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"That's fucking John Denver. That's Take Me Home, Country Roads."
Tennessee Faris identifying the content of a mysterious transmission (from Alien: Covenant)

Tennessee Faris,[2] better known as "Tee",[3] was a pilot on the Weyland-Yutani Corporation colony ship USCSS Covenant and the husband of fellow pilot Maggie Faris. Tennessee was the first of the crew to encounter a rogue transmission that subsequently saw the Covenant diverted from its intended destination of Origae-6 to a mysterious world. He was also one of only two crew members to survive the resulting incident, alongside chief of terraforming Katherine Daniels. However, they were captured by the rogue synthetic David when he hijacked the Covenant, presumably to be used in his future experimentation.

Biography[]

Tennessee Faris hailed from Lynchburg, Virginia; while proud of his hometown, he was excited to be colonizing a new world. He had a younger brother who had a family on Earth. Tennessee was arrested thrice in his youth for minor offenses. His other notable behaviors were stealing a vehicle and punching a police horse on St. Patrick's Day. At some point he met and married his wife, Maggie Faris. The two eventually applied for positions on a crew being sent to colonize the distant world of Origae-6 by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, conveniently omitting their past legal transgressions. As of 2103, they were employed as pilots on the Weyland-Yutani colony ship USCSS Covenant.

Terrorism on the Covenant[]

"This your call, darlin'?"
Tennessee to Katherine Daniels (from Alien: Covenant - Origins)
TeeOnCamera

Tennessee aboard the Covenant

In 2103, shortly before the departure of the Covenant from Earth orbit, Tennessee was on the ship's bridge when an urgent call from chief terraformist Katherine Daniels came in—a saboteur had infiltrated one of the ship's terraforming bays, mined the loading door, and taken a hostage. Tennessee was ordered by Daniels to flood the bay with white noise to disable the attacker's remote detonator; though he saw fit to remind Daniels that this course of action meant reprogramming any affected vehicles and equipment, Tennessee complied. The detonator was nullified and the saboteur's plot foiled.[4]

Later, the cult that had sent the saboteur, the Earthsavers, launched a loaded cargo shuttle at the Covenant to prevent it from leaving Earth. As the crew deliberated on how to stop it, Daniels proposed using one of the expedition's landers to intercept the shuttle. When ship's computer Mother proved unwilling to launch the lander, Tennessee manually programmed the lander for departure and fired it at the Earthsavers' craft, destroying it.[4]

Following these events,[5] Tennessee and several other crew members were present at a Weyland-Yutani facility on Phobos, where they were subjected to psychological testing including fear exposure. Tennessee was greatly disturbed by the exercise.[1]

After the Covenant left Earth, Tennessee conversed briefly with captain Jacob Branson before the latter retired due to a fever. Subsequently, Tennessee and his wife attended a celebration held by the crew; both imbibed an excessive amount of liquor and displayed disruptive behavior, which drew judgmental remarks from executive officer Chris Oram.[6]

The mysterious transmission[]

"We should do something for Captain Branson, at least."
Tennessee voicing his opinion (from Alien: Covenant)
HighTee

Tennessee on the Covenant bridge

In 2104, the Covenant was struck by the energy scatter from a supernova, which damaged the ship and forced Mother to rouse the crew to deal with the emergency. Tennessee quickly went to Daniels' side as Branson's pod failed to open and incinerated him; he comforted Daniels as her husband was killed.

With Oram now in charge and decreeing that the crew focus on repairing their stricken vessel, Tennessee rebuffed the directive and insisted on honoring the late Branson, but was shouted down by Oram, and expressed scorn towards the newly-appointed captain as the crew went to their tasks.

Tennessee was tasked with repairing the Covenant's damaged solar sail alongside guard and technician Ankor. With repairs complete, Tennessee 's helmet picked up a rogue transmission; the crew studied the message, consisting of a woman singing the John Denver song "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which Tennesse was able to identify. The transmission contained coordinates for a nearby world with conditions that surpassed projections for Origae-6, and Oram immediately chartered an expedition to investigate it.

