Extant 2×11 Review: Zugzwang

This week’s episode of Extant answered the Calderon mystery and finally revealed the major big bad of the season. With how things ended this week in ‘Zugzwang’, I’m sure the two-part finale is going to be a blast.

I wasn’t expecting Extant to tell us everything about Calderon in a single episode. While I would’ve liked for the character to be mentioned in the first season, I liked how he ended up helping Molly Woods (Halle Berry) take down the big bad. Will Calderon have a role as the series continues? I don’t know, but it would be good to have him in the fold if the Humanichs program continues to exist. While I appreciate Julie (Grace Gummer) doing the right thing, I think Calderon should take over because he was the pioneer of the program with John. Julie needs to take a break and understand she isn’t cut out for handling the current level of responsibility at the moment.

Speaking of Julie, I have no idea why she allowed Ethan (Pierce Gagnon) to go with Molly, a supposed terrorist. I understand she asked for Molly’s forgiveness and knows that she’s innocent, but having Ethan go with Molly does put him in constant danger and having Julie allow that felt a bit out of character to me.

I am loving the battle between Julie, Charlie, and Lucy. It is one of the exciting things this season. All I want is for Julie to be the one who takes down Lucy in the end. The human-killing Humanich needs to go. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the actress and I think she’s doing a great job with the role. Also it is always a plus to have as many interesting POC characters in a show as possible. But the current Lucy is a major threat. I wouldn’t mind the actress coming back as a kind Lucy who doesn’t want kill humans and rule the world.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t find TAALR suspicious from the start. I always find machines with highly advanced A.I. suspicious. I didn’t like B.E.N. from last season either. The A.I.s of Extant have a habit of sacrificing any number of humans necessary to preserve a larger population. B.E.N. didn’t allow Molly to reenter Earth in the first season and TAALR seemed okay with controlling Humanichs and killing a billion humans to save eight billion in this one. So, TAALR being revealed as the big bad wasn’t much of a surprise for me. Who knows, I could be wrong and it could actually be a human responsible for all the bad stuff.

Coming to Jolly, my ship name for Molly and JD, the scene where the two finally acted on their feelings was very romantic. It wasn’t rushed, and the two took their time with each other. I wanted the scene to go on forever, but I had to remind myself that I was watching a TV show. I mean, you can’t blame me for wanting to look at Halle Berry and Jeffrey Dean Morgan continue to sensually make out with each other.

In the end, Calderon gave Molly the amulet she saw in her vision. She even tried to throw it away, because to her it meant JD was going to die. Molly really is a reluctant hero, which is understandable considering she didn’t ask to become the focus of the human vs. humanich vs. hybrid war.

Next week is the two-part Extant finale and anything can happen. Right now Molly has the means to take down TAALR, but what will that mean for the hybrids? How do Molly’s grandchildren plan to take out the humans?

Extant did the usual ratings wise this week, too. I know some fans are worried about the show’s future after CBS canceled Under The Dome during the current third season. All I can say is keep your fingers crossed and think happy thoughts. The world needs a show with a POC female lead and where black characters aren’t killed off the moment they are introduced. Yes, I’m looking at you Fear The Walking Dead and TWD.

What did you think of Extant this week? I didn’t see a body, but do you think Tobias is dead? Can TAALR be shut down? Let us know.

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Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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