Extant

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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 plays with genres, mixing sci-fi, conspiracy thriller and scenes from a struggling marriage. It also asks some daring questions about the collision of machine and humanity.

Berry provides (pardon the pun) enough gravity to make Extant feel like a genuine work of science fiction, rather than a soap opera dressed up in sci-fi drag, which happens too often on the broadcast networks.

If parts of the tale are familiar, it's all well-told, with a bit of visual flair.... [Berry] brings a dignity and gravity to Molly, a projected intelligence that allows you to buy her as an astronaut and to see what has happened to her as frightening rather than ridiculous.

Capitalizing on the astronaut-in-peril popularity of last year’s “Gravity,” and buoyed by Spielberg’s influence, the 13-episode Extant looks to be an enjoyable if not mind-blowingly-original summer series.

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.

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.

No one element of this show feels original, and yet I would totally watch more, even if just to peep at the sleek futuristic garbage cans again.

While Wednesday's pilot episode of Extant (all that was available for review) lacks the sort of unforgettable "wow" moment provided by the severed cow in Dome's opener, the new series also seems less likely to lapse irrevocably into silly hysteria.

I am not yet sold, but I will stick around a while to see what this future holds.

It’s way too soon to say whether this jumble works, but it’s promising that Extant‘s premiere seems confident enough to play it cool and mysterious rather than hammer us with holy-crap moments.

The short, 41-minute opener (I'd DVR it and fast-forward through the commercials) is slickly filmed, generally well acted and ends with an intriguing revelation. But so little feels new and fresh.