It’s a great time to be a fan of the Alien franchise, between Alien: Earth airing now on Hulu, Predator: Badlands hitting theaters this fall, and the one-year anniversary of Alien: Romulus this week. However, just because a series is going well doesn’t mean fans should completely avoid criticizing it altogether — in fact, it’s important to confront the flaws and gaffes in your favorite media now and then, as it helps ensure you’re being honest and not putting it on a pedestal. With that in mind, it seems like a good time to look back at Romulus‘ most awkward line of dialogue: Andy (David Jonsson) saying, “Get away from her, you b—!”
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Romulus was a brilliant pivot for the Alien franchise, as it turned away from the divisive prequel series of Prometheus and Covenant, but it didn’t dig its claws too deeply into the original films, either. Much like a xenomorph, it took parts of hits host and evolved into something new and unique. Still, there were some obvious callbacks and nostalgia cues, and none felt more ham-fisted than Andy’s direct quote from Aliens.
Side by Side Comparison
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) upheld the grand tradition of quotable one-liners in 80s action movies at the climax of Aliens. Near the end of the movie, the queen of a massive xenomorph colony is advancing on Newt (Carrie Henn), and Ripley is the only survivor capable of helping her. She puts on an exosuit meant for loading cargo, which is not meant as a weapon, but is a callback to her special skills mentioned earlier in the movie. It sets her apart from the soldiers, who were unable to defeat the xenomorphs with conventional firepower.
This iconic line of dialogue breaks the tension after a long stretch of terror and hopelessness for our heroes. All seems lost, and in many ways, the odds are still against them, yet the familiar exosuit gives Ripley the confidence to shout at the xenomorph as if she stands a chance. Her grief and rage at the loss of her own daughter are also behind her desperation to protect Newt, yet in a strange way, she recognizes the same anguish in the xenomorph queen, who just lost dozens of offspring — if not hundreds.
All of that subtext is behind Weaver’s unforgettable delivery of the line “Get away from her, you b—!” For many fans, that unspoken meaning is what makes this line so quotable, and has kept it in the pop cultural lexicon for decades. That means re-using the line in another movie is a tall order. It needs to have the same impact on the story and the characters.
For most fans, the callback simply doesn’t work for Andy in this moment. For one thing, it comes much earlier in the movie, and while this might be construed as a climactic, all-seems-lost moment, the visual cues don’t seem to support that. Andy and Rain (Cailee Spaeny) are fleeing a xenomorph, and it nearly has Rain cornered, by Andy comes floating towards them with a rifle held in steady hands, delivering a barrage of well-aimed shots to the monster’s face. He delivers the line in two parts — first he commands the xenomorph to “get away from her,” then hits it with one more burst of gunfire before continuing “…you b-b—,” with his stutter now back in place.
It’s not that this is an insignificant moment for Andy — like Ripley, he’s desperately trying to protect someone he loves. It’s played as a surprise for the audience, as Andy shows he has reconciled the kind but slow version of himself from the beginning of the film, with the calculating, savvy persona that he took on after being reprogrammed by Rain. Here, we see that he can still handle business, but his affection for Rain, his humor, and even some of his flaws are still intact.
This wasn’t necessarily the best way to make this reveal, however. At this point in the movie, it wasn’t entirely clear to the audience whether the reprogrammed Andy had lost all the humanity and empathy that was present in the original Andy. Andy also hasn’t commented directly on the abuse he suffered at the hands of Bjorn (Spike Fearn), nor the fact that Rain would have to abandon him to build a new life on Yvaga.
Contrivance
Ripley’s defiant line may not have been the best fit for Andy’s situation, but on the other hand, this scene may have been the best place for this line to fit into this movie. We can only speculate, but it’s easy to imagine that some people wanted this callback to be in this movie — whether they were writers, directors, producers, or studio executives. If this line had to be placed in Romulus somewhere, this is likely the best fit for it, all things considered. It’s strange and out of place enough to distract from the plot for a moment, but thankfully, what follows is memorable enough to make up for it.
Romulus is undoubtedly a masterpiece, as bad movies simply don’t warrant an entire article dissecting a single line of dialogue like this. If its clumsy quote form Aliens is its biggest flaw, it’s still a near-perfect movie in my book. You can stream Alien: Romulus now on Hulu, along with most of the other titles in this franchise. Alien: Earth is airing there now from week to week, with new episodes every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET. Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7th.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.
