This Chilling Halle Berry Thriller Just Hit Netflix's Top 10—and How Have I Never Heard of it Before?

The show is getting a second life

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Netflix

Halle Berry has starred in her fair share of notable thrillers throughout her iconic career: Gothika, The Call and Perfect Stranger, to name a few. But there’s one in particular—a TV show—that slipped under my radar.

Extant, which originally ran for two seasons on CBS from 2014 to 2015, saw Berry starring as an astronaut who returns to Earth after a year living in space and finds that her experiences have led to events that will change the course of human history. A sci-fi series right up the alley of its executive producer, Steven Spielberg, Extant received mixed reviews at the time of its airing, which eventually led to its cancellation in October 2015. While things may not have worked out during its initial run, Extant is getting a second life on Netflix, where it has reached the top ten in the TV shows category on the platform.

Holding a 77 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and a 61 percent on the Popcorn Meter, Extant received so-so critical reviews upon its release.

The audience reviews, however, point towards why this show is making a comeback. “Well-acted by Halle Berry and Jeffrey Dean Morgan...The story stays one step ahead of us,” raves one audience member. “Ever better than the first season, the plotline thickens,” exclaims another, giving us a preview of what’s to come. 

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Netflix

While doing press for the show, Berry spoke on a panel alongside her co-stars and explained why she was drawn to the role. “There were so many elements that drew me to it, but probably the first one was being a mother.  This was a character, when I first read it, that was so relatable to me.  I felt like it was just in my DNA.  I had a knowingness about this character and a fundamental understanding.”

She continued, “While I’m not an astronaut or scientist – far, far from it – I still had an understanding about the human quality of this woman and her struggle to not only find time for herself, which is what she loves to do, but also to be a good mother.  That’s the struggle that I have struggled with since my kids were born.  So, that drew me to her.  She’s also strong.  She’s complicated, and I’m complicated.  But, she has a will to survive and to win.”

You can stream Extant on Netflix.

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