S01.E09: Care and Feeding / S01.E10: A Pack of Cards

[Meredith Quill]

Episode 9 Synopsis:

When Sparks falls under the influence of the vision of his deceased daughter, he flees with Molly’s baby to a remote location. Now, Yasumoto and Molly must rely on each other to track down the offspring.

 

Episode 10 Synopsis:

As Molly gets closer to finding her "offspring", John learns that Yasumoto might not have his family's best interests at heart, and Sparks commits to do whatever it takes to keep the "offspring" alive and maintain the visions of his dead daughter.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm just waiting for them to discover that the offspring has 'Gotta Get Away' and that between the offspring and Ethan, 'The Kid's Aren't Alright'.

[Neurochick]

I'm waiting for Ethan to kill Odin or whatever his name is, in some horrible way.  

[HalcyonDays]

I'm waiting for Ethan to kill Odin or whatever his name is, in some horrible way.  

 

I don't know - I see Julie being the one to kill Odin.

 

We've seen how bonded and devoted she is to Ethan. If Odin hurts Ethan in any way, Julie will ensure Odin experiences a world of hurt.

[Neurochick]

I don't know - I see Julie being the one to kill Odin.

 

We've seen how bonded and devoted she is to Ethan. If Odin hurts Ethan in any way, Julie will ensure Odin experiences a world of hurt.

 I can see that happening too.  But Ethan would look all wide eyed and say, "I don't know what happened." and he's so cute everybody will believe him.  

[HalcyonDays]

 I can see that happening too.  But Ethan would look all wide eyed and say, "I don't know what happened." and he's so cute everybody will believe him.  

 

Oh yeah, kinda of like with the mysteriously dead birds. "They were dead when I got here..."

 

Then Julie would read him a fairy tale - except it would be an original Grimm story, not the sanitized modern ones.

 

I can really see this happening, since in episode one, people expressed concerns about what would happen if a Humanich "turns" against the humans (ala Terminator). Ethen may as well do that by offing Odin (and some of his fellow anarchists) when they attempt to take Ethan out.

 

So now what will John do, or Julie or the rest in the lab? Ethan (if it happens) is a murderer. Interesting.

[Enero]

These two episodes really didn't work for me.

 

Kryger is dead! No!

 

So what the hell does the alien want? Why would it bring the space station back to (or closer to Earth)?

 

I know Sparks desperately misses his daughter, but his behavior is reprehensible.

 

Julie is a complete idiot to leave prosthetic guy alone with Ethan. She don’t know this guy from Adam. And shouldn’t she (and John too) be suspicious that this guy is sticking around through the night’s drama and beyond (why was he still at the lab the next morning? I as the viewer know, but why isn't Julie questioning this? Doesn't he have a job?). As soon as she was summoned to Yasumoto’s place she should’ve told him to take a hike.

 

Molly's absolute obsession with "finding the baby" doesn't make sense to me. As I've said before, I can understand her maybe feeling somewhat of a connection to the alien, but to go to this length to find it and to ignore the dangerous alien part of her "baby" is insane. The only way I can explain her behavior is she's projecting her feelings for the baby she lost onto this alien entity and that it (the alien) is to an extent controlling her due to her being it's "mother."

 

John shouldn't have needed a call from Molly to finally conclude that Yasumoto might be the enemy. As soon as he wouldn't let him leave his house, brought Ethan to the house without John's permission (and continuously prevented them from leaving), then found Molly but didn't immediately bring her back there, he should've known this guy was shady. 

 

With the alien baby being able to create hallucinations that are real to the point of the individuals being able to feel and touch their hallucinations I think only Ethan will be able to fight the alien. He's not human so he might not be vulnerable to the powerful hallucinations, unless his ability to dream which I guess would indicate some form of a subconscious within him, would make him susceptible to it's power.

[briochetwist]

No!  Not Kryger!  He's the only one I gave a damn about.  Bye Halle, it's not been fun.

[JBody]

Yep. It reminds me of that moment in the museum when Ethan learns about evolution and extinction (wasn't very accurate IIRC) and he asks Molly if she's weak. Looks like Ethan will be the saviour of humanity rather than its destroyer. I imagine that's how the series ends. I really hope it gets picked up for a second season but.... again, 2 hours of this is tough going at times. There's a lot to process and I think I would have preferred them to be aired one at a time. Oh yeah, I don't think they'd allow Odin to hang around the lab for hours on end.

[Sandman]

Molly's absolute obsession with "finding the baby" doesn't make sense to me. As I've said before, I can understand her maybe feeling somewhat of a connection to the alien, but to go to this length to find it and to ignore the dangerous alien part of her "baby" is insane. The only way I can explain her behavior is she's projecting her feelings for the baby she lost onto this alien entity and that it (the alien) is to an extent controlling her due to her being its "mother."

 

I don't know how much is Molly's unresolved feelings about the first baby she lost, and how much is a genuine connection to the idea that this hybrid is at least half-human, but it seems clear that the alien is manipulating all the humans it comes in contact with. Evil Doctor Agent Ron Butterfield appears to be completely around the bend. The hybrid appears to have nothing we would recognize as a conscience given how it's toying with people's emotions.

 

I had the impression that Yasumoto convinced "John Woods" to let him bring Ethan and Miss Gummer, rather than collecting them without his permission, but I agree he should booked out of there long before that little chat with Molly. (Were they both in different wings of Revenge Sensei's ginormous House of Obsessive and Creepifyin'?)

 

I think Owain Yeoman's character has advanced degrees in drinking the scary Kool-AId and whackjobbery. How did O-Ring Odin manage to completely overwrite Ethan's behaviour in a ten-minute conversation? That's some lighter!

[random chance]

I bet you're both right about Ethan saving humanity. 

 

The phrase "the offspring" is starting to get on my last nerve.  I can't explain why.  Maybe it's the way they say it - like they're stopping just short of using air quotes.

