MFF Special: Figuring Out How the Geologist Got Lost in Prometheus

Do you ever wonder how Fifield the geologist got lost in Prometheus? I sure have, so I decided to come up with some answers that will shed light on the plot hole. The point of this post isn’t to dogpile on a film that I enjoy. The end goal is to figure out how two people got lost when they probably shouldn’t of. Like all my other posts about Deep Blue Sea, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and The Cabin in the Woods I’ve done a ton of work and research to make an educated guess that I’m happy with.

If you aren’t familiar with Prometheus it tells the story of space explorers dying violently while Guy Pearce wears old man makeup. I have very fond memories of my first viewing. My wife and I went to a local restaurant for our customary after movie drinks and we ended up having a very nice bartender who went heavy with the free drinks. We proceeded to go way in-depth in an effort to figure out the timeline and the Architects plan. I can’t remember the last time I’ve spent so much time breaking down a film’s plot.

Here is how it all goes down. The doomed crew land on an alien planet in search of life and find some ominous looking structures. The ship lands about 2,000 feet from the structure and they ride to the death trap in some sweet ATVs, then walk into the circular dome and send out some orbs to map the area.

Wisdom-Square crushed this diagram – via

When you look at the clip and picture you will notice that the orbs start traveling parallel to each other in straight line.

The tomb area is in the middle of these two tunnels.

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Once inside the building (30:44), they take a left (32:00), then take a right and walk until they come to a watery area that features obvious terraforming (32:28). They take a look, remove their helmets, turn back and walk down the very long tunnel that could possibly lead them to the other end. If the structure is 2,300 feet long and the tomb is in the middle that means the crew has a maximum of 1,150 feet to walk before they arrive in the middle. This makes sense because the tunnel they are walking in looks a little longer than a 100-yard football field. Eventually, David (Michael Fassbender) triggers some holographic Architects (alien dudes) who come running through the tunnel and take a right towards the tomb area. The crew follows (36:02) and they come across a decapitated architect laying next to a massive door.

This is when Fifield gets pissed, says something about rocks and storms away from the group with dopey Millburn in tow. The irony is they end up back in the same area and meet their demise via a rapidly growing snake thing. All they had to do was take a left, walk down a long tunnel, take another left and eventually take one more very noticeable right. There was basically zero reason for them to get lost so I’m going to come up with a possible route that he could’ve taken to get himself killed. For reference, here is a diagram of the easy trek they made.

Fifield wasn’t thinking straight and decided to take a left turn too early despite Millburn meekly suggesting they should go a little further. They get to the end of the hallway and take a left. They end up walking up the parallel hallway and this is why they don’t hear the other crew running to their ATVs. Here is how the conversation goes.

Millburn: Are you sure we’re going the right way? Fifield: Yes Millburn: Shouldn’t we just follow the long tunnel that lead us to the dead alien guy? Fifield: Nope Millburn: Really? Fifield: Yes! Trust me! I know exactly where I’m going.

It takes a minute for the crew to get back to the ship and realize the two are missing. Fifield and Millburn are called on their comms and told to stay inside because a massive storm is coming (convenient). They’re informed of movement underground via their captain and wisely decide to go the other way. The problem is they walk around in circles and end up back at the tomb. This is where they meet their end.

They cover a lot of unecessary ground whilst gettting lost.

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The reason the Fifield died is because he is a stubborn fellow who wouldn’t listen to his buddy (in a fake conversation). All they had to do was take two lefts and a right and they were guaranteed to live a little bit longer and not become a punch line.

If you liked this post make sure to check out my series featuring random data and useless numbers. Start with my groundbreaking posts about a Merman’s murderous journey, Leatherface sprinting, Deep Blue Sea and Stellan Skarsgard, I Know What You Did Last Summer trunk cleaning and Michael Myer’s Halloween H20 driving then work your way down the list!