# Extant premier discussion thread (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819 "2014-07-11T02:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/21 "2014-07-14T01:34:54Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Isn’t Marcus dead? Yes, Marcus is long dead. She hallucinated him in space, and didn’t know her current husband until after Marcus died. It was said they may never have met if Marcus hadn’t died. But will she hallucinate him again? Has the experience brought up old feelings that she will have trouble shaking? Old feelings she can’t shake can still interfere with her current relationship. Especially if she has a gut feeling the baby belongs to Marcus. Seems like something an alien entity might do to make her want to keep the pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/22 "2014-07-14T14:22:44Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Yes, Marcus is long dead. She hallucinated him in space, and didn’t know her current husband until after Marcus died. It was said they may never have met if Marcus hadn’t died. But will she hallucinate him again? Has the experience brought up old feelings that she will have trouble shaking? Old feelings she can’t shake can still interfere with her current relationship. Especially if she has a gut feeling the baby belongs to Marcus. Seems like something an alien entity might do to make her want to keep the pregnancy. If Halle Berry’s character’s baby begins growing at an accelerated rate a la Isabelle Tyler in The 4400, or Alexis Mason in Falling Skies, or any other program that uses this convenient and lazy trope, then that’ll be a wrap for me. As alluded upthread, I also feel, yes after just one episode, that the writers are flying by the seats of their pants. We shall see, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/23 "2014-07-15T10:33:50Z")
It’s cribbing ideas from all kinds of places, including Solaris, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and 2001. But its sources are quality cinema, and it’s presenting it all in a fairly intelligent way. I would feel much better about something like this if it were closed-ended, but I feel like network sci-fi with this level of aspirations needs to be rewarded with my eyeballs for a bit longer anyway (and I’m watching on Amazon Prime, so it does actually count in some sense). **Frylock** , I got that impression too–there was something about that guy that had the faintest suggestion of “Japaneseness” about him. ;0) ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/24 "2014-07-15T21:15:59Z")
They lost me at the end when that guy showed up and said, “I know what happened to you, but I’m not going to tell you…I’ll find you later…don’t trust anyone” sigh 😕 a guess about what will happen to that guy he’s probably going to die before telling her ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/25 "2014-07-16T15:27:04Z")
The premise seemed interesting but I agree the whole corporate conspiracy thing is kind of tired. Hiroyuki Sanada basically plays the same character in Helix, which is a better program IMO, comparing the two side by side. I also thought the whole “souls” sidebar was asinine. I’ll watch tonight to see how they are planning to unfold the plots but I suspect this series is probably not going to last long. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/26 "2014-07-17T02:07:43Z")
So is anyone else both relived and disappointed that Alien-Mom didn’t try to mate with Male-Astronaut? ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/27 "2014-07-17T18:49:31Z")
Yeah that was giving me the serious incest creeps for a minute. I think it thought about it, but when it touched his stomach it may have realized that he wasn’t a proper vessel for impregnating. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/28 "2014-07-18T01:00:28Z")
I’m interested enough to keep watching. What’s with the eggs standing on end? And the CEO guy has less than four months to live. “They’re already here,” also has me intrigued enough to watch again. Though fake ultrasounds always aggravate me, why can’t they just make it look like it’s supposed to? But that’s not this show, it’s all of them. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/29 "2014-07-20T10:04:41Z")
To be fair, we don’t know what ultrasounds look like in a future world with holographic elephants etc. I too am just interested enough to keep watching (no mean feat with all the good TV available today), but just barely–and I’m wary of potential shark-jumping (or, maybe even worse, the possibility of the show just dragging everything out endlessly). Like **Flightless Bird** , I thought that guy would be dead before she could talk to him. I still expect him to die soon, but props to them for not going that route already. I do hope they are paying some kind of licensing fee to whoever wrote the script for _Solaris_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Cashless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Johnny\_Cashless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Cashless)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/30 "2014-07-20T14:31:04Z")
I just watched the first: no way, goodluck with this … ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/31 "2014-07-21T03:56:18Z")
