Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Extraordinary’ Season 2.
In a streaming landscape filled with gory, gritty takes on what a super-powered world could look like,Extraordinaryis a much-needed subversion of this typically dark genre made popular by shows likeThe BoysandInvincible. Taking a more mundane and realistic approach to what a world with superheroes could look like, this comedy series created byEmma Moranon Hulu focuses on Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a powerless 25-year-old struggling in a world whereevery person is supposed to manifest their abilities at 18 years old.
The first season saw her finally confronted with the damage she’s done to those around her (her equally chaotic friends and family) by her selfishness, realizing that the world doesn’t revolve around her just because she was wronged by it.It’s a compelling story with a great ensembleof characters who end this installment with various plot threads the show could pick up on Season 2, but not without introducing a whole new set of riveting storylines and questions for audiences to fixate on while we wait for a potential Season 3. Let’s look at these questions and see where this hilarious series could go.
Extraordinary
Welcome to a world where everyone over the age of 18 develops a superpower. Everyone except for 25-year-old Jen, who feels like she’s being left behind. Luckily, Jen’s flatmates – Carrie, Kash, and a mysterious stray – keep her from falling into a well of self-pity. Adrift in a big, confusing world, and armed with nothing but a bit of hope and a lot of desperation, Jen begins her journey to find her maybe-superpower. But in doing so, she might discover the joy of being just kind of ok.
‘Extraordinary’s Super Friends Are Super Messy
Extraordinary’sfirst season ended on a massive cliffhanger, with Jen’s amnesiac former pet-turned-love-interest Jizzlord (Luke Rollason) encountering a young boy and his mother in a supermarket with the boy saying, “That looks like dad!.” His introduction saw Jizzlord come out of being shapeshifted into a cat for four years, not knowing who he was beforehand and becoming content with not knowing,happy with the life he’d begun making with Jen. Despite this, Jizzlord decides to try to be a father, focusing on his child as Jen and his old wife Nora (Rosa Robson) have a feud in the background. He’s eventuallyforced to choose between his relationship with Jen and his role in his son’s life, making the hard choice of fatherhood over romance. That is, before he finds out that he’s actually not the father, his ex-best friend is, and the whole reason he’d shapeshifted for so long was a traumatic response to finding him and Nora in bed together. Freed from paternal responsibility and any loyalty to his past, the season ends with Jizzlord happy with his new friends and ready to forge a whole new life for himself.
While Jizzlord struggles with potential fatherhood, Jen’s other roommates, the ghost medium Carrie (Sofia Oxenham) and time-rewinding Kash (Bilal Hasna), begin this season heartbroken; with Carrie wanting a more structured relationship and his refusal to mature,their breakup at the end of Season 1was a surprisingly devastating scene for the comedy series. They still live together in spite of this breakup, andthis season sees them struggle to live their own lives while still caring so much about each other. It doesn’t help when Kash decides to hang out with Carrie’s self-duplicating work crush, Clark (Kwaku Mills), leading to the two men making out and Kash realizing he’s sexually fluid. While initially gutted and lonely at Kash being with someone else, the pair learn that there’s no romance left between them even though they still love each other as best friends. They end the season content with this friendship, with Carrie realizing she needs to be alone and work on becoming a confident person and Kash understanding that he needs to start taking life more seriously, his power evolving to moving forward in time as well as back to reflect this significant growth.
Jen Search for Powers Ends in Personal Growth
WhileExtraordinary’sentire ensemble offers some great moments and riveting questions, the story’s central focus is still on Jen — primarily, whether she will ever discover her power (or if she even has one in the first place). The end of Season 1 finds her with enough money to join a clinic that will help “induce” her ability, and this season finds her paired with psychic counselor George (Julian Barratt) to try and untangle what repressed emotions may be holding the ability (and herself) back.
This literal journey through her mind makes the young woman realize important things about herself and the relationships closest to her, namely that with her parents, technopath mother Mary (Siobhán McSweeney), and long-deceased father Martin (Ardal O’Hanlon), whom Jen still speaks with due to Carrie’s possession ability. While her time with the clinic doesn’t end well,she can finally say goodbye to her fatherand commit to moving on with her life. This astounding action addresses the trauma Jen’s always ignored — though it does not lead to her power immediately awakening. Distressed and sad over her lack of a power and telling her dad a final goodbye, the season finale finds Jen at “The Void.”
The Void is a new addition to Season 2, a local ethereal nowhere space the city uses as a dumping ground. Jen goes there to throw away the phone she used to contact her father and even considers jumping into it herself, willing to risk its great unknown over the complicated reality she lives in now. Luckily, her friends appear, reminding the young woman of all her progress and the strength she’s developed thanks to her tremendous work trying to better herself. Jen remembers this progress andprepares to take on the world with a refreshed view of life— which is right when Kash accidentally knocks her into the Void. A jaw-dropping mistake thateven Kash’s temporal powers can’t undo, the season ends with Jen lost to her friends and appearing on the other side of the void on a sunny patch of grass, shocked by some sight the viewers don’t get to see.
‘Extraordinary’ Shows That the Real Power Is Self-Acceptance
In this case, not having a power makes you extraordinary.
How Does ‘Extraordinary’ Set Up Season 3?
ExtraordinarySeason 2 offers viewers a great update on the characters they’ve grown to love and answers their burning questions since the first season, thoughnot without introducing a whole new setfor audiences to agonize over before Season 3. Will Carrie finally learn to embody the confidence she admires in others, and what does a non-meek version of this endearing character even look like? With Kash’s abilities constantly evolving and the young man finally learning that life isn’t a rehearsal, will watchers finally see him take on some responsibility? Most importantly, where did Jen end up, and will she be able to get back to her friends —perhaps with a brand-new power? No matter what, this season saw our complicated protagonist undergo a fantastic journey of reflection that leaves her more mature and capable. She may not have found her ability, but this newfound confidence is a power in itself that will help Jen triumph wherever the story takes her next.
