Alien: Earth season 1 continues to unravel its deep philosophical layers in episode 3, titled Metamorphosis, which was released on August 19, 2025. Created by Noah Hawley, this FX on Hulu series takes place two years before the 1979 Alien film, exploring the origins of cybernetic, synthetic, and hybrid lifeforms.
Episode 3 is now about Morrow, a cyborg security officer on the crashed Weyland-Yutani ship. The Prodigy Corporation and its hybrid creations are in more danger than ever from aliens. The level of danger rises in this episode, and new moral questions about identity, purpose, and control are raised.
Amid the chaos, Morrow confronts two hybrids, Slightly and Smee, and cryptically asks, “When is a machine not a machine?” This riddle is spoken during a tense scene where the hybrids are near the Xenomorph eggs.
Morrow’s philosophical question is more than a riddle—it reflects his internal conflict. The answer is simple: a machine is no longer a machine when it stops working, following orders, or serving a master. When it begins to exist independently, it becomes something else entirely.
Morrow, who is half-human and half-machine, begins to question his role. His identity, once clearly defined by orders and functions, starts to blur. The riddle unlocks this crisis, not just for himself but also for the hybrids, who were created with specific tasks but are now forming their own sense of self.
The riddle has a larger meaning in Alien: Earth episode 3
A still from Alien: Earth season 1 (Image via Hulu)
Morrow’s riddle, “When is a machine not a machine?”, at first sounds like a clever line. But its meaning runs deep within Alien: Earth season 1 episode 3. A machine becomes “not a machine” when it acts without commands, forms a will, and rejects its design. This is what begins to happen with the hybrids and even with Morrow himself.
The hybrids, like Slightly and Smee, appear childlike, lost in play despite being engineered beings. Their behavior challenges the expectations of what a hybrid should do.
Prodigy may see them as tools, but they’re forming identities. Morrow sees this. As a cyborg, he was built to serve Weyland-Yutani, but watching the hybrids makes him confront the possibility that machines like him, can change.
The riddle also reflects Morrow’s hidden desire for autonomy. He contacts Slightly, pretending to be a friend. But what he really wants is access—to Prodigy’s secrets, to Boy Kavalier’s plans, and maybe, to a life beyond service. His loyalty to Yutani is programmed, but his curiosity is not. This conflict is eating at him. His question is both an interrogation and a confession.
Morrow’s friendship with Slightly and secret plan
A still from Alien: Earth season 1 (Image via Hulu)
Morrow’s attempt to befriend Slightly is strategic. He believes that Slightly holds information about Prodigy’s secret hybrid program. During their telepathic exchange, he accesses data about Boy Kavalier, suggesting he plans to use Slightly as leverage.
He wants to kidnap Slightly and offer him in exchange for the alien specimens. But his method is psychological. By reminding Slightly that he is not human—just a synthetic body with memories, Morrow hopes to make him doubt himself. This emotional pressure might fracture Slightly’s bond with Prodigy.
Morrow’s ultimate goal isn’t friendship. It’s manipulation. He wants to serve Yutani, but he’s also beginning to question who he is beyond his role. Slightly becomes both a pawn and a mirror in that journey.
The hybrid struggle: Identity vs. Design
A still from Alien: Earth season 1 (Image via Hulu)
The hybrids in episode 3, especially Nibs and Wendy, are facing internal conflicts. Nibs questions her existence in a synth body. She feels like a ghost trapped in a shell. She has no home, no past, and no future as a human. This despair shows that humanity cannot be completely erased, even in machines.
Wendy, the first hybrid, is stronger but faces her own battles. After killing a Xenomorph and saving her brother Joe, she collapses. When she wakes, she hears a high-pitched frequency that causes her pain and possibly links her to the Xenomorphs.
All these signs point to a broader theme. The line between human, machine, and alien is blurring. The hybrids, created to be tools, are becoming sentient beings with emotions, doubts, and instincts. They no longer fit the label “machine.”
What happened in Alien: Earth season 1 episode 3
Alien: Earth season 1 episode 3, Metamorphosis, begins with Morrow finding Slightly and Smee near alien eggs. He confronts them and flees when a Xenomorph egg begins to open. Meanwhile, Wendy kills a Xenomorph to save her brother Joe, but both are injured.
Back at Neverland, Hermit undergoes surgery. Wendy is unconscious. Boy Kavalier becomes obsessed with the captured aliens. Kirsh and the hybrids experiment on a facehugger, using a sheep’s lung for gestation. This scene sets up the eerie ending.
Joe’s surgically removed lung is used in a risky experiment. A fish-like alien begins gestating in it. Wendy wakes up, sensing something is wrong. She stumbles into the lab and collapses. The facehugger dies, and the larva begins to grow.
The episode ends with deep uncertainty. Joe might have an alien growing inside him. Wendy may be psychically linked to the Xenomorphs. Morrow is plotting his next move. The hybrids are questioning their reality.
All the released episode of Alien: Earth season 1 are currently streaming on FX-Hulu.
