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It seems that the "Covenant" crew shares the same foolhardiness as the crew from the previous "Prometheus" movie: they descent on an unknown planet without any protective equipment other than rifles.

Even on Earth there are thousands of plants, insects, viruses and bacteria (not counting other dangers) that can kill you when they get in contact with your skin (or, gods forbid, - when you inhale them), and yet the crew decides to land in the middle of the forest dressed as if they were heading for a family hunting trip.

I understand that this is a plot device, but is there an in story or other official explanation for such carelessness?

Edit: To clarify, I'm looking for an in-universe explanation, even something as thin as "Thanks to those super-pills we've taken at home we should be immune to all infections"

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    All candidates just a tad smarter than that have outright refused the mission.
    – void_ptr
    Commented May 17, 2017 at 23:46
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    Because they're all schmucks.
    – Valorum
    Commented May 18, 2017 at 0:09
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    Several of these fit (warning: TVTropes): tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StupidityTropes
    – tobiasvl
    Commented May 18, 2017 at 7:27
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    Because the USCSS Covenant is a colony ship equipped to transport 2,000 humans to a new habitable world, not to wage all-out war against a race of super-aliens with acid blood and a mouth in their tongue?
    – DisturbedNeo
    Commented May 18, 2017 at 8:58
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    @disturbedneo It's BECAUSE they're a colony ship transporting to a new world that they would NEED hazmat suits, precautions, equipment to analyze environmental threats, etc. So where are they? Hell, I wouldn't go to Guatemala dressed the way they were in covenant.
    – Kai Qing
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 0:38

2 Answers 2

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There was a conversation about the fact that it seemed too good to be true and that the crew deviating from the plan was foolish. It was more the new captain trying to establish himself and placate to the crew (spoiler ahead) after he forbid them to memorialize the former captain. He figured sure it was risky but he could be seen a strong leader if it works out in his favor. Add to that the crew was traumatized, felt helpless to fate in the ship, repairs needed to be done and they had the same potential hazard on the scouted planet. The scene where they debate the merits and suspicions of the signal really explains the motivation.

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    Can you provide said conversation as a source? Maybe as a transcript?
    – Edlothiad
    Commented Sep 5, 2017 at 16:05
  • I have to cut out parts for length but this is official script from Covenant 2017: How far is it? Wouldn't even have to go back into hyper sleep. And Origae-6? Seven years, four months.That's one hell of a sleep cycle. Sir, I think it's safe to say that none of us are too keen on getting back to one of those pods. Any objections? This is a monumental risk not worth taking. I'm not committing to anything.This has the potential to be a better habitat.This is good judgment, based on all the data available. You understand? As your second I need to protest.
    – Benjamin Selassie
    Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 17:11
  • I have never posted scripts here before so I don't know if a link would be better but before this there is also the case that the captains religious slant is yet another reason he feels the need to make a big move.
    – Benjamin Selassie
    Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 17:14
  • If you provide a link and the relevant parts I can edit them in for you
    – Edlothiad
    Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 20:12
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It makes for a good movie. If there was no action, rising action, climax, and falling action, there would be no movie. They got to the planet in hazmat suits, do not get infected - movie over. They colonize, find eggs and the next epidemic, one way or another, someone is going to be careless and get infected.

Plus, this is classic horror. People are dumb in horror movies.

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    This answer is more or less applicable to every such question; besides, OP knows this is a plot point - he said in the question that he was looking for an official explanation.
    – Gallifreyan
    Commented May 18, 2017 at 8:29
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    In the original Aliens, no one was dumb. Everyone does the smartest thing they can, it still doesn't work out for them. In its sequel, the colonial marines act smartly... but their training's just not correct for the danger they're put in. Even then, they're damned smart. They never ignored standard precautions. They never went into the situation in a way that makes you think they had no plan at all other than to show up. I'd blame this on Lindleof, except apparently this wasn't his screenplay.
    – John O
    Commented May 18, 2017 at 20:00
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    You might want to re-reread (or to read for the first time) the last sentence in the question: “I understand that this is a plot device, but is there an in story or other official explanation for such carelessness?”
    – DaG
    Commented May 19, 2017 at 19:14
  • You are giving your opinion, here "it makes for a good movie" - this is only your opinion, as I am sure that this minor "detail" was a reason for a lot of people to criticize the film (people actually laughed in the cinema at that scene, me included). If this is indeed a shortcoming of the screenplay (not explained in-universe), it matters to point it out as a flaw or inconsistency: people ask themselves rational questions when they see a film. As the other comments said, there are more logical screenplays in the Alien universe.
    – MicroMachine
    Commented May 20, 2017 at 5:53

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