A robot take-over? Again? I would usually groan at this idea being on our television screens again for the thousandth time, but thankfully I'm not. For the longest time, AMC has been one of my favorite channels on television. With "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead", two of my most favorite shows, along with the extremely successful "Mad Man" (which I unfortunately have not seen yet), AMC has been putting out quality TV for a very long time, so once I saw the first glimpses at their latest show, "Humans", I thought to myself, "This could either be really great or crash and burn after the first season." The night of the premiere came, so I sat down in front of my TV and watched the first episode of "Humans". And how was it?
"Humans" (or "HUM∀NS") is written by Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley, based off the award-winning Swedish show "Real Humans", and stars Gemma Chan, Colin Morgan, Katherine Parkinson, Tom Goodman-Hill and William Hurt. The show is set in suburban London and takes place in a parallel present where humanoid robots, called "Synths", have replaced mankind to do mundane tasks (i.e. housekeeping, garbage disposal, handing out newspapers). In this world, the Hawkins family purchases a Synth that they name Anita, played by Gemma Chan, where she becomes a housekeeper as tensions begin to rise between her and Mrs. Hawkins, played by Katherine Parkinson. Meanwhile, a mysterious fugitive, played by Colin Morgan, is on the run from an unknown force and is trying to track down Anita, who he knows as Mia. Describing the plot of "Humans" would make the show seem like a carbon copy of any other science fiction TV drama that we have seen in the past 20 years, but, although the concepts and story seen in "Humans" are not entirely new, the way it portrayed said concepts were done excellently. Robots, space travel, alien invasions and the post apocalypse have been done time and time again with many failing to deliver on the promises of the show's own premise. However, "Humans" is definitely not one of those shows.
One of the things that stands out about "Humans" is its cast. Aside from William Hurt, most of these actors are unknown to American audiences, which added an air of mystery and unpredictability to their performances. Gemma Chan as the seductively gorgeous Anita was definitely a stand out performance in this episode. Aside from being incredibly beautiful, Chan's performance as the Synth was both charming and incredibly haunting, making the line between human and robot extremely blurred, leading to a few awkward conversations and uncomfortable scenes. Although the show is a essentially drama, it is not devoid of humor, thanks to a particularly funny scene involving Anita continuously repeating the same robotic laugh over and over again until Mrs. Hawkins asks her to stop during an already awkward family breakfast. As [arguably] the lead character, Chan is mesmerizing as Anita and I wish for her continuing success during and after "Humans".
Another stand out performance was from Academy Award winner William Hurt as the aging scientist, Dr. George Millican, who has an unbreakable bond with an outdated Synth named Odi, played by Will Tudor. The scenes involving Millican and Odi are both heartbreaking and heartwarming, which are then elevated by Hurt and Tudor's brilliant performances. Unfortunately, I don't want to talk too much about Hurt's character because the less you know about his character and story arc in this episode, the better. Overall, Hurt is an extremely valuable member of the "Humans" cast and I look forward to seeing him in more episodes.
The rest of the cast also played their respective roles very well. The entirely Hawkins family (Joe, Laura, Mattie, Toby and Sophia Hawkins) were all played by talented actors who portrayed a very typical and also very believable family. The inner relationships between the family members are shown subtly, making future interactions with each character more understandable and relatable. Each of the Hawkins have a different reaction to having Anita around in the house, which made the whole scenario more akin to real life. It would be unrealistic to have the entire family blatantly hate her instantly. The interactions between Anita and the Hawkins family were done naturally with clever writing and storytelling.
There is also a subplot in the episode involving a fugitive, Leo, played by Colin Morgan, which added an extra sense of mystery to the over-arcing plot of "Humans". I don't want to delve too deep into who or what he is up to because, like the William Hurt storyline, it is crucial to various plot points in the pilot, which I don't want to give away. However, without spoiling the subplot, Leo's mission and travel throughout the pilot episode gave the story more action and more life, which helped balance out the more atmospheric pacing the show has. Watch the episode to see what I mean.
Like any AMC show (although this is originally a British Channel 4 show), the cinematography in "Humans", done by Stuart Bentley and David Rom, is simply gorgeous to look at. The aesthetic of the show is futuristic and stylish, but not to the point where we can't believe this world could happen. The idea of "Humans" is show us the consequences of certain ideas/problems we currently have about artificial intelligence so the show's design and visual style must look technologically advanced but also feel real. There is a sense of tangibleness to it all, which makes "Humans" unique in recent science fiction efforts (a good example of a new realistic take on A.I. would be this year's "Ex Machina"). Although we've seen similar looking environments in films like "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" and "Minority Report", it was nice to see those environments become a little more realistic and on the smaller screen.
What can I say? This was a great first episode. In our golden age of technological advances, "Humans" is able to question if we are able to face the consequences of artificial intelligence. This is a question that we have been asked time and time again, but "Humans" asks these questions without giving long speeches about mankind and humanity, but by dealing with small intimate moments in an ordinary household in suburban London. These intimate moments translate to very interesting questions. What happens when an humanoid robot takes over your position as a mother? What happens when your own husband has more sexual attraction to your humanoid robot housekeeper than yourself? All of these ethically ambiguous questions makes "Humans" unique. It sucks you into this amazing world and never lets you go.
"Humans" is well acted (special shout outs to Gemma Chan and William Hurt), beautifully shot, cleverly written, and has a pleasing futuristic score. A strong pilot episode and, if this show continues at this pace, AMC has yet another winning series on their hands.
You bet I'll be back next Sunday to see the next episode!
Go watch "Humans" on AMC on Sundays at 9PM!
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