Sign-wielding protestors,
prejudice-fi lled streets and
crumbling communities; no, we’re
not talking about a post-Trump
America, we’re talking about the
world seen in Humans’ third series –
the show’s most politically poignant
outing to date.
Set one year after the Series Two
fi nale, which saw all synthetics
being made conscious, we’re
reintroduced to green-eyes Mia,
Max and Niska when things are
looking bleak.
Synths everywhere have been
forced into isolation after their
sudden free thought caused the
deaths of thousands of humans
around the world. Some acts were
committed in violence, most were
accidents, but that hasn’t stopped
the general public from developing a
deep-rooted hatred for ‘dollies’.
As new, supposedly-safe, orange-
eyes are brought in to adopt the
roles once performed by green-
eyes, people’s disregard for them
as individuals – as well as their
refusal to learn their lesson – is
apparent. As synths are denied
basic rights, confi ned to camps with
rapidly depleting supplies and even
murdered in broad daylight, you
can’t help but draw comparisons
to real-life issues that plague the
news today.
It makes the events even
Westworld
HBO’s sci-fi western
also centres around
robots who have
gained consciousness.IF YOU LIKE THIS TRY...★★★★★Details 15 // 377 mins // 2018 // VOD // Released Out now
Creators Sam Vincent, Jonathan Brackley Cast Gemma Chan, Emily Berrington,
Ivanno Jeremiah, Katherine Parkinson, Colin Morgan Distributor Channel 4
Details 15 // 400 minutes // 2018 // • // Released Out now
Creator Chris Carter Cast David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi,
William B Davis, Annabeth Gish Distributor FOXFollowing
the baffl ing
cliffhanger that
ended Season
Ten, the revived
X-Files had a lot of explaining to
do, and that arc plot continues
to be one of the biggest clouds
hanging over the new series. Our
unreasonable expectations had
been dampened and that sense
of giddy nostalgia had worn off,
so the question of whether or not
the FBI’s most unwanted work
in our modern climate can be
answered with more objectivity.
And the answer is: yes and
no. Season 11 benefi ts from an
expanded ten episode run with
more room for the ‘monster of the
week’ stories that fi nd the show
at its best. Tellingly, both of the
best episodes investigated how
Mulder and Scully were coping
in the chaos of 2018.
Darin Morgan’s conspiracy-
driven ‘The Lost Art Of Forehead
Sweat’ was as great as expected
with the writer continuing to
fi nd ways to both celebrate and
lampoon the show’s essential
essence, and ‘Rm9sbG93ZXJz’
was a witty and chilling hour in
which the two agents run afoul of
irascible automated technology.
But, those two episodes aside,
it’s still hit and miss. An attempt to
delve deeper into Skinner’s past
was welcome but suffered from
not really giving Mitch Pileggimuch to do, the gleefully horrid
‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ has great
ideas but never quite satisfi es,
and a riff on creepypasta Candle
Cove isn’t anywhere near as
creepy as its inspiration.
Then there’s the arc plot, which
is still fl awed. The revelation that
CSM impregnated Scully “with
science” never washed and
never seems necessary, and
it’s only really Anderson and
Duchovny’s performances
that keep us invested in the
increasingly daft storyline.
Long-time fans of the show
will fi nd things to enjoy here,
and it’s a pleasure to see that
the chemistry between the two
leads is as great as ever. An
improvement on the last season,
then, but there’s still a lot of work
to do if more is coming (if Gillian
Anderson changes her mind).
Jonathan HatfullMore monsters, more problems
more harrowing and, awfully, not
hard to relate to either.
Fortunately, there are welcome
moments of levity and heart that
help break up the dark tone; one
particular scene sees a synth
hilariously impersonating a hip-
swinging human on a beach while
another sees ice-queen Niska
confess her love for girlfriend Astrid.
Most notably, it’s Mia’s unwavering
sense of hope that things will
eventually get better that strikes the
most emotional chord.
It’s there, in its three-dimensional
and wonderfully unique characters,
that Humans proves it’s the best
of its genre. It refuses to debase
itself to a mere tale of ‘us versus
them’, instead; it boasts synths and
humans that are heroes, synth and
human as villains and others that
pick their side along the way.
This show has always presented
complacency and lack of compassion
as the real enemy, as it champions
the qualities that should, but sadly
don’t always, defi ne us and that
concept has never been explored as
effectively as it is here.
Amy WestT SERIES THREE FOCUSES ON SOCIETY. ACCORDING TO HUMANS’ CREATORS, SERIES ONE WAS ABOUT FAMILY AND SERIES TWO WAS RELATIONSHIPS.
Star Trek:
DiscoveryAfter a few wobbles, the
new feet and its voice.Star Trek found itsIF YOU LIKE THIS TRY...★★★★★HUMANS
THE X-FILES
Season Three
Season Eleven
Must
see
now!Day zero brings the darkness
REVIEWS TV
W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^081