Critic Reviews

The opener is absolutely superlative--a thing of real beauty, even elegance.... Berry delivers a performance that's surprisingly layered and nuanced.

It packs a lot of intriguing plot threads into its first hour while also brimming with money-on-the-screen production values.

It's all decidedly goofy, but more important, it's fun! Extant seems to have finally come down to earth. [3 Jul 2015]

If the rest of the 13-episode Extant remains as compelling as its first episode, this will be the standout show of the summer season.

Extant has a clever concept that would probably work better on a bigger screen (especially the orbital scenes). But it's thoroughly entertaining--even if you wind up watching it on your shrinky-dink cellphone.

Oscar winner Berry and the dependable Visnjic, as well as familiar supporting faces, all do a good enough job in the first episode with a tantalizing premise--and lot of grade A special effects--to make Extant worth checking out before it becomes extinct.

Extant is laying some intriguing groundwork and doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations about humanity and artificial intelligence, particularly in John’s heated debate with a board that is considering financing his android work.

Despite the kitchen-sink feel to it all, Extant has much going for it. Berry impressively handles the task of playing a woman who's coming to grips with both a interstellar conception and a laboratory-built “son.” And so far the series has done a good job of balancing the gee-whiz gadget fetishism of science fiction with the need for characters that the viewer will care about.

There are more questions than answers in the pilot of Extant, which, in this case, is a good thing. The seeds of dramatic conflict have been planted, and we're going to come back the next week to see how all of this plays out.

Of course, the first episode will leave you with more questions--which will make the drama one of the most compelling (or maddening) of the summer. Berry’s character drives the story. The Oscar winner is a good choice for the role.