Extant: Season One, Episode Four – “Shelter”

First aired July 30th, 2014.

Molly (played by Halle Berry) and John (played by Goran Visnjic) have decided to hide out with Molly’s estranged father, Quinn (played by Louis Gossett Jr.). Now, she gets to deal with her daddy issues on top of everything else she’s going through.

The plan is to use some old equipment at her father’s house to perform a DNA test that will prove the baby is biologically theirs. If they can prove that, then Sparks (played by Michael O’Neill) will have no choice but to leave them alone. Meanwhile, Quinn is relapsing into his old habits of drinking and gambling and places bets on Ethan (played by Pierce Gagnon). When Ethan ends up losing and costing Quinn all of his money, he gets angry and snaps at the kid, hinting at possible anger problems as well.

I don’t know what logic these two are using if they think proving the baby is theirs will solve all of their problems. These people tried to abduct Molly and sent armed men to your house, obviously they are going to stop at nothing to get whatever is inside her. What they should have been doing was drafting different plans of escape for when the company eventually finds her.

Quinn’s problems must run pretty deep, especially if he’s willing to exploit a little boy, robot or not, to make a few bucks. I’d like to see more of his and Molly’s troubled past explored and learn what it was that eventually drove her away.

Hideki (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) has some scientists test a new drug that can hopefully save his life, but the test subject dies a painful death. He decides to stop messing around and uses drones to track Molly’s location, organizing a black ops team to hunt her down. He also puts together a medical team to rip Molly’s baby right out of her stomach.

Sparks deals with Sam (played by Camryn Manheim), a loose end who knows about Molly’s pregnancy. He threatens Sam’s brother by exposing a dark secret she helped him hide, so she’s forced to agree not to say anything to anyone.

This guy is not messing around. He’d probably put dozens of guys through that kind of torture to find that cancer cure/immortality he’s looking for. Since Hideki only has roughly three months to live, he has to find it fast or jump back into hypersleep for a few more years. I wonder why these guys chose to blackmail Sam instead of just killing her and faking her disappearance. Sure, for now she probably won’t say anything, but she is on Molly’s side and won’t stay quiet forever. I’m not complaining though. I love watching Camryn Manheim and Sam is one of my favorite characters so far.

The black ops team kidnaps Ethan and gives him an electric shock bad enough to deactivate him. While Molly is out looking for him, John fights with the sheriff over his callous remarks about Ethan and ends up arrested. Molly finds Ethan and is immediately captured and wakes up strapped to a gurney in the operating room. She manages to use some newfound telekinetic ability to grab a syringe and free herself but winds up in another operating room. The doctors tie her down and knock her out and the episode ends with a laser slowly cutting open Molly’s stomach.

I’m really impressed with how fast-paced the show has been. We’re not even halfway through the season and Molly’s baby is already in the hands of the company. I can’t wait to see what the kid looks like, considering it’s only about three months old, and what they’ll do with it. I’m also really interested to see what other kind of powers the child might have and how it will evolve now that it’s outside of Molly’s womb. Although once again, I have to question Molly’s judgment about searching for Ethan alone in the woods while she was on the run. She literally said Sparks could be using Ethan as a trap but still thought it would be okay to go out alone.

Quotes & Thoughts

“It’s not like the thing is gonna starve to death or freeze.” “Please, he can be in real danger.” “Of what, rust?”

Molly had superpowers for literally five minutes. You can lose them just as fast as you get them.

“You implanted an embryo without her consent. Don’t talk to me about her best interests.”

Since these guys don’t seem to be into killing people, I think Molly will have her mind erased or something after they get the baby.

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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