TV Show preview: EXTANT

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Published on Thursday, 10 July 2014 10:00

Last Updated on 09 July 2014

Monica Costa

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When you are invited to a lot of film premieres and press conferences you know the score. Except with the launch of Extant the format was completely different. First of all it was a party and the venue was no ordinary one: the BAFTA’s building is so dense of cinema history that you feel you are sinking into it without wanting to resurface. Everything about the BAFTA is so special starting from the pictures of Hollywood and international TV stars on the walls. Each one of them tells a story, the story of the moving pictures from the origins.  The event this week was dedicated to the exclusive launch of  Steven Spielberg’s new TV Sci-Fi thriller Extant on Amazon Prime Instant Video. I love sci-fi generally but this series is so promising.

The story lines are so unusual. This series has something completely unique about it, encapsulating spectator’s emotions from wonder to fear and anything in between. It’s called Extant and it feels like a spelling mistake from Extinct. And in fact it is meant to give that impression. A US poster quotes: Extant – the opposite of Extinct. We don’t have any clue of what the reason is and it is a great teaser. The first episode is full of teasing moments that make you want to know more about it. It is very intriguing and has a certain Steven Spielberg’s touch.

For a sneak peak at what’s in store check-out a first look trailer here

I loved the first episode so much that I am now totally hooked on the series. With stars such as Academy Award Winner Halle Berry the intrigue is guaranteed.

The story

Astronaut Molly Watts (Halle Berry) returns to her suburban life after spending a year in space, where she lived and conducted strange experiments. Her husband, John, is a gifted scientist, and tries to help her readjust to life on Earth. They have a primary school son called Ethan, a normal boy or at least this is what it seems. He is not their biological son because the couple is infertile. We find out after a while that Ethan is a robot baby ‘conceived’ and designed by John as the first prototype of a future line of human robots. Ethan seems perfectly normal except he has some creepy moments where you wonder whether he is good or evil. This is certainly a teaser to hook the audience to the series.

Molly reports to her space base doctor and finds out she is pregnant. She wants to keep it secret until she figures out what has happened in space to have made this possible.

At the end of episode one we are left to believe that there are astronauts in space who were supposed dead and who wonder around to warn Molly of some danger and possibly dramatic consequences for the entire planet.

The attention to details in reconstructing a futuristic world is incredible. I loved the possibility of the baby robots but not straight away. It took me 15 minutes to start appreciating the step and the arguments although rationally it is a crazy idea. I also loved the rubbish bins where the rubbish gets instantly destroyed and you can collect the empty bin straight away. Brilliant idea!

I cannot wait to watch the second episode.

My rating for the first episode is 10/10. I am not usually so generous but Extant certainly hooked me all right!

Extant premieres on 10 July 2014 on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the UK.

Here are the party girls at the amazing Bafta Extant party!