves,” responds Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant). “Problem-solving, concentration. See how they’ve increased? This creature is highly intelligent.”
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He’s not wrong, but it’s only in episode 6 that we find out exactly how intelligent T. Ocellus is, when it uses its limited four-legged powers to despatch Tootles with nothing more than a well-timed headbutt.
The best part of this attack is the way alien sheep initially bides its time. When Tootles strolls into the lab, intent on completing his exciting solo responsibilities of feeding the assorted monsters, it simply waits and watches him bumble through his tasks. The minute Tootles discovers that the secure feeding hatch for the fly aliens‘ pen is broken (what the hell, Prodigy?) T. Ocellus sees its chance. As soon as Tootles has the cell door propped open with his foot and becomes off-balance, T. Ocellus slams its sheepy head into the glass and sends him stumbling. Moments later, the alien flies descend.
This manoeuvre may seem outwardly pointless for alien sheep at first, but later in the episode we see that it’s just the first domino in a chain reaction. Tootles’ grisly death leads directly to the attack on Prodigy employee Arthur (David Rysdahl), leaving the lab in a state of chaos that the final slow (and very metal) zoom into alien sheep’s face suggests it will be taking full advantage of.
Alien sheep 1, Prodigy 0.
Why is alien sheep so great?
Brilliant acting isn’t always about shouting loudly or crying on cue. Sometimes it’s more subtle than than, and this is an area where alien sheep thrives. Somehow it’s able to maintain a constant level of menace with a simple stare, gazing impassively out at its captors like a woolly Hannibal Lecter.
The sheep even breaks the fourth wall in the episode’s final shot, staring directly down the camera lens as the opening chords of Godsmack’s “Keep Away” play in the background. Absolute cinema.
At this stage we don’t know what alien sheep’s grand plan is, but we’re certain of two things: 1) It will likely involve unspeakable levels of violence, and 2) We’ll be rooting for it all the way.
Alien: Earth streams Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Hulu and FX.
