Showing posts with label Series 1. Show all posts

Humans S1E8 (S1 Finale) - "Episode 8" Recap


Hobb brings Leo, Max, Mia, Fred, and Niska into captivity and places them into a lab to sync up their minds and try to retrieve David's programme. But it's not a successful attempt because Karen isn't hooked up to them. Hobb has also admitted to altering Fred to be his primary user and intends on disassembling all the other synths.

The Hawkins are being essentially help hostage. But Drummond sneaks Mattie and Toby out with Mattie's laptop, on which she has a copy of Leo's memories from when he had connected to it. Leo threatens to Hobb that she'll leak the footage to the press, and Hobb has not choice but to set the Synths and the Hawkins free. They meet up together but Fred leaks the location to Hobbs. As Hobb's forces follow after them, the group is forced to flee into the downstairs area of a building where an anti-Synth rally is taking place. Toby has already figured out that Fred is responsible for the leak of their location and the Synths are forced to shut him off. Meanwhile, Laura takes Joe aside and opens up about her dead brother.

Leo tries to retrieve the code from Fred's mind but can't manoeuvre his way around Hobb's crude code. Karen then arrives, as Leo had told her where they were himself. She agrees to do the sync with them and when under, Karen tries to shut them all down. In the sync, Mia implores Karen not to harm Leo or the rest of their family and eventually relents. David's program is assembled and Karen leaves. She is later met by Drummond who seems to be interested in exploring a relationship with her.

The group must decide what to do next. Niska deletes the code from the computer after copying it onto an external hard drive which she says they should entrust to someone who can keep it safe, Laura. They will decide what to do next regarding the code on their own. The Synths decide to head off on their own but must leave Fred alone because of the risk he poses to their anonymity.

The Hawkins returns home and Mattie is unable to find her other hard drive, leading Laura to grow rightfully suspicious. Niska had told the other Synths she wanted to head out and make her own life but she is revealed to have Mattie's hard drive with her own copy of the consciousness programme.

Humans will returns to Channel 4 for series 2.

Humans S1E7 - "Episode 7" Recap


Joe returns home and learns about Mia, the identity that had been buried deep within Anita's code. Mia had also been shown to be comforting Laura and assuring her that her family is strong.

Karen visits George's and asks Niska to kill her. Karen had been designed by David Elster to resemble his late wife Beatrice who had committed suicide. David had lied to the rest of his synths by claiming that he had killed her so the others left her behind. Karen wants Niska to kill her because she feels she has lived too long amongst the humans and there is no place for their kind amongst them. Nisei vehemently disagrees with this. Karen cannot kill herself because of a block that David had put into her code. When Karen learns of Niska's intent to make more of their kind, Karen threatens to shoot and kill Niska instead. George doesn't want Karen to kill Niska and implores her to see that the pain she feels is not because of what she is but the life she has led. George ends up shot in the crossfire and he tells Niska to run before the police arrive. She leaves with an apology and says she wishes she could save him. Vera the housekeeper has also been destroyed in the conflict. Odi stays with George and speaks with him until he dies.

Leo meets with Fred, another conscious synth, and they make plans to try to find Max. Niska calls to ask for help and Theo promises to send her another encrypted location for her to hide at and they will come meet her there.

Laura's son Toby is perturbed that Joe has returned and Mia feels guilty over what has happened that has strained Laura and Joe's relationship. Laura assures her that it wasn't her fault. Niska arrives at the Hawkins residence and Mia introduces her as her sister.

Law enforcement descend upon George's house and they make plans to retrieve Odi's memories, after which he is to be scrapped.

Niska fills Mia in on everything that has happened with Karen and tells Mia she must keep this from Leo for the time being because it would only distract him. In private, Mia tells Joe off for his actions and that she was there the whole time, noting how he'd started to hate himself before he'd even finished. Leo and Fred arrive with Max's body they recovered by the river and together, the synths and the Hawkins try to work to repair him as best they can.

Meanwhile, Pete is investigating Karen's stolen identity. Karen has turned herself in to the lead detective Hobbs, who knew Beatrice, David, and George in the old days. She's willing to help them stop the conscious Synths but only under the condition that he destroy her too once it's all over and done with.

Leo is shown to be getting emotional when alone in the bathroom and seeing all the children's toys. He is also withdrawn and unreceptive to others' attempts to make a connection to him. Niska begins to play with Sophie, despite having difficulties knowing how to do so at first. Joe and Toby are outside playing football with Fred until he suggests that perhaps they should go inside.

The group dynamic has a rift when a police officer arrives because Joe had called the police when he saw strangers in the house while spying on Laura. Leo insists that they will leave once Max is charged and Laura berates Joe for not listening to her when she said that she was handling things.

