Based on a Swedish series, AMC’s summer co-production, Humans, took on the lofty topic of artificial intelligence with mixed results. Taking place in an alternative near-future Earth, Humans followed the troubled, crumbling Hawkins family as they took a new (troubled) Synth into their household. A service robot designed to look human. And gorgeous.
Elsewhere, in a story running parallel to the Hawkins’ experience with “Anita” (Gemma Chan), a desperate young man named Leo (Colin Morgan) tried to track down his missing family members. Sentient Synths, capable of experiencing human-like emotion, being hunted by a mysterious man (saddled with rather on-the-nose villain chatter) named Hobb (Danny Webb).
The set up here was fine. And the 8-episode season was solidly executed. But it never really went for it. It never truly pushed the edges of the envelope. Airing during a year featuring the excellent Ex Machina and CBS’ woefully underrated and disturbing Person of Interest, Humans played things rather safe. In fact, it basically had a happy ending. Even one of the special Synths, the most childlike one, Max (Ivanno Jeremiah), got rebooted again. Effectively negating his wonderful self-sacrifice in “Episode 6.”
So one of my big gripes with Humans is that, in this Golden Age of TV, on AMC, and with the extraordinary topic of A.I., it gave us a rather standard story. My other issue stems from the fact that the big mystery surrounding Antia’s origins, and her unsettling quirks within the Hawkins household, was sort of undercut by also introducing the special Synths at the same time.
Gemma Chan and Pixie Davies in Humans.
So viewers essentially knew what she was and what her deal was. Not the specifics, mind you, but it al came off much less haunting than if we’d just watched the Hawkins family bring home a robot that was malfunctioning and potentially dangerous. And then followed that story, without Leo or anyone else around, for at least two episodes. That would have made for a much better experience. The way it was dosed out removed a ton of the suspense.
But enough complaints. Let’s discuss what the show did right. There was some great world-building in these eight episodes. Some fine character charting and story blocking that easily set us up for a Season 2. Despite us knowing why Anita was on the fritz, her moments with the Hawkins family, before she awoke as Mia, were great. As was the shifting dynamic of the family around her – with Laura (Katherine Parkinson) starting out as the resentful one and then it shifting over to Joe (Tom Goodman-Hill).
Business picked up considerably on the show when all the worlds began crashing into one another around Episode 5 and 6 (culminating with Max’s jump off the bridge). We finally learned about Laura’s past trauma, Mia temporarily screamed her way out of Anita’s programming, police officer Karen revealed herself to be Synth, and rage-bot Niska (Emily Berrington) began crashing at Dr. George Millican’s house. William Hurt played George, giving the show a bit of old guard class, as well as reminding us that this was, after all, a U.S./U.K. joint effort.
George helped flesh out the world, giving us a glimpse into one of the various ways humans could become attached to, and dependent on, Synths. Both the touching and the off-putting, reflected respectively in due-for-recycling memory aid Odi (Will Tudor) and cold, controlling Vera (Rebecca Front). George also helped Niska come to terms a bit more with her human side, though perhaps not enough since, by the end, she was still wanting to create a huge army of sentient Synths. Overall, George felt like he got taken out too early. Or at least without making a big difference to the plot-at-large. Still, he stands as the one big death this season, I suppose. And with the ways humans can be robotically resurrected (Leo himself was a man/machine hybrid), maybe he’ll return.
William Hurt in Humans.
The darkest corners that Humans explored were within the sensitive topics of slavery and sexual slavery. Niska, despite having feelings and knowing pain, was forced to work as a hooker-bot – a terrible experience that sent her spiraling into madness after she escaped. Likewise, Joe, in a moment of dopey weakness, took advantage of Anita’s “adult options” and had his way with her. Of course, not knowing that she was an advanced model of Synth that, deep down, possessed a robo-soul. Plus, Hobb’s big plan at the end was to create a new line of A.I. Synths that would still be forced to serve humanity. It’s here that Humans tapped into some of the darkness and horror and controversy that rests within the topic of A.I.
