Extant

Extant is an exciting well made new show which touches on multiple common science fiction themes weaved into some of the more mundane problems in life.

Only the pilot was available at the time I wrote this, but already there is a strong sense of where the show is headed thanks to the quick introduction of the story elements.

There is a mysterious occurrence told through flashbacks that happened when Halle Berry's character was on a routine space mission she has since returned from, and a spin on the classic Science Fiction debate of Artificial Intelligence, in this case directly impacting Berry's character's immediate family.

The budget felt like it was generous, the actors scripts and effects were all more than adequate to be believable, and they told just enough of the story to whet your appetite and have you postulating wildly.

I would strongly recommend this show to anyone who likes science fiction. If you aren't married to the genre its still well worth seeing, but the pilot's pacing was the measured introspective pace of much science fiction (the movie Moon is a prime example, although this is faster) and while I don't think it will be a problem for the majority of the audience, if you're on the fence and don't think you can handle a slowly unfolding mystery this might not be for you. I personally loved it.

I'm writing this review initially because my fear, with all the controversy over the series continuing, was whether the first season resolves itself sufficiently to stand alone. It does. In fact I found the ending to be the most satisfying part of the very fast and convoluted plot. The special effects throughout this series were also wonderful, and worth watching as a sci fi fan. There are comparisons with the robot series Humans (English and European versions both) which if looking to watch this show one should understand, as that is at least 40% of the story. Despite having an alien, this show does not compare with the Alien movies, but has more in common with Carrie. It's very good TV, but a little complicated.

We have now watched 3 episodes and this is the turning point for pretty much any new show we take up. Almost Human, Intelligence, these shows made it to exactly 3, they were good mostly and well done but there was no "Intrigue" to keep our interest so a 4th was never watched. The Strain, was bad enough 1 episode was enough, but we watched a 2nd just to be sure, terrible writing ruined that show.

So here after 3 episodes are reasons why we are still interested, its not as good as many other top notch shows, but it is "good enough" so to speak and better than many others:

STORY - So far its kept our interest, and that interest has been increasing with each episode not decreasing. I'm not going to give anything away here so will leave it at that, main thing is they give you some questions, and then slowly drop you clues to answers. I find without this element and something to link shows together, shows in general do not keep our interest. Blacklist is a prime example of a show that did a GREAT job of this, you always want to keep watching to see how things will unfold and have questions answered and so far we're on board here.

WRITING - Others have pointed out some flaws, and I see what they are pointing at but overall I think flaws are minor and writing and scripting is decent to good, certainly miles ahead of the Strain, but sure not up to the level of Dexter (very subjective however, I'm sure there are people who would point out numerous flaws in Dexter)

ACTING - Halle does seem a little "stiff", but overall we have found the acting to be good and believable from all characters, though the child really does not shows signs of his true self

DIRECTION/PRODUCTION - Good to very good, with SS (says exc producer, not sure how much he is really involved) in the mix you would not expect less, pacing seems good, budget seems decent, no issues that we found here anyway

SUMMARY - Like I mentioned in comparing two other somewhat new sci-fi type shows Almost Human and Intelligence, this one is done about as well but has the edge on them just for the reason of Intrigue. Its not as intense (yet) as something like Helix, but the ending of episode 3 ramped things up and shows it could be heading in that direction (tension-wise).

Other rating from me for reference and comparison:

Game of Thrones - 10 Dexter - 9 Blacklist - 8 Almost Human - 6 intelligence - 6 The Strain - 4

Extant has an interesting premise but the execution feels clumsy and overworked. While it is still a good Sci-fi show I think it still needs some time to develop and find it's stride. The positives include the great production values and that it has a blockbuster movie feel. I also think it has the potential to be better it just needs to up the excitement level.

Personally, I'm not thrilled with the casting and find Halle Berry's performance to be quite weak. She needs drama roles to shine but doesn't fare so well with "everyday/normal" roles. It just feels too bland and forced. The rest of the cast are fine, not fantastic, but they do their job.

Overall I think as the story unfolds it will keep me interested. I have noticed that each episode is slightly more interesting than the last so that's a good sign.

A vision of a not too distant future, slow to start but some interesting things start happening in the later episodes. Give it a chance please as we are lacking good Sci-Fi at the moment.

Characters are good but they need more to work with. Interesting concept with Ethan and Molly's child but don't want to give anything away about that.

I like the understated technology uses in the everyday environment, it is used well in order to improve everyday tasks (which is why we make things in the first place).

This is not Sci-Fi on an epic scale, it's about the human condition - it's not perfect but it's got potential.