S01.E12: Before The Blood

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

When Molly finally comes face-to-face with her offspring, she realizes she may be the only one who can stop the coming danger. Meanwhile, Julie uncovers grave secrets about Odin.

[shapeshifter]

...Meanwhile, Julie uncovers grave secrets about Odin.

Does this mean Julie find bodies of Odin's targets?

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

[Sandman]

Is it just me, or is "It's okay" becoming the creepiest catchphrase ever?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Another 1 minute and 50 seconds of previouslies -- is there so little story here that they need to do a full review of the season each episode ?

 

Odin is STILL hanging around Ethan -- strange man hanging around a child a little too much, still kinda creepy.

 

By the looks of it, the Seraphim station was orbiting the moon, but is now headed back to Earth (it was orbiting .... something big according to the coms display).

 

Molly is so stupid -- "did I really hold my baby ?"  It was a hallucination.

 

So, is evil Chandler Bing really dead ?

 

What is with the evil fungus growing on the outside of the Seraphim station ?  Is it space weed ?  Is the fungus the natural state of the aliens ?  So would that make the offspring running around Earth 'a fungus among us' ?

 

Did Sean and Katie bang instead evacuating from the station per protocols ?

 

What was the point of Ethan telling the house-bot to lock the door if he then proceeds to smash the huge window right next to the door ?  And instead of walking through the floor-to-ceiling broken window, she tells the house-bot to open the door.  That made no sense at all. The kid playing the offspring -- needs more acting lessons.

 

How convenient of Odin to leave his pics/vids on that large screen in his apartment (completely unsecured, of course).

 

Where's Ethan ?  Did anyone check the GPS tracking on Ethan ?  That's ok, Julie was driving around neighborhoods and found Ethan riding his bike, going who knows where ?

 

Molly's "he needs his mother" is quickly turning into Extant's version of "Walt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

The offspring mentioned "The ones without blood", "the ones without bodies".  Aliens ?? Ghosts ?? Alien Ghosts ?? Alien Ghosts with bees in their mouths (never miss a chance for a Simpsons reference) ??

 

Yeah, yeah, no big surprise there, Katie is really dead and an alien has been impersonating her (after clawing its way out of her womb) -- so did Sean bang an E.T. ?  Or a hallucination ? Or a fungus ?   Seriously, Katie  was acting sketchy for the entire episode, what with the shifty eyes and odd handling of tools as possible weapons.

 

ETA: If the Seraphim station was that close to Earth, why didn't they just look for it with optical telescopes or LIDAR vs. just stating that since it was radio dark, they couldn't locate it?  That seems really lazy.

Edited September 11, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[Actionmage]

Molly ... realizes she may be the only one who can stop the coming danger.

No, CBS; The Offspring told her. To her face. Sort of. There was no lightbulb moment for Molly. So, bad logline writer!

 

Finally! Julie gets a clue about her bedbud and gets rightly scared for Ethan! At least she had the grace to be only a teeny bit defensive about letting Odin watch over the life's work of the lab folk, not to mention Charlie and John. I like the vertical picture frame/tv/ terrorist manifesto-sending gadget. (Minus the terrorist manifesto-sending bit, of course.)  Now that we had Charlie bringing Ethan's problem to light, he's where? Especially if he was able to actually get info on Odin, despite the fake name. (I have a feeling that Julie was so Work First and infatuated with John, that the possibility that someone would honey try and honey trap her for whatever nefarious scheme just wouldn't occur to her. Who goes around that paranoid, with the exception of spies?)

 

I liked how decisive Ethan was about where the problem in his house was! It was actually creepy when it was revealed about John and "Molly". I cannot fault Julie for her actions or wtf? face. I am scared for Ethan choosing to run away on his bike. I am, on the other hand, relieved that he did not decide to try Odin.

 

I kept waiting for a slap fight, dammit! maybe we'll get one next week? ::crosses fingers::

 

Michael O'Neill needs an Emmy. He makes Sparks' emotional reactions palpable and understandable. He has gotten to play such a range of characterization, to boot! The calm assurance looking at his dead, beloved ex-wife? The flash from almost smug surety to oh,shit! when shown video of Adult!Katie? The earlier Sparks who was as slick as an oil spill and twice as toxic? The way he easily would and did turn on co-workers with no regrets? He has me wondering what the hell Sparks is going to do next! On top of that, he sometimes gets to have very cool small moments, like the 'You're broken' speech he gave Molly tonight.

 

Oh, "Adult!Katie" ; you need to die in a fungus-infested whatever and burn up on re-entry. You don't do what you're doing to Enver Gjokaj. Ever.

 

I liked that John finally was honest and dropped a truthbomb on Molly, re: Marcus and that baby. Yes, he was characteristically assy about how he went about trying to talk about that situation, but he was straight with Molly and used small words.

 

There's more, but while I am not expecting answers for everything, I am hoping for  a small handful.

 

One more to go folks!

