Hawkins house party
Aug. 8th, 2015 08:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessIt’s been announced that there will be a second series of Humans, which is a rarity for grown-up British sci-fi these days, so hurrah. It has improved – I have mainly good things to say about the last episode - although I think it could do with more female writers, a look at the pacing if they’re introducing more characters and more intentional humour.
Humans 1.7
What an opening, answering the questions that have been bugging me since the reveal that Karen was a synth, so Karen was created by Elster, but in keeping with the dysfunctional family aspect, she was given Beatrice’s form. What an answer.
I enjoyed the readjustments that the Hawkins had to make with Mia being Mia, not Anita.
The encounter/confrontation between Karen and Niska was great – I always thought it was going to be because they obviously had very different motivations - with Gepetto/George playing mediator and maybe getting at what was really going on (although if he’d met Mattie, would he say that Niska et al were the future of humanity?). Karen was never going to kill Niska, because IT’S NISKA, but it was sad that Gepetto got caught in the crossfire. They skirted very close to too much sentimentality with Pinnochio/Opie coming to stay with the body and his dialogue.
Ha, Leo may think he’s looking after everyone, but really, they’re looking after him. Fred’s certainty that they could find Max was adorable.
Oh, they told Sophie offscreen. I was almost looking forward to the confused princess strop. Anyway, Mia and Laura, I don’t think Anita was the problem as much as Joe.
Meanwhile, enter NISKA – the Hawkinses have no idea how much danger they could be in – I liked the contrast between her and nurturing Mia. (I was bound to be happy with an episode where Niska met Karen and Mattie.) I loved the stuff that followed, from Niska being rude to Princess Sophie, Mia’s POV of what Joe did to Anita/her, Laura bossing Niska and the reunion between the ‘siblings’. Okay, synth blood transfusion was an anthropomorphic step too far, and while it was nice to see Niska sacrifice her conductor fluid and everyone play their part, Toby speaking was again too sentimental.
So we now know how Not!Beatrice became Karen, and as it’s the name she chose, we’ll go with that, and wonder if this was a reference to certain undercover police officers. Thanks, Pete the plod. I was so sad that his rejection was the trigger for Karen’s actions. He isn’t worth it!!!
Nice interactions, mainly, between the two families. Not nice!Niska and very much a child Sophie was fun – see how intentional humour adds light and shade, show!
And I think they just seeded Mattie/Leo. Both actors can do intense, Leo is probably actually not that much older (certainly in his new incarnation) and yeah, she did see the heart of him, but I was quite happy with wanting her to prove Mr Patronising that he was underestimating her, but Joe noticed this too and they need to move away from the fact that we were reading Mia/Leo as romantic, (come to think of it, Mattie was the one who commented on reading them as a couple, last episode, so I’m a bit slow). It’s definitely on, and the next thing will be Leo not liking Mia mothering him in front of Mattie...
Aha, so Edwin (finally clocked his name) was clever enough to put in measures with Fred. (I was all ‘Run a systems check, Fred.’)
WHAT a way for everyone to find out about Joe’s idiocy (not the adultery, the not trusting Laura and endangering the synths). Very satisfying.
Mia-the-mother along with Laura-the-mother is a really interesting dynamic.
I thought that Fred’s sacrifice in the last episode was too big for them to come back magically from that, but of course they need him for the Secret of Synth Life, so it makes sense that we’re in this position.
The Niska-Sophie bonding led to that excellent Niska on TV moment, topped by stroppy Leo halted in his tracks by encountering the synth with his biological mother’s face and body shape. Excellent. (I think Leo was blaming Joe for calling all this upon them among the slo-mo, but it was, unknowingly, Fred and Pete who led the cops and Karen to them.)
Loads and loads of pay-offs and encounters we’ve been waiting for since the show started, here. Apart from getting too sentimental at some points, good job.
