Extant recap: The Other Side

Extant is continuing its winning streak with another great episode. This might have been one of my favorites of the season. So much happened: New threats were introduced, JD bro’d out with Toby, Terra came out of her little-girl cocoon, and—oh yeah—Molly died! We all know Molly can’t really be dead, of course, because she and JD still haven’t had their epic love affair. Halle, I’m holding you to your San Diego Comic Con promise. Let’s get right to it and dive into the events of tonight’s episode.

Molly is laying on her deathbed, reiterating to Toby for the millionth time that the hybrids aren’t a threat, and the real concern lies with the Humanichs. She promises to tell him as much as she can about the species and that she should be studied, all for the greater good of evolving with this new species without getting too trigger-happy. She will do this as long as she can see Ethan one last time. While Toby makes the arrangement, Molly begins leaving Ethan a video blog, and in the middle of filming she begins to go unconscious, dreaming that she is her younger self at a carnival.

Meanwhile, Julie and Charlie are explaining to the Madame Secretary the unfortunate situation with Lucy and how her program posed a huge safety threat. Being that Lucy’s program was uploaded to the tons of other Humanichs about to be activated, Julie and Charlie plead for permission to halt the launch so they can patch all of the concerning programming. The Madame Secretary is having none of it, saying that they promised a timeline, and they were going to stick to it. Deciding not to tell her that none of the Humanich’s have limiters and are basically indestructible sociopaths, Julie and Charlie resort to installing the limiters since they can’t shut them down.

Back at the GSC, Toby releases JD per Molly’s request. JD demands to see Molly, and he delivers a heartfelt speech to her while she’s unconscious. Hitting a personal note, Toby invites JD to share a glass of scotch in his office. It’s also worthy noting that the scotch was over a century old and a gift from the president. Obviously, this scotch is the key to JD’s heart.

While they walk through all that’s happened, they get on the topic of John and his death. JD shares everything he learned from the private investigator, and Toby admits he thinks John was murdered and that someone who’s higher up in the agency covered it up. JD pries further, asking if John had any enemies. Toby mentions a man named Nicholas Calderone from John’s past, but before we can learn more, things start to go down in the facility.

While all of this is going on, the head scientist for the GSC is trying to develop an antidote to save Molly. The GSC “captured” Terra, and when the scientists go to examine her body, they find that she has emerged from her younger body into an older self, clearly faking her death to sneak into the facility. She does her eye-mojo to the scientists, escapes to the facility entry doors, and persuades the guard with her mind magic to let Aris and other hybrids in. Solidifying him as the next big bad, Aris makes the guard shoot himself, and he and Terra walk off to complete their revenge mission. Adhu’s deathbed warning to Molly about Aris and Terra’s bad intentions proves valid.

Before the facility is alerted that there’s been a security breach, Julie and Ethan visit Molly, who is still unconscious. Julie says her peace first, admitting her faults and being selfish with Ethan’s memories. She vows to make right with everything she has done with Ethan, the affair, and John’s work with the Humanichs. Two weeks in a row I find myself on Team-Don’t-Kill-Off-Julie.

NEXT: Julie finally grows some cojones.

Julie then calls Charlie to tell him to shut down all of the Humanich soldiers, not caring that they will most likely go to jail, or worse, be killed. Charlie is happy with the bold decision, as he is unable to install the limiters to the Humanichs in standby mode. Apparently, their program is evolving—posing an even deeper threat to humans.

Ethan, with his memories fully restored, stands over Molly and begs her to keep fighting and to not leave him for good. Molly’s mind is still in the carnival dream sequence, grappling with her fears—presumably coming to peace with them before she dies. She walks through “memory lane” and revisits her father’s affair with their neighbor. Molly recalls how he used to take her to the carnival when she was a young girl so he could meet up with her. She attacks this part of her conscience, and this transitions into John’s affair, and Molly finally admits her faults as a wife and mother. Her mind moves to the “Final Departure” ride, where her father, JD, and Ethan—all projections of her conscience—try to convince her to stay, but it’s too late. She has moved on, and Molly dies.

In her dream before she dies, her “father” tells her that mistakes and forgiveness are what make us human and holding on to that retains one’s humanity. He also said something about how she was the leader of this new species. Molly understanding the importance of humanity and keeping it present will be crucial in preventing the hybrids from falling into an evil species.

The GSC goes into lockdown, and Ethan and Julie are pulled out of the room to hopefully somewhere secure. As Charlie is about to shut down the Humanichs, he gets an alert for immediate deployment due to the hybrid breach at the GSC. Knowing there are over 700 people at the facility, Charlie has no choice but to release the Humanichs.

The episode ends with Terra and Aris releasing viruses stored in the GSC facility, fighting the humans with the same fire they unleashed on the hybrids at their compound. Knowing Molly can’t be dead for good, will the viruses released produce the antidote she needs to be revived?

Questions:

• The writers made a point to talk about the room Molly was in—it’s a Faraday cage. It’s been rigged to prevent hybrids from emitting electromagnetic pulses. Will the Humanich’s force Aris, Terra, and the other hybrids in there to capture them?
• Will the Humanichs get to the facility in time to save the humans before the viruses attack?
• Will the new Humanichs—with Lucy’s program—evolve into revolutionary human-haters like Lucy?
• Could Molly convince Terra to stop her violent path?
• Who is Nicholas Calderone?

Quotes:

• “She thinks I killed her husband, Molly does.” —Toby “So do I.”—JD
• “Evil is still evil general. Even when it’s lesser.”—JD

Moment of the Episode: Bro-zone with JD and Toby. David Morrissey seems to take a liking to roles that involve intense discussion over bourbon. (For my The Walking Dead fans.)