Extant S1 Ep 2 – Extinct

Well. No fear of this show starting off too slow – every plot point was advanced this week, and I approve. In fact, I’m impressed and simultaneously a little worried. They’re certainly developing a complex overarching mythology here, and as the X-Files fan that I am (and as a bitter ex-LOST fan), I am all too aware that those kinds of mythologies frequently unravel in a spectacular way. But then again, sometimes you get Fringe or Babylon 5, so here’s hoping.

These eggs genetically engineered to stand flat on their ends are pretty neat, too.

Anyway, this had some good stuff in it: minimal Ethan creepiness, and in fact, a more sympathetic family dynamic for Molly, her husband, and her android son. Also, Molly spends a lot less time walking around in silent wide-eyed fear, and more time trying to figure things out. Plus, there were little details like the fact that supposedly-dead former astronaut Harmon drove up in what seemed to be a battered old Prius when he came to spirit Molly away and tell her more about what happened to him. Oh, and speaking of that whole thing, Harmon’s vision of his dead mother while he was aboard the Seraphim? Creeee-peeee. I assume we’re setting to rest any doubt that what Molly saw was actually her deceased boyfriend, then.

I also cheered to see more of Annie Wersching’s character this week. I was impressed with her ability to have a civil conversation with John after how extremely condescending he was to her before. Glad to see she’s not easily deterred. And are we supposed to think she’s in some kind of relationship with her boss, by the way she was hanging around? Interesting.

On a related note, what with the obvious signs that John’s business partner is in love with him, and the maybe less obvious signs that John might be a jerk, I think we may end up disliking his character. Still, Molly needs to tell him about the pregnancy soon, especially now that other people have started to find out.

After the cryptic conversation between the ISEA director and Yasimoto, I couldn’t help but be reminded of X-Files again. The talk of “Them” being already here sounded a lot like the whole colonization plot line. Hey, at least there was a while in that show where that was a pretty cool idea, so, again, I’ll stay hopeful. And I am intrigued to see what the director’s daughter has to do with everything.

“Completely normal”, said the doctor. Riiiiight.

Still can’t get overly excited that Molly’s apparently having an alien-human hybrid baby. If he (or she, but it’s usually a boy) is supposed to be the Chosen One to save the world/bring the aliens and humans together in harmony, I’ll be even more ‘meh’ about it. But I do wonder if Ethan will feel threatened by the baby once he finds out. And I wonder if he’ll continue to want to save his family from extinction even though he knows they’re weaker than him.

What did you think? Did it grab you more than the pilot? Let us know in the comments.