[HalcyonDays]

Cree Peee episode. Okay, the first half was a bit muted. We had more John/Molly drama, but John finally spoke some sense. He finally puts it out there - Molly, we are not first in your life. I actually felt bad for him. I mean, it must be hard knowing that the love of your life (I'm assuming) is still stuck on a deceased boyfriend. I understand it, on Molly's side, but it's still sad. It doesn't matter what John does, Marcus will always cast a cold shadow on their relationship.

 

Called it on Odin - knew he was going to blow up the lab. Giving Ethan the detonator - evil, evil Odin, or should I say Gavin. And of course old TV trope enployed. Why couldn't they have told and shown Ethan that he was "out" for over an hour. Then Ethan would have said, Odin changed my batteries, and no more drama.

 

The "offspring boy" - Creepy eyes, man. They did a good job with, except is the actor wearing a wig? Also, any chance it's Halle Berry's son?

 

The show vastly improved in the second half when Ethan sees John talking to  --> nobody. Didn't see that one coming!! Good job.

 

Knew something was shady about Katie last episode, and obvious we know it now - she's the "Offspring" of the original Katie. So does the mold contain energy and it in turn will infect the planet? Getting a mix of X-Files, Walking Dead (the eyes) Aliens and Star Trek now.

 

Michael O'Neill - what an excellent actor, You can totally see how delusional he is with regards to the situation. He truly truly believes that his daughter is back, and him being so nonchalant about his wife "She will come back." Broke my heart and so well done.

 

Good episode, but just a creepy second half.

[bagatelle]

The "offspring boy" - Creepy eyes, man. They did a good job with, except is the actor wearing a wig? Also, any chance it's Halle Berry's son?

 

You mean in real life?  She has a daughter about that age.

 

There's a lot to wrap up in the 40 minutes or so of show time, next week. Plus, there are two story-lines to conclude. I find myself caring more about Ethan than any of them and I didn't even like  him the first few episodes.

 

Tonight's show was about everybody hallucinating and I found it annoying.

[TomGirl]

Offspring actor can't be Halle's son. I don't think he's even a year old yet.

[izabella]

Michael O'Neill - what an excellent actor, You can totally see how delusional he is with regards to the situation. He truly truly believes that his daughter is back, and him being so nonchalant about his wife "She will come back." Broke my heart and so well done.

 

He's given the best performance on this show.  He comes across so genuine and decent every step of the way, even as he's trying to manipulate or kill you.  He is going to be so crushed when he realizes Katie isn't really back.  I'm predicting he kills himself at that point.

[random chance]

I find myself caring more about Ethan than any of them and I didn't even like  him the first few episodes.

I know, he creeped me out initially and now I'm more invested in him than I am in the humans. Who'd a thunk? Maybe it's because nobody's slobbering all over him with their "you need your mommy" routine.

[JBody]

Wow, that was gooood. Compared to UTD, this show is a cinematic masterpiece. I missed last week's but I'm cool with that because I hated watching Odin grooming Ethan.

So, SpaceKatie: we already knew she was preggers and therefore this avatar was not RealKatie but how is it her corpse was hanging up in the space closet? Did I miss something last week? Her scenes with Enver were tense as hell. Enjoyed a bit of the humour between them.

Beyond happy when Julie grabbed a clue (thank you Charlie!). The look of horror on her face when the other shoe dropped. FINALLY. Didn't bother me his stuff was unsecured. He has more than a few screws loose. Just isn't paranoid enough.

The Molly & John convo reveal was terrific. True horror there, and then.... The Offspring. HOLY SHIT. Gave me goosebumps, totally creepy, I was genuinely scared (ok, I'm not at all impartial, scifi-horror is my favourite genre). Holly Berry sold those scenes to me with her child, I had tears in my eyes (I'm a mum too so I think that increases the empathy).

On the edge of my seat the whole time with Ethan and his special army "phone". I feel so bad for the little guy. When he asked Molly if they were arguing about him, DH said "give him a hug!". Julie & Charlie are his real parents, if anyone.

[JBody]

Oh! Shout out to Sparks as well. That is one amazing actor. And we got to see Sam again. More Sam. I wonder if she will "euthanize" Sparks.

[shrewd.buddha]

I'm not getting any sense of urgency or impending climax -- do they really intend on wrapping this up next week? 

 

In the first episode there was some discussion of the possibility of extinction by Ethan, but that hasn't really built towards anything major (as far as I can tell from the parts I manage to stay awake during..). 

[Sofie Fatale]

 

What was the point of Ethan telling the house-bot to lock the door if he then proceeds to smash the huge window right next to the door ?  And instead of walking through the floor-to-ceiling broken window, she tells the house-bot to open the door.  That made no sense at all. The kid playing the offspring -- needs more acting lessons.

 

How convenient of Odin to leave his pics/vids on that large screen in his apartment (completely unsecured, of course).

 

That whole sequence was a hallucination so she couldn't go through a glass window that wasn't really broken. I don't know but that's what I got...

