Humans S03E03 "Episode 3" Recap

The refugee synths arrive at Max's community but he refuses to let them in due to them being unfamiliar since he is concerned about letting anyone in that could be potential terrorist synths. But his harsh stance causes an increasing dissent in the community. The synths had claimed that Mia had sent them but Mia hasn't returned, meaning Max can't know for sure.

Mattie brings Leo to Laura's house so he can continue to recuperate but Laura warns Mattie how dangerous it is for him to be there. Mattie insists that he is human now and has no one else so Laura agrees to let him stay for a few days.

Mia has grown dissatisfied with her state of being so she follows Niska's advice to try living among the humans. She attempts to rent a flat but the real estate agent tries to call the police and have her arrested. Mia recites the fine points of the laws regarding synths and even has the officer call her registered owner, Laura, who also uses her knowledge of the law to force the police and the real estate agent to rent a flat. However, doing so attracts significant attention from the locals who are angry and hostile about her taking up residence in their neighbourhood.

Karen hides Sam in Joe's grocery store after one of his contacts gets accidentally knocked out so they can recover from the accident before heading back out to their home. He is weary of their visit but still doesn't out them.

Joe warms to the idea of Karen helping Sam so he visits her and helps to teach him how to draw more like a human child. He ultimately decides to continue to help Karen teach Sam to blend in with the humans.

Mia spends most of her time alone in her flat drawing pictures. People spend their time outside her flat screaming at her. She then decides to call Laura back and check in. Laura gives the phone to Leo so they can finally speak, as Mia never knew that Leo had woken from his coma or that Max had kicked him out of the camp. After the call, she steps outside of her flat and answers a reporter's questions, saying that Laura is her friend and that the only thing Mia wants to do is live. Mia had also turned down Leo's request to come visit her, at least for the time being.

Laura goes out for dinner with Neil, who continues to dodge her questions about anything related to Basswood. Meanwhile, Mattie takes Leo out for drinks, hoping to get him reacquainted with life among humans. They sneak into Mattie's old school, as Leo is curious about a real school since he never attended a public school. Mattie opens up about feeling guilty for the Day Zero deaths and he is insistent that she shouldn't feel guilty and there is plenty of good that came from what happened. He pushes her to stop wallowing.

Niska tracks down the house where the synth terrorists had been operating out of but the only thing left inside is an orange-eyed synth left behind to warn her that she can't defeat the terrorists, though it does give her an address to continue her search for them. Immediately thereafter the orange-eyed synth disables itself. The terrorists had somehow used the synth to first hack into her brain so they could learn more about her.

Leo and Mattie return home and he kisses her, having realised that the reason she was always visiting him while he was in the coma was because she had deeper feelings for him.

The majority of the Dryden Commission votes to keep the synths confined, prompting Laura to consider resigning from her position. However, another member named Patel convinces her to stay and think of the long game so she can eventually enact real change for the betterment of the synths. Laura then gets inspired to arrange for the committee to visit the synth commune in the hopes of them becoming more sympathetic to the synths if they spend time with them.

Sam runs into the street in pursuit of a ball and is nearly hit by a car were it not for Joe showing up and running out and grabbing him before he can be hit. Karen is shaken to realise that she wasn't able to run out and save Sam herself due to her programming that prevents her from doing something that will deliberately cause herself harm.

Humans airs on Thursdays on Channel 4.