While Tennessee's wife Faris was assigned to pilot Lander One to ferry the expedition detail to the planet's surface, Tennessee remained aboard the Covenant to monitor events alongside Ricks and Upworth. The investigation soon ran into trouble—security officers Ben Ledward and Tom Hallet were infected by parasitic creatures that emerged from their hosts and attacked the crew. Lander One was destroyed and Faris was among the casualties, though Tennessee was unaware of her death as it happened; despite hearing her panicked pleas over the comm channel, he believed that she was still alive.

To the rescue[]

"She was scared. Never heard my wife scared before."
Tennessee worrying about Faris (from Alien: Covenant)

Tennessee and Upworth effected a command override to bring the Covenant closer to the planet despite an electromagnetic storm that was interfering with communications. After hearing of his wife's death from Daniels, Tennessee was heartbroken; however, he managed to steel himself and acted on Daniels' advisory to use the one remaining option available to the now dwindling members of the expedition team—the cargo lift.

Tennessee worked with the bridge officers to modify the ungainly craft for its mission, though he was forced to launch early when an even more dangerous alien creature emerged from Oram and went on the attack. He was successful in retrieving the survivors—by now reduced to Daniels, security chief Dan Lopé and ship's synthetic Walter—but the rescue was complicated by the intervention of the alien. Tennessee managed to stay in control of the lift as Daniels used the onboard crane to dispatch the rampaging lifeform.

Back on the Covenant, Tennessee aided Upworth in treating Lopé, who had sustained injuries from the acid blood of a parasite that had attacked him on the planet. Following this, Tennessee met up with Daniels and the two comforted each other over their respective losses before sharing a meal of omelet together.

Battle on the Covenant[]

"Daniels. This way."
Tennessee tracking the alien (from Alien: Covenant)

The ordeal was not over, however—Lopé had been implanted by the parasite, and another alien emerged from his body. After the creature mowed down Ricks and Upworth, Tennessee spotted its bloody footprints leading away from the slaughter, and he and Daniels went to deal with it. They lured the alien to one of the terraforming bays, where Tennessee prepped a Terraforming Truck for immediate ejection; Daniels trapped the alien in the cab, and Tennessee opened the bay's loading door to jettison the truck. However, a JCB skid steer loader was pulled into the capstan chained to the truck and jammed it. Tennessee quickly removed the restraints on a second truck, which shifted the blockage and killed the alien.

As the Covenant resumed its original course, Tennessee and Daniels were placed into hypersleep by Walter. Though Daniels was able to deduce that Walter had been replaced by rogue android and Prometheus expedition survivor David, who had been responsible for the creation of the creatures that had plagued the crew, Tennessee remained unaware of this as the Covenant powered onward.

Personality and traits[]

Tennessee enjoyed the music of John Denver, and wore a distinctive cowboy hat. He was also a consummate pilot, which was no better evidenced than by his ability to retain control of a cargo lifter that was dangerously unbalanced and operating far beyond its capability.

Behind the scenes[]

"Tennessee and Faris are the salt of the earth. They're surrounded by scientists, doctors and engineers, and Faris and Tennessee are just down-at-home, good people. They're a little different from the crew around them. They're a little lighter."
Danny McBride (from Alien: Covenant: The Official Collector's Edition)

Tennessee Faris first appeared in The Last Supper, a short released on YouTube in 2017 to promote the film Alien: Covenant. In the short—and the film itself—Tennessee was portrayed by Danny McBride.

Appearances[]

Non-canon[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Phobos
  2. Owen Williams. Alien: Augmented Reality Survival Manual, p. 38 (2017), Harper Design.
  3. Alan Dean Foster. Alien: Covenant, p. 71 (2017), Titan Books.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Alien: Covenant - Origins
  5. Though its precise timeframe is not specified, the presence of Sarah Rosenthal in Phobos implies that it takes place after her recruitment in Alien: Covenant - Origins.
  6. The Last Supper
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