The allegorical reading of Boy as Peter Pan and the hybrids as his Lost Boys was incorrect. Despite being read the story repeatedly, Wendy only now understands the true message. She wanted to escape. The adults were trying to prevent her from going up. Even worse, they no longer viewed her as human. The hybrids were simply models for the new product Prodigy was selling. Boy had no interest in coddling their personalities. He delighted in the misery of others. He can't be redeemed through some tragic backstory of not being loved by his father. In fact, his upbringing is horrifying because he killed his father. He had no use for family. As such, he couldn't connect with the bond Wendy and Joe had. Even now, he views Joe as simple. He believes there will be less resistance should the Eye take Joe as its host. Joe's interests aren't necessarily aligned with Wendy and the other hybrids. However, he remains free by the close of the season. Meanwhile, the adults who ran Neverland and sought to control the various experiments are imprisoned. It's the reversal of power that highlights the purpose of the season. Yet it can't help feeling like a letdown because of the expectations previously established.
Great power came from Joe attacking Nibs. He was choosing humanity over synthetic life. He had to protect what makes life on Earth so special. However, his response was purely instinctual. Nibs was hurting his friend. As such, he fired back. That prevented Wendy from leaving. She felt betrayed. She also operates with more insight. She better connects with the aliens. They don't try to ascribe deeper meaning onto the world and their actions. Joe was horrified by Wendy ordering the xenomorph to kill. He knows just how deadly and ruthless she can be. She has so much power. Nothing can contain her. She remains free to cause more destruction throughout the facility despite being locked in a cage. She isn't limited in any way. Moreover, she inspires her fellow hybrids to rise up against their creators. That's a somewhat familiar beat. Humans can no longer control what they made. They deal with the most immediate consequences. It's just as terrifying to see the humans being stalked by the hybrids as it is when they are targeted by aliens. Those visuals are eerie. They don't necessarily inform more about what's motivating each of these characters. That's frustrating. It's storytelling that goes from moment to moment instead of building to something more. The hybrids align with Wendy's goal simply because she tells them to. She doesn't really encounter any resistance or pushback.
Some of the big reveals included in the finale largely fall flat. It's meaningless to discover Atom is a synth. It's cool when Wendy realizes she can control him just like every other piece of technology in this facility. That's how she saves Joe. The true tension comes from whether or not the Eye will get to him. Wendy saves her brother. The narrative still required the Eye to make contact with humanity. Boy set up that plan through his desire to have a challenging conversation. It all culminates in the Eye making its way to the beach and reanimating Arthur's body. That's so completely random. It satisfies what the story wanted to achieve. But it's also tangential to everything else going on at the moment. Aarush and Smee only have a brief moment to talk about any regrets for what happened to Arthur. They want to shift all the blame over to the humans. This was what they were forced to do. It's hardly reassuring when Morrow insists he didn't harm Aarush's mother. He's still equally to blame for all this chaos and destruction. Arthur was the casualty. He will remain relevant to the overall story moving forward. It hardly fulfills the promise of the brutality the audience has already seen with the Eye. Plus, it's not exactly a satisfying downfall for Boy who thought he could control everything because he was smarter.
The hybrids understand that they can die. The promise of everlasting life was false. They can be victimized by the aliens just as easily as the humans. Isaac paid the ultimate price. Synthetic bodies are capable of some truly astonishing feats. The fight between Kirsh and Morrow is impressive. They view each other as the enemy because they are aligned with separate corporate entities battling over their proprietary interests. The hybrids are simply vying for control. They obtain that. They play hide and seek to capture anyone who can disrupt their plans. They will no longer be limited. As such, they don't really reckon with their mortality. They are empowered to do whatever they want. Wendy understands all the things she isn't. She must decide who she wants to be moving forward. She doesn't care for the ways humans complicate the world. Joe remains free. He follows that behavior. More humans are killed during this rampage. Siberian's death is mostly a way to showcase yet another brutal alien attack. The show established certain beats. It knew how to deliver on them. It told a new story within this franchise that centered around humanity. Ultimately though, it hit the same beats too many times without enough satisfying payoff to suggest something deeper. It's not operating with any sense of finality. That may suggest the hybrids don't blindly kill. The xenomorph can decide who to kill as well. Those are crucial details. The reasons behind them needed to be more pronounced. Right now, it's largely a way to keep all of these characters engaged in the story when it continues. As such, the humans were protected in ways similar to Joe's frequent run-ins with the xenomorph early on. There's hardly a cost to any of this.