 

These two episodes were a little slow, for me.

[bagatelle]

I'm embarrassed to admit this show has lost me and I don't know what's going on, half the time.

 

Didn't Sparks have a grown up daughter that died?  Why do they want to hallucinate her being a young child?  And why is he keeping her in the "cabin" they went to many years ago?  Is it because she wouldn't have a child's bedroom anymore, back at the house, considering she was a grown woman when she died?

[thuganomics85]

Aww, man, I should have known Kryger was going to bite it.  I was enjoying the hell out of the Kryger/Kern team.  Now, there's a potential buddy show right there.  He's a former astronaut, who is off his rocker!  He's a former cop, with a drug problem!  Together, they chase after mysterious alien baby hybrids!  Tune into Kryger & Kern: Alien Hunters!; only on CBS!

 

So, if I'm getting this right, the alien baby is basically off to the side, the entire time anyone is seeing dead visions of their loved ones? Is it invisible or something, since Alan didn't see anything, when the cop's body was getting "fed on."  Also, while I understand the idea of using dead loved ones to manipulate people into doing it's bidding, I wonder why Alan and his ex are seeing Katie as a young girl, instead of when she actually died.  It seems like that was the way Molly, Kryger, and the rest saw their loved ones, so I wonder why the baby is changing things with Alan.

 

That flashback with Molly and John, just made me even more annoyed with John.  He just comes off kind of selfish to me.  Asking Molly not to go into space is no small thing; this probably was her only chance to do this.  Assuming she was already in the program when the married, I would have thought he would be prepared for this and more understanding.  Well, I guess since this summer has had a bunch of annoying, nagging wife characters on other shows, it's refreshing to see an annoying, nagging husband in this one.  Yay?

 

Hey, Dr. Owain Yeoman!  And I"m glad that it looks like Enver Gjokaj will be involved in this somehow.

 

Ethan escapes Yasumoto, only to be unknowingly kidnapped by Odin.  I wonder where this is heading?  Julie is going to freak once everything is reveled.  I also wonder what Yasumoto's reaction will be once he finds out Dodd has been plotting against him all this time.

 

Overall, kind of slow episodes.  Felt like it's main purposes were to just have Ethan get kidnapped, and have Molly and John figure out that Yasumoto is shady.

[Sofie Fatale]

@ Bagatelle

The alien is playing on sparks' emotions. Yes the daughter was an adult when she died, but seeing her as his innocent baby girl that he MUST PROTECT! Is far more manipulative IMO. Also because he's trying to make her happy and stay with him, he took her to a place that she loved as a child. It had the added bonus of being relatively secluded enough to hide the offspring as well.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Sophie Fatale

[izabella]

So what the hell does the alien want? Why would it bring the space station back to (or closer to Earth)?

 

Is it going to try to hitch a ride back into space once it has finished doing whatever it is doing on Earth?

 

Molly's absolute obsession with "finding the baby" doesn't make sense to me. As I've said before, I can understand her maybe feeling somewhat of a connection to the alien, but to go to this length to find it and to ignore the dangerous alien part of her "baby" is insane. The only way I can explain her behavior is she's projecting her feelings for the baby she lost onto this alien entity and that it (the alien) is to an extent controlling her due to her being it's "mother."

 

She's very much projecting, and the alien is manipulating her.  Regardless, Molly's "have to find my baby, my baby, my baby" is grating on my nerves.

Edited August 28, 2014 by izabella

[JBody]

Yep, I assumed the alien baby projected Katie as a little girl because it gave him more leverage with Sparks. First off, if he saw Katie as she was when she died he would be consumed with guilt all the time: no good. Instead, the alien picked the Katie that we've seen in the picture on his desk. I think it's even the same dress. That way he can "start over", as I believe he said to his wife. He isn't reminded of how she died every two seconds. Of course it's all completely batshit crazy but that's where Sparks and Mrs Sparks are now.

[Latverian Diplomat]

These two episodes really didn't work for me.

 

Molly's absolute obsession with "finding the baby" doesn't make sense to me. As I've said before, I can understand her maybe feeling somewhat of a connection to the alien, but to go to this length to find it and to ignore the dangerous alien part of her "baby" is insane. The only way I can explain her behavior is she's projecting her feelings for the baby she lost onto this alien entity and that it (the alien) is to an extent controlling her due to her being it's "mother."

 

 

 From Molly's perspective, she's seen the "offspring" protecting her (e.g., with bird-o-grams) and itself, the dead security guards. We the audience have way more information than she does. That said, I wish her desire to connect with the "offspring" drew more on her astronaut's interest in making contact and less on mommy-hood.

 

I'm not sure why the "offspring can extract elaborate details from people's memories, but not security codes. I'm also not sure why Molly's codes weren't deactivated when she returned to Earth, as a matter of course. Lastly, the resources Yasumoto seems to have available seems to fluctuate for script convenience. I realize he's had some unexpected attrition lately, but he sent one guy with handcuffs to escort Molly to the "offspring" and no one following after. And they drove, no helicopter?

[Enero]

 From Molly's perspective, she's seen the "offspring" protecting her (e.g., with bird-o-grams) and itself, the dead security guards. We the audience have way more information than she does. That said, I wish her desire to connect with the "offspring" drew more on her astronaut's interest in making contact and less on mommy-hood.

 

 

 

True, but then it was going to allow her to be kidnapped by her enemy Sparks. Will she be able to make that connection and see that her baby has its own agenda that is in no way safe for anyone, including her.

 

I wish we'd see some conflict from her. They got the mamma bear and projecting dead baby emotions down pat, but what about her horror at what happened to her in space. She was essentially raped and impregnated by an alien entity. I would be able to understand her reaction better if her actions/emotions were a combination of cautious curiousity, horror and the uncontrollable/uncomfortable connection she feels to the baby due to her being it's 'mother.'

