Extant - Season Finale - Recap: Down To Earth

While there's something daring, even admirable, about the show deciding to pay full-on homage to both Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey in the first half of the episode, the show doesn't really provide much of a new spin on any of this. On the one hand, we get Molly (Halle Berry) doing her damndest to escape the murderous Katie Sparks apparition while also trying to avoid the spores from infecting her and Sean Glass (Enver Gjokaj), and making a return to Earth impossible for them. This is interesting as it represents Molly's constant threat of danger, as well as the massive stakes relative to the threat against Earth, should Molly fail in steering the Seraphim away from the planet. On the other hand, these scenes also have a fair share of worn-out tropes: the spores creating a Molly apparition that makes Sean doubtful of the real Molly's existence, effectively turning him against her; Ben the Computer turning against Molly after judging her a threat due to her exposure to the spores, even throwing in a HAL-9000-esque "I'm afraid I can't do that." There's even a touch of Pinocchio in all of this, as Ethan (Pierce Gagnon) back on Earth essentially decides to prove his humanity to John (Goran Visnjic) by saving Molly's life after mission control must be evacuated due to the presence of the Offspring (Shannon Merrill Brown), who controls people by accessing their biological components (naturally, Ethan is a perfect foil for the otherworldly child, since he has no real biology at all). These are all decent enough storylines on their own, but it feels like the show is just treading water in the first half of the episode, hesitant to really move any of the storylines forward, simply waiting until the second half to come along so it can kick things into high gear.

Credit: CBS

But that's what's great about the second half: it really does kick things into high gear. Molly completed the mission, but is trapped in the Seraphim when Ben won't let her disengage, so John sends Ethan to infiltrate mission control to help manually override Ben's system lockout. This, despite John confirming the presence of a bomb in Ethan's body, planted there by Odin (Charlie Bewley). If there's one failing in all this, it's that we never really get to deal with Odin's betrayal, how Julie (Grace Gummer) feels about being the one to bring this threat into Ethan's life, or how this would further damage Ethan's already tenuous grasp of the nature of trust. But then again, we never really got follow-up on Yasumoto's lover's involvement in Odin's terrorist organization, nor did we really get much in the way of follow-up on Yasumoto himself. Or Sparks, for that matter, which is why this felt like a completely different show, in certain places. But in a finale this busy, I can see why so many characters were left on the bench. Kern (Maury Sterling) and Sam (Camryn Manheim) make the briefest of cameos before disappearing back into the ether, never to be seen again. And it seems like an odd choice since this would have been the perfect time to bring the entire cast together in an "all hands on deck"-type approach. Stakes simply feel higher if there's a greater level of involvement from the entire ensemble.

Credit: CBS

That said, the story we end up getting is still pretty great in the second half, owing to the character work the show put in earlier this season. One of the overarching narratives of the show is that Molly has always had motherhood thrust upon her, first with John deciding to adopt Ethan, and later, coming back from space pregnant. The series, such as it is, has often told the story of how Molly learns to accept her role as a mother, and embrace it. Before leaving for space, she lets Ethan know that he's ever bit as much her son as the Offspring, but notes that things are simply different with the alien child in ways she can't really explain. It isn't that Molly loves Ethan any less; hell, she's willing to make the sacrifice of going into space and possibly dying up there in order to save everyone she loves on the planet below, including Ethan. However, it isn't really until the end of the episode that Ethan finally understands this, as he comes to recognize a human's capacity for sacrifice when he decides to sacrifice himself to save Molly, even vowing not to hurt the Offspring in the process. In order to create the heat signature necessary to manually override Ben's lock, Ethan uses his warmers despite the likelihood that the increased heat will trigger the bomb Odin planted in his body. Yet Ethan takes the risk, linking with the system, in order to give Molly a chance to come back home.

Credit: CBS

It's a poignant moment, as Ethan tells the Offspring to run for his life, before detonating and completing his sacrifice, proving himself far more human in his capacity for love and understanding than many would have ever given him credit for. And, naturally, this ends up becoming a different kind of Pinocchio story: Ethan dies, but he's not really dead; instead of becoming a real boy, he goes in the complete opposite direction and becomes more of an otherworldly technology, as he continues to survive on the grid he accessed before the explosion. In essence, he's everywhere now, existing within technology itself, and speaking to his parents from beyond "the grave". And if he's in the system, his personality can be placed in a new body, meaning there's hope. For Ethan, for Molly and John's family, and for Earth itself, as Ethan could prove to the world that Humanichs are every bit as human, deep down, as humans themselves. Of course, any hope Earth might have could be threatened by the continued existence of the Offspring, who roams the streets and gets picked up by a sympathetic couple. What he might have in store is anyone's guess, but if this show continues, I doubt this will be the Offspring's final attempt to get his masters, whomever they are, down to Earth with him. Regardless, this managed to serve as a compelling season finale, and possible series finale, as it wrapped up the storylines in relatively satisfying fashion, for the most part.

While the first half was a bit on the dull side, with Molly wandering corridors, Ethan getting angsty with his father, and mission control doing a whole lot of nervous hand-wringing, the second half more than made up for it, wrapping up the season in tremendous fashion. Maybe Extant will be renewed, maybe it won't. I'm not entirely sure where the show could go from here anyway. But I do think there's still potential here for a series that explores the implications of our not being alone in the universe, and of having technology that calls the very nature of what makes a human a human into question. Whether Extant will ever get the chance to become that series is anyone's guess, but I wouldn't be the least bit opposed to seeing it get that chance.