Quote from: SiL on May 13, 2025, 08:39:44 PMThey didn't have central roles until Prometheus. Ash and Call were twists reveals, Bishop was a side character and a cameo, respectively.
I respectfully disagree. By "central", I mean the action of the movies integrates the synthetics fully, that they are part of the general dramaturgical structure, indispensable even in the case of Ash and Bishop (as developed below, Call is more of a fringe case, and mostly shines through the themes).
And it is, by far, NOT systematic for characters in the first four movies. You could effortlessly remove Brett or Lambert from the plot of Alien for example. The movie would be emptier and less scary without them (you would need to replace Brett's killing by the characters being confronted for the first time to the adult creature without getting hurt, this kind of terrible adaptation), but it would keep all of its general themes and structure.
Meanwhile, the synthetics are, systematically, important, and for the first two movies, FUNDAMENTAL even.
Ash is a particularly important and powerful illustration because without him, there would be no movie.
- Without him, the "negotiations" to investigate the signal would have been a lot more complicated.
- Without him, the Nostromo crew may have waited more before investigating... A honest science officer may even have insisted to decode the signal
before landing or looking for the Derelict.
- Without him, Kane would have very likely remained in the airlock. Slight possibility that Parker or Brett may have opened it, but they look a little too passive in temper, and again, the hypothetical honest science officer would most certainly have supported Ripley's position.
- The black spot in the scanner would have been subject to investigation as well.
Not to mention other situations and technologies Ash likely tinkered with (it is, since 1979, an open question to determine if yes or no the unreliability of the motion sensor during Dallas' solo mission is intended).
In Alien, Ash is integral to the "obtention", maybe to the survival, and at the very least to the continuous hitchhiking, of the Eight Passenger. They are a twin threat, both literally (Ash completes the danger of the Alien by allowing it to thrive unhindered) and symbolically (they are both a disturbing hybrid of mechanic and organic, and they both perform oral r4pe).
Ash may not have been part of O'Bannon's initial plans, but he IS central.
Bishop seems, at first glance, less important. He remains passive for most of the plot, and could be removed from the movie without much damage during the early stages.
However, he progressively develops to become a key character.
First, Bishop works as a final trigger for Ripley and Burke's tension by revealing Burke's instructions regarding the live facehuggers - without this reveal, there would be no explosion between the two of them (or a way more controlled one), and possibly no murder attempt.
Then Bishop is, two times, key to the entire final escape plan, and arguably to Newt's specific salvation by accepting to wait.
Besides the dramaturgical structure, Bishop is also fundamental for the themes of the movie. He represents a significant part of Ripley's evolution, their relationship is the symbol of the survivor learning to trust the world again. She initially sees him as a malevolent, treachorous synthetic, the ghost of Ash coming back to haunt her, and the mise-en-scène seems to support it. It's the entire function of Bishop's splendid remix of Ash's groovy hit "Let's wank to the facehugger's beauty" before a disturbed Spunkmeyer: to express this possibility, the possibility that he IS a second Ash. But Ripley progressively learns to trust the synthetic more, until she entirely accepts the humanity and benevolence of the seemingly inhuman. Ripley overcomes her Ash trauma through her rapprochement with Bishop.
Therefore, while certainly not
as central as Ash, Bishop is integral to AlienS as a story, in both themes and structure. He's part of its heart.
Call is, admittingly, the weak link in the chain. She's the one I would reasonably hesitate to call "central". She's the one character that I'd be willing to admit as a pattern-breaker.
Unlike Ash and Bishop, Annalee Call COULD be removed from the events of Alien: Resurrection without changing much of the plot. She requires no replacement. Without Call, the pirates could for example find Ripley by accident by looking for Ripley. And while visually or conceptually impressive, the gynoid's pseudo-death, door-opening and replacement of Father could be removed as well.
But I would argue
Call is important to the themes. She represents, ironically, Ripley's remaining ties to humanity. She's the only character in the story Ripley 8 demonstrates strong interest towards (to the point where a crypto-lesbian vision of the story is an absolutely acceptable one... but that's another story). She's the incarnation of humane, generous, heroic ideals. She's absolutely ready to die to stop the Alien threat.
In a way, Call is a synthesis of three previous characters in the series. By increasing order of importance:
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She mirrors Ash. Rather than the synthetic trying to orally r4pe the heroine, the synthetic is here invited by the anti-heroine to penetrate her with a knife. Rather than limiting Mother for treachery and destruction, Call replaces Father for escape and salvation.
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She mirrors Bishop. She's the one synthetic Ripley starts on hostile grounds with, and the one the anti-heroine will work with.
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She mirrors the initial Ripley. From the beginning, to stop the Alien is Call's mission, not Ripley's. She investigates like Ripley in the Nostromo, she uses a mechanical "armor" (the Auriga) to gain the upper hand like Ripley in the Sulaco, and she's ready to sacrifice herself like Ripley on Fiorina 161. And while it's almost certainly undeliberate, it is interesting that Call does "die" during her mission... and with a fall in water, no less, negative mirror of Ripley's fall in the fire. And like Ripley, Call comes back from the dead revealed as a non-human creature.