I think at that point Odin knew they'd pick up on the 90min time lapse/battery drain and do a deep scan, thereby getting Ethan to panic and press the button on that old Motorola krazr he gave him. Then kaboom! He didn't care about being found out.

Still, he was pretty overconfident about things playing out that exact way.

[JBody]

It does seem unlikely with all the story threads going that this will be wrapped up satisfactorily. I'm sorry it isn't getting the love and probably won't get a second season like Under the Dumb but I predict it will become a cult classic (a dubious reward) and we'll hear people whinging on about how it's a shame there was only 1 season blahblahblah...

[Sandman]

So the "Katie" that was getting busy with Astronaut Victor (fine... "Sean") was really the offspring of Dead!Katie and the Killer Space Fungus? I didn't notice that Katie's corpse had the telltale "I had a alien burst out of me" trauma, but then I couldn't make myself look very closely.

 

Do you all realize what this means?! The French have a reputation for rudeness on a galactic scale ... well, at least the writers think they do.

 

Was E-than's smashing the window part of Molly's delusion? I thought we might see E-than defending his mom as part of the E-than vs. "My BABY!" slapfight this episode, too. Dammit. Killer sibling rivalry would have been some awesome cheese.

 

And how the interdimensional hell did the aliens infect "John Woods" anyway? Once again, "John Woods" is written in a frustrating way: When he puts his work first, Molly needs to understand how important his work is, and why can't she treat E-than like a Real Boy ? When she tries to make choices than don't involve him, she's too hung up on her past, and needs to put him first. For a beige-y-first century scientist, his ideas are fairly nineteenth century. 

 

Poor Austronaut Victor.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Sandman

[Actionmage]

Do you all realize what this means?! The French have a reputation for rudeness on a galactic scale ...

Yes, but we get Jimmy Jean-Louis on our tvs, so it's okay. For now.

 

I didn't notice that Katie's corpse had the telltale "I had a alien burst out of me" trauma

I was trying not to look and saw. It was not as gross as it could've been, but it was enough to let those of strong constitution, we were posilutely not dealing with a 24 month miracle survivor. The fact that there was 6 containers full of oxygen should have been the last red flag for Poor Victor Sean. I was sad for him the second Space!Katie mentioned that they had slept together. (Which made me wonder if Katie was so super-kewl that even the French branch of ISEA knew about her and wanted her back. Which I could understand- not wanting a collegue to have died alone and probably very afraid.)

 

Was E-than's smashing the window part of Molly's delusion?

I don't think the rock-throwing was part of the delusion. Ethan saw his dad reacting to something unseen by regular sight. (If Ethan can see other frequencies or spectrums? Poor Ethan!) Then he saw his mom staring at either a similar nothing/an alien-looking kid. Adding that up, he saw a danger to his family and reacted. After a startled Molly yelled at Ethan for scaring the Nothing/Hybrid and ran after him, Ethan grabbed his bike and took the hell off. Now, I am uncertain how hurt Hybrid is, being as he was able to thoroughly mind-screw at will. The "injury" could have been to see how Molly actually feels towards Hybrid.

 

By the way, how freaking terrifying are these aliens?! They don't have to have a host, but they seem fickle and assy. They bully younger/weaker ones of their race. They do not consider their host bodies/helpers worth caring for, as they don't really need them in the first place. They can mind-frak you like breathing. They can apparently have translation skillz because they can get you to input codes they aren't familiar with in the correct manner.

 

And how the interdimensional hell did the aliens infect "John Woods" anyway?

As was said by Hybrid, there are aliens without bodies already here on the planet, there are just more coming. How that payload is being delivered, I am not certain. I am guessing the Seraphim Station. I was busy looking at Poor VictorSean and not figuring out the space fungus angle. (I didn't watch Dollhouse, so I missed the lovely Victor.)

 

 

I forgot to mention my fears for Gordo! We cannot have Molly lose the best frenemy she ever had! We need the hope for a Matthew Perry/ Maury Sterling brother team-up! With JoBeth Williams out Evilling them all! Gordon lives, dammit!

 

I think at that point Odin knew they'd pick up on the 90min time lapse/battery drain...

Yeah, someone, preferably Julie, gets to smack "Odin" hard while explaining that not only is Ethan not just some robot, but that she, Charlie and John, aren't the ones making an eight-year-old afraid of his family and lying to him.  (I do wonder, with the ' Are you talking about me?' reaction: did they ever tell Ethan that Molly had a hybrid fetus, which was then stolen? If not, that's a mistake as well. It's directly why poor Ethan was zapped after his fight with Grandpa.)

[crabbypants]

That whole sequence was a hallucination so she couldn't go through a glass window that wasn't really broken. I don't know but that's what I got...

Didn't Julie walk through it to get to John?  Which makes no sense because we know Ethan didn't see John's hallucination.  Did he see Molly's or did he just get so frightened by seeing his mom in the same state as his dad that he decided to break the glass and GTFO.

 

I loved the scene where Julie unknowingly talked Ethan out of detonating himself.  I think he's going to figure out he's been implanted with a bomb and will sacrifice himself to save the humans.

