Having grabbed everybody’s attention with the eerie (and also confusing) ‘real life adverts’ of the impressive Synths (as shown above), the show cleverly built up a lot of hype.
Now that the first series has come to an end, we can all finally let go of the breath we’ve been holding in since the series began. Whether it is an exhale of relief or disappointment, it needs some serious discussion!
The basic concept is fairly obvious even to the people who didn’t watch it: unsettlingly realistic robots created to help humans carry out laborious activities, “where is the world and technology headed blah blah blah”… But after watching the show unravel, layer by hideously tense layer, one realises it isn’t as simple as that…
Anita, the first synth we get to know, owned by the Hawkins family
The show begins by giving an insight to how the synths contribute to domestic life. A very creepy start with not much happening, but as the viewer, you just know it’s leading somewhere juicy.
Bit by bit the darker side of the series is introduced like a drip…
Secret government organisation fronted by Prof. Edwin Hobb (above) set out to track down four fugitive Synths who are known to have their own consciousness.
These go by the names Leo (son of the creator of Synths) whose body and mind is half organic, half synthetic due to a childhood accident. He is embittered by his experiences and has little trust in humanity.
Max who is Leo’s companion and the soft hand on his shoulder, more willing to trust and give humanity a chance.
Niska who is the edgy, dry witted and determined female of the four who is in hiding as a regular Synth in a brothel. She is somewhat hardened by her experiences and like Leo distrusts humanity, however she firmly believes Synths deserve an established place in society just like humans.
And then finally Mia, who is hiding somewhere deep in the software make-up of Anita, a domestic Synth owned by Laura and Joe Hawkins. Mia is programmed to be particularly compassionate and motherly, fashioned by Leo’s father to replace his mother after (spoiler!) her suicide.
They are capable of feeling as well as thinking, almost as naturally as humans can, but Hobb’s quiet investigation believes they pose a threat to society.
Obsolete Synth Odi who is full of bugs (left) and owner Dr Millican (right)
Now, despite the show’s nail-biting tenseness and concept so very possible that it is downright seductive, and it’s character profiling so personal and unique, I can’t help but feel let down in certain areas. I’m going to be cruel for now and get that bit out the way!
First of all, I don’t know if anybody else was as turned off as I was by the whole ‘Synth Happy Families’ thing that became of the story line. I found it positively irritating that the Synths cared so deeply for each other, does that make me cold and unfeeling? I don’t know, I just didn’t buy it. I also think the whole thing blew up way too quickly; it was too much too soon.
Like a bad dream it lead us into a bittersweet, blissfully false sense of security, which we knew deep down was masking something very bad… But then we were given that! An awkward explosion involving a bitter hipster guy with a chip on his shoulder, for reasons we can only guess are about his inhumane existence as half human half synth, I mean really, what is that about? To top it off he’s always angry and crying about his disjointed robot family. Once Mia returns from being imprisoned inside Anita, it rapidly turns into robot Jeremy Kyle.
“My Dad saved my life… But he made me half robot!” – Leo
I know many will disagree with my criticism, but I imagine some will also be right on my side with this one. Leo is basically the show’s equivalent to Harry Potter and this focus on one character (especially one that annoying) is a bad move. I mean the way Niska said her special goodbye to Leo… she might as well have just said: “I think i’ll miss you the most, Scarecrow!”
Perhaps it was too soon to introduce the possibility of half human/half synth people, it just felt like the show wasn’t quite ready for it… Yeah, I think that’s the problem I have with the plot, right there! It’s more of a second, maybe even third series plot twist!
I guess I just enjoyed the early domestic side of the concept; how our dependency on artificial intelligence would affect our home life, our relationships, our intelligence, things we can relate to! We can’t relate to robots who have feelings, not yet anyway. It just strikes me as silly this early on.
Setting aside all my irritations with the show, I was still hooked and I still think it is deserving of praise.
‘Humans’ gives the viewer a lot of room to explore each character; no character is underdeveloped or unrealistic or unrelatable (except maybe Leo), so you can become drawn in by their personalities. I mean, what girl doesn’t love Niska? (unless they’re jealous of her). She’s intelligent, tough, beautiful, sexy, dark and mysterious. She also steals the ending of the series – no one could have done it like her!
Another huge asset to ‘Humans’ and it’s viewers was the varying opinions within the show. There is Niska, who wants to start a Synth revolution and Voss who wants to prevent that from ever happening: both are fighting for what they believe to be the good of mankind. Karen Voss is another secretly conscious synth, however she lives life pretending to be human as a Detective Inspector. She adds a largely interesting element to the show because no one can tell if she is a goodie or a baddie – and neither does she, so it seems.
Voss (left) Niska (right)
There are the people who truly believe Synths are ruining humanity – just like there would be in real life. They are overriding our capabilities and taking our jobs, inevitably leaving us redundant, so what do we oh-so-civilized human beings do? Invent ‘Smash Clubs’; seedy underground gatherings of people smashing up stolen Synths with cricket bats. Marvelous!
…And then there is Leo who just wants to keep his loved ones safe, as they are all the family he has. You find yourself siding with a certain character because of their actions and their angle on the situation between Synths and humans. This part of the show is well thought out and the acting definitely does it a justice. In spite of my issues with much of the plot twists and turns, I know full well that i’ll be watching the next series because I owe it to the show.
Everyone owes ‘Humans’ some gratitude because it has brought a rising issue up to it’s fullest and scariest form and put it on T.V. It was a series waiting to happen! We needed to see just how unnervingly dependent we have become on our devices.
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