Humans is an amazing and in-depth portrayal of what our world would look like if it was filled with robots that could do everything for us, and more importantly with AIs that think and feel like we do. Season Two starts off with a bang, and promises to be every bit as dramatic as the first season.
If you haven’t seen Season One of Humans, go watch it now. It’s all online on the Channel 4 website, and it’s definitely worth it. Set in the very near future, the inhabitants of this world are served by life-like ‘synths’: androids that are able to move and physically do everything a human is capable of. But when several of these machines are found to have real feelings and emotions, making them human in all but biology, things get complicated quickly.
At the end of last series, ‘awake’ synth Niska got hold of the hard drive containing the code that would give awareness and consciousness to other synthetics, and in this first episode of Season Two she makes good on her decision to release the code into the world. Her actions cause several synths at random points on the globe to ‘wake up’, setting in motion an unpredictable chain of events.
“The show doesn’t shy away from darker storylines”
All the (surviving) main characters from last year are back, including Laura and Joe, who are going through relationship counselling following Joe’s actions last season, their children, all still struggling to come to terms with the world as it is now, and the remains of Leo’s family – who are now trying to gather together the synths Niska has ‘woken up’.
Just like last season, the show doesn’t shy away from darker storylines, including putting its characters in danger. Leo and Max’s work to protect the newly awoken synths quickly causes them trouble, and even Anita’s job as a ‘real’ synth is a difficult and risky façade to maintain. This first episode opens up many potential problems for the characters in the series, and points towards a dramatic second season as good as the first. Personally, I can’t wait to watch the rest of the series.
Humans airs on Channel 4 at 9pm, Sundays.
Isobel Sheene
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Media courtesy of Channel 4 and YouTube
