Fifield and Milburn: My Explanation

To be fair, it was not established in Alien whether Kane had an approach or avoidance temperament. For all we know, Kane may have been like Holloway and had an approach and sensation seeking temperament.

Then why did the rest of the crew manage to successfully leave the structure three times (twice under duress) without any problem?

That whole sequence reminded me of an old Abbott and Costello sketch. They were a couple of bumbling clowns; the whole scene was lacking tension. The filmmakers totally screwed up the tone of the scenes with Milburn and Fifield. Shame.

They weren't as freaked out. When F & M retreated they were in a state of semi-panic and disorientation from the general weirdness they'd witnessed. That's *why" they left (or tried to leave), if you'll recall. Also, they probably weren't paying as much attention on the way in as Shaw and Holloway, seeing as how they had less psychologically invested in the mission (and not to mention the others had David with them when they left). As for return visits, by that time the structure would have been mapped out and studied more thoroughly by all involved.

@ McFilmStar: Agreed.

@dtrisml That's it dude, keep clutching onto them disintegrating straws you are desperately holding onto....

(Although I would add that the tradition goes at least as far back as Shakespeare)

The scene reminds me of Spinal Tap when they can't find their way to the stage.

Fifield and Milburn entire scene was some kind of comedy skit??? I didnt give a shit when they died, they where stupid and unlikeable... Great character development there by Lindelturd!

Hate to keep comparing Prometheus and Alien - but Fifield and Milburn - their deaths to say.... Bretts. or Dallas or Parker and Lambert Yep Scott HAS lost it....

Irritation, certainly. Desperation? well maybe I should keep my mouth shut and let people keep complaining about how they don't understand what is plainly obvious to me without comment. If my faith is flagging in anything, it is in the general comprehensive abilities of a startlingly large number of people who've seen this film. If you think my explanation is feeble, perhaps you'd care to point out the flaws, "High Priest"?

I dunno, something about the scene just feels "off". How come the biologist shows absolutely no fear of the space cobra if he had an avoidance temperament that made him want to leave in the first place? (If you are afraid of novelty you usually do not approach strange snake-like animals which humans have a natural predisposition to fear from an evolutionary perspective)

The mechanism for separating Fifield and Millburn from the rest of the party was ridiculous. And that's before they got lost wandering around like a couple of comedy bafoons!

Yeah, the crew members do not act like "real" thinking human beings with a past history and experience (like training in their fields, common sense, consistent personality traits) in many situations which makes many of the situations feel forced and unnatural.

@ high priest I would compare their deaths to Kenny from Southpark. They were just a meaningful

I immediately went "uuurrggh" as soon as Fifield did that big rant at Shaw, wasnt he hired for one of Earths greatest ever missions - wasnt there a selection process for the most capable human beings on EArth to complete a difficult inter steller task??? Then Fifield says "im in it for the money" OR "I just love rocks" IS that flaw enough for you dtrisml? Thats just plain bad screenwriting dude... In fact its beyond flaw - Its just SHIT!

OH MY GOD! THEY KILLED MILBURN! YOU BASTARDS!!!!! lol And I agree about Fifield, he talks about how his thing is rocks in a cave that is made by extra-terrestrials. TAKE SOME SAMPLES YOU DOLT!

I find the whole "you don't understand it" argument very patronising. The bottom line is that character development was threadbare. One minute milburn and fifield are panicking about a potential life form the probe is picking up and decide to go in the opposite direction, the next minute milburn is trying to touch a snake-like life form that is hissing at him. And all this after they witness several dead bodies. Surely the fight or flight response would kick in, not the "coochy coo" response.

"I immediately went "uuurrggh" as soon as Fifield did that big rant at Shaw." Absolutely cringeworthy. That's what I was talking about earlier when I spoke of the mechanism for their separation from everyone else. Seeing as Fifield was a geologist why not just have him stop to actually look at some smegging rocks?!!

@ Corporalhiccups exactly! If it was already established that they have an avoidance disposition instead of an approach disposition (like Holloway), it makes no sense that Milburn would not be panicking when the cobra appeared. Especially since the amygdala always takes the "better safe than sorry approach" and suppresses the prefrontal cortex in situations such as those. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal pathway would be firing like crazy in a situation in which an individual encountered a strange animal that looks like an oversized cobra in a structure full of giant murdered aliens.