I'm watching it.. I was sort of hesitantly curious about it but ultimately decided to dvr it because I've got so little to watch these days (I really hate how little there is on tv in the summer!). I wasn't hooked in on the first episode until the end when the other astronaut that everyone thinks is dead showed up - then I was intrigued. The storyline with the husband and the android kid I can take or leave, and the whole how is she pregnant bit doesn't even get me so much, but when the guy showed up and it turns out he had the same odd experience she had in space and they both have had the same changes in their brains and all, that part made me curious as to where things were going to go... the second episode was better I thought in terms of developing the storyline and now I'm a little more interested in the pregnancy aspect - like how is it appearing to be a human fetus when she was up there for 13 months and why was she blocked from seeing the records from the other guy's time in the space station to compare their experiences and who all knows what - like I wonder if she should really be confiding in her doctor friend or whether it was wise to tell that one guy she is somehow pregnant and yet she hasn't told her husband.

And the pattern of circles that appeared on her stomach - what was that about?

Plus the android kid, he's a bit odd and creepy right? Not just me thinking that?

Okay, yeah I'm hooked... hope though that this show doesn't drag us along without answers along the way ala "Under The Dome" and others of the like that want to drag on and on without resolution thinking they'll keep people watching because that doesn't ever work. But for now, I'm tuning in.

I was wondering about the circles on her stomach too! At first I thought it was something trying to get out! Yes they android kid is creepy but I like that storyline. The aliens are creepy! "Mother" and "It's ok". I think that the aliens impregnated her because they want to survive. The title Extant says it all. I know there's some type of coverup but I'm not sure why. I love seeing the future!

I totally want that bathroom mirror that showed the morning news and the time and temp and all that while she was putting on her makeup - if that becomes a regular household feature in the future I'm down with that.

The aliens are creepy - particularly because she re-watched the footage of her encounter and there was nothing there. She saw her dead ex in front of her and yet there's nothing on the recording at all? How is that possible. And the alien that looked like the guy's mother seemed displeased when she ran her finger down from his face to his torso the way the alien did later to Halle Berry's character so I would imagine you are right that it's an alien baby in spite of seeming to look like a normal human fetus and I think that group she works for are well aware of the alien situation too. Presumably the cover-up is because even though it's the future it's still an era when we think we're alone in the universe and aliens aren't a given. Oh but hey, how is it that the alien got through a barricaded door when the male astronaut first encountered it and if he sent it out the opened airlock, how did it manage to return later in a different form - or was it just also a different alien? How did they even get to the space station in the first place? And most importantly, how is it that on that space station there are parts of it that have gravity while other parts they are floating around?

So many questions... reminds me of the first seasons of "Under The Dome" and "Resurrection" with the questions!

I didn't see tonight's episode yet though, so forgive me if any of this was addressed in tonight's episode (which I hope to get to in the next couple of days).

Maybe the aliens just don't show up on recordings for some reason. They can cloak themselves somehow? I think they were two separate aliens. The alien that looked like the mother was displeased because he was a man and they want women! I'm not sure how the aliens got to the space station either. They must be able to teleport.

I hope they give us some further explanation on that whole part...

But now, if you watched this past week, what was up with her seeing the brother of the deceased ex at the party? She insisted he was there and they had a whole conversation and she saw other people talking to him and he jumped into the photo they were taking but then when she said she wanted to make sure she said goodbye to him her husband thought she was nuts and she looked at the photo to prove he was there but he wasn't in the photo next to her like when they took the photo so - is it her mind that's going or was the brother being there something alien related or what?

And when she was in the car with that guy Sparks, the circle pattern showed up on her stomach again after she got the message from Sam to get out of the car... plus she saw the same thing drawn on the other astronaut's wall of his RV (and side note - where exactly did he go? She went there to find him and he's not there and she just dropped looking for him to go pick the kid up - no concern for whether someone found him maybe...) so clearly that's alien related, but why? What does it mean?