 

Now that her and Gordon have teamed back up, I hope he will remember what he told Kryger and tell her, that the baby isn't a baby anymore. Perhaps this knowledge will help her adjust her thought process about what she's dealing with.

 

So, if I'm getting this right, the alien baby is basically off to the side, the entire time anyone is seeing dead visions of their loved ones? Is it invisible or something, since Alan didn't see anything, when the cop's body was getting "fed on."  plotting against him all this time.

 

 

 

 

It was in human form when Molly was pregnant with it, unless that was a projection to make everyone think the alien had a human form when in actuality it doesn't? That said though, the lady at the cabin saw something in the bushes, presumbly the alien, that she thought was a fox. I wonder though, did she think it was a fox because the bushes were moving or because she actually saw something that looked like a fox?

Edited August 28, 2014 by Enero

[Sandman]

Lastly, the resources Yasumoto seems to have available seems to fluctuate for script convenience. I realize he's had some unexpected attrition lately, but he sent one guy with handcuffs to escort Molly to the "offspring" and no one following after. And they drove, no helicopter?

 

Maybe the price of restorative toxic goo fluctuates a lot with market availability?

Edited August 28, 2014 by Sandman

[Latverian Diplomat]

It was in human form when Molly was pregnant with it, unless that was a projection to make everyone think the alien had a human form when in actuality it doesn't? That said though, the lady at the cabin saw something in the bushes, presumbly the alien, that she thought was a fox. I wonder though, did she think it was a fox because the bushes were moving or because she actually saw something that looked like a fox?

When we saw scans of the fetus, it looked human. So, I suspect it still mostly does, though the vision effect from its POV implies it's not perfectly human. Its size is unspecified ("it's growing fast"). Part of the coyness is probably for suspense and part for budget. I suspect there will be some special effects when we finally see it. Honestly, the actress playing Sparks' daughter is doing well enough with the creepy little kid thing (always among the scariest of monsters) that I can wait.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Latverian Diplomat

[HalcyonDays]

Wait, what? Kryger is dead? When did that happen? Okay, I had some wine last night and watched both episodes but how the heck did he die???

 

Kryger was the only one with some brains I have to say. He's the only one who knew fully well that alien thing is going to cause havoc and needs to be killed off.

 

I did like the twist of Sparks betraying Yasamoto and taking the baby. But as others have pointed out, it rings so hollow and false to me. Does he (and he equally easily emotionally manipulated wife) honestly think they can just resume life with their daughter as is? Do they think she will grow up and go to school and play with the kids and do kid things and life a new life? It makes no sense at all.

 

Molly's obsession with the baby is equally as illogical. I can only think that somehow the baby is manipulating her emotions and reasoning, since it was her "child". She keeps saying my baby, but is it really? No one is asking this most important question. Is it half human and half alien, or was Molly just serving as a womb, like a surrogate. I guess since the ultrasound showed a human, it's half, but we don't know. All we know is that an embryo was implanted into her womb, and who knows is the alien species may appear quite humanoid. That's what loses me. No proof that the kid really is hers and she's not questioning it.

 

John needs to have a marathon TV and movie watching session to learn how evil does it's underhanded tricks. Lesson one: when someone who "insists" on "helping you" won't let you leave the house - get the fuck out. He is way way too naive.

 

I did like Odin's tactic of engaging Ethan in conversation solely to learn about him. Loved those moments. Now he knows how to shut Ethan down. Nicely done, dude.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm not sure why the "offspring can extract elaborate details from people's memories, but not security codes. I'm also not sure why Molly's codes weren't deactivated when she returned to Earth, as a matter of course. Lastly, the resources Yasumoto seems to have available seems to fluctuate for script convenience.

 

At least that tells the audience that the Seraphim station is not that far away from Earth, likely within the solar system.  Those stations, Seraphim and Aruna, are much like the ISS and are pretty fragile and can't be easily accelerated without causing major damage.  Even then, it would still take months to move it to Earth's orbit -- probably more if it was on the other side of the Sun.  My guess is that it will show up in Earth's orbit by the end of the next episode, because ... space.

 

ETA:

I did like Odin's tactic of engaging Ethan in conversation solely to learn about him. Loved those moments. Now he knows how to shut Ethan down. Nicely done, dude.

 

If Ethan is designed to be like a real boy, why were there no pain receptors in his hands when Odin was teaching him the 'how to play with fire' trick ?  If the original intent of John for Ethan to experience what any other child would experience, that seems like a pretty serious design flaw.

Edited August 28, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[Sofie Fatale]

Wait, what? Kryger is dead? When did that happen? Okay, I had some wine last night and watched both episodes but how the heck did he die???

Kryger was the only one with some brains I have to say. He's the only one who knew fully well that alien thing is going to cause havoc and needs to be killed off.

I did like the twist of Sparks betraying Yasamoto and taking the baby. But as others have pointed out, it rings so hollow and false to me. Does he (and he equally easily emotionally manipulated wife) honestly think they can just resume life with their daughter as is? Do they think she will grow up and go to school and play with the kids and do kid things and life a new life? It makes no sense at all.

Molly's obsession with the baby is equally as illogical. I can only think that somehow the baby is manipulating her emotions and reasoning, since it was her "child". She keeps saying my baby, but is it really? No one is asking this most important question. Is it half human and half alien, or was Molly just serving as a womb, like a surrogate. I guess since the ultrasound showed a human, it's half, but we don't know. All we know is that an embryo was implanted into her womb, and who knows is the alien species may appear quite humanoid. That's what loses me. No proof that the kid really is hers and she's not questioning it.

I too will miss Kryger.