[HalcyonDays]

Do you all realize what this means?! The French have a reputation for rudeness on a galactic scale ...

 

Whoever wrote the episode must hate the French, because they slammed that nation a lot in this and the previous episode. Also, what kind of detection equipment did they have - that French station, the ISEA didn't even know it was there in space? Hell, we know exactly where the tiny space debris particles that orbit the Earth are now!

 

I didn't notice that Katie's corpse had the telltale "I had a alien burst out of me" trauma

I was trying not to look and saw. It was not as gross as it could've been, but it was enough to let those of strong constitution, we were posilutely not dealing with a 24 month miracle survivor. The fact that there was 6 containers full of oxygen should have been the last red flag for Poor Victor Sean.

 

It was small but there. A reddish slightly gaping slash on her lower belly. Really not that disgusting actually and quite small. Did NOT catch the 6 canisters of full oxygen - good one, Actionimage.

 

I was confused as to why Ethan locked the door then threw the thing at the window, but it may have been to break Molly out of her trance and scare the alien away at the same time, before the alien could get in the house (door locking first). I'll give him a break, technically he's a kid, might have made sense his actions.

 

By the way, how freaking terrifying are these aliens?

 

Very - For some reason, I am under the impression that they are here to get all of the human blood. Like Alien Vampires. They are here to feed on human blood, but at the same time, will use suitable females to breed and continue their population, I think. Now it's starting to be like the show V plus some vampire action- instead of the aliens snacking on human flesh, they'll be drinking our blood.

[thuganomics85]

For some reason, my local CBS had some kind of sport thing last night, so I only got around to watching this episode today.  Seems like basically Molly's "child" is here to help the others of his species, get to Earth, and prepare for a good old invasion?  And it's going to involve Katie's "child", and her taking over the space station from Sean?  Sounds like they all need bodies in order to survive, so this is clearly not a good thing for the human race.  Especially since the aliens got the whole "loved one hallucinations" trick up their sleeves.

 

So, as predicted, Odin's plan is/was to implant a bomb in Ethan, and have him set it off in the lab, so he can take everyone out.  He just didn't take into account, that Julie would talk him down, get suspicious, and do some research.  I'm glad she's finally in the know, and I hope she gets some kind of retribution over him.  Of course, the bomb is still in Ethan, so hopefully that won't be in there for too long.

 

Really liked John and Molly finally letting it out.  Even if it was selfish in some ways, it was good for John to finally tell Molly that he is upset because he felt like he was losing her to Marcus and the kid.  I suspect that has been bottled in him for ages, and that was why he was acting like such a jerk.  Even if it doesn't put him in the best light, it's better for him to just admit how he feels, because the way he has been was even worse.  Assuming both survived, I do wonder what the state of their relationship will be after all this.

 

Agree that this was a good episode for Michael O'Neill.

 

Sam briefly returned!

 

Astronaut Jimmy Jean-Louis was the real deal, and just being helpful?  I thought for sure something would happen with him.

 

No mention of Yasumoto.  Or, Kern.  I still don't think he was the body from last week's episode, because I would like to think they would have mentioned him by name, but I hope we see him again in the finale.

[Rhetorica]

Great episode! Looking forward to next week, but not the end of the season.

[FineWashables]

I really don't understand the lousy ratings for this show, because while it's not the best thing I've ever seen on TV, it's still better than most of the crap I watch.  

 

I assume Alien Katy is now pregnant by Sean.  Also assuming Moustache Daddy sent Katy into space for just that purpose, and I'd love to know why.  Did he figure they were benign and if so, why the hell would he?

 

I wonder if the French guy is a real guy or another alien inhabiting a corpse?  When he talked about returning Katy to the ship, he certainly never mentioned that she was two years dead.

 

So I'm guessing Alien Kid and Ethan are going to meld so the aliens can inhabit technobodies instead of killing humans?  Or so a new superspecies can be created that's part human, part alien, half robot?

 

Good acting job from Goran Visnijic last night.

Edited September 11, 2014 by FineWashables

[carryanation]

Aw. Now I kind of like little murderous alien space mutant ghost hybrid thing... And I loved both reveals with Invisible!Molly and Dead!Katie. Both were creepy and surprising.

 

What did Charlie find out about Odin earlier? Because if it was that he was a luddite terrorist, the correct reaction would have been to say to Julie "Your boyfriend’s a luddite terrorist," instead of whatever it is he said to her.

 

 

 

[Enero]

It started off slow, but the episode ended very strong.  Like others, I thought alien boy was creepy as all get out. Her child or not, I can't believe Molly walked towards him in loving awe, then ran into the dark woods after him. SMDH.

 

How dumb was Sean hugging, kissing and sexing up Katie who’d been lost in space on a pod ship for 23 months. Shouldn’t she have been in quarantine until they got her back to Earth? Especially with her saying her crew was infected with some kind illness before she escaped.

 

Didn't see John's hallucination coming, and then Molly's hallucination within a hallucination. That's some scary sh*t. If a "baby" alien can do this, what will the grown ups without bodies will do?

