The Noah Hawley Alien series really is shaping up to be something else. As we begin to learn more about it, I am less angry at the idea of us, as a society, not being able to let sleeping dogs lie—mainly because we just got a great cast addition: Timothy Olyphant.
Sure, I will take Timothy Olyphant in anything, but what I am most excited about with his addition to the FX series is that we’re taking Olyphant back into space. Olyphant, who was a space cowboy in The Mandalorian as Cobb Vanth, loves to play the rough and tumble type. While what we know about him in Alien is less cowboy and more alien, I’m still excited about it.
While I am excited about this series as a whole because of the Alien of it all, if you do add Olyphant into anything, I will be infinitely more interested. Deadline described his role as follows: “Kirsh, a synth who acts as a mentor and trainer for [Sydney Chandler’s] Wendy, a character with the body of an adult, but the brain and consciousness of a child.”
So really, again, less cowboy. Still, if you happened to miss him as Cobb Vanth—I am sorry for you—the idea of him back in space and this time being a mentor and a trainer? That sounds like someone went into my dream journal and thought up the perfect role for Olyphant to play in the world of Alien and gave it to me—well, only made better if you mixed a little cowboy in there.
Alien, you have my attention
I am very particular when it comes to my Alien stories, mainly because I am a Ridley Scott fan first and foremost and while I love the subsequent sequels, that first movie really has a soft spot in my heart. But if there is one way to get me invested in whatever you’re trying to sell me, it is to put Timothy Olyphant in it.
Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I have a Cobb Vanth standee in my living room. I watched Santa Clarita Diet religiously because I am from there and thought to myself, “This man understands it.” The Girl Next Door was my teen movie of choice. In the weird HBO series I was obsessed with growing up, Deadwood was the one that I picked that no one had to tell me about.
The point is that I love this man. Why? I could not tell you. There is just something about him. And so, even if I weren’t already obsessed with the Alien franchise, if you just decided to randomly add Timothy Olyphant into this FX series, I would have had to find some interest in it because I will always stand behind this man.
(featured image: Disney+)
