Extant: The First Season

Extant has a wonderfully ripe high concept premise; namely, something in outer space impregnates a beautiful astronaut. Halle Berry is sexy and sharp as Molly Woods, who introduces each segment by saying, “I went to space on a 13-month solo mission. I didn't come home alone.” After being unable to conceive a child, Molly's roboticist husband, John (Goran Visnjic), created a prototype android child named Ethan (the piercingly creepy Pierce Gagnon). Over the course of the first season, Molly faces her immaculate conception and the wild conspiracies surrounding it with a strong cast of friends and enemies who are either in on the mystery or struggling to figure it out. The story includes regular flashbacks to Molly's time beyond Earth's bounds and the events surrounding her supernatural encounter. After much cloak-and-dagger action involving government conspiracies, corporate greed, and family turmoil (of the human, robotic, and unearthly variety), Molly returns to orbit in the zingy season finale. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2014 debut season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Offering a fine blend of high-tech style and human melodrama, this is recommended. (T. Fry)