After the pilot of Extant was better than I though it would be I was excited about the second episode. It didn’t fail those expectations. Unlike the pilot episode which had to cram a lot into a mere 42 minutes this episode ‘Extinction’ is able to provide more background material on the various storylines. I am not sure in which direction Extant is taking us but that is  a feeling I very much embrace.

Extant S1Ep2 ‘Extinction’ Review!

Extinction starts with Molly (Halle Berry) doing her best to reintegrate into normal life after she discovered she became pregnant in space. Her husband John has already planned out her day which makes the secret she bares even harder to carry around. So far I am not seeing much of Molly as a scientist. As an astronaut she also appears to enjoy being some sort of future housewife. Meanwhile at the ISEA doctor Barton is pressed by her boss to finish the medical review of Molly. This would of course show she is pregnant. Nonetheless Dr. Barton seems suspicious of the request. At Yasumoto John starts his first day working on his new robotics project. His work on robotics is interrupted by Femi Dodd (played by Annie Wersching). As a member of the board of Yasumoto she opposed John’s project and tries to uncover why Yasumoto is so interested. John doesn’t seem intimidated by her but his assistant Julia is weary. At this moment it is not clear whether Mrs. Dodd is an antagonist, she may just try and keep Yasumoto from making a mistake.

Meanwhile Molly has faints at home while doing chores. Ethan finds and sees that there is something wrong with her belly. Molly and Ethan pursue the daily schedule set out by John despite her illness. Ethan discovers at the museum of natural history why Neanderthals became extinct, it is clear that he begins to see other humans as weak. Molly meanwhile convinces Dr. Barton not to file her medical examination with the ISEA as she tells they cannot be trusted. Molly and Ethan are meanwhile being shadowed by Harmon Kryger, the astronaut that was onboard Seraphim before Molly was. Through flashbacks we see that he also had an ‘experience’ when his deceased mother show up. John meanwhile introduces Ethan to Yasumoto (Hiroyuki Sanada) who subtly inquiries how Molly is. Molly tries to continue her work at the ISEA but cannot ignore the people staring at her. She attempts to find out what happened to Kryger on the Seraphim space station. The footage shows Kryger barricading himself from something. Molly flees the ISEA by dumping her medical tether. Outside she hitches a ride from Kryger. Through flashbacks we see how Kryger became frightened of his mother and opened the airlock to flush her out of the station. Kryger warns Molly that she cannot go to anyone with her secret as the ISEA will simply quarantine her.

Molly allows Dr. Barton to examine her more thoroughly at a veterinary facility. Barton confirms the pregnancy. Molly decides to finally confront her boss Alan Sparks. Despite initial denials he slowly allows Molly to believe that he does know more but he doesn’t say what. Sparks discusses the matter with Yasumoto. They use terms such as ‘they’ to denote the people Kryger and Molly met on the station. Yasumoto states that ‘they’ are already here. He continues by stating that Sparks should be proud of the sacrifice his daughter Katie made. Using a special medical device Yasumoto hears that he only has a 102 days left to live. It also transpires that he has ben sleeping with Femi Dodd. Molly meanwhile dreads the moment to get back home. At home John confronts her about her continuous absences.

On a side note. This weeks episode of Extant started with what I thought was merely a recap, but half the scenes were not in the pilot. Such flash-forward scenes provide a good way to give the show the much needed direction that a mere two episodes cannot yet give. And from what I saw we are not to be disappointed.

Conclusion

I am still not certain exactly where direction Extant is headed. It is a multi faceted show, but this week I got a definite Solaris vibe when Kryger’s mother appeared. This episode also didn’t force upon us as many silly scenes as the pilot did last week. There is no Yasumoto eating sushi from a table, instead we see a man who seems very close to death and just like Ethan he deeply contemplates extinction. Molly’s relationship with John feels more relaxed than it did in the pilot, I even used the term miscast during last weeks episode. This episode also gave more screen time to Dr. Barton, Julia, Kruger and Femi Dodd, thus showing us what we can expect from future episodes. The pace of Extant may not be as quick as lets say Almost Human or Continuum but I am happy that this show focuses more on hard SF and not be just a 43 minutes SFX ride. See you next week for more Extant. This was Extant S1Ep2 ‘Extinction’ Review!

Score; 8.6. Extant continues to shine and remedies some of the deficiencies of the pilot episode by giving secondary characters more screen time.

Source; http://www.cbs.com/shows/extant/