Humans: Season 1/ Episode 6 – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Initial Thoughts

With Humans being an eight-episode order, it makes each action mean more for you know everything is so time limited. However, I must admit I was not expecting the ending for this episode that happened. For while I don’t believe that any show should fully commit to an absolute happy ending, it nonetheless doesn’t take away the sting when a character I like finds themselves in a life or death situation, and death becomes an option forced onto them or one they choose gladly. For more on the episode, look below.

Characters & Story (with Commentary)

Topic 1: Families Torn Apart – Joe, Laura, Mattie, and Pete

After Joe’s affair, pretty much his family is in full disarray. Tobe is beside himself, slightly feeling bad for coercing his father to tell the truth, Mattie is just sick of her family’s nonsense, and their secrets, and Laura is just distraught over the fact her husband had an affair with the being who she has openly expressed she was feeling replaced by. Though, when it comes to the family being broken, it seems Sophie largely isn’t affected – which seemed rather odd.

Moving on, though, during this whole aftermath we learn Mattie has pretty much left her household for Harrun’s, who seemingly isn’t as poor as he lets on. Or, at the very least, considering how hopeless and everything he seemed, I wasn’t expecting a home which looked fancier than Mattie’s. Perceptions aside, though, with Laura really trying to mend her relationship with Mattie finally comes the reveal of who Tom is. The answer? It was Laura’s brother who died under her watch at the age of 5. An issue which has haunted her for decades since not only does she blame herself, but her mother does too. To the point, her mother speaks to her in a malicious way about it, like saying Laura should have been the one who died. Hence explaining why she kept Tom, as well as her parents’ mortality it seems, a secret. For, alongside the Tom discovery, we learn that her mother is alive and well. Not seen on screen mind you, but alive. [1]

As for Pete? Well, with him learning Jill is having sex with Simon they are utterly done. Though he has sex with a synth himself in the episode. For, after Kate learns more and more about Niska’s possible whereabouts, and who Dr. Millican is, it seems she is ready to meet her maker, sort of speak. However, before doing so she wanted Pete to know how she feels and know who she really is. Something revealed post-coitus and which sends a rage through Pete.

Topic 2: All Humans Are Not The Same – Niska & Dr. Millican

As with last week’s episode, Dr. Millican continues to help show Niska that not all humans are like her father [2]. For while she has a good relationship with Dr. Elster, between Hobbs hunting her down, and her experience at the brothel, she continues to be on edge when it comes to her human interactions. However, slowly but surely Dr. Millican is proving himself to be an exception. In the last episode he asked how she felt, and in this episode she watches Dr. Millican worry about Odi, who shows up, and sees him treat Odi, a non-sentient synth, as if he has thoughts and feelings as she does. Add in that Dr. Millican makes her smile, and you can see that chip on Niska’s shoulder slowly being pushed off and her maybe, just maybe, opening up to Dr. Millican and trusting him.

Though, as noted, it seems with each passing episode that Pete and Kate are about to find her, so who knows what will happen when they possibly do.

Topic 3: You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello – Max, Leo, Mattie, Fred, Mia, and Laura

This huge topic has to begin with the fact Fred isn’t dead, much less escapes Hobbs’ containment. Albeit with killing 3 people along the way, but being that they had shotguns pointed in his direction, sometimes you have to be safe more so than sorry. However, despite killing unnamed people, Hobbs just gets shot in the leg. Something which seemed rather dumb for a sentient machine to do, since he is some form of leader, but expecting the would-be villain of the show to go out so easily and quickly would be absurd.

Still, with Fred’s escape comes a renewed hope for his family. One which also finds that Mia, despite Leo’s past claims, isn’t gone. In fact, after Mattie and Laura have their chat, she fights her way to the surface on the way home and asks for help. Something which Mattie jumps toward, and surprisingly Laura commits to. That is, despite her being so untrusting of Anita for so long. Though considering she stopped Tobe from meeting the same fate as her brother, who died due to getting hit by a car, I guess she has had a full 170-degree turn of opinion.

However, before the reunion can be complete, there lies the issue of Leo. For while Max is easily found, and seemingly willing to resort to prayer for hope, Leo is last seen wandering around like a drunk homeless person. Thankfully, though, after some time, he is found and recovers [3]. Thus leading to a reunion in which we see Leo bring out Mia from Anita’s shell, and it seems a happy ending is bound for them. That is until Joe ruins it by calling the cops, and then Hobbs showing up. Leaving us watching as Leo and Max try to escape on foot, but with Max having only a 4% battery life, he sacrifices himself, permanently, so Leo can get away. Well, at least one could hope Max’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.

Things To Note

[1]: Alongside revealing the identity of Tom, and the fact her mother is alive, Laura says she even visited her mom in order to try to help her understand her issues with Mattie. For, I guess, she figured if she could solve the issues she has with her mum, maybe there could be hope, and a way, for her and Mattie to get back to good terms. Much less, maybe in the process she could figure out a roadmap of how to get herself, and her daughter, back to where she’d like their relationship to be.

[2]: Something which perhaps deserves its own topic is the way David Elster was as a parent and a husband. From what we are told, he was distant, all consumed by ideas, and perhaps emotionally distant to everyone but Niska and maybe Leo. As a husband, though, he was terrible and with his wife having a mental illness, it seems David should have been the last person she should have married.

[3]: There is a lot to explain when it comes to this. First off, we learn that Leo is, in fact, a hybrid of synth technology and the human body. You see, the flashback Mia constantly had, of someone drowning, was Leo drowning after his mother tried to kidnap him and ended up driving into water. Mia saved him, but David had to modify Leo so that his brain was part synth, and he made it so many of his memories were digitized. As for the rest of his enhancements? Well, we are told he was wired for power, but there isn’t much explanation on how a 13-year-old continued to grow after his death, nor the slew of other questions which would come from being a synthetic human hybrid.

Topic 3 Extended: It should be noted that Mia was created with a purpose, of which was to be the maternal figure Beatrix, Leo’s mom, couldn’t be. As for the rest of the sentients? Well, it seems they weren’t given a purpose. However, their order of creation, per Leo, is Fred, Niska, then Max. Leading to the explanation of why Niska was treated so kindly. For while Mia was Leo’s caretaker, and the first female synth he made, it seems Niska was treated as his first daughter. So, in the grand scheme of things, Mia would be the mother to all these synths, and Leo, alongside Niska, Fred, and Max, are siblings. With Leo, I guess, either being considered the oldest, or the middle child with Max being his only younger brother. Depending on if you take his original age, or post-synth modification, into account.

Niska is 9, and Leo was around 13 when his father started giving birth, for a lack of a better term, to these synths, so Leo is around 22, believe it or not.

Collected Quote(s)

“Forget should, it’s do I regret or not.”

—           “Episode 6.” Humans