Humans: Episode 2

June 24, 2015 11:19 AM - Season 1, Episode 2

Laura feels increasingly threatened by the presence of Synth Anita, and Leo's quest for information takes him to dangerous places.
posted by tracicle (5 comments total)

Since I'm the only person in the world who didn't watch Real Humans maybe I'm the only person who is surprised by plot elements. But it looks like Leo is some kind of synth with red blood and normal eyes?

Anita continues to win awards for Creepiest Portrayal of The Help ever. And clearly has some autonomy, particularly in the scenes with Toby (I must report you for trying to fondle me...but this one time I will go against my programming) and snuggling with Sophie.
posted by tracicle at 11:22 AM on June 24, 2015

Well, as one of those people who did watch Äkta Människor I feel quite restricted in what I can say, because it would either be a spoiler or I'd be embarrassingly wrong - they have changed a lot of things around. I am finding it really difficult not to play the original in my head alongside it, though, even more than The Returned (US). Mostly it's changing characters around, though - for example, in the original, the equivalent-of-William-Hurt's-character is the equivalent-of-Katherine-Parkinson's-character's father and not a brilliant roboticist or, indeed, a brilliant anything. That will change the story trajectory quite a bit, I suspect.

Paul Kaye seems to have cornered the market in this sort of role, though, hasn't he?

I'm quite enjoying it, nonetheless.
posted by Grangousier at 4:00 PM on June 24, 2015

I haven't seen the original either and I am enjoying this as well. I don't watch a lot a sci fi so while I recognize the plot points, tropes and characters as something this genre had done many times before I don't feel that they are worn out for me.
posted by mmascolino at 5:14 PM on July 7, 2015

One of the things I wonder about is the aesthetic appearance of the synths. Obviously Anita is strikingly beautiful while William Hurt's character is given an extremely severe looking synth. Hurt's model is from the government, which makes me wonder if she was previously used in some sort of capacity where this appearance would be beneficial as opposed to Anita. Also wouldn't some people have the same models?
posted by miss-lapin at 6:15 PM on July 19, 2015

One of the things I'm liking so far is the willingness to just leave some things or let us fill in the blanks. The question of unique physical appearance of a synth is mentioned very much in passing in the fourth episode, near the end.
posted by phearlez at 2:08 PM on July 23, 2015