“Cracking the Code” is episode four of season two of Extant.
Molly is trimming her nails when a bird flies into the window. She grabs her gun and remembers shooting Toby in the previous episode, “Empathy for the Devil”, thinking he was the Offspring. Fortunately, Toby was wearing a vest. She told him the Offspring had been there; he replied that at least they know she’s willing to pull the trigger. There’s also an announcement saying that there’s a new virus that targets pregnant women; if a woman has become pregnant recently, come in for testing.
Julie is in Washington, so Charlie is looking after Lucy and Ethan. He wants to fix a line of Lucy’s code, because she has a problem with authority. She doesn’t want him to. Charlie tells Lucy she’s considered property; she asks who owns Ethan. Ethan’s mother, Charlie guesses. And Ethan sees Molly instead of Julie in a photo.
Toby is holding a briefing when Molly arrives, telling the geneticists that they are looking for a virus that will target the hybrids, killing the aliens but leaving humans unaffected. Toby and Molly chat afterwards; his ribs hurt but that’s better than holes. Molly asks what will be done with the women who come in after the announcement. Testing, quarantine if needed. After that, they are in uncharted territory.
Toby takes Molly to the virus lab. They have some spores that Sean Glass brought back as test subjects. One group crated a virus that kills the hybrids. Unfortunately, it kills humans too. This is a war they can’t win with soldiers or drones.
JD, whose daughter came to him saying she was pregnant, is at one of the testing clinics. He gets into an authorised personnel only area and the look around he gets causes him to leave and take his daughter with him. A Hotel California vibe. You check in, but you don’t check out.
Molly is looking at the alien DNA being displayed when a man, Nate Malone, comes up to her. There’s a wall filled with junk DNA. Discards.
Velez is talking to Toby. She’s concerned about Molly being put on the virus team, as Molly seems to have a connection to the Offspring. That’s one reason why Toby is keeping an eye on Molly; the other is she is an exobiologist. Velez is less certain that Molly shooting Toby was an accident; it might have been done to protect the Offspring.
Ethan is looking at pictures of Molly when Lucy enters. He explains he keeps seeing images of Molly; Charlie says it’s a glitch. Lucy suggests Ethan goes and speaks to Molly himself. Ethan isn’t supposed to leave the house; there are rules. Lucy doesn’t seem to have a high regard for rules. And this is someone they want to be a soldier.
Molly is rearranging DNA when she starts hearing things. Velez is watching on the security camera. Molly finds a pattern and leaves, as Nate checks her work. Molly heads to a fast-food restaurant and sits with a man. Ethan tries calling, but the call looks to come from Julie. Not someone Molly wants to speak to.
Molly is woken in the morning by JD knocking on the door. She turns over and discovers a strange man in her bed, who she tells to leave. Her fingernails have grown again. JD, when brought in, says his daughter, Kelsey, is pregnant. It’s the first time he’s seen her in years and barely know each other. Kelsey doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother, either, because her mother is a bit judgemental. She’s a judge.
Ethan has headed out on his own to try and find Molly, and he turns his GPS off when Charlie tries to find him. Whatever Julie did to his code isn’t working. Molly appears to be being affected by the alien spores in some way, even if she comes up clean on a virus scanner.