Sunday, March 26, 2017

What I’m Watching: Humans


Humans: Season 2, Episode 7 (B+)

Okay, so I know that AMC actually aired the eighth and final episode of this season right after the seventh, but I’d prefer to stretch this show out longer, especially since this hour was really good. It’s hard to decipher who the good guys and who the bad guys are when the one at the top is actually Dr. Morrow, whose feelings about synths come from a much more personal place and who isn’t intent on making the sentient ones suffer the same way as some of her colleagues are. After Hester nearly intimidated Mattie into cooperation by force at the start of the episode, she showed a cool, calculating demeanor when she didn’t let herself be talked down by a surprisingly adept Pete and instead killed both the doctor and Pete. I’ll admit that Pete’s death caught me off-guard since I hadn’t imagined that he would be killed and certainly not like this, and the most intense part of it was seeing Karen sob with such sadness and then reveal no trace of any emotion just seconds later. The devastation that Leo and Anita felt when all of the freed synths collapsed behind them after they had been broken out was poignant, and it’s easy to forget that they too can be simply switched off with a mere touch or click. As they are immersing themselves fully into the battle, Niska is deciding that she doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore, preferring instead to spend time with her girlfriend, someone who makes her feel human. The news that Renie isn’t really a synth probably shouldn’t be too surprising, and it’s just the latest interesting comment about what kind of behavior passes for normal in this new world.

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