'Extant' Starring Halle Berry: Review of Episode 5 'What On Earth Is Wrong?'
The CBS summer TV series "Extant" has gone ever deeper than the darkest regions of space with its latest episode. Episode 5 involves a baby, lies, conspiracy, some secrets revealed and a "Scandal" star appears.
In last Wednesday's episode ("What on Earth is wrong?"), Halle Berry had her best TV performance to date. Berry is dramatic, funny, emotional and plays paranoid to a fault, or is her character really paranoid?
The last time we left the Woods family, Berry's Molly and Pierce Gagnon's Ethan were kidnapped by the International Space Exploration Agency (ISEA) Black Ops team. Molly was about to be operated on; Ethan was disconnected; while Goran Visnjic's John Woods and Louis Gossett Jr.'s Quinn were in jail.
"Get up and use your 'X-Men' Storm powers like you did last episode!" is what I thought. But alas the show has quickly moved away from its super-natural theme and thankfully back to its "X Files" conspiracy theory. The audience watches helplessly as Molly gets her child taken from her, not literally. But as the surgery occurs Molly has a dream of what will happen.
Molly remembers the time and accident that she had with her ex-boyfriend Marcus Dawkins. But is it a dream? Or did it happen in the past? Or is she simply remembering it? That one is a head-scratcher.
Meanwhile, Alan Sparks shows his true colors. Michael O'Neil's Sparks is seemingly in charge of everything now. Sparks' control of the ISEA is unparalleled -- minus the evil laughter. He has taken Molly's baby and deleted any and all evidence that even slightly suggests that Molly was pregnant. Sparks even uses Camryn Manheim's Dr. Sam Barton against Molly.
After Molly and Ethan are found in the woods, everything after that escalates pretty quickly. Ethan's disconnect somehow damaged him leaving him technically in a "coma" -- Ethan is afterall a robot, so a coma is odd. And then comes the shocker: Molly finds out that she was never pregnant.
Enter one of the stars of "Scandal" Joshua Malina as Dr. Scott Beck. Malina's Dr. Beck has a terrible bedside manner. Dr. Beck, along with seemingly everyone else, has scientifically proven and believes that Molly was never pregnant. He says to John that it is perhaps something wrong with her psychologically and not physiological.
But Molly slams on the breaks and tells John, "I know when I am hallucinating okay! I've had a lot of practice lately." They, Molly and John, cannot trust anyone but each other. They come up with a plan: pretend like everything is normal and gather all the evidence that they need from the ISEA.
Meanwhile, back in the humanics lab, John's assistant Grace Gummer's Julie Gelineau is having serious mommy issues over Ethan. Unbeknownst to the Woods family, Julie has no legs -- she is using prosthetics. This revelation opens a new dynamic for her character. It is perhaps Julie's use of her prosthetic limbs that makes her feel drawn and protective of Ethan.
John points out to Julie that Ethan is not her son or part of the Woods family. "You work for me," John says to Julie. But Julie is the one that helped to revive Ethan. One thought that Ethan was the threat, but Julie's eagerness and secrets could prove disastrous for everyone involved.
Speaking of secrets, as we have learned from Episode 2, Seraphim means "angel like." It is through Molly's colleague, Sam Golzari's Danny, that the audience sees these creatures through a different light spectrum. Molly and John are petrified. These creatures do not look angelic like at all.
And, Molly's unborn fetus, captured by the ISEA, is thriving outside of the womb in what looks like a giant metal container.
Ethan is no longer the enemy: Sparks is. But Julie could be both dangerous and diabolical. And Dr. Barton has her own problems. Molly and John indeed cannot trust anyone.
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