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S02.E10: Don't Shoot the Messenger

HalcyonDays

By HalcyonDays
in Extant [V]

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ottoDbusdriver

ottoDbusdriver

(edited)

Who rebuilt Lucy ?  Last episode she was still busted.  Wouldn't Charlie have kept her offline ?  Did the the other Humanichs kill Charlie in order to reactivate Lucy ?  Because I would be more than a little pissed if they killed Charlie off.

 

I'm confused about Molly -- last episode she went "into the light" and died, but then she reappeared back in the carnival (why exactly ?) as herself while dead, but somehow that triggered her to molt her skin and hair and come back from the dead.  Who writes this crap ?

 

Why were Toby's commands not sufficient to open the damn elevator doors, and a building wide emergency alarm couldn't open the doors, yet the heat sensor does the job ?  That makes even less sense.

 

How did Toby get captured by the Hybrids so quickly ?  Anyone else think it was weird that the hybrids made their escape through previously unmentioned secret escape tunnels off camera ?  Did the hybrids take any virii with them ?  Why did they leave Tara to blow up Toby and what was left in the virus containment chamber ?  I'm still not buying how Tara suddenly turned so evil, because she seems to have come back from the dark side of the force pretty easily.

 

Big surprise -- Lucy can kill humans.  No one saw that coming.  </sarcasm>  

 

Did the humanichs set off the bomb in the Intelligence wing ?  Because it appears that way, so now it's a false flag operation.

 

How could Ethan get flashes of Lucy murdering that scientist ?  Is Ethan sensitive to ghosts now ?

 

There's a whole lot of retconning using Calderone in that conversation between Molly and Toby.  Calderone and John built the TAALR computer -- really ?  But Calderone went on to become some sort of terrorist after his falling out with John, and has been wanted for 7 years

 

So are the Humanichs being controlled by SecHomelandSecurity or this Calderone guy ?  Because the way Lucy was acting she was reporting to SecHomelandSecurity.

 

You know what's even more boring than watching Molly in her carnival world ?  Molly trying to explain to J. D. what she saw in her carnival world.

 

So despite being "powered down", Ethan is still processing something in his off state, and wakes up to say he has a message from dad.  Hah !!  And that message from John, that was triggered by Lucy killing a human, says that this Calderone guy has the secret to shutting down the Humanichs.  And the secret is the pendant that Molly saw in her carnival dreamscape.

 

How did Aries find Tara in J. D.'s secret bunker ?  Because that seemed to come out of nowhere.

 

Even I wasn't buying that 'Calderone was trying to build a police state using Humanichs' story that Toby was trying to sell.  And for his efforts, Toby gets droned.  Did Toby make the stupid mistake of taking his own car from the parking lot at GSC in his escape ? You betcha !!  Because that is what got him located by a drone so quickly.  Can jet powered drones really fly at 40 or 50 miles an hour 10 feet off the ground ?  Because that drone CGI was pretty weak.

Edited by ottoDbusdriver
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Big Mother

Big Mother

(edited)

My brain is buzzing. This show is so fast. So much happens in such a short time.

 

The whole Calderone thing was slightly disappointing, because it feels like retconning. We're so invested in this riveting story and it turns out to all be something masterminded by an unseen force that none of us care too much about. 

 

It was hard to see Toby fall from grace. I have a funny feeling that Madam Secretary is also being masterminded by Calderon. It's too fishy. (side note: I had a weird hunch that I'd seen this actress before, and a little IMDB'ing told me she's Ellis Grey from Grey's Anatomy! No wonder...)

 

Why was Charlie missing from this episode? Also, his not applying the limiters in Lucy played right into Calderon's hands. What if he had put in the limiters? then what?

 

Is Ethan dead? is Toby dead?  

a quick check on IMDB lists both Ethan and Toby in the remaining 3 episodes of the season. Suspiciously missing are Charlie and Anna. there's also an Ares and Terra sighting in the finale.

Edited by Big Mother
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Enero

Enero

(edited)

Tonight's episode was much better than last. Though I too couldn't understand why Molly ended up back at the carnival after going into the light, wondered what happened to Charlie, who and how Lucy was rebuilt and why Toby kept going back to headquarters? I mean really? As soon as his boss said she wanted the names of those who knew about the tunnels he should've been making himself scarce. Not to mention the fact that there are computers everywhere and in everything in that building which meant there was a chance that his actions might've been recorded.

