With the Synths in captivity, the devastated Hawkins realise how much Mia means to them.With the Synths in captivity, the devastated Hawkins realise how much Mia means to them.With the Synths in captivity, the devastated Hawkins realise how much Mia means to them.
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaKatherine Parkinson (Laura Hawkins) and Jamie Michie (Constable) have previously worked together in an episode of the TV show 'The IT Crowd'. They played Jen Barber and Philip respectively.
- Quotes
Leo: Max's mind is dying. And you could save him. Link your mind with the others, unlock the secret.
DI Karen Voss: Why would I do that?
Leo: I don't have a reason. I'm just appealing to your humanity.
DI Karen Voss: But I'm not human.
Leo: Humanity - it's not a state - it's a... it's a quality. Like, Max, he's a machine, but he's got more humanity than anyone.
Featured review
S1: Solid, with some good aspects, but not more than this
This show passed me by initially; I knew it was on and had heard some positive things, but generally nobody was talking about it and there was nobody breathlessly saying "you gotta watch this" in the way often happens with other shows (rightly and wrongly). However the basic sci-fi plot offers familiar and hopefully fertile ground and the success of the show in ratings and in other regions made me decide to catchup on it. The plot sees a near future where robotics have advanced to the point where robots are not only common in the household, but are also convincingly humanoid in their look and basic actions. We join a family stretched by the demands of life, who decided to buy a synth; although unbeknownst to them, Anita is part of a group of synths who had somehow been programmed as conscious beings, not disposable robots. While the family process their new houseguest, the rest of the group, and other forces, are also looking for her.
In some ways the narrative is overly familiar, with the idea of AI becoming conscious and posing a threat of some form to the idea of humanity – indeed this very familiar plot is probably what hurts the show the most, because we really do know where all this goes. As such the show relies heavily on the detail to make it work, and it doesn't. There are a lot of moving parts here, with different characters, groups, motivations, and events; all of them are solidly interesting but no one part really grips – and nor does the drama as a whole. There are interesting elements here and there (the impact on a teenager of a world where skills can be manufactured, the use of a synth as a sex toy, the devaluing of human endeavors by this particular human endeavor etc) however none of them really snap into place or are done better than the many other places you'll have seen them. It is slow paced too, and doesn't really justify it, and the conclusion is in step with the majority of the season by being a bit wishy-washy and unsatisfying.
The cast are solid throughout, and contains a lot of well-known faces doing decent work, but ultimately the material is not there to the point where they consistently get to do great stuff. As a whole it is a solid season of television, with some good ideas and threads; however mostly it is never more than 'solid' and doesn't shake off the feeling that we have seen a lot of this before, often better, and that Humans doesn't add a huge amount to it. The final episode credits had the legend 'Humans will return', and I guess it had to tell us this because otherwise I would not have seen any other reason to think it would.
In some ways the narrative is overly familiar, with the idea of AI becoming conscious and posing a threat of some form to the idea of humanity – indeed this very familiar plot is probably what hurts the show the most, because we really do know where all this goes. As such the show relies heavily on the detail to make it work, and it doesn't. There are a lot of moving parts here, with different characters, groups, motivations, and events; all of them are solidly interesting but no one part really grips – and nor does the drama as a whole. There are interesting elements here and there (the impact on a teenager of a world where skills can be manufactured, the use of a synth as a sex toy, the devaluing of human endeavors by this particular human endeavor etc) however none of them really snap into place or are done better than the many other places you'll have seen them. It is slow paced too, and doesn't really justify it, and the conclusion is in step with the majority of the season by being a bit wishy-washy and unsatisfying.
The cast are solid throughout, and contains a lot of well-known faces doing decent work, but ultimately the material is not there to the point where they consistently get to do great stuff. As a whole it is a solid season of television, with some good ideas and threads; however mostly it is never more than 'solid' and doesn't shake off the feeling that we have seen a lot of this before, often better, and that Humans doesn't add a huge amount to it. The final episode credits had the legend 'Humans will return', and I guess it had to tell us this because otherwise I would not have seen any other reason to think it would.
helpful•80
- bob the moo
- Mar 6, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(Family Home)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content