The Smartest Decision Ever Made In The Alien Franchise According To Fans

It was revealed in the book dedicated to Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic "Alien", titled "Alien: The Vault," that an audience member was exceptionally vocal during the film's opening night. During the final act, when Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) frantically rushes through the belly of the Nostromo to recover her pet, Jonesy, someone in the crowd of a packed-out theatre proclaimed, "leave the f***ing cat!" It's probably one of the toughest choices in the classic sci-fi horror film that Ripley has to make. However, there is one particular choice in Scott's classic terror from the stars that, according to fans on Reddit, would've been the easiest to make.

It's the sort of choice that audience members can quickly call out in the horror genre, a decision that's on par with avoiding running upstairs when someone's in the house or locking the door to the basement rather than investigating a creepy noise coming from it. The worst thing about this one is that Ripley desperately tried to put it into action — it's just some of the rest of the now-deceased Nostromo crew didn't want to hear it.

The choice that could've led the "Alien" franchise down a very different path or perhaps stopped it altogether appears early in the first film. After John Hurt's Kane gets a head-on collision with a facehugger, the team out with him on LV-426 drags the unconscious crew member back to the ship in the hope of giving him an assessment on board.

Their efforts to save their shipmate are briefly halted when Ripley, still on board the Nostromo, refuses to open the door. As stated in the film, she explains to the crew outside, "Wait a minute. If we let it in, the ship could be infected." Adamant on staying in line with company policy, she faces aggression from some of the crew, all before Medical Officer Ash (Ian Holm) ignores her pleas and opens the hatch anyway. Multiple Redditors agreed that Ripley was smart to insist on keeping the door closed, though as u/tohon75 pointed out, opening the hatch was "on the flight crew, not on ripley or the marines." 

Had they followed protocol, the nightmare that eventually unfolds could've stopped right at their door, but Ash had other plans. These plans would send Ripley on a recurring battle with the so-called "perfect organism" for years to come.