 

 

 

Very - For some reason, I am under the impression that they are here to get all of the human blood. Like Alien Vampires. They are here to feed on human blood, but at the same time, will use suitable females to breed and continue their population, I think. Now it's starting to be like the show V plus some vampire action- instead of the aliens snacking on human flesh, they'll be drinking our blood.

 

I don't even think they need human blood. Remember when Sparks provided the man for the alien baby to "feed," when it was done feeding it didn't look like the man was bled dry. So my thought was the alien feeds on human's energy, which is also how it's able to create such elaborate hallucinations.

 

 

Didn't Julie walk through it to get to John?  Which makes no sense because we know Ethan didn't see John's hallucination.  Did he see Molly's or did he just get so frightened by seeing his mom in the same state as his dad that he decided to break the glass and GTFO.

 

Though the window was broken, she walked through the open door on the patio.

 

It looked like Ethan had a reaction when looking out the glass door. So I think he did see alien boy. Though it made little sense for him to break the window after telling the house to lock the door, I'm thinking he got scared and threw the ball to try and scare alien boy off, which worked (I too think alien boy ran off because he couldn't pull one over on Ethan and quickly realized he couldn't manipulate him like he'd done others). My other reason for believing  alien boy was real is because of the way he projected himself. If he didn't have a body why project himself to Molly in such an alien way, yellow glowing eyes with the alien symbols glowing on his skin. I think he would've presented himself as totally human if he was going to project himself as a hallucination.

 

I'm looking forward to next week's episode. There's no way all the stories are going to be wrapped up. So we'll likely be left hanging if CBS decides not to renew.

 

[Sandman]

The fact that I misread HalcyonDays' description upthread of O-Ring Odin as Julie's "bedbug" encapsulates my feelings on the character neatly. 

[FineWashables]

 

I'm looking forward to next week's episode. There's no way all the stories are going to be wrapped up. So we'll likely be left hanging if CBS decides not to renew.

I'm disappointed about that too.  Predictions are that this show won't be back, and if that's the case, I doubt CBS will invest in a 2-hour movie to close out the story lines.

[Blue Plastic]

I think Alien Boy does have a body.  They showed his silhouette at the end of the last episode and there didn't seem to be anyone around (Anya was dead) for him to be "projecting" an image for.  Alien Boy at Molly's door was made up a lot like Michael Jackson at the end of "Thriller" when he turns around and has yellow eyes!  I kept expecting him to start singing and dancing, LOL!

 

Ethan's actions didn't make a lot of sense, locking the door then breaking it, but I appreciated that he was trying to protect his parents and home.  I really liked that.  I was rooting for him.  As a lot of others have said, I didn't like him that much at the beginning of the series but now I'm on his side.  It would have been terrifying for him to see John in a hallucination-induced stupor and then Molly about to open the door to Alien Boy.  Maybe Ethan will be the one to take the aliens down since he should be immune to their mind tricks.

 

So is Alien Boy really on Molly's side, so to speak, or is he trying to trick her into greater danger?  Because Katie's alien baby didn't love her.

 

Totally ready for Julie to take a pound of flesh out of "Odin" too.

[beedub]

So is Alien Boy really on Molly's side, so to speak, or is he trying to trick her into greater danger? 

 

Well, he did warn her that they were coming, and he certainly seems to be conflicted.

 

I think the plan is to have the Seraphim burn up on re-entry, getting close enough to Earth to allow "Katie" to bring home the invasion aboard the escape pod. Unless Miss Astronaut Halle Berry gets there first and Geordi Laforges its ass.

 

Is it just because she's in space, or is anyone else getting a Blonde Sandra Bullock vibe from Katie? It must be the sculpted nose.

 

Totally ready for Julie to take a pound of flesh out of "Odin" too.

 

Unscrew his bionic arm, and done!

[wayne67]

I'm guessing that Ethan is seeing the reality of Alien boy and Molly is seeing what the Alien is translating into her brain. So when Ethan locks the door he's stopping MOLLY from going to it. The alien moves closer trying to get in and Ethan fires off the nearest object hitting the actual alien with the pin point precision he showed during darts. Which would explain why the alien displayed yellow eyes and why it's hallucinations were less effective than usual because it's actual body is injured. Ethan weakened the potentially physically weak alien body with a physical attack and was immune to brainwave interference so the alien retreated from the unknown threat of Ethan.

 

At this point I'm assuming the pure aliens feed off brainwaves or the energy produced by sentient creatures and that's why they're dying out because they haven't learned decent agricultural practices when feeding off sentient lifeforms. Hybrids grow faster through psychic absorption and physical consumption.

 

This is the problem of high concept shows. They don't tend to be popular enough and whatever conclusion they were leading to never gets adequately addressed like DollHouse.

