TV REVIEW: Extant Explains Those Mysterious Circles in “Nightmares”

By Chelsea Hensley

Of all the things I was looking to get answers about, the symbol that’s appeared on Molly’s abdomen and Harmon’s wall wasn’t very high on my list. It’s up there, but there are lots of things that come before. I’d chalked the symbols up to some random alien something that signals the presence of another alien something, and I was satisfied with that. But “Nightmares” focuses exclusively on the origin of the symbol, what it means, where it came from and what happens to people who see it, and it made for perhaps the most satisfying episode of the season so far. Behind layers of ISEA security, the symbol appears on the bald head of a scientist monitoring Molly’s baby right before he hallucinates and murders one of his colleagues.

The promise of something being wrong with the scientist before he becomes homicidal could have been a strong element for “Nightmares” to work with, but it’s resolved too soon for anything to come of it. Even when the scientist destroys the security cameras and it looks as if the episode may be going the route of a hostage situation, it fizzles out immediately as ISEA security quickly resolves its problem. Extant has an issue making its tension pay off. On one hand, it has a quick pace which is a plus in some situations, but in others it doesn’t allow for the build-up of any anticipation. It falls into this same pit later with Harmon’s unseen break-in at ISEA after the process of getting Gordon’s fingerprints, but on a wider scale the episode does a good job drawing out the origin of the circles and the mysterious Aruna transmission.

Image © CBS

The symbol is coming from the energy, and now from Molly’s baby on Earth, being passed onto other people like an infection. The circles were the source of Molly’s abnormal brain scans (which have gone away now that she’s no longer pregnant), and were the culprit behind her and Harmon’s hallucinations. No word yet on why neither of them became homicidal, but the murderous result at ISEA makes Gordon express his concerns to Sparks. Which brings me to the strange absence of Yasumoto. He doesn’t call, he doesn’t write, no one mentions him, and I’m starting to really miss his mysterious musings. Though seeing Sparks and Gordon’s machinations become more visible is compelling for conspiracy-related reasons, they’re neither interesting nor fun.

Sparks has something going for him since all we really need to know about him is that his daughter is dead, and he’s desperate to make her death mean something. So he goes ahead with ISEA’s experiments, despite their risks and pitfalls because his daughter was one of the first to fall victim to the circles and the “infection” they bring with them. But I’m still more excited at the prospect of seeing/learning more about his dead daughter Katie than seeing him again.

While Harmon was aboard the Serafin, Katie (Tessa Ferrer) was with a team on the Aruna that fell victim to the alien plague and made them kill each other. But not before impregnating Katie. Her distress transmission, as well as an image of the symbol, was sent to Harmon who forgot about it when ISEA instructed him to do so.

Pictured (L-R) Pierce Gagnon as Ethan Woods and Halle Berry as Molly Woods Photo: Darren Michaels/CBS

Katie and the Aruna offer an especially creepy representation of ISEA and its motives. Assuming the Aruna was the organization’s first experience with whatever is out there, and Harmon was the second, Molly was the organization’s first intentional attempt at making some form of contact. Sparks did send her up there knowing the possibilities (that she could perhaps die), and there’s another man (Enver Gjokaj) floating around in space right now who could soon be facing the same possibility. Gordon’s the one to suggest that the experiments stop now that they’ve had success with Molly, but Sparks isn’t so sure (what about Yasumoto? Is he sure? Is he even alive?). How many people is ISEA going to offer up until they’re satisfied with the end result?

Still reeling from the footage from aboard the Serafin, all Molly knows for sure is that she brought whatever energy accosted her aboard the ship back down to Earth with her in the form of a fetus. But she’s hungry for more answers, and Molly eagerly seeking them out is far more interesting than watching her stumble their way through ISEA’s superior conspiratorial skills. Now that Molly’s active in her role against ISEA, she’s extremely capable, and she even wiggles Harmon out of walking into Gordon’s trap at their secret meeting. It’s only when Harmon is on his own that he gets caught (sorry, Harmon).

But Molly doesn’t do it alone because Sam’s there to help. After finding out about Sparks’ threats to Sam’s brother, Molly discreetly forgives Sam, understanding how she chose protecting her brother over protecting Molly. Extant didn’t have a lot of time to show Sam and Molly as an average pair of really good friends before their friendship was overtaken by Molly’s inexplicable pregnancy, abnormal brain scans and blackmail, but they are really good friends. Sam didn’t hesitate at helping Molly when she first got back, only withdrawing when another person important to her came under threat. When all this is over, I see good things for them.

I also see good things for Extant‘s two hour event next week!

Stray Observations

• Most of the gadgets we’ve seen thus far have been pretty cool, but that thing Sam put on Molly’s head was ridiculous.
• The circles also show up in Ethan’s dreams, a strange occurrence for an android who hasn’t been programmed to do that. Once again no one considers what this could mean for a robot apocalypse because they’re all so amazed.
• I’m so, so interested in Julie. I have no idea what Odin’s about (or why his name is Odin), but I like her, and her expertise at building prosthetic limbs and robot bodies, so much that I’ll happily deal with her poorly-named love interest who may end up being an alien or another disturbing entity.

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