What I’m Watching: Extant

Extant: Season 1, Episode 4 “Shelter” (C-)

I think that’s it for me and this show. This installment essentially ignored the fact that Molly is an astronaut, turning it into a morality lesson about alcoholism and a paranoid thriller where all the bad guys are wearing suits and performing experiments. This seemed to be initially to be something far more interesting and creative than that, and it could have played out over much longer before falling apart like this. Now, where can this show go from here? The fact that Alan’s goons were able to deactivate Ethan’s battery so easily suggests that no one could possibly have the upper hand here aside from the evil corporation, and to me that’s a lot less interesting than aliens or whatever this show is purportedly about. Molly seeing her deceased astronaut friend sitting right next to John should be proof that it’s all in her head, though her antics when she woke up on the operating table all but confirm that she’s gone off the deep end and that people are out to get her, the ultimate definition of realized paranoia. Hideki doesn’t seem to have too much regard for human life as he wanted to be sure of the effectiveness of the work going on and felt it necessary to facilitate a man’s death. Molly’s father utilizing Ethan to win money in a bar game was highly ill-advised, and the only worthwhile thing to come from it was Ethan’s deliberate miss in an attempt to prove his imperfect nature.