 

If it lasted I can imagine an army of robots reprogrammed by Ethan to fight the aliens with spectrum vision and a specially designed Lucy to run Human defense systems against them too... Or an army of humanics providing bait for invading aliens booby trapped... So many options. Season 2 could be the ongoing battle between the aliens and humans battling for survival. Which I would have found far more interesting than this non stop baby drama of the protagonist.

Edited September 13, 2014 by wayne67

[shapeshifter]

How convenient of Odin to leave his pics/vids on that large screen in his apartment (completely unsecured, of course).

In a more family friendly version of the story, Not!Odin's heart would grow 3 sizes when E-Than hugged him, and leaving the vid so accessible would be a sort of Freudian slip due to Odin's wanting to be discovered in time to save E-T.

Great episode! Looking forward to next week, but not the end of the season.

Yes, and this was the first episode of the show I could say this about.

So is Alien Boy really on Molly's side, so to speak, or is he trying to trick her into greater danger?  Because Katie's alien baby didn't love her.

Good point, but I suppose the difference is that Katie was willing to die in order to kill her own baby, whereas Molly seems willing to die to save the life of her "baby."

I'm guessing that Ethan is seeing the reality of Alien boy and Molly is seeing what the Alien is translating into her brain. So when Ethan locks the door he's stopping MOLLY from going to it. The alien moves closer trying to get in and Ethan fires off the nearest object hitting the actual alien with the pin point precision he showed during darts. Which would explain why the alien displayed yellow eyes and why it's hallucinations were less effective than usual because it's actual body is injured....

That makes sense. I'm not sure, though, if I missed it because I watched while so exhausted that I doubt an alien could mind warp me, of if it just wasn't clear enough as presented.

 

This is the problem of high concept shows. They don't tend to be popular enough and whatever conclusion they were leading to never gets adequately addressed like DollHouse.

 

If it lasted I can imagine an army of robots reprogrammed by Ethan to fight the aliens with spectrum vision and a specially designed Lucy to run Human defense systems against them too... Or an army of humanics providing bait for invading aliens booby trapped... So many options. Season 2 could be the ongoing battle between the aliens and humans battling for survival. Which I would have found far more interesting than this non stop baby drama of the protagonist.

I think it should have been a 13 episode limited show. These are doing very well now (Fargo, True Detective) and might have given scifi a place at the awards tables.

[random chance]

I thought Fargo and True Detective were both getting a second season? I would prefer high concept shows to be 13 and done, but the minute they're any kind of a success the networks grab onto them for dear life. And it's not any use hoping the show is good but not a ratings success, because then they're likely ditch it before it even finishes the limited run.

I was hoping this one would wrap up this summer, but I always knew it was a longshot.

[Blue Plastic]

It's really going to be too bad if we don't get a resolution to this series.  It won't be the end of the world or anything, but it's a bummer that there are basically only two options:  1) Show has some potential but doesn't get enough viewers, fails after one season and ends abruptly without even a 2-hour resolution episode (like what may happen with Extant) or 2) Show has some potential, gets enough viewers to make the TV executives greedy so the thin plot material is stretched into 2+ seasons and you end up with cr@p like Under the Dome.  Either way viewers get no satisfaction.  Ugh.

 

Back on topic...Did Katie know she was pregnant?  I wasn't clear on that.  I was also suspicious about Alien Boy because he mentioned Ethan and I got the feeling he didn't appreciate the existence of a being he couldn't manipulate.  It's just a little frustrating that IMO Molly is projecting feelings onto Alien Boy that he may not actually have.  She has no idea what he actually thinks or feels.  He exists on a whole different plane from regular humans.  Although he did stop giving her hallucinations when she told him she didn't like it, so maybe he can learn to respect the wishes of others.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Back on topic...Did Katie know she was pregnant?  I wasn't clear on that.

 

On the decoded video file, it showed that Katie was aware of the symbol on appearing on her lower torso, but it didn't make it clear that she was aware that meant she was pregnant.

 

Although he did stop giving her hallucinations when she told him she didn't like it, so maybe he can learn to respect the wishes of others.

 

Or did he ?  When John caught up with her, she was hugging empty air so it was probably another hallucination that the alien made look like reality..

 

Interesting, in that last encounter with the alien, did anyone else notice that aside from the yellow eyes, the symbol was on his face with the 3 big circles in the symbol going around his eyes and mouth ?  It was subtle, but it was there.

[Rhetorica]

I'm guessing that Ethan is seeing the reality of Alien boy and Molly is seeing what the Alien is translating into her brain. So when Ethan locks the door he's stopping MOLLY from going to it. The alien moves closer trying to get in and Ethan fires off the nearest object hitting the actual alien with the pin point precision he showed during darts. Which would explain why the alien displayed yellow eyes and why it's hallucinations were less effective than usual because it's actual body is injured. Ethan weakened the potentially physically weak alien body with a physical attack and was immune to brainwave interference so the alien retreated from the unknown threat of Ethan.

At this point I'm assuming the pure aliens feed off brainwaves or the energy produced by sentient creatures and that's why they're dying out because they haven't learned decent agricultural practices when feeding off sentient lifeforms. Hybrids grow faster through psychic absorption and physical consumption.

