With the rapid pace at which the climate is being modified, it’s unlikely Earth will stay the same in the coming decades. The more nature shifts into its unnatural forms, the more the life of everyone living on the planet will alter.
Depicting this inevitable change and its impact on the relationships between people, Scott Z. Burns has come up with an 8-part show titled Extrapolations that features some of the greatest actors in Hollywood at present. However, despite having a stunning cast, Extrapolations has received mixed reviews, mostly due to its grim and monotonous way of conveying the problem at hand.
It features multiple stories of families from each decade of the future, and all they seem to have in common is the unshakable fear of what calamity they’d have to face next. Each episode features a specific year and the predicted climate situation that people from that year would be facing. Extrapolations serve as a wake-up call to those who still can’t accept that environmentally destructive behavior needs to be stooped before it’s too late to go back.
Scott serves as both the creator and writer for the show, and he is well recognized for his works like The Report and Contagion. Seeing that Contagion ended up becoming true to an extent, Scott Z. Burns knows his ways with how the world works.
The atmosphere of most of the episodes is bleak and miserable, but somehow within each episode, hope is found at the darkest of times. Extrapolations has been airing since March 17th, 2023, and will continue airing all of its episodes until mid-April.
Extrapolations: The Plot
The plot of each episode usually begins with an introduction to the characters and then the year and place they are at. As the episode goes on, we see the major climate change issue they are facing and the way people have chosen to cope with it. Hopelessness and straining relationships are common themes in most of the episodes, although each episode usually has a seemingly positive end.
Episode one features the story of Rebecca and Marshall as they live through a time when forest fires were increasing rapidly. Despite technology and medicine being at an advanced stage, the state of the Earth kept getting worse.
The story starts in Tel Aviv, where forest fires fill the whole sky with gloomy smoke. A similar situation happened in St. Petersburg, where more than 750,000 acres were being burnt to the ground.
With the government or people in power not doing anything to stop the fires, protests erupt in various parts of the world. All the nations meet up to discuss the help they could offer in exchange for survival necessities such as water and shelter.
The second episode talks about a marine biologist that forms a deep connection with a humpback whale, but due to the species being at risk of completely vanishing from the face of the Earth, the future of the wholesome relationship lies uncertain. Rebecca wakes up her child and sees that her city has received an orange alert which means that they won’t be able to go out much that day.
Another marine biologist named Marco talks to Rebecca about Humpback whales becoming very rare and the ones they were monitoring were choosing to end their lives due to the poor environmental conditions.
Rebecca informs Marco about a whale she had that ended up dying due to ocean temperatures being more than 90 degrees. The food column of the ocean was collapsing. She hoped that the one humpback whale she was focusing on would return.
The degrading atmosphere was also affecting Rebecca’s child. She talks to a whale using advanced technology, and the voice is provided by Meryl Streep. After finally getting ahold of the whale, Rebecca has a thoughtful conversation with her that makes her realize that all creatures of the world are connected and are going through climate change together.
The third episode takes place in 2047, and the climate becomes worse, causing several countries to be filled with refugees. Floods start happening in major cities, and everyone rushes to protect the buildings of their interest. The episode throws a different light on religion, one that questions the destiny that Earth was set to follow that was written in the scriptures.
By including a young girl’s perspective, we also see the hope that arises in younger generations despite their degrading living conditions. After the fifth episode, life on Earth becomes chaotic. We see a story set in the year 2059, where two criminals try to make a living by completing a dangerous mission.
Extrapolations: The Cast Of The Show
This series has a star-studded cast and consists of Hollywood celebrities from different genres. The first episode consists of Daveed Diggs in the role of Marshall Zucker, Kit Harington as Nicholas Bilton, Sienna Miller and Rebecca Shearer, and Tahar Rahim in the role of Omair Haddad. Matthew Rhys plays the role of Junior, Hannah will be portrayed by Heather Graham, and Ben Zucker by Peter Riegert.