Concerning Sparks and wife. I get where they're coming from. As a mom I'd probably embrace the crazy in a heartbeat to see my kid again. Same goes for Molly. I can't imagine losing a baby that far along in ones pregnancy. She's definitely f*cked up and realizing you were pregnant for even a millisecond after being told you couldn't get pregnant anymore is messing with her psyche. Then she has it taken out of her...that's twice she's been denied.

I may be wrong but weren't we told it had half her DNA?

Edited August 28, 2014 by Sophie Fatale

[ottoDbusdriver]

That scene with evil Ron Butterfield and the campground owner was really badly put together.  How was she shot in the torso (the shotgun butt would have had to have been on the ground, and evil Ron Butterfield's arms just aren't that long) let alone how was evil Ron Butterfield able to hold the just fired shotgun barrel with his hand ?

[JLVerde]

 

Now, there's a potential buddy show right there.  He's a former astronaut, who is off his rocker!  He's a former cop, with a drug problem!  Together, they chase after mysterious alien baby hybrids!  Tune into Kryger & Kern: Alien Hunters!; only on CBS!

 

HAH!  I'd watch that (but we've already established I'll watch just about anything *cough*UnderTheDome and TheFollowing*cough*.

 

Disappointing Future Tech showed up IMMEDIATELY this episode.  I was kind of disappointed, to be honest.  Maybe that's why I started to get sleepy and nodded off during the second episode and missed KrygerDeath.

 

Anyway. . .Disappointing Future Tech was definitely that sad tracking device that looked like a freaking pager (or a garage door opener).  Seriously?  A black box with a blinking red light stuck up under the front of the car?  The only way that could be lower tech is if the car had a big ole marker on the rear bumper that left an actual mark on the road as it drove.  Hell, that would have been more impressive.

 

Was anyone else a little creeped out by the Ethan "flip" thing with Odin?  To me changing a robot child's battery would be akin to helping them in the bathroom (like wiping or pulling up their pants) and not something Odin (who's just Julie's hump at this point--not even a long established boyfriend) should be doing.  Guess that was the point, though, that Ethan is too trusting, a flaw of not being human?

 

Since the show appears to be setting up an Ethan vs The Offspring (hee hee, I totally thought of the crappy fratrock band) showdown to save teh worlds, I hope it plays out that Ethan actually battles the vision of Sparks' daughter in child form.  Creepy Child Face Off!  Now THAT'S a way to send a show off (because I'm assuming this show won't make it to a second season the way they're burning through episodes).

[Neurochick]

The alien is playing on sparks' emotions. Yes the daughter was an adult when she died, but seeing her as his innocent baby girl that he MUST PROTECT! Is far more manipulative IMO. Also because he's trying to make her happy and stay with him, he took her to a place that she loved as a child. It had the added bonus of being relatively secluded enough to hide the offspring as well.

 

 

I agree.  I look at it as the alien is able to tap into a memory inside your brain, a memory of when you were the most happy, or a memory of what you wanted more than anything and then you're able to see it right in front of you.  When Molly looked through the window in the cabin, there was no one sitting with Sparks and his wife.  I also see Sparks and his wife and people who have taken a VERY powerful hallucinogenic drug and are on a VERY good trip, who would want that to end?  

[roomtorome]

Bad for me to say, but HB is just a terrible actress (to me) - her "acting" is pretty much the same in every moment - she could be telling me the grocery list (all bland food) or about a huge flock of birds heading right at my head and my heart wouldn't skip a beat and I'd probably just say 'yeah, yeah' - anything to get the pitchy non-emotive voice to stop.  I always thought she was less than even mediocre but even in this junk, she's just awful - not that anyone is much better.  With her scenes I haven't felt one second of suspense - oh, well. Another summer dud for me.  

 

I too don't know half of what is going on but that's because they are being so convolute with the whole thing and throwing stuff in that just doesn't stick (again, for me) - these two episodes could have been one I think - they just dragged.  Man, I love my DVR….

 

Best part for me is the kid - he's good at being probably bad - 

[Blue Plastic]

I'm embarrassed to admit this show has lost me and I don't know what's going on, half the time.

 

Didn't Sparks have a grown up daughter that died?  Why do they want to hallucinate her being a young child?

This bugged me, too.  Yeah, story wise it makes more sense, I guess, for them to hallucinate their daughter as a little girl again because that would bring back happier memories and they would be more involved in the care of and spend more time with a little girl than they would be with a grown woman.  But it just seems kinda weird that at grandparent age they want to delude themselves so much that they are going to spend all their time with a little girl who isn't actually there and represents a woman that they already raised and sent off to college/space/whatever years ago.  It's more like they want Groundhog Day than to actually have their daughter alive again.  I was disappointed that Mrs. Sparks fell for it, too, but I guess you're supposed to believe that it's not just a hallucination, it's also mind control.

  It's just that I could believe that even without mind control Sparks would do something this disgusting, but we've had no indication that Mrs. Sparks was ever like that before.

 

Same with Molly.  I know it's supposed to be the hallucinations and mind control of the alien baby, but if she says "my baby, my baby, my baby" one more time I will scream.

 

These two episodes were actually just totally confusing and made me hate everyone, even Kryger, whom I liked.  I had been enjoying the team of Kryger, Slightly Less Evil Chandler Bing (Gordon Kern) and Molly, but now that's all shot to hell (ha ha).  John I have hated almost from the beginning and IMO he deserves whatever he gets.  Not looking forward to what Odin will try to do to Ethan, though.  Perhaps Ethan will have some surprising self-defense moves.

[car54]

I wonder how many times before John realizes he is not first with Molly.   Unless her back is up against a wall, she always turns to other people or puts him second and does what she wants.   For a smart guy, he doesn't seem to get it.

 

I think the alien baby is projecting some kind of mind control over Molly the way he is with the Sparks.   It knows she lost a baby and her baby's father, and it wants a mommy to protect it....so it's kind of sucking her into it's spell.

