On the latest episode of “Extant,†the baby was out of the bag and in short order, things went pretty sideways. First, Kern broke into the dog pound (bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yay) and stole Molly’s ultrasound results that Sam administered, then another team proceeded to shut down the wing Sam worked in to retrieve those records as well, before cornering the woman herself and detaining her.
Meanwhile, Molly spiraled out of control to a certain extent, as she full-on hallucinated someone that wasn’t there: Tim, Marcus’ brother, supposedly on military furlough. This led her to call Sparks herself and essentially turn herself in, but then Sam managed to sneak a text out to her, so she twisted Sparks’ steering wheel and forced the car off the road.
Fortunately, Dr. Woods also got a call from Pam earlier that worried him enough to go after his wife, so he was there to pick her up and hightail it out of there. So, I guess that means the entire Woods family is effectively on the run. As Ethan wasn’t in his bed, I can only assume he was along for the ride as well.
That should hopefully help kick the show into high gear, after a slow burn of an opening volley of episodes early on. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the show has to turn into “Falling Skies†(and I can only hope it won’t, as that show is pretty off-the-rails right about now), but it has been awfully poky thus far. I get that that was a conscious choice on the part of the show’s creators, pacing and approach-wise, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good one.
“Extant†is by no means a bad show, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a show has come into its own in time- assuming that it will, that is- but unfortunately, these days, shows rarely get a chance to grow. You either knock it out of the park or you’re done, especially if the show has big stars and a sizable budget. Lucky for “Extant,†CBS’ ads claim that it’s the summer’s highest-rated scripted show- though that may not include cable.
Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best- IMHO that would either be “Masters of Sex†or “The Bridge,†both of which just started back, or maybe “Halt and Catch Fireâ€- but those ratings should buy it some time. Besides, if they can keep things fairly self-contained, it could prove to be the sum of its parts in a good way; which is to say, it might lend itself well to binge-watching on Netflix or what have you, and have a halfway decent shelf life, and possibly even a second season.
As with a lot of high-concept shows, a lot depends on how long they can sustain the premise without things getting ridiculous. “Under the Dome†is currently dealing with precisely that sort of criticism, though the show hasn’t quite jumped the shark for me, personally. Nor has “Extant,†for that matter. To me, the general concepts at hand are reasonably compelling: an otherworldly pregnancy and life with a surrogate robo-kid. Honestly, the plot is not the show’s problem- it’s the pacing.
Thankfully, with the family on the run, the show should have ample reason to pick up said pace, and hopefully improve along with it. The premise is certainly promising, now if only the show could take it somewhere even more interesting, the rest should work itself out. The elements are there: let’s see what they do with them.
Good moments on tonight’s episode: the general creepiness with the bird and Ethan, from his methodically capturing it, to Dr. Woods’ discovery of it, and Ethan’s ominous silhouette as he hovered in the doorway, silently watching; and the wonderful contrast between that and Ethan in the video they made for Molly and doing the “dance of his ancestors†with Charlie at the party.
But the big moments were the ones that stopped everything in their tracks, with ever-escalating intensity: Molly seeing the weird drawings on Harmon’s walls, then seeing the same shapes literally bubbling (or whatever) underneath her skin; then, even better, the scene where Molly realized that she’d entirely made up Tim’s presence at the party.
Those moments were worth the price of admission and exceptionally well-executed. I’d say more of this, please, but obviously, with the family on the run, we’ll have to take the more quiet moments as they come. Not that I’m complaining, obviously, as I just mentioned pacing being an issue, but let it be known that the best moments of the show so far were the quietly eerie ones. That stuff was not the problem, just the non-essential ones that were a bit too solemn for their own good, you know?
So, I’m firmly on the fence with “Extant†at this point, but I still feel that it’s compelling enough to keep watching, for whatever that’s worth. I do wonder what will happen next, and I do hope that the turn of events in this episode will lead to better pacing overall. We shall see, but I am more than willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt, given its impressive pedigree.
What did you think of “Extant†this week? Are you still with the show? Do you think the way the show ended will lead to better pacing? Where do you think it will go from here? Do you think Ethan will learn to be more human, or give in to his more self-destructive tendencies? What exactly is going on with Molly, given that it’s not what Sparks claimed it was? Sound off below on this and more and see you next time!