Other cast members of 2037: A Raven Story include Yara Shahidi, Leslie Uggams, Cherien Dabis, and Cara Gee. The “Whale Fall” episode includes actors such as Sienna Miller as Rebecca once again, Meryl Streep as Eve Shearer, Eisa Davis as Christina, Ato Essandoh as Marco, and Douglas Hodge as Hendricks. Kit Harington and Tahar Rahim repeat their previous roles for the second episode.
2047‘s Cast includes David Schwimmer in the role of Harris Goldblatt, Judd Hirsch will play David Goldblatt, and Alpha will be voiced by Nick Kroll. Alana Goldblatt, one of the main characters of the episode, will be played by Neska Rose. Leslie Uggams will play the role of Isbael Zucker, Marshall’s mom, while Marianne Rendon will be Gabriela, Alana’s mother and Harris’s wife.
The third episode will feature Marshall Zucker once again. The fourth episode of Extrapolations, titled Face of God, will consist of Diane Lane as Martha Russel, Edward Norton as Jonathan Chopin, Indira Varma will be playing the role of Gita Mishra, and Adarsh Gourav will be Gaurav.
Other cast members of 2059’s episode will be Michael Gandolfini, Chery Jones, Deidre Goodwin, Mia Maestro, and Aimee Mullins. Kit Harington will reprise his role as Nicholas Bilton. The Cast of the rest of the episodes hasn’t been revealed, but from the trailer, it can be confirmed that Tobey McGuire will also be included in one of the episodes.
meryl streep can even play a humpback whale, your fave could never #Extrapolations pic.twitter.com/UkZZCf7woB
— 𝗲𝘃𝗮✨ (@kellmanstreep) March 15, 2023
Actors like Meryl Streep, Kit Harington, and Edward Norton are award-winning celebrities who have huge hits to their names. To see them all come together for a show that aims to save the future of the Earth is indicative of how serious the problem of climate change is.
What makes Extrapolations more intimidating is the fact that Scott Z. Burns is the writer behind it. The director is known for coming out with movies that may seem far-fetched at first but turn out to be realistic as time passes.
Extrapolations: Trailer
From the trailer, it’s apparent that Extrapolations is not fiction and could be regarded as a documentary for the future if things continue to be the way they are. Each episode’s storyline will somehow be connected to the events that were shown in the previous episodes. To understand the plot of Extrapolations clearly, it’s better to watch the show in the order of the title years.
Extrapolations: Episode Schedule
The anthology series has been ordered for 8 episodes. Each of them has varying writers and directors, but all follow the vision set by Scott Z. Burns. The episode list includes the following:
- Episode 1: 2037: A Raven Story – March 17th, 2023.
- Episode 2: 2046: Whale Fall – March 17th, 2023.
- Episode 3: 2047: The Fifth Question – March 17th, 2023.
- Episode 4: 2059: Face of God – March 24th, 2023.
- Episode 5: 2059 Part II: Nightbirds: March 31st, 2023.
- Episode 6: April 7th, 2023
- Episode 7: April 14th, 2023
- Episode 8: April 21st, 2023
The first two episodes of Extrapolations were written by Scott, while the rest feature other writers such as Bess Wohl, Rajiv Joseph, and Ademu-John. Aside from Burns, a few episodes will also be directed by Gregory Jacobs and Ellen Kuras.
Extrapolations: Streaming Guide
Not many streaming options exist for Extrapolations besides Apple TV. The Platform releases new episodes of the anthology series at 3:00 am ET and 2:00 am CT. Since Extrapolations are relatively new, it will take time for them to be taken up by other platforms. The release timings in other places will be:
- United Kingdom: 7:00 am, Fridays
- Australia: 6:00 pm, Fridays
- Philippines: 3:00 pm, Fridays
- India: 12:30 pm, Fridays
- Canada: 3:00 am, Fridays
- Germany: 8:00 am, Fridays
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