I'm kind of fascinated by the alien baby eating people's life force and giving them the circle rash, and then they are it's slaves and they do whatever it wants.

[wayne67]

I'm wondering if they're deliberately trying to make John Woods unlikeable? He seems permanently stuck on petulant mode whenever anyone disagrees with him or inconveniently says something he doesn't like. His parenting/scientist skills appear to be sub par. He leaves his child/prototype alone with the employee he told off for being too invested along with her new bf. You do not let your child be supervised by someone you don't know. Especially when they are also a result of presumably millions of dollars and years of research and development. Then you apologise to your robo boy so you can get him to do your bidding easily while ignoring him for the majority of the time so you can wring your hands about your missing wife. Did either of these people LISTEN to the advice about "DON'T TRUST ANYONE".

 

My head it hurts. It's still better than a lot of shows out there at the moment even if the acting and repeating of "my baby" makes me roll my eyes sometimes.

[sjohnson]

Fantasies of dead people returning is something you want. Giving up your passwords, not so much I think. 

 

Partly Molly's growing obsession with the baby is partly the baby's powers but costs sunk into a mission predispose you to mission creep.

 

John trusts Odin because Julie trusts Odin. He may have been short with her but he values her very, very highly when push comes to shove. In this case I think far too much because Julie trusts Odin because he makes her horny. John doesn't trust Yasumoto any more because of the locked elevator. But Molly neglected to mention that Yasumoto did not get involved when John asked but long before, meaning he was head of the whole conspiracy. 

 

I must say I think the show is achieving a thematic unity and intensity to accompany the rather smooth flow of action. What do we imagine a family to be? What do we do to make our dream family real? What do we do when confronted with a choice between the dream and reality? John, Molly, Sparks all have intense commitments to dream families. John is dismayed by the difference between the Norman Rockwell painting in his head and the real Ethan who is more Rick Sternbach, but has the expertise tempting him to change Ethan. The Sparks have their dream but have to continue committing crimes to keep it. Molly...Molly has two families, one by Marcus and one by John and must choose between the two. 

 

Gordon's family history makes his thematic role intriguing. (So does Sam's to a lesser extent.) Harmon Kryger didn't seem to fit the increasingly tight thematic focus so maybe it was time for him to go. 

 

At this point, Owain Yeoman is the henchman for the villain, echoing Yasumoto. But I was wondering if the casting was supposed to remind us of previous roles. Yeoman played a terminator in several episodes of Sarah Connor Chronicles. And he played Grigsby on The Mentalist, a character whose personal life was dominated by his love for a co-worker and eventual wife and mother of his child, a relationship complicated by his child by another woman. Vaguely analogous to Molly's children by John and Marcus? Just a strange coincidence?

Edited August 28, 2014 by sjohnson

[ottoDbusdriver]

Fantasies of dead people returning is something you want. Giving up your passwords, not so much I think.

 

That seems like a HUGE design flaw by ISEA that anyone can hack into a space station (they should have killed Molly's credentials the minute she left), and not only take remote steering control, but somehow convince the on-board AI that it's a legitimate command.

[Lostinthehouse]

I just don't know about last night's episodes, but I'll say that for me, Extant went from a fascinating sci-fi story to a shark-jumping mess of disjointed junk.  And so much I really didn't get at all - when Molly entered the cabin/biodome/plush resort room, did she actually have a vision where the real past changed into boyfriend being alive and 7-month old baby was in an incubator?  If so, did she not realize it was a vision and not reality, or did she realize it was a vision and therefore stumbled comatose out of the cabin in numbed grief?

 

Alien baby needing massive doses of protein powder for its human side and the souls of disposable humans for its alien side?  Stupid.

 

John being so blatantly obtuse that he's unable to see he's being held captive?  Unless John has the IQ of a rutabaga (which we know he doesn't), this is not believable at all. 

 

Ethan now being so arrogant that he can predict the moves in a game of chess ("it's easy!"), and steals the phone from dad to monopolize a pointless conversation with Mom?  Smack that little robot so hard that he loses his chips and boards.

 

I'll hang in there for the remaining 2 episodes, but if last night is any indication of things to come, I will have wasted a bunch of my summer life that I'll never get back.

[Actionmage]

Oh my stars and garters!, to quote The Beast (an X-Man and Avenger, for those not into comics.)

 

One thing this crazy show is not afraid of is moving the freaking plot along! We have three episodes left, gang! (Last night's preview showed the show will be back to the 10PM/9 Central slot next week.) I am still in.

 

 I see Julie being the one to kill Odin.--I do too, Halcyon Days. I think that while Molly has come to love Ethan, the deep love for Ethan has been demonstrated by Julie, until Plot caused her to be mysteriously absent during a chunk of time. Ethan had to be around Odin, so Odin could be nefarious and tricksy, but Julie will now be blindsided by the betrayal of her not-steady male person and need to take her anger at that out on Odin. Ms. Dodds, too, I hope.

 

Kryger is dead! No!-- Enero, I am going with your last exclamation, no. Molly may be an astronaut, but she is not Sam, an actual people doctor. Molly's just out of her 'If Only' phase with The Offspring, has been shot/shot at herself, and has lost track of that damn kid yet again. Her head is probably not in a good space, so I take Molly's reaction to poor Harmon was of the 'I don't know how to make any of this better' kind of reaction. (One of my biggest pet peeves on tv shows: non-people doctors insisting someone's dead.) Plus, it was the very end of the episode, so it may have been used to heighten the suspense, like when the episode where Kryger was zapped by Kern at the very end of that episode. They've made quite the frenemies since then. Which brings me to...

 

Now, there's a potential buddy show right there.  He's a former astronaut, who is off his rocker!  He's a former cop, with a drug problem!  Together, they chase after mysterious alien baby hybrids!  Tune into Kryger & Kern: Alien Hunters!; only on CBS!-- That's a procedural I can get behind! These two are actually kind of fun and now I want Matthew Perry to appear on the show as an actual Evil Chandler Bing, Gordon's bigger, naughtier brother!