Other things that didn't make sense, so what's his face (can't recall his name) hybrid goes through all that trouble to break into the headquarters building to get revenge only to leave that revenge in the hands of a young girl? Oook. Then he finds her and tells her it's time to come home, what is his end game since he bailed on getting revenge on the very people who deserved it. You know the people who nearly annihilated his whole family.

I did like that John left Molly a message that was built into Ethan, but thank goodness Ethan was given his memories back because would the message still have activated if he didn't remember who Molly was or his relationship with John?

Still not buying this 'fate brought us together,' 'we're in this together' mantra between Molly and JD.

I'm probably the only one who is sorry to see Toby go. I actually liked him to a point, which had a lot to do with DM.

Most things don't make a lick of sense on this show, but I must say this season has been very entertaining and a descent summer show to watch.

Edited by Enero
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ottoDbusdriver

ottoDbusdriver

Charlie hasn't been seen in 2 episodes, and we have no idea what happened to him after Lucy clocked him. Not a word has been said about it. It's very strange. Also, his not applying the limiters in Lucy played right into Calderon's hands. What if he had put in the limiters? then what?

 

Is Ethan dead? is Toby dead?

 

Charlie was in the previous episode -- when Toby called to tell him it was a Code Red at the GSC, there were hybrids in the building and told him to fire up the Humanichs.  But there was certainly no follow up to show the re-assembly of Lucy.

 

Toby should be fine -- remember when Molly shot him at the end of an earlier episode, but he basically walked that off. Who knows for sure ?

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ottoDbusdriver

ottoDbusdriver

Still not buying this 'fate brought us together,' 'we're in this together' mantra between Molly and JD.

 

That entire monologue by J. D. about all the things that needed to happen to bring them together and how it was a miracle -- that was a complete ripoff of the scene in 'The Watchman' when Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre were on Mars.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan was in that same movie.

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Free

Free

All I know is that anyone who talks to Molly while driving is doomed!

 

Well now that you mention it...XD.

 

My brain is buzzing. This show is so fast. So much happens in such a short time.

 

The pacing is definitely faster and thankfully since last season was painfully slow.

 

Toby should be fine -- remember when Molly shot him at the end of an earlier episode, but he basically walked that off. Who knows for sure ?

 

This time it's a rocket, but who knows, maybe he did get out of the car in time by contrivance.

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Actionmage

Actionmage

Can Terra not block other hybrids from reading her mind? Can't she even tell when they are? If Ethan can feel/ "have a glitch" when Terra wasn't sure about him, then Ares finding Terra that way by surprise(?!) isn't playing fair, Show.  Poor kid. Left alone to be a good little suicide bomber by Ares, then left with a stranger and a Robo-boy ( and half- brother/uncle). When Molly does return, Ethan's on the fritz, but they leave her alone in a spooky hideout "for two hours." Because that always works out.  I hope Ethan reminds everyone they need to get Terra.

 

I'm betting Julie was hating not choosing the brown dress that day.  Though, yeah, she was helpful with Ethan, but then, she loves Ethan; it wasn't about Molly.

 

I'm betting that the Secretary is in cahoots ( cahoots I says!) with Calderon. The only nice thing about Calderone is that it looks like they may have Keith David to play him. Sadly, unless the next couple of episodes make me forget the not very subtle retconning that's happened all through the season, I'm not down with  a super-villain I'm supposed to be sooper skeered of.  He's a myth, he's a threat, he's worked with "John", he can get past any firewall and remote program (I'm betting) anything! (He can reboot Lucy, so imagine how toasters will just be child's play and show us what a jokester he is, as well as SF nerd.  ::rme::)

 

Bye, Neal! You had a hard couple of weeks. I'm sad that you're gone. I don't fully buy that Toby's gone, but? If he is, I understand. If the next/ higher level of antagonism doesn't trust Tobias, then Molly & the Wood Soldiers need to deal with the next batter at the plate, to mix metaphors.

