Extant - Recap: Family Matters
Recap and review of Extant - Episode 2 - Extinct:
Extant is a show that seems to be making greater progress towards offering clues to its central mystery than most shows of its kind. It's also doing a fair deal more in the character department than other mystery shows have, two episodes in. Extant continues the trend from last week's premiere in making Molly (Halle Berry) into a character worthy of investment, often independent of her impossible plight. And that's the victory of "Extinct", that the episode can be interesting without having to couch so much of its narrative in the mystery at the center of the show.
Credit: CBS
Who knows? Maybe there's an alien race looking to conquer Earth, or maybe Molly's friend/superior, Alan Sparks (Michael O'Neill), is in league with Hideki Yasumoto (Hiroyuki Sanada) to contact otherwordly life simply so Sparks can, presumably, meet his late daughter again, as the episode seems to suggest (although I could, admittedly, be totally misreading that scene). But even while this episode was titled "Extinct", and often centered on loftier themes such as the distrust inherent in government, it felt more like a table-setting episode than anything else, as Molly continues to investigate what happened to her, while keeping her husband, John (Goran Visnjic), in the dark about what's really going on. But I never had any real issues with the episode specifically because I was so invested in Molly's personal problems, as her home life is one of the more interesting things going on in the show. Which surprises me, since I figured it would have minimal significance, yet I find myself wanting to know more about Molly and Ethan's relationship as mother and son, or how the death of Molly's ex informs the relationship she has with John now. It's as engaging to me as the nature of Molly's relationship with her past, as represented by the "ghost" of Marcus (Sergio Harford), or how her pregnancy will impact her future with her family. At this point, I'm not sure I even care why this is happening to her, so much as I am invested in how it's all going to affect her life. And that's kind of amazing, since most mystery shows sell the mystery so hard in the early going that there isn't time for viewers to get invested in anything else but the resolution to that mystery. Extant is already off to a great start by presenting it less as a supernatural mystery with elements of family drama, but as a family drama with mystery elements.
Credit: CBS
The reason this approach to the story works so well is that presenting it primarily as a mystery show means that we're in for a lot of delayed gratification. We just aren't going to get anywhere close to the answers we might be looking for until much farther into the season, if at all. But by presenting this is a character study first and foremost, we can start getting payoffs to those relationships now. When Molly accompanies Ethan on a field trip to the museum, Ethan gets a lecture from a robot curator about the extinction of neanderthal man, and the rise of homo sapiens. Confused, Ethan asks the robot to define "extinct," and when he learns what it means, he's suddenly overwhelmed with concern for his mother, since extinction is explained to be the eradication of a weaker species. Earlier in the morning, he saw her faint, and witnessed a strange symbol pressing out of the flesh on her stomach. Thus, Ethan is concerned that Molly is weak and might not survive long. He goes on to express that concern for her by worriedly asking Molly if she's weak, to which a stunned Molly assures him that she isn't. Later, Ethan draws a picture of his family in a spaceship, and explains that it's in order to protect them from extinction.
More so than the subplot in which Molly and Ethan keep each other's secrets (Ethan doesn't tell John that Molly fainted, and Molly doesn't tell John that Ethan broke the rules and ran off on his own at the museum), this extinction arc pays off almost immediately: as we know from his interaction with the robot at the museum, Ethan knows he isn't a real boy, and it colors his perception of the concept of extinction, since he knows he'll likely be around for a very, very long time after his parents are gone. In essence, Ethan has a different concept of mortality, and it's every bit as different as his concept of identity. He's trying to fit in, but it just feels like a lie, in much the same way it feels like a lie when Molly tries to fit back into her family and pretend that nothing is wrong, that nothing has changed. Everything has changed, and only when she comes clean to John can she start to begin processing it. It's a subtle arc, but it works remarkably well.
At the very least, it works better than the ongoing mystery surrounding Harmon Kryger (Brad Beyer), whom we learn experienced a similar incident during his time in space, encountering his mother -- who appeared exactly the same as when she died. This is weird enough on its own, but it gets stranger when you factor in that Molly has learned from Sam (Camryn Manheim) that she and Kryger both have the exact same irregular brain patterns according to their post-mission physicals. What this means is anyone's guess, but Molly is furious and confronts Alan. She accuses him, and the government, of doing something to her, since she's pregnant without any sort of explanation. "You were supposed to protect us," she accuses her friend, and Alan vows that if someone in the government did this to her, he'll find out. But it all seems so hollow, particularly once Alan speaks with Yasumoto and implies he knows far more than he's leading on (making reference to a mysterious "them" that they've possibly succeeded in making contact with). Molly wants answers, but it's evident that she's not going to be getting them any sooner than we are. But that's fine, since her family matters are more of a point of interest at the moment, anyway.
Credit: CBS
"Extinct" is another solid episode that continues to illustrate that Extant is off to the right start. It might be a bit slow-going for some, but I find the uniqueness of how the premise is being tackled to be refreshing. It's neither straight mystery nor straight family drama, but a seamless amalgam of both. I think this has the potential to be a very interesting summer, in the storytelling department, and Halle Berry continues to anchor the show with a fine performance. I'm already stoked for next week, which seems to suggest that it's about to hit the fan on the homefront. Can't wait.