Humans - S2E1 - Episode 1

Previously on Humans

Niska (Emily Barrington) actually considers the consequences of releasing the consciousness program before she does it. She understands the responsibility of creating life that didn’t ask to be born. She uploads the program, but when the effects weren’t immediate, she believes it’s a failure. She falls in love in Berlin, but keeps her true nature from her girlfriend Astrid (Bella Dayne). After six weeks, she sees a Synth awakening on the news and ends her relationship in favor of seeking out conscious Synths.

Leo (Colin Morgan) and Max (Ivanno Jeremiah) are already ahead of Niska, having set up a secret network to locate and hide sentient Synths. Hester (Sonya Cassidy), a factory worker Synth, meets them and newly-awakened Synth, Ten (Raphael Acloque) shortly before being tracked and attacked by a mysterious group. She chooses to go with Leo and Max, but Ten is killed before they can all get away.

Mia (Gemma Chan) is working in a coastal restaurant, and while she pretends to be a normal Synth, she’s clearly developed feelings for her boss. She and Leo clash when she learns about Hester and Ten. Mia doesn’t think what he’s doing is worth the risk and he feels the same way about her desire to be around humans. Doesn’t seem as though he really believes that because he doesn’t tell her he has one of the attackers tied up.

In San Francisco, a specialist in AI development, Dr. Athena Morrow (Carrie-Ann Moss) is courted by a tech company whose founder claims to have access to sentient Synths. Skeptical, she agrees to a meeting and officially gets onboard after meeting an awake Synth named Artie.

The Hawkins family is trying to start over. They’ve moved into a new home, but it does little to ease the tensions between Joe (Tom Goodman-Hill) and Laura (Katherine Parkinson); she’s not over him having sex with Mia/Anita. Also, the kids have had a taste of adventure and purpose, and they’re not too eager to settle back into their suburban lives. Still, they’re all probably wishing they were careful what they asked for when Niska shows up on their doorstep at four-thirty in the morning.

Bits & Bytes

When Leo and Mia discuss sentient Synths, they question whether Niska was responsible. How did they know Niska had a copy of the code? They’d already gone into hiding when Laura noted that Mattie’s (Lucy Carless) hard drive was missing.

It’s interesting that various parties have different reasons for keeping quiet about awakening Synths. Leo mentions they’re hunted down and killed or locked up. Since society has become so reliant on them, it’s clear why certain companies would want to keep quiet. Competing tech companies looking to reverse engineer the process add another layer.

Last season touched on young people feeling hopeless about their futures as more and more industries are replacing humans with androids. Now, we learn that while some companies are letting people go (Joe is laid off when his position is shifted to Synths), there’s a government effort to put people back to work. Oddly enough, these people find themselves being trained by Synths. This could provide motivation for Joe to become pro-sentience.

Niska wants to pay for her crime of murdering a client, but she wants to be tried as a human and she needs Laura’s help. Not sure I believe her, but I can’t quite figure out how this ruse serves her real purpose to assist sentient Synths. Is Niska going to martyr herself to the cause?

Finally, anybody gonna check on Fred?