 

Was anyone else a little creeped out by the Ethan "flip" thing with Odin?-- ::raises hands:: Me! Having babysitting and parenting under my belt, I was just screaming for Julie to make a freaking appearance! I know, I know- Because Plot, but I was unhappy with the way the excuse was written. If Julie's just flipping downstairs, it would be no trouble for the woman who designed Ethan to help with a mechanically needed interaction. Odin is not Charlie, another of the trusted circle, but someone who is still new to Julie and I HATE that the writers couldn't have a way for Odin to be sneaky while Julie was around. Odin is therefore not as awesomely sneaky as the writers want us to think because he can outgame a six-to-eight year old childbot with no real emotional cues to work with (outside of "John", Molly, and the Lab folks.)

 

otto (if I may call you that), ITA about poor Esther, the lady Alan Sparks knew.  That lady was just looking after her friend and guest, warning about coyotes that she herself had seen. That's what you get for looking out for corporate folks in the Extantverse, I guess.  Look at Kryger and Kern, for example.  (Kudos to the make-up and continuity folks for keeping the guys bruised.) Alan was left holding the rifle by the barrel, which was smoking!, but no reaction to the heat. Maybe alan has no pain receptors in his hands too? 

 

That flashback with Molly and John, just made me even more annoyed with John.-- Yup! Molly stated it was probably her last chance to go to space, but he's all bad feels about the possibility of her dying and what needs to happen in that case. As Molly told him, she wasn't too thrilled going over all that either. You know, "John", the woman actually putting her body on the line in order to go into space? The body those guys were speaking about?

  And of course, he made it all about him and their family, insisting something was one way when, apparently, it wasn't what he was picturing. "John" has a problem with ideals and actualities. Yes, Ethan was apparently feeling bonded to Molly, re: the hide and seek flashback, but Molly was just being a working mom, like any of the other working mom astronauts ISEA probably has. I can see why "John" went into robotics--they only react the way you program them.

 

Speaking of robots, another spin-off I'd like to see from this show? Ethan and Sparky- Adventures Ten Minutes Into The Future! Ethan and his rescued robot friend Sparky go around Whereverville and help kids learn about how to not be bullies, how to respect other people's property, how to deal with new people to your school or neighborhood, and more! With Charlie, the Lab Assistant showing up to dance and help Ethan and Sparky figure out how to handle a situation. ( For some reason, I really want Ethan and "John" to fix up that poor lil'  'bot from last week.)

 

Captain Burgen shooting  that poor 'bot and his fellow cop is an on-going example of the pregnant/insane scale we get after meeting The Offspring. Not sure where Kryger fits on that scale, as he's relatively sane, but has a very (understandable)anger toward the alien. Molly was pregnant, but is very easily influenced by The Offspring; would that put her closer to the Insane side, now that she's not Pregnant?

 

Also, while I get what Alan and Anya Sparks are feeling (I kept expecting Francis Fisher and Kurtwood Smith to pop up and nod at them), why is the only person to be shown rejecting the illusion Kryger? I am now curious as to what started the killing on the Aruna. The yelling in Katie's final transmission seemed primarily male, if not all male. Were they divided- half wanting to protect Katie and half wanting to kill? If so, who'd been the correct side?  The whole parental tie thing seems logical, but only if the relationship was a good one (wanting to keep/prolong/revive a good relationship.)  So many more questions on that front!

 

I must thank CBS for the male eye candy uppage this week: Enver Gjokaj and Yeowan Owain! Not that the regular and recurring males were yucky in the least.

 

I am getting a sort of Lost vibe, with the mysteries, but there have been some answers. Here's to hoping we get more answers next week!

 

PS: That was one stinkin' cute baby they found! Sweet lil' guy!

Edited August 28, 2014 by Actionmage

[HalcyonDays]

I agree.  I look at it as the alien is able to tap into a memory inside your brain, a memory of when you were the most happy, or a memory of what you wanted more than anything and then you're able to see it right in front of you.  When Molly looked through the window in the cabin, there was no one sitting with Sparks and his wife.  I also see Sparks and his wife and people who have taken a VERY powerful hallucinogenic drug and are on a VERY good trip, who would want that to end?  

 

That is a great theory, Neurochick. It's the only way I can logically justify the actions and motivations of Sparks and his wife (and Kryger and Molly on the spacestation). They are all on alien-LSD.

[mjc570]

I  thought the show had an interesting premise, and I was excited about watching it, despite my apprehensions about Halle B.  I know they needed a "big name" to get people to tune in, but I thought they could work around it.  I guess not,

 

Every week I like this show less and less.  Molly is completely unbelievable as an astronaut (aren't they supposed to be competent and smart?) and John, even without the fugly cardigans, is stupid and unlikeable.  The boy playing Ethan isn't bad, but he doesn't have enough personality for me to root for him, Julie is a sex-crazed idiot who set females in the workplace back for decades by her failure to rein in her hormones.  The plot holes are GAPING, even for someone like me, who has a real low thresholds.

 

I'm sick of "my baby" "my baby"  We tried using that as a drinking game, but we were blotto way too soon.

 

I guess a double episode was just a toxic dose.  I'll watch until the end, though, because I'm pretty OCD.

Edited August 29, 2014 by mjc570

[bagatelle]

I thought having Sparks' deceased daughter come back as a child was lazy writing.

 

If she retuned as a grownup, they would have to write the characters having a conversation.  Mr and Mrs Sparks wouldn't be able to just watch their daughter sit on the dirt and play with sticks. They probably would have to go home and what would they do there… or go to the daughter's apartment and then what.

 

Seems that was too tricky for the writer's imagination.  It's much easier to write the daughter as a little girl and not have to deal with the problems that arise when hallucinating a grown, educated  woman who completed Astronaut School.