I’ve found out that actually, Person of Interest came back on five in June (why did they have a month’s break?), so I had no chance of catching up. As the show now has Shaw as a regular, I intend to buy the third season on DVD, so I’ll catch up in my own sweet time.
Humans 1.7
What an opening, answering the questions that have been bugging me since the reveal that Karen was a synth, so Karen was created by Elster, but in keeping with the dysfunctional family aspect, she was given Beatrice’s form. What an answer.
I enjoyed the readjustments that the Hawkins had to make with Mia being Mia, not Anita.
The encounter/confrontation between Karen and Niska was great – I always thought it was going to be because they obviously had very different motivations - with Gepetto/George playing mediator and maybe getting at what was really going on (although if he’d met Mattie, would he say that Niska et al were the future of humanity?). Karen was never going to kill Niska, because IT’S NISKA, but it was sad that Gepetto got caught in the crossfire. They skirted very close to too much sentimentality with Pinnochio/Opie coming to stay with the body and his dialogue.
Ha, Leo may think he’s looking after everyone, but really, they’re looking after him. Fred’s certainty that they could find Max was adorable.
Oh, they told Sophie offscreen. I was almost looking forward to the confused princess strop. Anyway, Mia and Laura, I don’t think Anita was the problem as much as Joe.
Meanwhile, enter NISKA – the Hawkinses have no idea how much danger they could be in – I liked the contrast between her and nurturing Mia. (I was bound to be happy with an episode where Niska met Karen and Mattie.) I loved the stuff that followed, from Niska being rude to Princess Sophie, Mia’s POV of what Joe did to Anita/her, Laura bossing Niska and the reunion between the ‘siblings’. Okay, synth blood transfusion was an anthropomorphic step too far, and while it was nice to see Niska sacrifice her conductor fluid and everyone play their part, Toby speaking was again too sentimental.
So we now know how Not!Beatrice became Karen, and as it’s the name she chose, we’ll go with that, and wonder if this was a reference to certain undercover police officers. Thanks, Pete the plod. I was so sad that his rejection was the trigger for Karen’s actions. He isn’t worth it!!!
Nice interactions, mainly, between the two families. Not nice!Niska and very much a child Sophie was fun – see how intentional humour adds light and shade, show!
And I think they just seeded Mattie/Leo. Both actors can do intense, Leo is probably actually not that much older (certainly in his new incarnation) and yeah, she did see the heart of him, but I was quite happy with wanting her to prove Mr Patronising that he was underestimating her, but Joe noticed this too and they need to move away from the fact that we were reading Mia/Leo as romantic, (come to think of it, Mattie was the one who commented on reading them as a couple, last episode, so I’m a bit slow). It’s definitely on, and the next thing will be Leo not liking Mia mothering him in front of Mattie...
Aha, so Edwin (finally clocked his name) was clever enough to put in measures with Fred. (I was all ‘Run a systems check, Fred.’)
WHAT a way for everyone to find out about Joe’s idiocy (not the adultery, the not trusting Laura and endangering the synths). Very satisfying.
Mia-the-mother along with Laura-the-mother is a really interesting dynamic.
I thought that Fred’s sacrifice in the last episode was too big for them to come back magically from that, but of course they need him for the Secret of Synth Life, so it makes sense that we’re in this position.
The Niska-Sophie bonding led to that excellent Niska on TV moment, topped by stroppy Leo halted in his tracks by encountering the synth with his biological mother’s face and body shape. Excellent. (I think Leo was blaming Joe for calling all this upon them among the slo-mo, but it was, unknowingly, Fred and Pete who led the cops and Karen to them.)
Loads and loads of pay-offs and encounters we’ve been waiting for since the show started, here. Apart from getting too sentimental at some points, good job.
I’ve found out that actually, Person of Interest came back on five in June (why did they have a month’s break?), so I had no chance of catching up. As the show now has Shaw as a regular, I intend to buy the third season on DVD, so I’ll catch up in my own sweet time.