To get back to the aliens in the space station thing, I think you are right about the one that the other guy saw that looked like his mom - she was displeased probably because in touching his abdomen "she" realized he was incapable of carrying their species. The flashback Molly remembered about being on the floor of the space station with the one that looked like her ex that kept saying "it's okay" because she said that seemed to be doing something to her at that point... oh and why would she just take Sparks' word for it when he gave her that mumbo jumbo about some delayed timing fertility experiment as the reason for her pregnancy? Wouldn't that just scream of cover-up to just about everyone? And Sam didn't think to erase the images from the ultrasound on that vet's equipment?

I feel like all I do is ask questions... I really want to have a week where I'm not asking questions! The show's picking up in action though and I actually do feel excited about the next episode so that's something at least!

I love having lots of questions because it keeps things interesting! As long as they don't pull a Lost and leave some questions unanswered. I think seeing the brother was in her head. The circle pattern means something but I'm not sure what. Maybe it's trying to tell them something like when the guy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind was building with his mashed potatoes! He was obsessed with that shape and it turned out to be showing him where to go. I think she just took Spark's word for it because she was so desperate to have something to tell her husband. She might not completely believe it but at least her husband is on her side. I wonder what's going on with Ethan?

Did you notice the part when the girl that works with Molly's husband was playing that computer game with the female version of Ethan, how she noted how quickly the "girl" was learning and adapting? Perhaps Ethan is doing the same but not in a positive way. Like he purposely disobeyed his father's orders to stay in the house and he came up with a method to trap the bird presumably on his own without any previous knowledge of how to set a trap and then kept that bird hidden away in that box with plans to play with it later not thinking he needed to allow it to breathe or eat or anything like that because presumably he does not need those things so it's not in his mindset to think of a living thing needing those things. And then when his father finds the bird and confronts him he gives the excuse that his mother said sometimes it's okay to lie. So I'm guessing his storyline will venture down the road of how trustworthy is a programmable robotic humanoid and will he learn and adapt in a positive way or a negative one - which really is no different than a human in terms of not knowing how a human child would develop. I don't know, I still find this side story about Ethan to be less intriguing than the alien situation and the cover up, but that's just me.

I suppose the brother was in her head, but then again, we would think the same in some way when she has seen the ex (not just in the space station but at her home when she collapsed in the kitchen) and we know the space station time was alien in nature, so perhaps the alien has some sort of connection to her or its presence is with her in some way?

I'm thinking she took to the story like you said to have something to tell her husband. That and it maybe helped her along with the ultrasound to believe the baby is human and not some alien hybrid she's carrying - though it really is an alien hybrid.

You're right that questions are good - and important in a sci-fi show too for sure - but it can get infuriating when they keep adding to the list of questions without giving some answers to others along the way.

Oh, by the by, I just read tonight that the show's being moved from 9pm to 10pm starting this week - doesn't really phase me since I dvr it, but a lot of people are freaking out that it means CBS has lost confidence in the show since the ratings have dropped (I think it may also be a preemptive move to get it a little further away from "America's Got Talent" which goes to live shows this week). If CBS is worried about the ratings it might mean no second season, so I hope they don't wind up leaving us on a cliffhanger and do wind up answering most of the questions they are raising before the season ends. Hopefully CBS will let them know before they film the finale whether the show will get another season so they can give it a proper ending if they aren't getting picked up...

I think that the when they build humanics(robots) they work with them so they can learn and adapt. They want to make sure that they react the way a human child would react. I think no matter what they do some humanics will react in a negative way and some in a positive way. They are like human children in that way. I don't mind the Ethan storyline but I don't find it as interesting as the alien cover-up.

I think the connection is between the alien and the hybrid baby. Maybe those circles are a way of monitoring Molly and the baby? Have you seen last night's episode? I don't want to say too much in case you haven't. I hope the show is picked up too. I had cliffhangers that leave no true resolution such as Kyle XY!

Aw man, don't even get me started on the Kyle XY cliffhanger - it still bugs me that they couldn't allow the show to wrap up in some way!

