The second episode of Alien: Earth titled “Mr. October” offers a gripping encounter between a deeply human character and two very different sorts of monsters. Prodigy medic Hermit, played by Alex Lawther, finds himself in a tense situation involving both a deadly Xenomorph and a lavishly dressed party host reminiscent of Versailles. This episode presents one of the show’s clever juxtapositions of horror and sharp social commentary, echoing the tone of the original Alien films.

It also, according to Alien: Earth star Alex Lawther, took weeks and weeks to nail down.

**Spoilers for Alien: Earth Episode 2 “Mr. October,” now streaming on Hulu**

In “Mr. October,” Hermit becomes separated from his team, finding himself deep within a futuristic skyscraper. His presence is due to a catastrophic crash of a Weyland-Yutani spacecraft into the building, an event that resulted in countless civilian casualties. The situation is further complicated as the craft was transporting five dangerous aliens from space, who have now escaped and are preying on humans.

Hermit soon reconnects with another Prodigy security team member, Bergerfeld, portrayed by Dean Alexandrou. Together, they focus on evacuating the final occupied apartment in the building. However, their efforts are hindered by the wealthy host who refuses to believe there’s any danger, as he remains devoted to his extravagant gathering. It’s at this critical juncture that a Xenomorph attacks, heightening the episode’s suspense.

“That sequence took quite a long time because there was so much gore and whenever there’s gore, you know, that took a long time,” Alien: Earth star Alex Lawther said. “Because there was a rig on the actor who gets his neck ripped out.” (That would be poor Bergerfeld.)

“There was like little explosion things with a bullet and then he also gets pulled up on [the rig]. There was a lot of technical requirements.”

Lawther’s co-star Sydney Chandler chimed in, calling it, “The long death.”

The noise of Bergerfeld’s death gets the door to open again and soon the Xenomorph is ripping the heads off of party guests. Hermit only survives because the Weyland-Yutani-loyal cyborg Morrow stuns him after stunning the alien.

“The real heroes of that scene are the background artists who get killed and they’re in all their finery,” Lawther said. “They’re sitting around a table, but they were sitting for weeks, sort of covered in that sticky fake blood with their necks at like odd angles, being so patient and polite and then having their lunch through straws so as not to mess up the bloody decor.”

“Yeah, the death and decay and destruction,” Chandler said.

“I felt like we were never going to leave that sequence of events. But looking back at it now, I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, it was worth it,’” Lawther admitted. “Yeah, it was worth the weeks covered in …what is that sticky blood called? You know, it’s like glycerin or whatever. 

“I don’t know, bugs liked it,” Chandler said. “Bugs really liked that.” 

“Because it’s basically sugar,” Lawther said.

When DECIDER pointed out to the Alien: Earth stars that the Xenomorph literally ate the rich in the episode, thereby making them potential allies in the class struggle, Lawther chuckled. “Yeah. They’re really radical in their politics. They’re quite anarchistic.” 

“They’re equalizers,” Chandler said.

“Yeah, exactly. They’re extinctionists, I think is the word,” Lawther said. “So, they’re not humanists.”