#watched #HUMANS S1E1-E2

WHAT-IS "HUMANS"?: "In a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' - a highly-developed robotic servant that's so similar to a real human it's transforming the way we live." (IMDb)

I had chanced upon this series while checking out an interview of Gemma Chan and Tom Goodman-Hill (Gemma looking radiantly beautiful in that small thumbnail of a outbid veep icon, I have to admit), and decided to look for the series, having found full episodic features instead of trailers, actually, Episode 1.1 of one is featured before (before it gets oulled anyways, they all inevitably do … AND the screen image is cropped too, FYI):

Episode #1.1: "The Hawkins family acquire Anita, a Synth. But instead of making life easier for Laura it creates new tensions. Leo is on the run with his Synth, Max. Pete feels pushed aside by his wife's Synth and George won't part with his." (IMDb)

This United Kingdom x American co-production sees AMC (producers for "Breaking Bad", "Mad Men" / which I now know stands for "American Movie Classics") offering up a "brand name" to this UK-based drama production, with a somewhat well thread concept of "androids/robots relationship with human beings" trope, offering up a swish NOW factor, as opposed to "in the near future" seen in tv series like "Almost Human" (which I really liked too), and even the Japanese anime Plastic Memories - adding to the "science fiction drama" category in television.

Tone-wise, this is very much a British product, with the sole exception of American actor William Hurt in a starring role, with not just the spoken language, but pace and vibe, which is all fine and good as no one is stating otherwise, and as such is a refreshing change in the TV landscape, IMHO.

"William Hurt as Dr. George Millican, once a brilliant scientist - a mechanical engineer on the original Synth project, now a widower who forms a fatherly bond with his outdated synth Odi."
Permit me to say this outright: Gemma Chan is the hotness. End of story and all you need to know. Visually speaking of course, being the nuevo-sexist swine that I choose to be here (*shrugs*) … but in the sole two episodes I had devoured, I expect more things to come from her intense stare and decidedly repressed and controlled actions, as she alone seem to anchor everything around her.

"Gemma Chan as Mia / Anita, the servile synth who every now and then does something almost human."
Everyone else seemed to be, well, "humans", along with human flaws and fraility, faux bravados and unspoken fears, so much so it is literally as stifling to witness as the gears on mechanical beings shifting in their clockwork realms, I feel. So perhaps on the "reality" front, it all works out for the actors involved, innit? 'Kudos' all around then! :)

"Colin Morgan as Leo Elster, a fugitive who is trying to track down someone from his past."
One particular familiar face kept me intrigued for the 2 x eps I watched, whom I googled to find to be the guy in "Merlin" the tv series, who I never chose to watch … so he is here with an intriguing role, although not necessarily in the nicest way - but that's just me. Crossing my fingers he does not turn out to be a whiney android with an existential criss, innit?

And of course there's that "sex service robot / sexbot", innit?

WHAT: "Humans (styled as HUM∀NS) is a British-American science fiction television series, debuted in June 2015 on Channel 4 and AMC. Written by the British team Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley, based on the award-winning Swedish science fiction drama Real Humans, the series explores the emotional impact of the blurring of the lines between humans and machines. The series is produced jointly by AMC, Channel 4 and Kudos. The series contains eight episodes." (Wiki)
"8 Eps" is a fine number to follow, and I aim to finish this through the end, because it seems pleasant and harmless enough, and not necessarily feel like a "time waster", innit?

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