I avoided reading here until I watched this week's show just in case you mentioned anything I didn't see yet... I watched it tonight so now I'm all caught up.

First off, the Ethan/humanics thing, I'm not minding it so much but like you said, it's not as interesting as the alien baby situation so it sort of feels like it's pulling focus. The stone skipping scene with the grandfather was a prime example though of their learning and adapting - but unlike most kids who would have to keep working at something like that, he did it a second time and suddenly was better than the grandfather. It's why the grandfather was able to bet on him with that ring tossing game in the bar because he knew Ethan would figure it out after one try and be perfect and he was until he purposely wasn't.

When Ethan was taken from the car and they all thought he ran away, I knew the cops wouldn't be willing to search for him once they knew he was not a real kid - but why were they not concerned about the fact that Molly was out looking for him given the rough terrain in the area? Not to mention, they were there to hide from Sparks and the company and all but she just goes out looking for Ethan on her own? You would think John would've insisted they look for him together "just in case". And when she did find Ethan, why didn't she just scoop him up and run? She just stood there in that clearing and then low and behold a helicopter...

The alien version of Marcus and the circles and all that must be in some way to protect the baby - her seeing Marcus when doing that blood test and then the circles coming up when she woke up on the boat all groggy - was it giving her the ability to get the syringe to come to her and then gave her enough strength to attack that one person and get herself down the hall - too bad she stumbled right into that OR - but then why just stand there in the doorway until you collapse in the guard's arms? She may be sedated but that alien baby seemed to be giving her the ability to overcome that somewhat - you'd think she would've tried to run or fight the guard off a little.

Okay, so they're taking the baby out of her I take it... and from the promos it looks like everyone's going to forget about her having been pregnant? Did I see that right?

I don't understand John and the cops weren't concerned about Molly searching by herself. Maybe they thought they could cover more ground by splitting up? Molly tries really hard to see Ethan as a real boy but at the same time he has been acting strangely. I think she hesitated because she was wondering if she should just leave him there. Movies and tv shows do the deer in the headlight scenes a lot. I think she stood in the doorway of the OR because she was in shock and then just lost her strength. If she hadn't been so upset she could have used more stealth to try to escape. Since they were on a boat though I don't know where she would have gone. Maybe she could have hid somewhere and somehow contacted someone to help? Unfortunately, I don't usually get to see the promos and sometimes can't find them online.

I didn't watch tonight's ep yet, but I wanted to make sure I mentioned what I read tonight - CBS is moving up the show's finale to September 17th and is doubling up on episodes on August 20th and 27th in order to finish it by the new finale date. That is a pretty strong signal the show's going to be a one and done show - highly unlikely they will renew for a second season if they've already changed the time it airs at and now have moved up the finale and are willing to double up on episodes on those two nights to get that to happen. At least they're letting the full season play out... and here's hoping the writers designed it to be a complete storyline in its own right rather than a cliff-hanger since it looks pretty likely they are not going to renew it. I think the only thing keeping them from pulling it completely or moving it to a Saturday burn off is the fact that Halle Berry is on it and they don't want to deter big name stars from being on the network...

Back to the show... I think you are right that John figured he and Molly could cover more ground separately, but I find it odd neither of them thought for even one second that Sparks and the ISEA group could've tracked them down and taken Ethan - especially with the father finding the gate was not the way he left it. I mean, I know he had been drinking but they should've thought there was at least a slight chance they were found. Even if Ethan went off on his own, they should still have been concerned about that... and yes you are right she was on a boat so it's not like she could've gotten far, but she didn't know that. It may have been in her best interests to hide until she could get her bearings and then figure out how to get away, which would likely have meant trying to contact John or Sam.

Thanks for letting me know about them doubling up the episodes and moving the finale to September 17th. It does sound like they won't renew! :( Is it just me or do the specialty networks such as Showtime and HBO take more of a chance on unique shows such as Dexter and Nurse Jackie? The regular networks always want to play it safe. When they do try to think outside the box the shows end up getting cancelled. It seems the viewing public for regular shows just wants to see the same tired reality shows, cheezy comedies, and predictable procedurals. I do like Criminal Minds but it's because they get inside the minds of the unsubs and I really enjoy the characters. I watched CSI until they got rid of Grissom.

