Extant (TV series)

Extant is an American science fiction television drama series created by Mickey Fisher and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. The story revolves around astronaut Molly Woods (Halle Berry)^[1] who returns home to her family inexplicably pregnant after 13 months in outer space on a solo mission.

On August 7, 2013, CBS announced that it had placed a 13-episode straight-to-series order, bypassing the traditional pilot stage.^[4] Steven Spielberg served as one of the executive producers.^[3][5] Production began in Los Angeles on February 10, 2014.^[6]

The series is broadcast in the United States on the CBS television network, and is a production of Amblin Entertainment. It premiered on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/8:00 p.m. Central.

On October 9, 2014, CBS renewed Extant for a second season,^[7] which is scheduled to premiere on July 1, 2015.^[8]

Premise

Molly Woods, an astronaut with ISEA (International Space Exploration Agency) is assigned a 13-month solo mission aboard space station Seraphim. She returns home to her husband John, a robotics engineer who created their son Ethan, a prototype android called a "humanich". When Molly discovers that she has mysteriously become pregnant despite years of infertility, she begins a search for answers.

Cast

Main cast

• Halle Berry as Molly Woods, an ISEA astronaut and scientist who mysteriously becomes pregnant after seeing her dead former lover while on the Seraphim space station.
• Goran Visnjic as Dr. John Woods, Molly's husband, who is a robotics engineer heading the Humanichs Project.
• Pierce Gagnon as Ethan Woods, the Woods' son, who is a humanoid robot and the prototype for the Humanichs Project.
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Hideki Yasumoto, owner of the Yasumoto Corporation.
• Michael O'Neill as Alan Sparks, director of ISEA.
• Grace Gummer as Julie Gelineau, John Woods' assistant on the Humanichs Project.
• Camryn Manheim as Dr. Sam Barton, a physician employed by ISEA, and Molly's friend.

Recurring

• Annie Wersching as Femi Dodd, a member of the Yasumoto Corporation board of directors, who is highly skeptical about the Humanichs project. She is later revealed to be part of the underground group, led by Odin, that seeks to eradicate advanced technology from Earth.
• Brad Beyer as Harmon Kryger, an ISEA astronaut who saw his dead mother while on the Seraphim; he faked his own suicide and now lives in isolation.
• Maury Sterling as Gordon Kern, the new deputy director of ISEA.
• Sergio Harford as Marcus Dawkins, a young astronaut and Molly's former boyfriend who died in a car accident, in which he and Molly were involved years ago.^[9]
• Tessa Ferrer as Katie Sparks, an "over-achieving" astronaut and daughter of the director of ISEA, who died in space under mysterious circumstances.^[10]
• Tyler Hilton as Charlie Arthurs, the 'chief coder' on the Humanichs Project, who works alongside Julie.^[11]
• Louis Gossett Jr. as Quinn, a retired doctor and Molly's undependable, estranged father.^[12]
• Charlie Bewley as Gavin Hutchinson (alias Odin James), a man Julie begins dating. He secretly leads an underground organization dedicated to eradicating advanced technology, and has targeted the Humanichs project.
• Jeannetta Arnette as Anya Sparks, Alan's ex-wife.
• Adam O'Byrne as Ryan Jackson, an ISEA employee whom Kern says Molly can trust.
• Enver Gjokaj as Sean Glass, an ISEA astronaut.
• Jimmy Jean-Louis as Pierre Lyon, a French astronaut.
• Shannon Merrill Brown as the "Offspring".
• Eric Martsolf as the voice of B.E.N., the on-board, sentient computer aboard the Seraphim.

Reception

Critical reception

Extant has received generally favorable reviews. On Metacritic, the show holds a score of 68 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[13] On Rotten Tomatoes, the show holds a "certified fresh" rating of 83% based on 40 reviews, with the consensus reading: "While many of its ideas are clearly borrowed from other sources, Extant benefits from a unique approach to some familiar stories and a strong lead in Halle Berry".^[14]

Ratings

Including Live + 3 day (DVR) viewing, the series premiere was watched by 11.88 million viewers and attained an 18-49 rating of 2.2.^[15]

Accolades

In 2014, Extant was chosen, along with six others, for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series.^[16]

Episodes

Broadcast

The series is available for streaming on Amazon Instant Video devices the day after broadcast on CBS. In Canada, the series premiered on July 9, 2014, on Global Television Network.^[17] In Australia, the series premiered on July 13, 2014, on Network Ten.^[18] The series premiered in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2014, on Amazon Instant Video.^[19] It made its television premiere on January 20, 2015 on Syfy.^[20] In New Zealand, it debuted on July 23, 2014 on Prime.^[21]

References

External links

• Official website
• Extant at the Internet Movie Database
• Extant at TV Guide
• Extant on Facebook
• Extant on Twitter