In the previous episode of Extant, Molly learned that her alien son is indeed alive and responsible for the deaths of many pregnant women over the last few months. Molly’s son, who is now an adult, got these women pregnant to create more alien-human hybrids. Meanwhile, Ethan started to have memory flashes of Molly, Lucy impressed Julie’s bosses even as she began to act out, JD learned the shocking truth about Molly’s connection to all of this, and Molly accidentally shot Toby when she believed he was her alien son. And to add one more complication to the mix, JD’s daughter showed up pregnant, possibly with a hybrid baby.
In the fourth episode of season 2, “Cracking the Code,” Molly works toward creating a virus that will destroy the alien-human hybrids and learns that the aliens are trying to communicate with the human race in an unexpected way. Meanwhile, Lucy continues to act out as she helps Ethan in his quest to remember Molly.
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Molly Makes a Discovery
Luck was on Molly’s side because Toby was wearing a vest when she shot him, so all he ends up with are a few broken ribs. Molly is still shaken up by the experience, but she goes to work anyway. Toby wants her to work with the data his genetic code-breakers have been sorting through to come up with a virus that will kill the hybrids without harming any humans. I was confused about Molly’s role on this virus team until the show reminded me that Molly is a biologist and geneticist, as well as a former astronaut.
As Molly is going through the data, she has one of her weird moments. It is not quite a hallucination, but more like her senses are going crazy. While she is having this moment, she completes some kind of genetic pattern. Once she finishes her work, she leaves in a daze and heads out to pick up a random stranger. When she wakes up the next morning, she has no recollection of bringing this guy home. So that’s creepy.
Throughout the episode, Molly continues to work with the hybrid genetics. One of her co-workers says she cannot analyze them the way she would human DNA but Molly believes they have a closer connection than one would think. She’s right and they discover some sort of sound wave inside the genetic markers. When they play it over the speaker, Molly can hear a voice saying “help me,” but the other geneticist cannot make anything out of the noise. No one can, excect Molly. Is this another example of Molly hearing things or is her previous experience with alien DNA allowing her to hear this message?
Molly and JD Grow Closer
The government puts out a public service announcement about a “virus” that has been affecting pregnant women. They ask any woman who has gotten pregnant within the last few months to go into a clinic to get tested for this “virus.” This is their way of checking for more women pregnant with hybrid babies.
Since JD’s daughter is pregnant, he checks out one of these clinics and sees a pregnant woman being dragged away, so he keeps his daughter from getting tested. With no one else to turn to, JD shows up on Molly’s doorstep to ask for her help. He explains that his daughter is pregnant and Molly agrees to do the test herself. Molly is pleased to tell JD that the test came back normal and his daughter and her baby are fine. But is it really that simple? Could something have gone wrong with the test? Is JD’s daughter really okay?
With Molly temporarily back in his life, JD notices that something is not right with her. She basically drifts off in the middle of their conversation and claims everything is fine. But JD gets her to open up and she admits that she thinks she is sick. She says she has been hearing things, seeing things and doings things very unlike her. She originally thought she had radiation poisoning from her last mission to space, but now she thinks it is some kind of spore contamination. JD thinks she should see a doctor, but she’s not exactly trusting of them after everything she’s been through. JD offers to watch over her until she figures out what is going on, but she says he already has his hands full with his daughter.
After Molly tells JD that his daughter is okay, they share a close moment and it sets off something inside Molly. One minute she’s fine, the next she’s trying to shag him like her life depends on it. JD manages to push her off and she comes back to herself, shocked and confused by her behavior. What is sending Molly’s desire into over-drive? Is it connected to this spore contamination? If she has alien spores left over in her body, why are they manifesting this way?
Lucy Uses Ethan to Manipulate Charlie
Charlie is watching over Lucy and Ethan while Julie is out of town. Ethan is still having memory flashes of Molly and opens up to Lucy about his unknown connection to this woman. Lucy encourages Ethan to track Molly down and ask her what their connection is. At first, Ethan is resistant because leaving the house on his own means breaking the rules, but he eventually gives in to Lucy’s suggestion.
Ethan looks up Molly’s information online and heads to their old house. It’s abandoned, but he gets a lead on Molly’s new home and heads there instead. After a brief run-in with some drug dealers who steal his scooter, Ethan makes it to Molly’s home. The A.I. in charge of Molly’s security system recognizes Ethan so he knows something is up. He finds a picture of the two of them and it sets off another set of memory flashes that cause Ethan’s system to crash.
While Ethan is getting closer to the truth about his mom, Charlie is freaking out that he left the house alone. Lucy accompanies him on his search for Ethan and when they come across the drug dealers, Lucy beats them up to protect Charlie. Charlie is apparently fine with Lucy making up her own rules if it means she protects him.
They eventually find Ethan at Molly’s and bring him home. Lucy uses Ethan’s temporary disappearance as a way to handle Charlie. Lucy knew that Julie wanted Charlie to “fix” her in order to curb her rebellious behavior, so she convinced Ethan to sneak out so she could use this secret to play Charlie. She sweet-talks him, saying that her ability to break the rules is what kept him safe from those drug dealers. She also gets him to admit that Julie is the one pushing to have her behavior modified, not him. Later, Charlie lies to Julie about “fixing” Lucy.
And in the episode’s final scene, Molly returns home, takes a shower and discovers a message on her bathroom mirror — “Ethan was here.”
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Final Thoughts
I wasn’t sure about all of the changes the show has made for season 2, but after four episodes, I think it’s safe to say that the changes have been for the better. Not only has the pacing been greatly improved, but the overall plot, while still absolutely crazy, is a bit easier to follow. And while I am not completely sold on JD as a character, the connection between Molly and JD is much more compelling than the Molly-John marriage of season 1. And now that Molly knows Ethan is still alive, we should finally get back to the show’s most interesting relationship.
What did you think of this episode of Extant? Who was Lucy communicating with at the end of the episode? What is their end goal in keeping Lucy free from limitations? Do you think JD’s daughter is really okay? If she is, what was the point of introducing her and this pregnancy? Who left the message for Molly letting her know that Ethan had been there? Did Ethan write it before he crashed? Or did someone else? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Extant now airs Wednesdays at 9pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
