斯皮尔伯格新剧《传世》 不只是科幻

The names of Steven Spielberg and Halle Berry alone would make Extant, CBS’ new summer sci-fi drama, a must-watch. Their latest collaboration proves not only the magic of the talented duo, but also shows how delicate and inventive a summer series can be.

史蒂文•斯皮尔伯格担任担任监制，奥斯卡影后哈莉•贝瑞担任主演，光凭这两个人名就足以使CBS暑期档科幻新剧《传世》成为一部必追之作。该剧不仅展现出这两位天才合作的魔力，更用事实证明暑期剧也可以如此制作精良、匠心独具。

The Spielberg-produced series begins when astronaut Molly Woods (Halle Berry) returns home after a 13-month-long solo mission in space. While she’s struggling to fit back in with her family — scientist husband John and their “son” Ethan, an artificial intelligence robot created by John — Woods’ doctor drops a bomb: she’s pregnant.

电视剧围绕宇航员莫莉•伍兹（哈莉•贝瑞饰）与身为天才科学家的丈夫约翰，以及他们的“儿子”——由约翰发明的人工智能机器人伊森展开。剧集伊始，莫莉刚刚独自执行完为期13个月的太空任务，回到家中；就在她努力想要回归家庭时，她的医生却告诉她一个可怕的消息：她竟然怀孕了！

The show’s high-concept mystery at its center is quite intriguing, but judging by an early look at things after three episodes (the series premiered on July 9), what drives Extant isn’t the who’s-the-daddy mystery, but the show’s ideas.

虽然《传世》的高概念悬疑备受争议，但是从前三集（该剧于7月9日首播）中可以看出，该剧的主线并非“谁是孩子他爸”这一谜团，《传世》的理念才是重点。

First, it establishes with several quick cues that you’re looking at the future: driverless cars, bathroom mirrors that turn into television screens at a touch, and garbage cans that compact trash elegantly.

首先，该剧提供了未来生活的诸多展望：无人驾驶汽车，指尖轻触就能变成电视屏幕的浴室镜，以及可优雅压缩垃圾的垃圾桶。

Extant also combines a lot of sci-fi premises we’ve seen before. For example, Woods’ predicament, explored through flashbacks to her lonely time working in space, is reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), with a touch of Gravity (2013) thrown in. There’s also the corporate conspiracy that recalls Alien (1979), and the series’ main plot is straight from Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).

其次，《传世》还借鉴了大量其他科幻影片的元素，比如剧中关于伍兹在太空独自工作的种种窘境的镜头，让我们不由想起1968年的《2001太空漫游》以及2013年上映的《万有引力》。而剧中关于集团阴谋的情节则让人们想起1979年的电影《异形》，而整个故事的主线则直接来自斯皮尔伯格2001年的《人工智能》。

Those ideas may not be new, but the creators deserve credit for trying to revive this kind of classic sci-fi mystery, which it is hard to find new ideas for.

虽然这些元素略显老套，但是能再现这些经典的科幻悬疑元素本身就可圈可点，毕竟要想到新创意实属不易。

It’s way too soon to say whether the show will work out, but it’s promising that the early episodes seem confident enough to play it cool and create an atmosphere, rather than directly giving audiences many “wow” moments.

该剧能否大获成功尚未可知，它展现的绝不是单纯几处惊艳瞬间，仅前几集就将氛围营造得恰到好处，引人致胜。

Despite starring an Oscar-winning actress, the first three episodes don’t offer many shining moments for Berry, whose performance is reserved and quiet. But of course, Berry’s star quality is enough to keep us riveted and waiting for whatever twist comes next.

尽管该剧由奥斯卡影后担任主演，但前三集中并没有给贝瑞太多出彩的机会，相反，她的表演平静而克制。但是，贝瑞的高超演技足以让我们继续关注该剧，静待剧情发展。

In the end, Extant may be going where many other sci-fi stories have gone before, but for a summer network drama, it’s at least trying to take a slightly different path. It certainly has the potential to be extant throughout the hot months.

最后，《传世》或许和许多科幻剧一样，但是对于一部夏季档网络剧而言，它至少尝试做了些微改变。当然，《传世》也有可能在这个炎热的夏季大放光彩。