This is the problem of high concept shows. They don't tend to be popular enough and whatever conclusion they were leading to never gets adequately addressed like DollHouse.

If it lasted I can imagine an army of robots reprogrammed by Ethan to fight the aliens with spectrum vision and a specially designed Lucy to run Human defense systems against them too... Or an army of humanics providing bait for invading aliens booby trapped... So many options. Season 2 could be the ongoing battle between the aliens and humans battling for survival. Which I would have found far more interesting than this non stop baby drama of the protagonist.

This is a great explanation of the broken window. I usually like show that don't spoon feed the audience but this one has so many concepts some scenes become confusing. I do hope it's renewed. It's becoming interesting.

[Actionmage]

I think it should have been a 13 episode limited show.

It is; next week is the finale.  I think you may be meaning done-in-13-episodes, but I'm not sure that would have been best for the story they are telling. It needed a bit of world-building, which takes a couple of episodes. Somewhere around episode 3 or 4, folks here started to actually like it, as a series. Yes, less "My baby!" would have given us more character/world/plot time, which I'd have enjoyed, but, well, horses and barns.

 

Yes, the writing could've been sharper and clearer, imo. (That we still don't know about Gordon Kern or the French ISEA guys or the luddite terrorists( tm carryanation) shows that they don't trust the story or us or possibly their ability to play fair with us without "spoiling" a surprise.) There are a lot of interesting ideas, but they didn't really get rolling until after Molly and Ethan were kidnapped in Episode 4. For CBS to penalize this show while the complete and utter dreck of Under The Dome is allowed to go past it's Best By date would be a very big shame. It doesn't help that due to the wonderful cast and the tech and the "future" ( all that have a probably larger budget), that Extant may get trashed, but a show that doesn't even reach for mediocre is getting lavished with praise and time slot privileges and excuses ("It's summer!").

 

More on topic:

 

I missed what the Disappointingly Mundane Item/Tech was this episode. Was it the kind of sad screen Odin had near his bed? His being a luddite terrorist ( again, tm carryanation) would seem to have more DMI/T ( or Dammits *g*) than Our Heroes.

 

What did Charlie find out about Odin earlier?

That's what has me so angry! Charlie, after seeing "Odin" once, decided to supposedly look-up this guy to check him out because ( we are supposed to think) jealousy. He later that episode tells Julie that he (Charlie) did a search on "Odin", which Julie disbelieves happened. Nothing else has been brought up about this! Not from Self-Righteous!Charlie , not Julie immediately grabbing Charlie by his smug face and demanding to know what he'd found out before, not nothing not nowhere. Because Julie actually calling Charlie to tell her exactly what he found and Charlie sheepishly saying 'Nothing'? Could have led to a richer pay-off for this episode. A "What did you mean 'nothing'?! What couldn't you find?!" panic reaction and then both of them trying to figure out how to locate Ethan would have felt a bit more inclusive and strengthened Julie's already pretty strong Momma Bear positioning around Ethan. (Not that Molly can't/doesn't, but she's got an actual apocalypse on her plate, soooo... .)

[wayne67]

 

 

What did Charlie find out about Odin earlier?

That's what has me so angry! Charlie, after seeing "Odin" once, decided to supposedly look-up this guy to check him out because ( we are supposed to think) jealousy. He later that episode tells Julie that he (Charlie) did a search on "Odin", which Julie disbelieves happened. Nothing else has been brought up about this! Not from Self-Righteous!Charlie , not Julie immediately grabbing Charlie by his smug face and demanding to know what he'd found out before, not nothing not nowhere. Because Julie actually calling Charlie to tell her exactly what he found and Charlie sheepishly saying 'Nothing'? Could have led to a richer pay-off for this episode. A "What did you mean 'nothing'?! What couldn't you find?!" panic reaction and then both of them trying to figure out how to locate Ethan would have felt a bit more inclusive and strengthened Julie's already pretty strong Momma Bear positioning around Ethan. (Not that Molly can't/doesn't, but she's got an actual apocalypse on her plate, soooo... .)

 

Until we find out whatever Charlie found out my guess is Charlie couldn't find a record for Odin as that's his pseudonym and the only reason Julie found out his real name was because she had the serial number of his bionic part. Though Odin could have created a fake back story involving a relatively innocuous divorce or Charlie may have assumed he was lying about his name or military history when he struck out. 

 

I'm guessing it's like when what's his face asked Molly what the alien baby was doing with her and she didn't answer with "writing in codes" it turned out in the next episode that the alien blocked her memory. Julie may ask Charlie what he found next episode or they exchanged an off screen conversation that consisted of "What did you find?" "I couldn't find out anything about a guy named Odin because he doesn't exist, I tried to warn you but you didn't want to hear about it."

 

Charlie is a more interesting character due to his lack of screen time and Ethan because he's growing and changing on the screen...  Molly whines most of the time about her missing baby and John is frequently insufferable to everyone. 

