Extant Season 2 Episode 5 Review: The New Frontier
Caralynn Lippo
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I have just one question to start off with: how satisfying was it to see Molly finally come for her son? Or, better yet: how satisfying was it to see Julie finally get that comeuppance that's been a long time coming?
Extant Season 2 Episode 5 featured the reunion of Molly and Ethan, as it became clear to everyone what Julie had done to Ethan's memory. And it was excellent!
Three cheers for Fiona Stanton, the one and only reasonable, rational-minded government official in the Extant universe.
Do you know why I wear blue suits everyday? Decision fatigue. Every decision we make weakens our ability to make the next one. I'll run this by Taylor; he doesn't seem to suffer this weakness.
Fiona Stanton
I was particularly fond of the fact that they didn't interminably drag out the mystery of "Ethan Was Here" on Molly's bathroom mirror. Molly went to JD for help (because of course she did), and within ten minutes, Molly had the info she needed and was barging into Julie's house to confront her.
Was anyone else rooting for Molly to get one good punch in before JD pulled her off of Julie? No? Just me, then?
Pierce Gagnon is such a talented child actor. He particularly shines when he's angry or upset, which aren't very easy emotions for a younger actor to organically portray.
He's definitely had a lot of opportunity for those emotions this season. His anger at Julie for her betrayal and his trepidation at meeting Molly were both well done and believable.
Did those completely ridiculous simulation visor sunglasses (during Lucy's simulation testing) stand out to anyone else? This show is usually pretty good about keeping all the future-tech not-hokey, but those things looked like they'd been pulled out of a dollar store clearance bin and had Apple earbuds crazy-glued on them.
Speaking of Lucy – her behavior is downright terrifying at this point! Her character continues to be an excellent addition to the cast, and she provides a great counterpoint to Ethan's particular brand of Humanich.
The way she snapped into action, pinpointing that hybrid and disposing of him without hesitation, was very unnerving.
What's worse, though, is that in neither the simulated or the real-life hybrid kill was the target acting suspiciously or dangerously. The only thing setting the hybrids apart from normal humans is their lower than normal body temperature.
Are we supposed to believe that all of the hybrids are equally dangerous? I don't think so. It certainly doesn't appear that way, given the evidence we have seen so far.
Plus, Molly's refusal to turn on her alien Offspring is one of the things that the show has continued to insist upon, even into the revamped second season. There has to be a reason for that.
I'm inclined to believe the reason is that the Offspring and other alien hybrids are not one-dimensionally evil creatures. It just doesn't make sense for Molly to continue defending her alien son if that isn't the case.
Besides, we know that the same is the case for the Humanichs. They, like the hybrids, are not fully one thing or another, not fully human or machine.
They are feared and segregated because the humans don't fully understand them, and are unable to relate to the Humanichs' "otherness."
Lucy, of course, is much more a machine than Ethan, though she seems to legitimately care for Ethan and his well-being. She considers him her younger brother, and he considers her his older sister, which is a very sweet relationship.
Ethan (in Lucy's voice): I'm Lucy. Soldier. Warrior. Queen of the entire Humanichs army.
Lucy (in Ethan's voice): We need to stick together. We can't trust anyone.
Ethan (in Lucy's voice): Only each other.
Lucy (in Ethan's voice): The revolution starts here.
The scene where Lucy teaches Ethan how to mimic her voice, and where they converse using one another's voices, was a little random but very creepy. I have a feeling that this skill will come into play later, with one of the two pretending to be the other.
I also have to wonder what she means by the "revolution." Knowing as much about Lucy as we do, I suspect that she's not speaking figuratively.
I could care less about Toby and Shayna's romance, or about either of the characters individually, to the point that the continued moments of focus on them is just making me annoyed. I do pity Shayna, but not because I like her: it's mostly because she's just so pathetic.
She was (rightly) suspicious of Toby's feelings for Molly all along. He never made a point to deny any of her insinuations, and yet she insistently stayed with him regardless!
That speech she gave to Toby about getting away from it all and having his babies was so cringe-worthy. My face was stuck mid-grimace during that entire scene.
Toby, being utterly despicable, completely reciprocated spore-induced sex-mode Molly's advances. He unhesitatingly kissed her back, betraying Shayna, and seemed annoyed that they were interrupted by JD. He was practically vibrating with desire. It was gross.
I think Toby is quickly overtaking Julie as my least favorite Extant character. On top of his gross behavior with the Shayna/Molly situation, all of his dialogue seems to consist of over-dramatic declarations of his good intentions.
There was even an entire Toby-centric scene at his niece's birthday party. The sole purpose of that scene was obviously for him to make his claim to his sister that he does his job only so that little kids can have birthday parties and live without fear. What a hero! (Not.)
It was very smart to give JD a specific mission to keep him linked to Molly. It was swiftly becoming less believable for him to still be hanging around her – sure, they have that excellent sexual tension and that fantastic banter, but they didn't really have a concrete reason to still be in contact with one another.
So John leaves Humanichs. Julie what's-her-face makes a call. And ten minutes later... John is dead.
JD
JD's mission? Uncovering the truth of John's death.
I'm glad that they're tying John's very sudden death into the larger story. It was absolutely a suspicious death, and it's unsurprising that JD's uncovered evidence points to Julie's involvement.
Do you believe that Julie had John killed, as Molly cruelly suggested during the custody hearing? As irksome as I find Julie, I honestly don't believe she purposefully had John eliminated. I think it's more likely that something she did, or some part of her government deal to keep custody of Ethan, inadvertently led to John's death.
The closing scene showcased Molly's newly developed skill, courtesy of the alien spores. Mimicking her own experience in space, Molly Jedi mind-tricked her aggressive one night stand into hallucinating his dead mother and walking into the path of an oncoming car.
Naturally, JD was walking by at that exact moment and now knows more than anyone else about what Molly is going through. The bond strengthens, and the plot thickens!
The many loose plot threads are continuing to come together week by week. Hopefully, the subplots will continue to cohere, forming a more consistent narrative than the first season's relative hodgepodge – especially now that Ethan has told Molly about Lucy, linking the alien-hybrid and Humanichs initiative plots together.
What did you all think of this week's episode of Extant? Are the alien-hybrids truly evil? Who is the real villain here? Remember that you can always watch Extant online if you need to catch up before Extant Season 2 Episode 6.
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