 

Speaking of Molly:

A) When you have gone through so damn much with a virtual stranger that you see them in death dreams/ near-death visions/whatever? Just spit out the possibly hurtful, scary crap! You don't have to laugh it off, but to act like you have no control of your waking life whatsoever is letting the dream/vision/whatever  take over from you. You didn't go through all the crap you have to not spit out Potentially Traumatizing Vision/Incident #3961. You tell JD, and he either rolls with the info  or he doesn't. You needed to tell him sooner than after he gave you your vision-gun. Also, shaking your head, all "uh-uh" doesn't help JD understand the whys either. Use your words Molly!  And the damn thing was supposed to be a hood, not a scarf! I think we'd know it was freakin' Halle under the glittericious headwear, Show! It was supposed to hide her face from surveillance. Whatever.

 

I want more Texas Hold 'Em with JD and Ethan. I also want Ethan to periodically ask JD if his intentions have changed, wrt Molly. Sweet boy, lookin' after his mom.

 

Genuine question: Are the hybrids considered of Molly's genetic stock as well as the alien race's genetics? If so, then it's disturbing that her blood tie to the hybrids/ this group of hybrids, is point blank ignored. Also, JD's " your... friend" comment is erroneous; Terra's a half-sister/niece to Ethan, through Molly.

 

PS: Charlie better be safe and not anywhere around this Calderon thing. Ethan needs his BHF.

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AlliMo

AlliMo

(edited)

This show is utterly ridiculous, but it's one of those that I can have on in the background while I'm working and just catch all the yummy JD Morgan parts. He's really the only reason I'm watching this season.

 

I'm generally not a fan of child actors, but the young man who plays Ethan really is quite good.

Edited by AlliMo
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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

As soon as Toby said he'd always loved Molly I knew he'd be dead by the third act. Yeah, I know the rule: No body, not dead yet. But he was dead in the third act, even if he arises next week.

That entire monologue by J. D. about all the things that needed to happen to bring them together and how it was a miracle -- that was a complete

ly stupid bit of script writing. I feel sorry for JDM for having to say it. He and Halle Berry had chemistry until that point, but after? Ugh, that kiss was cringe-worthy. Writer sure knows how to kill the buzz. Also, wouldn't he be a little hesitant to kiss her after she just shed her skin? For this audience member it made the kiss even more cringey.

Pierce Gagnon again did a terrific job as Ethan. He and JDM had great chemistry even if JDM was enjoying it a little too much.

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Blue Plastic

Blue Plastic

This Calderon plot doesn't feel like it's going in a good direction.  Maybe that prediction will turn out to be totally wrong and I'll be pleasantly surprised.  It just doesn't feel very exciting to have some heretofore unmentioned and unseen bad guy be behind all the events of the season.  And totally agree with other posters who said it feels very retconned.  I guess I have to admit this entire season is somewhat retconned because they wanted to steer the focus away from what it was last season and make John look like a dirty cheater after his death, but I hope they find some way to make Calderon more interesting than I think he's going to be.

 

On the positive side, the scene with Dead Denny, er "Mr. Richter" and Ethan was cute.

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wayne67

wayne67

(edited)

Did anyone else find it ridiculous that Molly told Tara not to start a war with the humans. Did she forget that the humans have been hunting them down for a while now and that she was witness to a massacre of those who wanted peace.

 

At least now we have reason to doubt Taylor's prediction that the Hybrids will destroy humanity in 6 months.'

 

We also have a semi reasonable explanation for the bizarre tactics used to try and exterminate the Hybrids, all an excuse to make more Humanichs to make someone the overlord of the world.

Edited by wayne67
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marieYOTZ

marieYOTZ

If i were Molly, getting the message from John via Ethan about needing to get a humanity-saving crystal from Nicholas Calderon, i'd have seriously been like "I AM TOO BUSY RIGHT NOW! SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE THIS HUMANITY-SAVING PLOT ABOUT THE KILLER ROBOTS!"

I mean good god, it hardly seems fair that Molly should be solely responsible for saving humanity from EVERY threat, all at the same time

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shrewd.buddha

shrewd.buddha

Molly's 'invisibility' scarf thing looked really bad ... really, really, really bad. Who approves this stuff? 

