It was another two-hour Extantraganza tonight as Molly searched for Circles and Sparks flipped his gourd.

Yep, in Extant Season 1 Episode 9 and Extant Season 1 Episode 10 things went -- as someone on Twitter noted -- whackadoodle. 

I'm going to give you a warning right now -- I'm a little whacked myself from polyurethane paint fumes. If I'm not up to par, I'm blaming the circles in my brain, so please forgive me and carry some of the heavy lifting in comments.

Essentially what we've learned is that anyone who comes in contact with Circles is modified in some way. Whether they know it or not, they aren't the same. Some, like Kryger, are able to escape its grasp. Others, like Kern, don't even know they're touched. Those like Sparks are happy to be changed and don't want it to end and ... Molly? I have no idea how to explain how Molly has been effected. 

Molly at times seems cognizant of the dangers of her little bundle of joy and at others is concerned for its safety. Maybe after being used so egregiously, she'll have less concern.

Yasumoto connects (and that's an important word here) Molly with Dr. Mason to help her find Circles. It's unclear exactly what Yasumoto knows about Circles, but it doesn't seem like he has the full story. Sparks does anything he can to protect Circles, including allowing it to feed on innocent bystanders. Everything comes at a cost.

But what is the cost? Mason talked about the evolutionary leap after hearing how Circles connects those he touches with those they lost. Mind alteration isn't connection. All of these visions are fake (as Kryger deduced) and I was happy to see inside the dome cottage so we knew Katie was only in the minds of Mr. and Ex-Mrs. Sparks. It got a little confusing, to be honest.

All Circles wanted from Molly was to totally frak with her mind so she would change the coordinates of the Seraphim to bring it closer to earth. I knew that astronaut wasn't a one and done actor, so maybe he's going to help save the world from what appears to be an alien invasion.

While I thought it was humans who were going to go extinct and (perhaps) benevolent aliens coming to give humanity an evolutionary leap forward to stave off the end of our species, now I'm of the mind that it's the aliens that are going extinct and they want to terraform and adapt humanity to maintain some of their own kind.

That's all I can come up with. Do you have any thoughts? Are the human and alien sides of Circles battling each other or has the show gone off the rails?

While I was at first concerned about Odin getting close to Ethan, he had an opportunity to kill Ethan if he wanted to (or to at least do harm) and he chose not to. My new theory is Odin and friends will use Ethan and his ability to make connections to figure out what the hell is going on with Circles and to save the world, realizing humanics aren't the worst that could happen to us after all.

The only thing I know for sure is if the aliens are supposed to be kind, they're doing it wrong. They're going to have a hard time proving to me they're worth anything other than no good after losing Kryger. Sparks is shooting people like he's at target practice and that doesn't count those Circles eats. That hardly seems beneficial to mankind.

If the moral is that humans will do anything to reconnect with those we've lost and have yet to learn how to cope with the only constant in life -- death -- then I don't like that moral. Memories will do me just fine.

Right now I feel like Molly looked when she was typing in her codes, so I'm going to leave further examination in your capable hands. 

Remember -- you can watch Extant online via TV Fanatic if you've missed out!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.