[Blue Plastic]

Captain Burgen shooting  that poor 'bot and his fellow cop is an on-going example of the pregnant/insane scale we get after meeting The Offspring. Not sure where Kryger fits on that scale, as he's relatively sane, but has a very (understandable)anger toward the alien. Molly was pregnant, but is very easily influenced by The Offspring; would that put her closer to the Insane side, now that she's not Pregnant?

 

Also, while I get what Alan and Anya Sparks are feeling (I kept expecting Francis Fisher and Kurtwood Smith to pop up and nod at them), why is the only person to be shown rejecting the illusion Kryger?

 

PS: That was one stinkin' cute baby they found! Sweet lil' guy!

I forgot about the sheriff shooting the bot.  That was insane.  The female deputy barely batted an eye, seeming to think nothing of the extremely strange and potentially dangerous way her boss was acting.  Then sure enough, he shot her too.  WTH?  They couldn't be bothered to have her be alarmed and try to run away from him?  Because I think I would be alarmed.  Unless they are saying the sheriff acted like that all the time even before his unfortunate encounter with the nebulous "baby" that Sparks is somehow keeping alive even though we are not even shown how that is working.

 

Interesting point about Kryger.  Maybe he had come to accept that his mother was really dead and the illusion couldn't be her, whereas Molly obviously has major unresolved issues about losing Marcus and their baby and Sparks and ex-wife haven't really dealt with their loss, either.  Plus Sparks is out and out crazy/evil.

 

This show is pretty good at casting kids.  The Ethan actor is pretty good IMO, the non-Offspring baby was cute, and the actress playing the little Katie girl hallucination is pretty good also.  Both "Ethan" and "little Katie" are pretty good at looking/acting creepy.

[ottoDbusdriver]

If she retuned as a grownup, they would have to write the characters having a conversation.  Mr and Mrs Sparks wouldn't be able to just watch their daughter sit on the dirt and play with sticks. They probably would have to go home and what would they do there… or go to the daughter's apartment and then what.

 

At one point, Sparks did see the grownup image of Katie.  At the end of the last episode, with E.T. on the run with Sparks in the depths of the Greypool building, Sparks thought he saw Molly on the same platform as him and watched her get shot,  When Molly fell, Sparks went to assist her and when he turned her over, it was the adult version of Katie.

[Sandman]

Didn't Sparks have a grown-up daughter that died?

 

The vision of grown-up Katie seems (in the scene in the incubation chamber) to be less effective at getting Poor Deluded Evil Doctor Agent Ron Butterfield to do what the alien wants, and so she's been discarded in favour of the younger version, I'd say.

 

If Ethan is designed to be like a real boy, why were there no pain receptors in his hands when Odin was teaching him the 'how to play with fire' trick ?  If the original intent of John for Ethan to experience what any other child would experience, that seems like a pretty serious design flaw.

 

I agree; there has been no indication up till now that Ethan is physically more powerful than a human boy of his age and size. Mind you, I would have said that he wasn't any sort of computational whiz before we saw him break the code on the Seraphim's logs. I think the writers just pull out Ethan's "... because, robot!" powers as the plot requires.

 

Was anyone else a little creeped out by the Ethan "flip" thing with Odin?  To me changing a robot child's battery would be akin to helping them in the bathroom (like wiping or pulling up their pants) and not something Odin (who's just Julie's hump at this point--not even a long established boyfriend) should be doing.  Guess that was the point, though, that Ethan is too trusting, a flaw of not being human?

Now, there's a potential buddy show right there.  He's a former astronaut, who is off his rocker!  He's a former cop, with a drug problem!  Together, they chase after mysterious alien baby hybrids!  Tune into Kryger & Kern: Alien Hunters!; only on CBS!-- That's a procedural I can get behind! These two are actually kind of fun and now I want Matthew Perry to appear on the show as an actual Evil Chandler Bing, Gordon's bigger, naughtier brother

...

Speaking of robots, another spin-off I'd like to see from this show? Ethan and Sparky- Adventures Ten Minutes Into The Future! Ethan and his rescued robot friend Sparky go around Whereverville and help kids learn about how to not be bullies, how to respect other people's property, how to deal with new people to your school or neighborhood, and more! With Charlie, the Lab Assistant showing up to dance and help Ethan and Sparky figure out how to handle a situation. ( For some reason, I really want Ethan and "John" to fix up that poor lil'  'bot from last week.)

 

Or perhaps a flaw of being human? Odin's interactions with Ethan read like Chapter One of the Stranger Danger Manual. (I think naming the character "Odin" is somewhat clever, or perhaps accidentally brilliant, since the rune associated with one aspect of Odin in Old Norse is used as a symbol by some white supremacist groups. I can see Odin O-Ring as a particularly stunted "humanity first" kind of Luddite. The fact that he doesn't see how technology has actually improved the quality of his own life seems fairly true-to-lowlife to me.

 

I would watch the hell out of Ethan and Sparky: Adventures Ten Minutes Into the Beige Future, as well as Kryger & Kern, especially if Actual Evil Chandler Bing with his even more untrustworthy hair had a guest starring role! Damn.

 

Also, good call by the poster upthread who noted the similarity between Charlie and Lincoln Lee -- not something I picked up on at first, but it's right there.

 

And quite frankly, I'm not convinced that "John Woods" doesn't have the IQ of a rutabaga. The show keeps telling us the man's a genius, but showing us how he actually behaves. Oops.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Sandman

[slothgirl]

I forgot about the sheriff shooting the bot.  That was insane.  The female deputy barely batted an eye, seeming to think nothing of the extremely strange and potentially dangerous way her boss was acting. 

 

This show is pretty good at casting kids.  The Ethan actor is pretty good IMO, the non-Offspring baby was cute, and the actress playing the little Katie girl hallucination is pretty good also.  Both "Ethan" and "little Katie" are pretty good at looking/acting creepy.