 

Calderon is to blame for everything bad... But maybe Calderon is the only person who can save everyone? Huh...? 

I'm beginning to think that Toby may still be the evil mastermind behind it all. Didn't he come up with the idea to blame Calderon? And, of course, we did not see him actually get blown up by the drone. 

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Well, I have to think Toby is done for this time, unless this is the most elaborate fake-out this season.  But I can see coming back from a drone strike, in the cards for old Toby.

 

So, basically, it sounds like this Calderon guy, might be responsible for all of this.  He helped create Humanics with John, but they split up after he went insane, and now he has some how gotten control thanks to this Taalor computer, that the GSC has.  This is a lot to take in, and I'm not sure all of it will hold up.  Then again, if the picture was any indication, he could end up being played by Keith David, so he has that going for him.

 

John installed a back-up message into Ethan incase shit went down, and it tells Molly crew about a weapon they need to stop the Humanics, which they can get from.... Calderon?

 

Lucy is back and being a creepy little psycho, killing Michael Gladis for no good reason, threatening Julia to her face, and then basically telling her that Ethan's ass is going to be in trouble too.  The sooner someone puts her down for good, the better for everyone else, I think.

 

Tera the Hybrid hangs out with Molly, JD, and Ethan for a while, and seems to be slowly warming up to him, but now Jerk Hybrid is back and seems to have plans for her.

 

Finally, Molly had a vision about possibly shooting JD, which would definitely put a damper on any future kissing those two might have.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

Where did Calderon come from?  Maybe I missed something but I don't remember hearing his name.

Unless I missed something too, I think he's a recent retcon. Didn't they just first mention his name last week? I'm still associating that name with Miami Vice because we don't really know anything beyond what we were told in this episode: He was John's main collaborator (so not Julie???) and everyone thought he was dead (excuse for why we haven't heard of him previously). Did I miss anything else?

TWD...?

The Walking Dead.
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freebie

freebie

After finally watching this episode, I am now on the lookout for any opportunity to excuse myself by saying very politely, "Excuse me, I think I need to run a diagnostic."

 

In other news, good episode, moved stuff forward. Still lots of dumb and/or annoying things, as others have noted above, but I can hand-wave pretty much all of it. I don't like the Calderon stuff because all signs point to retcon, and I've had enough of that already. 

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

I am now on the lookout for any opportunity to excuse myself by saying very politely, "Excuse me, I think I need to run a diagnostic."

Hee. That wouldn't work for me because I work with computers all day.

But I have inadvertently discovered that telemarketers will hang up on you if you just keep saying over and over: Are you a robot? (Based on a This American Life episode, I really thought the telemarketer might be a robot). One even got mad and accused me of making fun of her. I have empathy for their need to make a living, but after being told on 3 different days that I'm being taken off of their call list, the gloves come off.

The actor who plays Ethan did excellent robot movements. It will be interesting to see what other roles he has in coming years.

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LydiaMoon1

LydiaMoon1

I don't like the Calderon stuff because all signs point to retcon, and I've had enough of that already.

Not me.  I say RETCON AWAY.  Season One quickly became a plodding, utter bore to me. I didn't even last until the end.  To my surprise, I've found this season  interesting and exciting and I look forward to more.  I'm especially looking forward to some moustache-twirling by David Keith playing Calderone.  I expect his raised eyebrow and silky baritone to be an improvement over last year's hyperbaric chamber-loving mystery dude. In fact, every change they've  made (especially cast changes) have worked for me and gave me more viewing enjoyment, soooo.....yeah. Proceed.

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Actionmage

Actionmage

So, Molly now considers herself an alien as she is identifying with them and not humans?

 

Molly may consider herself to be a hybrid now, what with the third strand of DNA, which is what brought her back from death and "rejuvenated" her.  I can see where Molly could consider herself that, but not think unkindly about humans, in general, because that's how she started. I doubt Molly hates the hybrids or the Humanichs or the humans.  As for the "human shell", that was quite a bit of skin and hair that Molly molted/shed. Plus, Ms. Woods has the hybrid's psychic abilities as well.

