Extant: Season One, Episode Twelve – “Before the Blood”

First aired September 10th, 2014.

Using a futuristic memory enhancement shot, Molly (played by Halle Berry) figured out what the code Sparks (played by Michael O’Neill) made her send to the Seraphim, the ship currently in orbit (and the same one she was originally on), did. The code made the ship’s navigation system believe it was on a dangerous course and it changed direction, leaving everyone on Earth unable to contact the ship or see where it is.

Unfortunately, Sparks refused to say where the ship is going, even when told his ex-wife Anya (played by Jeannetta Arnette) was killed by the Offspring, because he believes he’ll see her again anyway. However, when Molly brings him video footage that shows his daughter, Katie (played by Tessa Ferrer), alive and on the Seraphim, his tune changes fast. Sparks reveals that the ship is falling out of orbit into Earth’s atmosphere and that he did it because the Offspring told him it was necessary. Desperate to save his daughter, Sparks gives them the coordinates of where the Seraphim should be and Molly is asked to go up and save the ship because she knows it’s layout. Understandably, she refuses. That night at home, she’s visited by the Offspring (played by Shannon Brown), who looks human, save for his glowing yellow eyes. Ethan (played by Pierce Gagnon) is scared by the Offspring and throws a ball through the glass door causing, the creature to run. Molly chases after him and the Offspring and he tells her that everything he’s done was because he did what “the ones without bodies” wanted. He tells Molly they are coming and that convinces her to go back to space and put a stop to everything.

I want to live in this future one day, where technology is so advanced that, if I ever forgot something, I could just be given a shot and remember it instantly. As soon as Sparks is able to have his daughter back, he could care less about the Offspring’s replication. The real thing is always better than an imitation. Molly’s meeting with the Offspring went the way I pictured it: happy to see him but also a little scared. I loved how Molly was able to be such a strict mother to him. As soon as he started putting images in her head she put her foot down. This whole thing started in space, so it was only fitting that’s where it would end. Although normally these big corporations would send a giant missile at the ship rather than take a chance of Molly failing and the aliens reaching earth. That should be another concern she has as she gets ready to go back into space to battle the swirling blue lights.

Odin (played by Charlie Brewley) gets in Ethan’s head, saying his parents want to shut him down and never wake him up. Odin gives Ethan a cellphone and says he can use it to call him for help, but only to use it in the Humanichs lab. Meanwhile, after noticing a gap in Ethan’s programming, Julie (played by Grace Gummer) realizes it happened while he was with Odin. She decides to run a background check on Odin and discovers that he was arrested in London for a technology terror plot and his real name is Gavin Hutchinson. Julie sneaks into Odin/Gavin’s apartment and finds a video he made of Ethan. It’s edited to make it seem like Ethan is making a threat against anyone who would shut him down. Odin/Gavin then appears on the video where he claims that Ethan detonated a bomb at the Humanichs lab, declaring this as proof that people have put too much faith in machines. Julie goes to the Wood’s home but Ethan is gone and John (played by Goran Visnjic) is in a trance from the Offspring. She snaps him out of it and, while he runs off looking for Molly, she tracks down Ethan riding his bike through the streets.

Well you have to hand it to Odin, he really came up with a solid plan to both kill Ethan and further his agenda against machines. He even found a way to make sure the bomb was detonated in the lab, giving Ethan that “cellphone” to call from if he’s in trouble. That being said, if it were me, I would have a back-up plan just in case Ethan doesn’t or isn’t able to push the button. If Odin were smart, he would have a remote detonator handy and follow them to the lab to make sure the bomb goes off and that it doesn’t detonate it from the street.

Julie catching up with Ethan was probably the worst thing that could have happened because she and John may end up taking Ethan to the lab for tests. That sounds completely ridiculous, especially since Julie saw the video that claimed the lab would be destroyed in an explosion caused by Ethan, but people don’t always have the best judgment in television shows.

Over on the Seraphim, Katie reconnects with fellow astronaut (and one-time lover) Sean Glass (played by Enver Gjokaj). Sean wants to take the escape pod and return to earth but Katie claims to be too fragile to get into another pod after floating in one for two years. They briefly rekindle their romantic relationship, but eventually he decides to just drug Katie and take her into the pod. While making preparations to leave, Sean finds the decomposing body of (real) Katie inside of a closet. He tries to climb back into the ship but (fake) Katie locks him inside the hatch, now looking evil and keeping the ship on its crash course to Earth.

Molly was lucky the Offspring was taken out of her, otherwise it would have ripped her apart from the inside like Katie. However, I’m confused about why it looked exactly like Katie. If Katie was pregnant, I could see her alien kid looking similar to her but not be her twin. Sparks is going to be devastated when he finds out that his daughter is dead (again). These aliens must have been planning this for a long time, because fake Katie was hovering nearby to ensure the ship stayed on course. After however many years living as swirling blue lights, these guys must be desperate to have real bodies, so it’s understandable they’d make sure nothing went wrong.

Quotes & Thoughts

“Wait, are you going to put that in my neck?” “It’s a memory enhancer, Molly. I can’t really inject it into your ass.”

I was hoping the Offspring would be given a name after he and Molly met so that I wouldn’t have to write “the” before referring to him.

“Life breaks us so it can make us stronger. But what if you didn’t ever have to break. What if you could be made whole again?”

If Ethan and the Offspring ever end up living under the same roof, they’ll be throwing balls at each other all the time.

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.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Friday Fiction: Snowfall In The Living Room
• “It Came From The Archives” Doctor Who Special Reviews: The Church on Ruby Road
• Review: Lucky Girl, How I Became A Horror Writer by M. Rickert
• Friday Fiction: Frozen Army
• Foundations: The 5 Best Artifact Cards