The Fly

I am flabbergasted by the poor writing in this show. Characters act like morons 24/7, as if they were in some Z-grade horror movie from the 80s. Time is spent telling us how intelligent the child androids are, or how many university degrees a scientist has, yet they behave like fools in obviously dangerous situations-constantly.

So far, the showrunners have fallen in love with their own Peter Pan allegories: the child androids are the Lost Boys, the evil prodigy wunderkind is Peter Pan, and Captain Hook appears in the form of science officer Wallow from the crashed ship.

But where is the real story? Where is the expansion of the universe in interesting ways? Where are the compelling characters-good or evil?

Why don't they explore the fact that people voluntarily leave their families for 65 years in space, where they themselves don't age, but their families inevitably perish in the meantime? That's interesting material. Instead, we just go around in circles, with no narrative drive and nothing remotely engaging to keep us hooked.

You do not have my sympathies, Noah Hawley.

Episode 6 is where the momentum should have exploded. After five episodes of setup-introducing characters, building the world, and laying down the stakes-viewers were expecting the payoff: raw action, suspense, and the thrill of survival. Instead, what they got was another slow, dialogue-heavy chapter that drags when it should ignite.

The pacing feels off. Scenes linger too long, stretching tension to the point of fatigue rather than excitement. Conversations dominate where decisive action should be, and the supposed moments of suspense collapse under the weight of unnecessary buildup. The result is an episode that feels padded rather than purposeful.

This is frustrating because the groundwork has already been laid. The audience doesn't need more backstory or explanation-they need urgency. By holding back, Episode 6 risks alienating its own viewers, leaving them with the impression that the series is circling around itself instead of driving forward.

In short: Episode 6 was supposed to deliver adrenaline but instead stalls in neutral. At a point where action should define the narrative, the series hesitates-and the audience feels it.

There's only so much suspension of disbelief that I am capable of. Are we really meant to believe that a bunch of young children are going to be pretty much the only people in charge of a series of incredibly dangerous and poorly understood aliens? There's barely an armed guard in sight, the only two that we actually see look like university students on a working break. If you were one of five ultra wealthy corporations, surely you could afford to hire a few of your own colonial Marines? As other reviews have said several times the set ups and decisions that people make throughout this series are just ludicrous. Unfortunately, it's so distractingly stupid that it's hard to appreciate the better qualities of this program.

I guess I could see how society is devolving, but even on our current trajectory, there's no way humans (and androids) will become this moronic in the future.

These are supposed to be scientists and advanced machines, yet as the season progresses their lack of any common sense makes it clear that the studio wants a legacy brand and the writers just want a paycheck.

The Fly is mostly tense and does a great job of developing a sense of dread around the actions of the captive alien species. For me, all the most impactful scenes take place in the amusingly named secure-lab.

Hitchcock christened those who demand realistic actions and no plot holes "plausibilists". If you take issue with portrayals that disregard laboratory safety protocols, you may struggle. Likewise the scenes involving the character Nibs feel bizarrely lax. Much like the previous episode, certain moments stretch plausibility; however, I do not take fictional storytelling seriously enough to let it bother me to the same extent as others. Importantly, I remain keen to see what happens next. If the writers reveal a clever explanation for all the seemingly bad decisions made by intelligent characters during a later episode, I will retrospectively increase all my episode ratings by one extra star.

Wendy's scenes continue to be some of the strongest. I like how she questions humanity. Her increased connection to the xenomorph has slight shades of David from Prometheus/Covenant. It is difficult to predict where her arc will go, so, at this point, it is quite compelling. As a result, I fear for her relationship with Joe and am invested in their fate more than any others.

The arc of Boy Kavalier continues to develop such a level of dislikability for the character that the only satisfying conclusion would be to reveal that all claims of genius were fake and follow it with the grimmest death in the franchise.

Some aspects progress a bit too slowly. The build-up to Slightly's actions feels like it could have taken fewer scenes to progress to the point it does here.

Visually, it is as superb as all previous episodes, with great cinematography and production design.