HUMANS - S1E6 - Episode 1.6
Previously on Humans, ‘Episode 5’
Not Dead Fred
Fred, not dead, wakes up in Hobb’s house. They take a walk with armed guards nearby. Hobb breaks the news about the secret code hidden in Fred and his siblings, and admits he was wrong to get his employers all riled up about Synths taking over the world. He realizes now that the future is man and machine coming together and he wants to help.
Who’s Tom?
At the breakfast table, Sophie Hawkins is going on about something but no one is listening. That poor, neglected child. After Anita takes Sophie in the other room to get ready for school, and Toby does the same, Mattie questions her mother about Tom. Laura remains secretive even after Mattie assumes it’s someone Laura is having an affair with. Mattie yells that if Laura wants people in her life, she’ll have to tell them the truth once in awhile.
On his way to school, Toby is approached by Joe, who’s lurking about the bushes like a fucking creeper. He tries to apologize for fucking the family Synth, but still refers to the ordeal like it’s nothing. Toby questions how his father can’t see that the family cares for Anita.
Meanwhile, Leo stumbles along the riverbank before passing out.
Fred the Terminator
If Hobb wants to help them, why is Fred still being held against his will, Fred wants to know. Well, Fred hasn’t agreed to help Hobb yet. Fred tells him a story about Elster giving him an injured fox cub. He underestimated Fred, and was surprised when Fred chose to nurse the cub back to health instead of killing it or leaving it to its own devices. He says Hobb has underestimated him, too, as humans are want to do.
Then Fred turns into the Terminator and chokes a man out after punching his hand through the door. He shoots Hobb with an electric dart (That pacemaker, tho!), takes out a few more guards, and drives away…. like a fucking BOSS.
You Should Be Scared of Me
Niska is holding Millican hostage in his own home with a big-ass knife. With Vera powered down, she says she’s just going to stay there until Leo contacts her. She becomes frustrated when she realizes that Millican is not afraid of her. He claims her body language and the things she doesn’t say are telling him that she won’t hurt him, she likes him, and she’s sorry for what she’s done.
“Then you’re not hearing me,” she says. “You should be scared of me.”
Millican has been through too much shit to be afraid of Niska. He asks for her assistance in opening a can of tuna fish and she replies, “I don’t serve humans.”
“Not serving. Helping.”
The doorbell rings and the big-ass knife immediately goes to his neck. But it’s just Odi, who has somehow managed to bring his glitchy ass home. Guess that answers #WhoTookOdi?
As Millican tries to repair Odi, he explains to Niska that he cares for Odi because of all the years of love and care Odi showed him. Her icy heart melts and she helps Millican repair Odi. She asks Millican about Elster and whether or not he cared for them the way Millican cares for Odi. He suspects Elster was incapable of caring about them, much like his wife and son. Millican laughs when he learns Niska is only nine, which gets a smile out of her. But then she admits Elster didn’t always treat her as such, but she kept that from the others. He apologizes and says he will help her in any way he can. They hold hands.
Anita Snitches
At home, Toby laments over what a creeper his dad is, and Laura offers to make him some tea. Then she realizes Toby should be at band practice, but he picked up Sophie as a favor to Mattie, who isn’t home.
Anita offers up the name of the boy who Mattie spends a lot of time with, and then gives up his address. They head over there to get Mattie, who will only come home once Laura tells her the truth.
Laura takes Mattie to the park and tells her about Tom, her brother who died when he was five and she was eleven. Laura was speaking with a friend and not paying attention. Tom ran into the road and was hit by a car. Laura has never told anyone about it, or the deterioration of her relationship with her mother because of the accident. She went to visit her mother - who everyone believes is dead - when she was supposed to be in Leeds for work. She was looking for answers to explain why she was losing her own daughter. Laura and Mattie kiss and make up.
On the ride home, Mattie asks about Tom, and as Laura talks about her dead brother, Anita gasps loudly. Laura pulls over, and she and Mattie run out of the car.
