Humans 1.7: "I Think You're Dead, George"

The past two episodes of Humans - 1.6 and 1.7 - have been really outstanding, with deaths, near deaths, and all kinds of change-ups which really transform the narrative, excellent to begin with.

Mia coming out is the key to most of this.   As a sentient synth rather than a servo-mechanism, she's everything we could want: protective not only of her android family, but the human family where she worked and lived as Anita.   The end of 1.7 is especially significant in showing the depths of her feelings about the Hawkins: when they ask her and the synths to leave, after seeing a report of Niska's earlier rampage, Mia agrees, even though the synchs will be far more vulnerable out there, amidst those English (this is my reference to the movie, Witness, in case you missed it).   And just for good measure, we get Mia telling Joe that she was "there" the whole time when he had sex with Anita, and we don't get even a hint from Mia about whether that was good, bad, or neutral for Mia (though Mia certainly doesn't seem angry with Joe).

Meanwhile, Max is handled beautifully and hauntingly.  In 1.6, he sacrifices his own life - or puts it at severe risk - to save Leo, and his partial revival in 1.7 is a sight to see.   Losing his identity - hell, let's call it soul - as his damaged code disintegrates, he still smiles on the table, the smile of the Cheshire Cat, though Max's smile is nothing but genuinely benevolent.   Keeping him sentient also now provides an immediate reason for the sentient synths to put together and implement that secret code within them as a group - a motive far more pressing than creating a potential species of thousands of sentient androids around the world.

George Millican, being only human, is apparently beyond recovery.  In one of the most chilling lines in the story, the damaged Odi, talking to Millican as he breathes his last, remarks, "I think you're dead, George," in that deadpan mechanical voice of his.

Looking forward to the season finale, and how the now murderous Karen will figure into it.

George may be dead, but Humans is teeming with life and profoundly intriguing questions.

See also Humans: In Ascending Order


a different kind of humans

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