Mia tells Laura that it may be best if she tells Joe about her brother but Laura is standoffish about her most personal secret being invaded on. Over dinner, Niska finally reveals to Mia about the possiblity of imparting consciousness to other Synths. Joe thinks that this changes everything but Laura doesn't think it's necessarily right to stop them from procreating, so to speak, if they wish.

The following morning, the Synths try to power up Max again but find that he is too badly damaged to ever be what he was again. He is for all intensive purposes, dying. Leo suggests that they all try to sync themselves up to him to try to fix him. When Joe and Laura see a news story about Niska going on the rampage with her bat and send Sophie upstairs. They tell the Synths they need to leave, despite Mattie protesting that they need to help them. As Leo is gathering up his things, Karen reveals herself, having snuck in through the back door. He is emotional at seeing her and she says that they can all be together. When the rest of the Synths see her, they tell Leo he can't trust her. It's then that the police arrive and arrest all the Synths at the Hawkins resident, having been led there by Karen.

Humans airs on Sundays on Channel 4 at 10PM.

Humans S1E6 - "Episode 6" Review


This week's "Humans" upped the ante by giving us a bigger introduction to Mia, the former identity of Anita, and one major character death. This episode gave us answers to questions we've been asking since the show began. Unlike he originally hypothesised, Leo and Anita are not involved romantically. Instead, he sees her as a maternal figure after she and the other self-aware synths helped him to start over after he drowned at the age of 12 which he only came back from due to his father's scientific know-how.

One rather unsurprisingly plot development was the revelation that Tom was Laura's late younger brother who died in a fatal childhood accident. This was more or less exactly what we thought would come of the emotionality surrounding the mention of Tom. Given how severely Laura reacted to her son's nearly getting hit by a car, we were able to put together that Tom was her brother who must have died in that precise manner.

We were highly perturbed by the choice to kill Max, even more so since it was done to help save Leo. It's playing right into the all too common trope of the POC sidekick getting sacrificed for the betterment of the white hero. Pardon me, but are we not currently in the 21st century? Bearing in mind that this is happening on a science fiction show and thus, Max may very well return to the show, we'll keep our offended feelings at a low simmer for the time being.

Humans airs on Sundays on Channel 4 at 9PM.

Humans S1E5 - "Episode 5" Review


The darkest secrets can't stay buried for long, a lesson quickly learned by Joe Hawkins. Having previously switched Anita onto 'Adult Mode' and fornicated with her, the secret first makes its way to the surface when daughter Mattie discovers that Anita's 'Adult Mode' was activated via the report of her work-up. She wrongly assumes it was her younger teenaged brother Toby, who harbours a not-so-secret crush on Anita. In a surprising turn of events, Toby proves himself to be more interesting of a character than we originally thought as he quickly puts together what has really happened and takes the blame for it. It's intriguing to see how integral the plot events are to the development of the characters and our perceptions of them. While Laura had begun the series as highly critical of Synths and predominantly antagonistic towards Anita, we see the tables turned as she defends Anita's existential meaning to her husband, who is trying to lessen the severity of his extramarital shenanigans by demeaning Anita as nothing more than a "sex toy."

Anita's reunion with Leo was not as we'd have hoped. Though the scene was heart-wrenching, we'd hoped that it would have been a more joyous occasion but instead we were emotionally struck by Colin Morgan's entirely convincing devastation, as Leo believes that the woman/Synth he once knew was lost forever. By in large, Leo and Anita have been the most intriguing characters on the show thus far. This is due not only to the strength of Colin Morgan and Gemma Chan's performances, but also because of the slow reveal as to just who these characters truly are. Will we get more answers before series 1 is through? Well we certainly hope so!

Humans airs on Sundays on Channel 4.

Our Girl S1E4 - "Episode 4" Review


On tonight's Our Girl, we find the level of drama cranked up both personally and professionally for our three leads. There are some secrets about to come out regarding Captain James, and Smurf's mentally unbalanced hot-headedness will make another return, at perhaps the worst time possible. As for Molly, she'll have the responsibility of helping a team of Americans who are on the hunt for Bashira's father, Badral. So let's take a look at yet another hour of Tony-Grounds-penned goodness!

"You really hurt me."

All of our three leads find themselves with hurt feelings as this love triangle hits a breaking point. It all starts off with sweetness as Molly and Captain James dance around one another with their newly admitted feelings. But it has to be kept secret, as romance is against army regulations. Then comes a figurative bomb to blow up the short-lived happiness: Captain James is married and a father. Also, Smurf still hasn't taken a hint and wants to propose to Molly, having been sent an engagement ring from his mother. But when Smurf peeks in on Captain James and Molly while they're all out on a mission, he spots them kissing and declaring their love for one another, sending him on one of his signature tantrums.