Yeah, I will give it one more episode to see if it gets any better, but I have already grabbed my coat and am heading out the door. Holographic elephant was cool, but there is something about the show that simply doesn’t keep my interest that I haven’t put my finger on yet. I dozed off on the current episode. Also, Ethan can’t grow, can he? If not, are they going to replace his body every six months or so to give the appearance of growing? If so, won’t that be jarring to his classmates and friends when he suddenly looks older the next day? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/32 "2014-07-21T05:17:32Z")
I liked the second episode better then the first. The acting seemed less half-hearted, and they seemed willing to progress the plot along at a decent pace. So I’ll watch at least a few more episodes. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/33 "2014-07-21T11:41:37Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Also, Ethan can’t grow, can he? If not, are they going to replace his body every six months or so to give the appearance of growing? If so, won’t that be jarring to his classmates and friends when he suddenly looks older the next day? I suppose, but if they do it frequently enough it might not be that noticeable. ETA: **Simplicio** , I agree that the second episode was good (hard for me to say whether it was better than the pilot: pilots are pilots, and hard to compare with any other episode in a series), and you are right that they are moving the plot along faster than one might have expected. Refreshing not to just see vague hints as they stall week after week. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/34 "2014-07-21T12:31:37Z")
I agree with the poster above who said it’s getting harder and harder to watch network tv. After two episodes it’s not _terrible_, but the ham-fisted dialog and acting have the stink of network all over them. I’m another who has post traumatic LOST syndrome, so I see myself bailing at some point in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/35 "2014-07-31T19:13:25Z")
CBS did me a solid this week. I schedule the week’s programming on the weekend. Today I noticed that for some reason I taped Criminal Minds, and thought what the heck, why in the world did my DVR tape that? Turns out that between this past weekend and last night, they decided to move Extant in the schedule, from 9 to 10. So I didn’t get to tape it this week. I could watch it on demand, but then I can’t FFWD through commercials. I could do a search for the episode repeats to tape it again, but that would require hitting like a dozen buttons on the remote. My interest level in Extant isn’t high enough to clear either of those bars, so I’m officially out. Thanks much, CBS! I would likely have limped along for another half dozen episodes, but now thanks to the programming gurus I am happily free of this show. It wasn’t terrible, just way to network-y for my taste. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/36 "2014-08-09T12:32:25Z")
I’m still enjoying it, though I’m a bit behind (watching on Amazon Prime). Just finished the third episode, and I Googled some recaps, as I do. I’m not too familiar with [TV Line](http://tvline.com/2014/07/23/extant-season-1-recap-molly-tells-john-shes-pregnant/), but I must say–the opening line here is some inspired snark: > [@](#): > > It’s Molly’s birthday – well, sort of — this week on _Extant_, and to celebrate, the universe gifts her with a giant box of WTF?!? (Hope you kept the receipt, universe: Molls already has that.) ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/37 "2014-08-15T15:13:11Z")
I just came across this thread again and realized I haven’t watched Extant in a couple of weeks. Is it still on? Anyone still watching? I didn’t purposefully stop watching the program; it just dropped from my mental radar. It had two episodes to capture me, but simply didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/38 "2014-08-16T09:45:07Z")
I’m still watching. It’s got good bits and bad. I really like the realization of the near future. The understated acting from the leads isn’t everyone’s thing, but I think it works. The actual plot has been kind of treading water though, which usually doesn’t bode well for these kind of shows. I think the show will live and die based on whether they actually move the plot forward as the end of the season approaches. Since there’s only seven more episodes left, you might just want to record them and then wait to see if what people thought of the full season before investing the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/39 "2014-08-16T19:29:31Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The actual plot has been kind of treading water though, which usually doesn’t bode well for these kind of shows. I agree. In these last few episodes, there are things happening, but they feel like the same things happening again and again. The main character hasn’t really progressed that much since the show began. The ratings haven’t been that good, and I imagine this isn’t a terribly cheap show to produce. I’d bet on it not being renewed if things don’t improve. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819/40 "2014-09-23T21:30:02Z")
Finished the season. It was pretty meh. The show had a pretty good setting, and some decent characters and plot elements. But the plot just kind of meandered. The alien stuff didn’t end up being very interesting. The robot stuff was better, but suffered from having to share the screen with what turned out to be a totally unrelated alien stuff. Ah well. Hopefully someone will be inspired to make a better “near future” sci-fi show. The idea was good, just needed some better writers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extant-premier-discussion-thread-spoilers/692819.md?page=3)