 

I also assumed that John didn't confront the real Molly with her blatant interest in Marcus/dead baby/ alien baby but was being mind raped by alien baby to distract him so it could hijack its mother for whatever obscure purpose. The humans assume that the alien can only mimic the dead but the alien displayed the ability to mimic Molly's Dad to manipulate her. The alien baby just hijacks the targets brain and displays the most emotionally manipulative scenario it can find in order to get the result it requires. Typically they're dead people because unresolved issues and what not render them the most effective tools to get the job done. In John's case the only person he apparently cares about is Molly.

 

The part that troubles me is the camera image of Katie being greeted by the french guy. The pure aliens don't show up on camera unless using special visual imaging spectrum and they show up as spiraling energy somethings. As far as I can tell there is two options. Hybrids are powerful enough to trick cameras or Katie did put herself into sleep in the escape pod using advanced tech and was awakened by computer protocols when intercepted by the French and shortly after that video was made the alien hybrid ripped out of her stomach and pretended to be her. 

[BetyBee]

Molly's "baby" is better than the aliens he serves.  He sounds as if he doesn't want to do their bidding. Maybe he and his "brother" will get together and save the world? 

[SlackerInc]

I was not at all confident that we have really seen what the "offspring" looks like.  I thought there were many signs that his appearance still could have been a hallucination he projected into Molly's mind.  But Enero makes a good point: "I think he would've presented himself as totally human if he was going to project himself as a hallucination."

 

I hope thuganomics is right, and we were in fact mistaken in thinking Kern was who Sparks killed last episode.  I just wonder why we did not see him at all this week?  I liked him.

 

"Katie's alien baby didn't love her."

 

Ooh, good point, Blue Plastic.  I wonder if that would have been Molly's fate, had Yasumoto's people not surgically removed the "offspring"?

 

Wayne67, good point about the camera problem.  I like the theory that she actually was woken up, greeted the French, then had the baby rip itself out of her.

[Sofie Fatale]

 

Is it just because she's in space, or is anyone else getting a Blonde Sandra Bullock vibe from Katie?

Yes I totally thought this and mentioned it to Mr. Fatale a few times lol

[jhlipton]

Wayne67, good point about the camera problem.  I like the theory that she actually was woken up, greeted the French, then had the baby rip itself out of her.

Given her last message -- "Do NOT try to save me.", I think she was dead before the French got there, and the problem this presents is a writerly one.

[Sandman]

 I'm looking forward to next week's episode. There's no way all the stories are going to be wrapped up. So we'll likely be left hanging if CBS decides not to renew.

Well, there's always "And then Molly the Pretend Astronaut woke up." Unfortunately.

[Actionmage]

Given her last message -- "Do NOT try to save me.", I think she was dead before the French got there, and the problem this presents is a writerly one.

 

Katie is supposed to have survived 24 months since her last transmission. Her body was definitely busted/clawed out of, but other than that, the body wasn't too decayed. That may be from how dry the air is kept in shuttles/space stations. Or it speaks to how the aliens with no bodies can really manipulate the human brain.

 

Maybe the one in Katie was able to get her to, in essence, sleep. There would be no need to eat, her bodily functions would be minimal, yet enough to let the alien continue to live.

 

I sort of like wayne67's point about the camera because it's what has been shown all season long. Unless they were possessing a person, they didn't show up to other people (outside the ones they were directly manipulating.) That is why I was vacillating: we saw her in the video that the French guys made. But she acts just off enough that I can't trust her. Then the reveal of the full containers of oxygen had me scared for Poor Sean Victor.

 

Of course, someone could come by and pooh-pooh that the body shown last week was decayed far enough to have been like that for two years.

 

Well, there's always "And then Molly the Pretend Astronaut woke up." Unfortunately.

Yeah, but even that's better than "Molly walks out of her shower." *g*

[slothgirl]

Well, there's always "And then Molly the Pretend Astronaut woke up." Unfortunately.

Yeah, but even that's better than "Molly walks out of her shower." *g*

I'd much prefer that Goran walk out of the shower. It would be the highlight of the series at this point.

[Sandman]

"Hey, so we got this big ratings uptick at the end the of season? Does anyone know what that would --"

"Goran!" (or "Half-Nekkid Halle!" depending on, you know, the focus group results...)

Edited September 18, 2014 by Sandman

[jhlipton]

ActionMage, there's also the distinct possibility that we've thought more about this than the writers.  Because then, Katie would be like "do not try to rescue me... but just in case you do..."  The message to Dad doesn't match up with the French camera.  

 

I just don't know, and at this point it's pretty irrelevant.

[Tippi Blevins]

What was Katie's alien baby eating in order to grow to full, adult size? And why was it a clone of its mother, while Molly's offspring wasn't? I'm assuming that what we saw of Katie's alien baby was a true representation of its physical form (and not a hallucination) because we saw her in the tablet they showed to Sparks. She showed up on camera.

[Actionmage]

Excellent question! I hope that there is an excellent answer, or at least a not total rubbish answer next summer.