Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley confirmed fans' suspicions about Maginot crew member, Mr. Teng (Andy Yu). While the core of Alien: Earth's story revolves around the hybrids known as The Lost Boys, led by Wendy, the FX series pulled back the curtain on the event that started it all: the crash landing of the Maginot ship in New Siam under Prodigy territory. One of the crew members inside is Mr. Teng, a character who has since raised eyebrows due to his odd behavior in Episode 1.
Teng's strange behavior in Episode 1 sparked suspicion from fellow crew members, prompting Morrow (the cyborg who has a tragic backstory) to warn him to keep his distance from Sullivan after he was caught standing too close to her. He still didn't stop because Episode 5 showed him observing Sullivan in a creepy way while she was in cryosleep.
Teng's controversial actions made fans presume he was secretly a Synth (an android covertly placed within the Maginot by Weyland-Yutani).
Speaking with Decider, Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley addressed fan theories about the true nature of Mr. Teng, admitting that part of the fun of the Alien franchise is that "there is always a part of you that's suspicious" on whether a character is a synthetic or not:
"Part of the fun of 'Alien' is you never know. You know, because of the Ian Holm reveal, there’s always a part of you that’s suspicious of like, ‘Is that person a person?' It’s not my job to answer that for you."
Hawley then hinted at Teng's backstory in Alien: Earth, teasing that he might be a criminal who was simply forced to join the Maginot crew to retrieve alien creatures in space.
While Hawley didn't exactly confirm if Teng is a Synth or not, the Alien: Earth showrunner pointed out that he was a "dangerous" and "super creepy" person, which aligned with fans' suspicions about Teng's peculiar nature:
“I will say, in the old days, they used to say, ‘The army or prison,’ you know? And I think in this case, they might have said, ‘Space ship or prison,’ right? Clearly, he is a dangerous person to be on a spaceship with and just super creepy.”
Hawley's comments about Teng provided fans with a clear indication that this controversial Maginot crew member is clearly not a saint. Instead, he was a person who had a dark past and hads nothing to lose, which is why he acted weird all the time.
While he is not the one who sabotaged the crew's mission, Teng is just as dangerous as the saboteur (later revealed to be Petrovich) because of his unusual behavior.
In fact, Alien: Earth Episode 5 strongly indicated that Teng is not a Synth after the Xenomorph did not hesitate to kill him. Moments before his death, Teng can also be seen screaming and terrified, which is an obvious clue that he was a human and not a robot.
Alien: Earth features a cast led by Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, and Lily Newmark. The series premiered on Hulu and FX on August 12, 2025.
Why Teng's Strange Behavior in Alien: Earth Proved to Be Maginot's Downfall
Alien: Earth Episode 5 conclusively revealed that Teng was not a Synth, but this does not entirely rule out his involvement in Maginot's downfall. During his interrogation with Morrow, Teng knew that someone else was missing from the cryopod because he was always there to stalk Sullivan, but he chose not to report it.
Even though he was not aware that Petrovich was the team's traitor, Teng should've reported what he noticed in the cryobay to Morrow or even to anyone. This could've prevented the saboteur from inflicting further damage by not allowing him to release the facehuggers in the first place.
Still, the main crew members of the Maginot (whose fates were revealed in Alien: Earth Episode 5) were not competent enough to contain such complex alien creatures.
Noah Hawley's comment about "Spaceship or prison?" when pertaining to Teng's origins highly suggests that he was a criminal on Earth forced to be assigned to the Maginot ship. In fact, most of the crew members were likely convicted criminals who opted for this perilous mission to significantly reduce their prison sentences.
In the end, Weyland-Yutani knew that this crew (minus Morrow) was expendable, and they were the perfect test subjects to exploit in a suicide mission to capture the alien creatures in deep space.
