Laura remains conflicted with Anita’s presence. She finds Sophie in different pajamas than what she went to sleep in, and the previous clothes were wet. When asked, Sophie says she didn’t have an accident, and she didn’t change her pajamas. Laura has a look of motherly understanding but notices it’s raining outside, leading us to believe Sophie was outsiders and immediately suspects Anita of taking Sophie outside in the middle of the night. Laura goes to the kitchen to pack Sophie her lunch, but Anita had packed a beautiful lunch before laura had the chance. Distraught, Laura sulks and questions her motherly role when she sees Anita’s shoes stuffed with tissues drying in the window. Laura begins to ask Anita about some of her suspicions but hesitates instead stating, “ nevermind, but I’m watching you,” To which Anita says. “I’m watching you too, Laura.”
Toby enters the kitchen to get some water sees Ania charging in sleep mode. Toby reaches toward her chest, but she immediately awakens before he makes contact and says that she must report any inappropriate contact between her and a secondary user to her primary user. Toby freaks out, but Anita states that technically no contact was made, so nothing needs to be reported. Toby thanks her and, looking back once more, comments on how it is unfair she was made to look so good.
Laura asks Anita again, “You don’t know anything about Sophie being outside.” This time Anita says, “There was water,” and in a moment of unexpected humanity tells Laura: “I will always keep Sophie safe” Laura makes a phone call announces to her daughters that Anita is being returned and tells her children to say goodbye to Anita. Anita questions, “Can I ask where you are taking me” To which Laura replies, “Back” Anita almost has a look of happiness on her face.
Leo and Max confront Silas, a Synth mechanic, asking about Anita. Leo tells Max he cannot show his true self, and if he tells him to leave, he must do it quickly. Silas and other mechanics begin to beat Leo, and Max, after trying to maintain his composure, breaks character and shows his sentience striking a human. Max and Leo are able to get away, but Leo was injured by the mechanics. We learn later that Leo is less human than we thought. Max takes Leo to a public bathroom where he “plugs” Leo into a power socket via wires exposed by his injury, and Leo’s eyes light up. All signs point to Leo being a synth, but the presence of red “human” blood rather than the Synth blue blood makes us wonder what truly is Leo? What sort of technical adaptation to the Synth system is happening here? I’m curious to see how this will evolve.
We learn that Doctor Millican was responsible for the creation of the first Synths. He hides his Synth son Odi in the shed while his new Assigned Care Unit Synth, Vera, threatens him with reporting to his GP. George dislikes Vera, muttering, “You are not a carer, you are a jailer. Vera later finds Dr. Millican outside; he was secretly checking on Odi. She speaks, “ what are you doing. I must ask you to return to the house.” Vera kindly but firmly leads George into the house by taking his arm. This is outside our understanding of Synths, and George notes that it is not right for her to touch him.
Detective Hobb continues to investigate Fred. Hobb describes him saying, “ He’s the Mona Lisa, he’s penicillin, he’s the atom bomb.” Hobb’s assistant tells him that Fred has reviewed particular files numerous times, almost as if he remembered them. We then a video of a woman swimming, she turns, and we see Anita’s face. After trying to review other files to no avail, Hobb suggests trying something else. Talking to him.
Mattie and her friend Harun try to hack into a Synth janitor at their school, but this backfires when the Synth reacts saying, “Illegal programming modification in progress,” This shows that hacking, or trying to hack, is a common occurrence, being as there are programs in place to deter this activity. Mattie continues to struggle with her identity as a teen girl and as a human in the age of Synths. Suspected of causing the malfunction with the janitor Synth, Maddie and Laura are requested to meet with the Principal. The Principal asks Maddie, “Do you have a problem with synthetics? To which Maddie replies, “Why would I have a problem with a thing that’s making my existence pointless?” This is yet another angsty zinger from Maddie that brings the Synths' presence to these characters' lives into perspective.
HUMANS wastes no time diving deep into some of humanity’s biggest fears and worst traits. One of the biggest moments of the episode lies in Niska’s plotline. Niska is seen lying on a bed, and we hear a buzzer with voice-over “Number seven disinfect.” We see a row of female Synths being sprayed down with a hose. A damp Niska returns to her room, and another announcement is made “ Number seven next in 6 minutes”. Niska is shown screaming in silence. A timid-looking man enters her room. Niska initially believes he is new to the establishment's activities but soon realized his disgusting truth. We learn that he is a pedophile, and Niska immediately refuses to interact with him as requested, and she chokes him to death. She quickly dresses and uses his hand to exit her room. As she exits, the woman in charge of this brothel sees her coming and grabs a knife. Niska grabs the knife threatening the woman with it saying, “Everything that men do to us they want to do to you,” This moment of humanity on her part, and lack thereof on the part of the human beings, is powerful. HUMANS took a moment to address some jarring subject matter but it brings to light the ramifications that our overtly sexualized culture could produce. We create these machines and whether they are sentient or not should we be providing an outlet for these activities. Is this allowing our culture to move forward or in a detrimental direction? When we do consider the sentience of the few does this change the implications or are they ultimately still machines?
Detective Seargent Peter Drummond wakes up with his wife Jill. We are reminded she is recovering from an unknown accident and has a physical therapist Synth named Simon, issued by the insurance company. We have a moment of humanity as we watch Peter lovingly struggle to get his wife to the restroom. They discuss their plans for the day and she states that she has water therapy later but tells Peter. “Simon will do it. He just knows what I need”. Peter is clearly upset and shows jealousy toward the incredibly fit male synth who knows how to take care of his disabled wife better than he does. Peter leaves the house distraught and joins Detective Investigator Karen Voss in her car to go to their first assignment for the day. He and DI Voss investigate the scene at the mechanic shop left that Max and Leo narrowly escaped from earlier. Peter reaches a point of frustration shouting, “We’re losing ourselves, Karen.” To which she responds: “Oh really? Because all the bad things that have happened to me were done by other people.” She is pushing the point that Synths are not the problem, people are.
The show HUMANS seems to be proving that we as human beings are our own worst enemy. There is apparent cultural anxiety shown by the various agencies monitoring Synths and Synth activities. It is the law that a Synth that causes harm to a human, for whatever reason malfunctioning or by modification, is not repaired but rather destroyed. This shows us that although Synths are numerous and the dominant view is that they are helpful tools, they are not entirely trusted. This view is not unique to HUMANS. The “should we trust robots” question is seen across many sci-fi worlds, but HUMANS does a good job keeping us wondering.