Anita introduces herself as Mia and tells Mattie to tell Leo that she is in there, just not in her head. The Anita programming keeps trying to delete her as rogue code. She asks Laura not to call the cops and says she understands how Laura feels because her brother also died. She meant, her son. Then Anita is back and offers to drive them home. Inexplicably, Laura says yes, and then Mattie explains who Leo is.
Max Prays
After visiting a roadside memorial for a dead teen, Max returns to the abandoned club and prays to God. He wants his family safe, and promises to assist God in any way he can… and try to believe in him. Good luck with that, Max. Mattie enters and says they need to find Leo, even if Leo doesn’t want to be found.
Meanwhile, Laura explains the Mia situation to Toby. Toby immediately goes to see Joe at his friend’s house and tells him Anita can think and feel, and basically tells Joe - once again- that he’s a shitty person.
And Pete tells Voss about a lead: a blonde Synth leaking fluid skipped a cabbie’s fare.
As Max and Mattie search for Leo, they learn that being a Synth and being a teenage girl are very much the same. Back at the club, Mattie kinda freaks when Leo has to be plugged up, but Max begs her to let Leo explain. When Leo awakens, he shows Mattie his memories on a screen.
His mother was mentally ill so Elster created Mia to care for him. Then Fred, Niska, and Max. When he was 13, his mother dragged him from the house and drove them into the lake. He died before Mia could save him, but Elster brought him back using Synth tech. The others nursed him back to health. Then his father went mad and committed suicide.
Raggedy-Ass Joe
Joe comes home and apologizes to Laura, again. He asks about what Toby told him, but Laura insists that she’s handling it. He thinks Anita being destroyed is a good thing. His begging is interrupted when Mattie comes home with Leo and Max. Laura tells him to beat it, but he says he’ll hang around outside until they’ve gone.
With Mattie’s help, Leo figures out that Mia’s root code was turned into sensory data, and Mia is finally recovered. After tears and hugs, Laura offers to help them because it doesn’t look like anyone else is willing to.
Pete and Voss… Ugh
After Voss interviews the cabbie, Pete tells her that he and his wife are getting a divorce. When she mentions where the cabbie lost Niska, Pete says it’s near where Millican - the man from the supermarket - lives. When Voss realizes who Millican is, she heads to the other room where she begins to write a note for Pete.
He knocks on her door to say goodnight, and the two end up having sex.
Afterwards, Pete apologizes for his weak stroke game. Voss says he’s her favorite person in the world and then she reveals her true nature to him. He doesn’t say a word. He just freaks out, grabs his clothes, and leaves.
Oh, Joe. Go Sit Yo Ass Down Somewhere
Fred calls and makes arrangements to meet Max and Leo. Laura convinces them that it would be safer for Mia to stay with them. As they leave, Joe stands outside and calls the cops because he’s an asshole.
In the car, Max tries to charge, but they’re pulled over by the police… and Hobb. They run for it, but Max’s battery power is too low. Once they make it to a bridge, Max urges Leo to find the others and then tosses himself in the water so he won’t slow Leo down. As Leo gets away, Max sinks to the bottom of the river and his eyes slowly close.
And everything in the world is simply awful.
Overall Thoughts:
- I’m calling it now: Voss is Elster’s wife. 1. They never showed her face in the flashbacks and there’s no reason for that unless her face is important later and one we’ve already seen. 2. What are the odds someone else besides Elster had the know-how and means to make sentient Synths? 3. We still don’t know what went down in that house to cause them to leave. 4. In Leo’s memories, there’s a glimpse of his father stepping aside to reveal a dark-haired woman standing behind him.
- RIP, Max. You were too good for this world.
- Why didn’t Fred flex all that muscle when he got gripped up picking oranges?
- Fuck Joe forever.
- The scenes between Millican and Niska are excellent. He totally gets her and through him, we’ve seen a more vulnerable (and likable) Niska.
- My correct predictions this episode: Mia and Leo are mother and son, Niska was molested, and Max died - I didn’t want to be right about that one.
