Every week so farHumanshas posed another question about what makes a human, human.
Last week was are you capable of feeling love?
In Episode Four its do you get scared?
Laura asks this of Anita after finding out about her seemingly terrified outburst from Mattie.
I think everyone does, Laura, Anita unhelpfully responds.
Later, Laura asks the same question to Eric Foreman look-alike synth: Howard.
Howard clearly doesnt get scared but his owner doesnt care.
We cant keep insisting theyre just gadgets.
Theyre more than that.
*Helpful note to all TV-writers.
The deeper we get intoHumans, the clearer it becomes that Howards owner is right.
The machines are more than gadgets.
The people, however?
And this is reflected in the kind of questions theyre asking.
Do you get scared?
Humans get scared, but so do voles, zebras and raccoons.
Explain that, synth.
Still, Im inclined to forgiveHumansfor its paper-y characters asking paper-y questions.
But Episode Four deserves a lion-share of the credit, itself.
One could even say the synth hits the fan.
*
*Oh my God, Im so sorry.
Never mention that pun again.
Episode Four features the unfortunate man on synth action that has been building up for weeks.
Add Chekhovs Pamphlet Regarding the Sexualization of Your Household Robot to the long list of TV-centric Chekhovs Gun jokes.
That doesnt make the consummation of the inevitable act any less gut-wrenching.
Laura has been looking for evidence that Anita feels.
That would have removed all doubt.
Laura at least begins to creep closer to answers in a much less upsetting and explosive way.
Two refreshingly contradictory (i.e.
human) responses to troubling information.
*And cockblocks himself in the process.
Mattie is really quite the hero this time around.
Shes come a long way from the teenage eye-rolling in Episode One.
Instead,Humansallows Leo to come up with a Hail Mary epiphany.
It stretches credulity that Leo has never considered doing this before.
And it also violates a core storytelling principle of cause and effect.
But again:Humanscaught me on a good week.
Breaking some storytelling rules is necessary for what comes next: Leo and Max paying a visit to George.
are no longer stranded on George and Odie Plot Island.
Its a brief, almost rushed scene but the level of world-building Leo provides is just what Humans needs.
Leo knows everything about Georges partner, David Elster.
He knows a lot more than George expects him to for a simple reason: Leo is Davids son.
This helps snap the grander world ofHumansinto place perfectly.
To do so, Leo will need all five synths together.
Unfortunately for him, by episodes end Niska is a bit occupied.
Niska, of course, lays waste to the operation very thoroughly and brutally.
You dont mind the redundancy because Humans is operating on a leave no sci-fi trope behind policy.
Rating:
4.5 out of 5
