Ash as the Company's insurance policy

Big D!

MemberOvomorphMay 17, 20121177 Views8 Replies

Another question I have about Ash is if the Company knew about the derelict spacecraft before or after Thedus, then why would the Company not send their science officer "double agent" (Ash) to investigate the beacon? It's curious why the Captain, First Officer, and Navigator travel out to the derelict. Ash's frustration with the poor video/audio quality from Dallas, Kane, and Lambert also begs the question why he didn't go out with the team? (Don't you just love Lambert's 2-3 clips of "let's get out of here"? - foreshadowing that some serious whoop is coming down) Now, it was obviously Dallas' call and Kane volunteered to go to which Dallas was not surprised. I think the Company (via Mother) would have instructed Dallas to include Ash in the away team. This would ensure that all efforts were made to get a specimen back on-board the Nostromo. I can imagine Ash saying to Dallas, yeah, I'll watch here top-side, why don't you go down into that seriously spooky hole and see what you find (lol) ...If the Company already knew of the Facehuggers (doubtful), this seems obvious. It all begs the question why Ash didn't go to the derelict. Another guess is that the Company didn't want Ash (their insurance policy) getting injured (attacked by an Alien). Getting a specimen, back on-board the Nostromo, in a more controlled environment would seem logical too. I can't recall any Star Trek episodes where Spock stayed on-board while Kirk and a bunch of Red Shirts travelled to an alien planet? LOL

ash'sbishop
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May 17, 2012

I find it a bit ridiculous that Ash didn't insist on freezing Kane like Parker said.The company would have got a specimen for definite that way, but the film would have been rather shit!

TheEgg
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May 17, 2012

Maybe he was supposed to be a kind of caretaker for the xeno. Everyone else was trying to kill, evade it. Except him.

Big D!
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May 18, 2012

Ash's Bishop - I find it ridiculous too, unless The Company obviously knew more than they knew about the life stages of the Alien. Maybe the intent was to have data on the face hugger, burster, and adult phases...? Bishop could have just sat back and watched, like he was doing until he mysteriously appeared in the Mother communication room with Ripley. Isolated himself off in part of the ship, he doesn't need food, only some "milk" right? Why didn't Dallas insist on freezing Kane? He saw that there was something down Kane's throat.

arrgy
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May 18, 2012

This has been hashed out before on many threads. But my theory is this. The company knew about the creature, and knew what the creature could do. The company specifically selected the crew of misfits to go get the creature, knowing full well what could happen. Apparently, science officers do not normally go out on these missions. Ash, and the company, know that the facehugger would sense that Ash is not organic and therefore would not go after him. Kane is the perfect patsy, he is overzealous, and reacts before he thinks. Exactly what the company needs. Ash could then study the creature after it bursts from Kane, and hunts down the crew one by one. Again, Ash would be sensed as a machine by the creature and not attacked. Ash could spend the rest of the voyage home just studying the creature. As to Parker and "why don't you freeze him?" Remember they are still on LV-426 while the facehugger is on Kane. You most likely would not freeze him until at least you got off the planet. Also, Ash has the final say as to feezing Kane, because as Dallas said to Ripley: anything dealing with the science department, Ash has the final word. So if Ash said no, mostly likely Dallas would have to go with him.

arrgy
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May 18, 2012

I may add, what should be interesting is when Dallas, Kane and Lambert are going to the derilict, Dallas asks Ash if he is "getting this." Ash responds with "yes, I have never seen anything like it." True or not? If what we see from the trailers of Prometheus, are some images of the ship transmitted back to Earth and to the company, and if so, does the company know what the ship looks like? If the company knows what the ship looks like from prometheus, is Ash lying assuming that Ash knows everything that the company knows?

Big D!
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May 21, 2012

I don't know, based on the stunned look on Ash's face and the tone of his voice, my guess is that he has truly not seen the derelict spacecraft before. Something must have happened in-between the time the Nostromo arrived and departed Thedus what with Ash replacing Dallas' previous science officer. I think if the Company knew about the signal and/or derelict, they would have sent a team immediately to investigate and claim the intellectual property rights. As I've read in other posts, there are some who claim that the Nostromo crew were a bunch of misfits so the Company could easily sacrifice them by investigating LV-426. My guess...information from Prometheus was not transmitted back to the Company. It could be as easy that the SJs blocked communications, no one escaped from the encounter, etc.

Big D!
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May 21, 2012

arrgy - I like your comments. I'm with you in that the Xenos can distinguish organic life forms from synthetics (and incubating hosts ala Ripley and the Queen). Why did the Queen kill Bishop then? Well, not kill him, but splitting him is pretty close. Maybe she was just ticked off, synthetic or not. The Xenos, like us, are animals and should possess emotions.

Pheonix-Ashes2.1
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May 27, 2012

ash is a robot? he/ it follows commands from a computer that gets its' orders from the company. obviously, the noir element would be the mystery of why ash was programmed. ash malfunctioned...shows that even if he/it could think for itself it sweats coffee creamer and twitches....