The revelation regarding Captain James' marriage and fatherhood had us throwing up our hands and shouting at the screens. We should have known he'd be too good to be true. When he tells Molly that he and his wife are separated, we're inclined to believe him but it doesn't change the fact that he lied. He of all people should know the importance of not violating the trust amongst the soldiers in the platoon. Perhaps we're not as mad at Captain James as we could be, given the continued questionable behaviour we see from Smurf. Though Molly has made it clear that she only sees Smurf as a friend, he refuses to back down. It's not romantic; it's male entitlement. It will be sorely disappointing if Molly abruptly has a change of heart and decides to settle for Smurf, who is in serious need of psychological treatment and maybe even medication. For better or worse, Molly will treat Smurf with kindness and respect. It's nice to see that Molly's not leading him on, as that would only exacerbate the problem, and we can't help but sympathise with her. If she's nice to him, he'll continue to delude himself into thinking she's interested deep down. If she's more blunt ("rude") to him, he'll just be set off and lash out, putting the lives of those around him at risk. This part of the writing speaks to the dichotomy women face in navigating a world dominated by men, and how nice men will be to women they want something from but how quickly and aggressively they can shift when their advances are spurned. When Smurf loses it out on the mission, we can't help but wonder how someone so clearly mentally unstable is permitted to work in a profession where he handles dangerous weapons on a regular basis. Following the death of his brother, shouldn't he have undergone some sort of psychological evaluation? But there's something we take away from Smurf's speech, in which he expresses the betrayal he feels from the two people he held in higher regard than anyone (Captain James and Molly). It can be very dangerous to put people up on pedestals, as they'll inevitably make mistakes and leave you disappointed from the unrealistically high standards placed upon them.

"You're the only person who's eyeballed Badral. You'll be needed to positively ID him."

American soldiers have gotten involved in the mission to hunt down Bashira's father Badral. Having put a dossier together on him, it's discovered that he's a higher-ranking member of the Taliban than they had originally thought. As Molly is the only one on their side to have seen him, she'll need to come along on any and all missions to find him so that she can provide a positive ID. The episode's dramatic conclusion puts Molly right in the centre of it all. Her personal drama bleeds into the mission, as Smurf fires at an unarmed farmer. Captain James tries to talk him down and then Molly realises that one of the "women" in the back of the truck the troop is meant to be searching is actually Badral. Then it's time for a shoot-out with Badral on the one end, and all the soldiers on the other.

There's something slightly over-the-top about this showdown, almost giving it the feel of a cheesy old Western film. How is it that Badral manages to stay alive as long as he does when he's so clearly outnumbered? Then Molly's two suitors end up shot, just wounded enough to take them out of the fight, though not enough to kill them, but of course Molly's still alive and fine. In the end, she's the one that grabs a gun, turns around, and fires the kill shot. It all seems ridiculous, right? But think of all the storm troopers in Star Wars firing their weapons and hitting nothing and no one. Think of all the big-blockbuster action stars that always manage to be just in the right place and the right time to save the day, while their girlfriends (or booty calls) end up taken out of the action with a gnarly-looking flesh wound, if not just dead altogether to further the hero's "man-pain." So here's what's so brilliant about this happening on Our Girl: it's the girl who saves the day. The girl is the hero. This show has always placed a large focus on Molly's struggle as a woman working in a male-dominated line of work. Following this kill shot (which technically, we don't know is a kill shot since we didn't see if Badral was killed or just injured), Molly turns right back around to tend to the wounded Captain James and Smurf. Molly's not now, nor has she ever been just a pretty piece of flesh.

"I just hope that she's alright."

So now that Molly's suitors are all in the know about one another, as she is about them, the selection of one over the other may very well be part of next week's conclusion. Love triangles are a largely overused source of plot conflict. This episode arguably put too much of that type of drama into the episode. This show thrives best when it's closer to 2/3 military action and deeper philosophical ponderings and 1/3 Molly's romantic entanglements. Molly continued to show concern for Bashira's well-being, and expressed an interest in returning to Afghanistan after her tour is over to check in on her. Molly may have brought the best out in Captain James and Smurf, but it's Bashira who brings the best out in Molly, as seen when she risked her life to reassure Bashira that things would be all right as Bashira was strapped up in a bomb. If next week is the last we'll get of this show, as it's yet to be determined whether there will be a second series, the ending we're most hoping for is not Molly wrapped up in the arms of either of her suitors, but reunited with Bashira.

Our Girl airs on Sundays at 9PM on BBC One.
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