Extant: Season Two, Episode Thirteen – “The Greater Good”

First Aired September 9th, 2015.

JD (played by Jeffery Dean Morgan) wakes up on the floor in a pool of his own blood after being shot by the Humanich version of Molly (played by Halle Berry). The real Molly meets with Ares (Played by Cleo Anthony) and tells him that soon humans and hybrids alike will die from the virus the Humanichs are planning to release.

TAALR assigns Lucy (played by Kiersey Clemmons) to follow orders from the Humanich Molly, aka Molly-X, which doesn’t sit well with her. Charlie (played by Tyler Hilton) and Ethan (played by Pierce Gagnon) arrive at the lab and rescue Julie (played by Grace Gummer) just as her oxygen runs out. Molly finds JD and stitches him up, giving him her blood in the process, but he mistakes her for Molly-X and pulls a gun on her. Using her powers, Molly learns about Molly-X. When Ethan, Julie and Charlie show up, she tells them it’s not safe and they leave shortly before Lucy and Molly-X arrive. JD’s wounds heal almost immediately and he realizes Molly gave him some of her blood and possibly her abilities. Julie tells Molly that because all Humanichs are linked to TAALR, Ethan will be shut down permanently with the other Humanichs. Ethan is prepared to sacrifice himself to save his family but Charlie and Julie work to find a way to save him.

Ares would understandably be hesitant to align with Molly but I knew he’d work with her because a violent guy wouldn’t pass up the chance to fight. Watching Julie nearly die from lack of oxygen was a riveting sequence, but because she didn’t appear in the first half I knew she would live, which took some tension out of it. So far Molly-X is a fine addition to the show. I almost wish she was introduced sooner as an antagonist. I think JD becoming part hybrid would be a great turning point both for his character. First, it would give him a bigger connection to Molly. Then there’s the matter of whether he’ll develop the same powers or completely different ones. It could be a major storyline for the next season. While it makes sense that Ethan would also be in danger because he’s a Humanich, I knew there was no way he would be written off the show. That was just a way of giving Ethan a role in the finale since he would obviously not be involved in the fighting.

Molly and the others attack the GSC, first destroying the Humanichs guarding the entrance with bombs hidden inside Ethan’s toys. Ares and the other hybrids use their powers to shut down the buildings power and allow the others to get a shot at TAALR. When the power comes back on, Molly sees that Ares and the others were taken down by Lucy and Molly-X and JD and Molly are separated by security doors. Charlie discovers some of the walls are actually projections but gets shot by Molly-X and has the kill switch taken by Lucy. TAALR tells Lucy to inject herself with the kill switch and sacrifice herself for the “greater good,” which she does but learns it’s fake. Molly makes her way to the control room but is drawn into a fight by Molly-X before she can insert the kill switch. JD arrives and, after a brief standoff, shoots Molly-X. He’s also slowly getting sick as his body is rejecting her blood. TAALR talks to Molly and tells her what he’s doing is necessary before Molly-X jumps up and stabs Molly. She kills Molly-X and Lucy arrives to tell where to inject it after Charlie convinced Lucy that TAALR used her. As TAALR is shut down, Lucy and the other Humanichs around the world shut down, save Ethan who had a firewall that protected him.

The opening fight scenes were great. I liked how Ethan got to help by using his toys to blow up the Humanichs. That was funny. However, the hybrids didn’t have as big a role as I thought, which was disappointing. The maze of door projections was a great sequence. It was disorienting, which made it more exciting to watch. That scene with JD choosing which Molly to shoot was inevitable but that scenario has been played out so much over the years. It was strange that Molly and TAALR only had a brief exchange considering she’s the series’ main protagonist and TAALR is the new main antagonist. TAALR may be the smartest A.I in the world, but even supercomputers make mistakes, TAALR’s was underestimating Lucy’s desire to live. TAALR looked at the world in a mathematical and logical way and viewed Lucy as another number but Lucy had real feelings and wanted to have a life. Although she died in the end it was her choice and in a strange way Lucy managed to briefly get the freedom she longed for. Ethan survived because of a convenient firewall in his system. He wasn’t in any real danger of leaving the show, but there had to be some reason he didn’t die with the other Humanichs.

In the aftermath, Molly decides the world deserves to know the truth rather than another set of government designed lies. She gives a public speech announcing the existence of the hybrids and their desire for a peaceful existence. TAALR is revealed to still be alive in a human-like form having somehow downloaded himself before the shutdown was complete. It looks like humans and hybrids will live happily ever after, but that won’t last very long, and that’s in no small part due to TAALR being alive. I have a theory why his new body wasn’t shown. Julie noticed something marked “JW’ being turned on near the end of the episode. I think TAALR’s new body is a replica of John (played by Goran Visnjic). If I’m right, that’ll play a huge role in the next season too.

Quotes & Thoughts

“I’m a threat assessment algorithm. And what I’ve assessed is that human beings are locked in a death spiral. One that will end not only with their extinction, but the poisoning of the planet. My recommendation is to till the soil.”

Now that robots nearly wiped out humanity for polluting and destroying the planet, maybe people will start cleaning up their act.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there is life out there. And now it’s here.”

People know aliens are real which will lead to one thing: they will hate and fear the unknown, the hybrids.

If you enjoyed Manny’s peaceful existence, 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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