 

Just because Molly has kept her human-shaped body, doesn't mean that she's 100% human. Ethan, Lucy, Lance, et. al. also look human, but very much aren't. The hybrids, given human shape by humanMolly, were from some faraway planet, yet can seem human to the unknowing public of this planet. Just because something looks like one thing, doesn't make it just or only that thing.  

 

I am not understanding the disbelief in Molly's statement. 

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jmonique

jmonique

I can't tell if Kiersey Clemons has NAILED the role of a humanich or if she's just not a good actress. The scene where she tells the Secretary of Defense that she had to kill the science guy was just ... meh.

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SlackerInc

SlackerInc

As soon as Toby said he'd always loved Molly I knew he'd be dead by the third act. Yeah, I know the rule: No body, not dead yet. But he was dead in the third act, even if he arises next week.

ly stupid bit of script writing. I feel sorry for JDM for having to say it. He and Halle Berry had chemistry until that point, but after? Ugh, that kiss was cringe-worthy. Writer sure knows how to kill the buzz. Also, wouldn't he be a little hesitant to kiss her after she just shed her skin? For this audience member it made the kiss even more cringey.

Pierce Gagnon again did a terrific job as Ethan. He and JDM had great chemistry even if JDM was enjoying it a little too much.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who cringed at the kiss.  Which is strange, as you say, because they seemed to have chemistry before.  Even when Molly was making out with him under the influence of her hybrid-ness, that was not cringe-inducing.  Maybe because this kiss was too "romantic" and didn't fit the characters?

 

What do you mean by "even if JDM was enjoying it a little too much"?

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HalcyonDays

HalcyonDays

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who cringed at the kiss.  Which is strange, as you say, because they seemed to have chemistry before.  Even when Molly was making out with him under the influence of her hybrid-ness, that was not cringe-inducing.  Maybe because this kiss was too "romantic" and didn't fit the characters?

 

Yeah, J.D seemed to have completely fallen in love with Halle. The problem for me is that the first few episodes of the year, he spend most of the time calling her crazy and threatening to send her back to the asylum. It almost seems kinda weird that he's so into Molly even though he hardly knows her. Last week same thing, with his speech about Molly making him a better person (or was it this episode. I forget). It just seemed to come out of left field.

 

However, JDM is a beautiful man. Everytime he smiles, those dimples, dammit. Lots of good eye candy on this show. Him, plus the evil alien dude (forget his name) But the kissing was weird, because of the recently shed skin thing.

 

What I found amusing is that she "shed" her skin, but still looks perfectly human. I want to see from V lizard skin or something show!! Green blood or something.

 

What do you mean by "even if JDM was enjoying it a little too much"?

 

I thought Shapeshifter meant JDM was having a blast playing Texas Hold'em poker with Pierce Gagnon, plus Ethan's reactions too. Kid's a really good actor I have to say.

 

So....Toby is dead right? Yikes, a missile to the head. You know, no one on this show has a lick of sense (except JDM). When you are a high ranking general who knows the military tactics of your organizaton, when you see a drone, you should get the hell outta there. He's the guy remember who wanted to bomb the bar and kill everyone there. The only people who seem to have any sense are the hybrids and J.D.

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Big Mother

Big Mother

Eh... Toby isn't dead. Nobody dies on this show. ever. In season 2, at least. 

 

David Morrissey is listed on IMDB for the remaining 3 episodes of the season. So are Lucy and Julie. Ares is credited in the final episode. No sign of Terra. Or Charlie for that matter, or Anna or Fiona Stanton. No one is credited as being Nicholas Calderon either. There are 3 other humanichs credited, and a few GCS Techs. So I'm trying to fanfic in my head what might possibly be happening.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

What do you mean by "even if JDM was enjoying it a little too much"?

I thought Shapeshifter meant JDM was having a blast playing Texas Hold'em poker with Pierce Gagnon, plus Ethan's reactions too. Kid's a really good actor I have to say.

Actually, I thought he was not enough poker face. It seemed like he was trying to encourage the young actor with looks of enjoyment and approval that weren't supposed to be in the final cut. I've been watching reruns of Barney Miller lately, and Hal Linden is often seen smiling at the other actors' jokes when he should be playing it straight. Is this kind of thing the fault of the director and/or film editor? Or should actors always stay in character, even if they aren't speaking?
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