Basic cable and Premium cable stations generally are putting the money out to produce their shows, they know they have fewer eyeballs on their networks to begin with, and they tend to recognize that some show concepts need a little more time to build their audiences as their storylines build. The vast majority of shows on cable stations that are considered big hits wouldn't get a chance to build into big hits if they were on networks because the ad revenue situation is different, the upfront cost to the channel is different, and because networks require more immediate returns on their investments.

High concept shows, particularly ones with a sci-fi bend, have a hard time getting love from the networks. Sci-fi fans are generally die-hard loyal to their shows but I think the networks have burned us all one too many times that most people are leery of devoting time to a sci-fi show on the broadcast networks. The big 4 are notorious for taking long hiatuses with their shows around the holidays into the new year, and that is like death to sci-fi shows when it is imperative to keep the audience engaged. Plus if a show starts slow or the pacing is sluggish, it's not going to fare well (I've seen many comments online about the sluggish pace of "Extant" and I think that's what's doing it in at this point). Sci-fi fans want answers and resolutions and action not protracted prose (which killed the recent redo of "V" and a couple of other recent broadcast sci-fi shows). They still haven't learned that.

I still think too that the Nielsen way of gathering numbers to determine ratings is woefully outdated so many shows aren't getting the viewership credit they ought to which can mean they get cancelled as well. I mean, if the majority of "Nielsen homes" are lead by older viewers who are decided against sci-fi shows but like watching repetitive predictable police procedurals and medical dramas and comedies so broad you're lucky if you chuckle once while watching them (or can even hear a joke over the over abundant laugh track) than that's what's getting the higher ratings and that's what the networks are going to keep serving up. It's a shame but that's what will continue to happen until they figure out a better way of actually determining viewership rather than presumptions based on a small sample size.

I completely agree that the Neilsen way of doing determining viewership is hopelessly outdated. Sci Fi shows don't get the chances to build an audience like other shows. I forgot about how important ad revenue is for big networks. I dislike the long hiatuses too.

We went off on a tangent for a sec there... oh well, back to the show, eh?!

Did they really think they could just take the baby out of Molly and she'd come to and just sound like a crazy person and no one would believe her and she'd just move on with life? Seems a bit silly... granted, John was starting to think maybe she was crazy because he never saw an definitive proof and then Sam acted like she knew nothing of a pregnancy too (was she brainwashed or just paid off/blackmailed to forget?) which played into it, but I guess it turned out to be a good thing she was bit by the dog after all and was able to test the blood on the dish towel to prove she had been pregnant - by the way, that is some major sophisticated technology they had there to get the DNA of the baby out of her blood sample...

So now she's found out from her colleague that there was some strange "spores" that killed their worm test subjects in the space station at the same time she was "visited" by Marcus and impregnated and she and John now know the baby wasn't his but rather some combination of her and those spores (at least I'm guessing they figured that out). So surely they must figure that Sparks and the ISEA knew she was carrying some form of an alien child and took it from her - but how did they know and why did they remove it from her without informing her of what was happening? I mean, if you told her she was carrying an alien child, you'd have a pretty good chance of her begging them to take it out of her rather than protecting it since she wouldn't know what it would be or what it might do to her while she carried it. So why the secrecy? And why were they shocked it's seemingly a human baby boy?

The side story about Ethan was a bit dull by comparison. All I got out of that was that Julie clearly feels like she's Ethan's "real mom" and she appears to care more about him than Molly does. I'm guessing not only is that because she helped create him but also because she's got those cool bionic legs - who would've guessed. With John and Molly realizing she had been abducted and that the baby was removed from her, why would they not think Ethan's power drain was related to that? Why do they still think he ran away and not that he was taken and left to lure Molly away?