Extant S1 Ep 13 – Ascension

Well, this was… a relatively solid finale that managed to transcend its predictability at least a little, due mostly to Ethan (and, obviously, Pierce Gagnon).

ISEA sends Molly on a desperate mission to the Seraphim, to stop the alien spores from reaching Earth. She leaves Ethan confused about why she seemed to pick her half-alien child over him. Her relationship with John, too, is uncertain, although they do share a moment before she blasts off.

Ethan’s silly hat of science-y deep scanning

Ethan still doesn’t trust John, either. I didn’t really think there was any chance he’d actually blow up the lab with John, Julie, and that other tech guy I don’t care much about, but I’m glad John was able to convince him that he was trustworthy. And he finally, finally stopped lying/not telling Ethan the truth, and just gave it to him straight when they found out they couldn’t remove the bomb. I understand not wanting to scare a kid, but when it’s a life or death situation, and Ethan’s, y’know, crazy smart anyway, just go for it.

On the Seraphim, Molly decides this week is another week to be awesome instead of useless. She does not let Fake Alien Katie Sparks distract her from her mission. She also does not let the fact that Enver Gjokaj’s character Sean’s brains have been scrambled prevent her from sedating him so she can rescue him. It’s only when Ben, the ISEA’s artificial intelligence program, refuses to let the shuttle launch due to the fact that Molly and Sean are infected with the alien spores, that she starts to give up. Understandable.

Fortunately, Ethan doesn’t give up even though he has a bomb in him. He realizes that he won’t be affected by his sort of half-brother’s crazy mind powers, so he can get into the ISEA and help his mother complete her mission. And he can wirelessly hack all kinds of technology, so he can get Molly to tell him what she needs. Unfortunately, the manual override to get around Ben requires that he heat himself up enough to trigger the bomb. But he does it anyway, for love of his family.

Having the AI calmly tell her “I’m afraid I can’t do that” was a nice nod to the classics.

Somehow Molly (and presumably Sean) aren’t a danger to Earth by the time they come back. Hopefully they went through quarantine. Anyway, the episode ends with Ethan manifesting in the internet or whatever. In response to John’s question, “Where are you?” he actually says, “I’m everywhere!” in a moment that is only less stupid than the movie Lucy because Ethan is the best part about the show. As for Molly’s other son, we see him wander down the road and then get picked up by some kind-hearted unwitting bystanders.

I won’t really miss this show if it doesn’t come back, but I’m relatively content with this ending. And I predict great things for Pierce Gagnon. (Hey, it occurs to me that I was right that Molly’s kid would be the Chosen One – I just mistook which kid it would be.)

What did you think? Ready for that to be the end? Let us know below.