Take Three: Extant

Extant: Season 1, Episode 3 “Wish You Were Here” (C)

Things are moving at a fast pace on this show in terms of developments from which the show won’t be able to come back. It’s only a few episodes in and Alan has already played his hand to reveal that he wants to bring Molly in for “observation,” and that was only a short while after he came to her confessing his supposed ignorance to what was going on, something that she bought initially. Molly’s trusted ally, Sam, has now put herself in extreme danger by being present at the run-up to the attempted capture and quarantine of Molly, and though Molly managed to make her escape, I don’t think Sam will be nearly as fortunate. Molly’s shocking pregnancy was explained away pretty easily by a scientific experiment, painting John as the father without much doubt, which strikes me as far from likely. It was disconcerting but fairly obvious that the good old friend that Molly was talking to throughout her party wasn’t actually there, and just serves to underline the eeriness of it all, which doesn’t feel quite as compelling and creative as it should. Meanwhile, I can understand John and Molly’s desire to educate others about how their son is a real boy and should be treated as such rather than be ostracized, but Ethan is demonstrating some seriously sociopathic tendencies. On an unrelated but interesting note, this episode was titled “Wish You Were Here,” and actor Pierce Gagnon, who plays Ethan, also stars in “Wish I Was Here,” the new Zach Braff film that opened in New York last week.