 

I don't think having him shoot the bot would necessarily be all that alarming, especially if he had a history of getting annoyed by electronics or technology. She had more of a "damn, now I have to fix this things again.. I wish he'd stop doing that" vibe. Like someone who tosses a CRT out a window because they can't work the computer properly. How many times have we seen that moment in a show?

 

Ethan is great. The very first episode before we knew he wasn't human, I thought "Damn, there's something creepy about that kid!". I like the way he's actually getting less overtly creepy as time goes on.

Edited August 29, 2014 by slothgirl

[slothgirl]

Now, there's a potential buddy show right there.  He's a former astronaut, who is off his rocker!  He's a former cop, with a drug problem!  Together, they chase after mysterious alien baby hybrids!  Tune into Kryger & Kern: Alien Hunters!; only on CBS!--

Speaking of robots, another spin-off I'd like to see from this show? Ethan and Sparky- Adventures Ten Minutes Into The Future! Ethan and his rescued robot friend Sparky go around Whereverville and help kids learn about how to not be bullies, how to respect other people's property, how to deal with new people to your school or neighborhood, and more! With Charlie, the Lab Assistant showing up to dance and help Ethan and Sparky figure out how to handle a situation.

 

Both of these ideas would make far better shows that what this one is deteriorating into!

[shapeshifter]

Everyone has already posted what I would (albeit more eloquently and/or concisely) except:

Molly's baby's face looked almost identical to E-than's. I wondered if it was a CGI baby based on the Ethan actor or the actor's baby sibling.

Every time Molly says "My baby!" I imagine Julia Louis Dreyfus saying, "The dingo ate my baby!" which turned out to be true (http://www.google.com/search?q=julia%20louis%20dreyfus%20the%20dingo%20ate%20my%20baby).

Edited August 29, 2014 by shapeshifter

[Sandman]

 From Molly's perspective, she's seen the "offspring" protecting her (e.g., with bird-o-grams)

 

Oh, my god, the offspring is a Landshark!

 

::knocking::

"Who is it?"

"Bird-o-Gram!"

"I'm not expecting any --- aaaAUUGGHH!"

[QTBlueMoon]

What I don't get is - why, when Molly is under the hallucination of her dead baby and/or Marcus, why is she all drugged-out (I mean that fed-on guy had to lead her around like a puppet), while Sparks and Mrs Sparks are seen as being somewhat coherent and moving about like normal people (other than the fact that the child really isn't there)?

[Blue Plastic]

I don't think having him shoot the bot would necessarily be all that alarming, especially if he had a history of getting annoyed by electronics or technology. She had more of a "damn, now I have to fix this things again.. I wish he'd stop doing that" vibe. Like someone who tosses a CRT out a window because they can't work the computer properly. How many times have we seen that moment in a show?

How many times has a normal person actually thrown a computer out the window or shot office equipment, though?  You sometimes hear of it, especially a scorned lover destroying expensive items belonging to their ex, but I don't think most people would really go around destroying expensive office equipment.  Maybe they might throw a stapler or something.  You just probably wouldn't have your job very long if the office was always having to replace the office robot or computer.

 

I know it's just a silly fantasy/futuristic show and not meant to be realistic, but the characters have to seem at least somewhat realistic to me or it won't work for me at all.  I just find it hard to buy that the sheriff, before his unfortunate encounter with the offspring, was always shooting stuff around the office so the deputy didn't think much of it.

[TomGirl]

Mr. Tom and I have tried to like this show, we really have, but at the end when the announcer said, "Only two episodes left!" we looked at each other and said, "YAY!"

[HalcyonDays]

What I don't get is - why, when Molly is under the hallucination of her dead baby and/or Marcus, why is she all drugged-out (I mean that fed-on guy had to lead her around like a puppet), while Sparks and Mrs Sparks are seen as being somewhat coherent and moving about like normal people (other than the fact that the child really isn't there)?

I think it's because the "Offspring" can and does manipulate the person in different ways. He wants Sparks and wife to see their child and react and behave emotionally yet normally, in order to do what the offspring needs and also not rouse suspiscion. We've seen (kinda) how the doctors and whoever was in the lab became murderous and violent, Molly, Kryger and adult Katie (I think) got kind of stoned and Sparks and wife relatively normal but emotionally messed up.

 

It could also be that the offspring unintentially affects people in different ways. Like some people who are drunk are obxonious and violent while others are mellow and giggle a lot. I still think it's manipulating to get what it wants. Just a theory.

[carryanation]

That was about the worst "Dawson Baby" I’ve ever seen. I know they couldn’t use a real preemie, but at least get one that’s not already attending preschool.

 

The alien seems omnipotent now. Why does it even need to manipulate Sparks and his ex-wife when it could just mind-rape them like the cop?

[Latverian Diplomat]

The alien seems omnipotent now. Why does it even need to manipulate Sparks and his ex-wife when it could just mind-rape them like the cop?

Usually, in a story with mind control, the "drones" are not as capable as a person who is helping by their own choice. These drones seem pretty capable and autonomous though. Another thing that's odd about them, is they don't seem to have a connection to the "offspring". Sparks has to give the mechanic orders, for example.

What I don't get is - why, when Molly is under the hallucination of her dead baby and/or Marcus, why is she all drugged-out (I mean that fed-on guy had to lead her around like a puppet), while Sparks and Mrs Sparks are seen as being somewhat coherent and moving about like normal people (other than the fact that the child really isn't there)?

That's a good point. The difference is that Molly is seeing an entire situation from her past (rewritten), not just a person. So she literally can't see where she's going because she's "seeing" something else entirely. I presume it's because she's a hard sell, where as the Sparkses seem almost eager to be manipulated.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Latverian Diplomat