SF Worth Watching: HUMANS

Hi out there! So, this summer I took time to do quite a bit of reading, but I did watch a show or two here and there. Today I’m going to talk about HUMANS. It’s not an obscure show and still broadcasting, but it’s a gem of a show I hadn’t heard much about. My mother is a big fan and introduced me to it-so we indulged in a mother/daughter binge watch.

HUMANS is a UK science fiction television series that began in 2015. There are three series broadcast thus far. The theme revolves around a modern world in which anthropomorphic androids called ‘synths’ are part of daily life. Synths can be purchased for family/personal use but there are also synths contracted by companies and synths contracted by government health services. HUMANS is an SF drama show-the focus being on how the exists of synths explores human relationships to technology and each other.

There is a larger overarching plot-about the creations of the first conscious synths and their large purpose-but the power of the show is in the individual synths and their family dramas. The first synth whose life we follow is Anita. Anita is a synth purchased by the Hawkins family for domestic tasks. Laura, the wife is not to thrilled about a synth; but Joe feels the family needs the assistance.  The Hawkins family becomes center to the drama as their reactions to Anita reveal a lot of the complex issues surrounding human/synth relationships.  There is also Anita’s odd behavior which causes Laura want her returned and replaced. (There are other reasons also which you need to discover for yourself)  It turns out that Anita was purchased  as new but is actually a hacked synth whose old personality as Mia, has been submerged. Mia is one of a small group of conscious synths.

Without giving too much away (trust me you want all the surprises) the original creator of the synths created a group that were self-aware. They were on the run for some time, but Mia/Anita was captured and the group was scattered. Leo, the son of the creator, wants to get them back together and create a space for them. Niska, another synth, was forced to hide in a brothel. She kills a human to escape; tries to liberate synths forced to fight; and then is on the run. Niska’s murder of the client alerts the authorities to the possibility of a synth that can override its programming not to kill. There are other synths Max and Fred, both synths created as a brother to Leo.  There are other non-aware synths, such as Odi, and older model and other synths in hiding.

One of my initial concerns with Humans was my worry that it would be another Blade Runner rip off. I love Blade Runner. I love Blade Runner 2049. But I have seen too many movies and tv shows rip off the Blade Runner look and style. Thankfully, Humans does not. It does ask many of the same questions about what is sentience and what is means to be human but in a new way.  The synths look human have energy ports and have to be recharged like a smartphone. They are ethnically diverse as well as ‘older’ and ‘younger’ looking models with rather clever explanations as to why. It’s a fully developed world. HUMANS also explore the psychological effects on humans and their attachments to synths. (Letitia Wright of Black Panther fame, plays a teen desperate to be a synth.)

This is not the first version. HUMANS is based on an original Swedish show called REAL HUMANS. I would love to see this version. And there is apparently a plan for a Chinese version in the works.