“Before the Blood” is episode twelve of season one of Extant.
In the previous episode, “A New World”, Katie was brought to the Seraphim by another station that had found the Aruna escape pod. She’s telling Glass that there wasn’t a fire on the Aruna. She left the Aruna because there was fighting. Madness had spread like a virus and people were killing each other. Katie had a feeling that whatever caused it wasn’t from Earth. She programmed the escape pod for a medical coma, knowing there was no way she’d be rescued in time. Yet she was. After 23 months.
Molly is with Jackson watching Sparks sleep. Sparks told Molly she did something, but she doesn’t know what. Jackson says they know what Sparks did; he fooled them to gain access to the internal network. Molly thinks she entered codes, but she doesn’t know what. Only Sparks does. Jackson suggests she talk to him, and show him.
Molly shows pictures of Anya, dead, to Sparks. Sparks says it’s only temporary; the boy always gives back what’s lost. Life breaks them and makes them stronger, but what if they didn’t have to break. They all deserve to be made whole again.
Odin tells Ethan he has to go. But if Ethan is taken to the lab, and he thinks they’re going to do something radical, get in touch with Odin. He hands Ethan something he says is a very special phone, only for use in emergencies and only press it at the lab when Ethan thinks it’s really happening. Given that Odin but an explosive inside Ethan in the previous episode, it’s probably a detonator, not a phone.
The ISEA is waiting to get back the comsats that Sparks took down. However, the Seraphim is not where it’s supposed to be. The data long shows a remote access and Molly realises it’s from when she was at the cabins, doing something. But she doesn’t know what.
Later, Molly and John are talking, trying to work out what she could have done at a remote terminal. John is rather more suspicious of the Offspring than Molly is. It may be unscientific, but maybe they can’t understand its purpose, because it’s, well, alien. John thinks the Offspring is manipulating Molly. Molly thinks it can’t just be alien, because a part of it is her. Ethan enters; he wonders if they’re talking about him. Given Odin has been undermining his belief in his parents.
On the Seraphim, Sean is trying with B.E.N. to work out why the communications are down. It turns out the power supply fried. They need to fix the antenna.
In the lab, Charlie has discovered that Ethan was powered down for 87 minutes and tells Julie. Julie says Odin was with Ethan at John’s house during that time. No, John wasn’t there. Charlie is concerned. Julie, not so much, but she agrees they need to check it out.
Sam is giving Molly a memory enhancer, so she can remember what codes she types in. Once done, Molly takes them to B.E.N. They work out what it was and Molly tells Jackson that she warned the Seraphim that asteroids were on a collision course and the station automatically avoided them. They work out the Seraphim passed close to another station, and contact it. The man who brought Molly to the Seraphim tells them what happened.
The video of Katie is shown to Sparks. On seeing it, he tells them the Seraphim is falling out of orbit. It will disintegrate when it hits the atmosphere. He said it was necessary. Jackson wants to send Molly up to rescue Glass.
John is right to be worried about the Offspring, but it seems Molly’s belief that it is part of her as well may be right too. But everyone should be concerned about those who created the Offspring in Molly.