S01.E08: Episode 8

[Cranberry]

With the Synths in captivity, Hobb is determined to extract Elster's consciousness programming from their brains.

 

Much shorter episode description this week, but spoilered anyway just in case.

[TomGirl]

So, is this the last episode?

[Cranberry]

Last of this season, yes. It got renewed for a second, though!

[NorthstarATL]

Nice finale! Love how the two families worked together! (And to think I disliked the Hawkinses initially!) Hobb really was evil, desiring a new slave system; though maybe a litte too heavy-handed to have all the core group of males be black, as if the audience wouldn't understand the meaning otherwise. That said, I hope the next series frees Fred, and that we see Niska lead the rise of the machine. (Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to want that, being human and all?)

[John Potts]

I found this hugely disappointing. All the issues I thought were interesting were swept under the rug in favour of issues such as "Adultery becomes less of an issue when there's a family crisis" and "Slavery is wrong!" because there are apparently no other programmes that address those issues, unlike "When does a thinking robot deserve human rights?" and "How far should governments go to protect people from scientific advances that might be harmful?" which come up in soaps every week (No, wait a minute....).

 

Hobb reminded me of The Flash as Lex Luthor in The Justice League cartoon who doesn't wash his hands "Because I'm EVIL!" - why would you want to give synths sentience just to control them? They are already subservient to humans (I'm pretty sure they've been stated to be Asimov's "Three Laws Compliant") so all he's doing is declaring somebody free only to enchain them again. I'd have much preferred him to be doing it for the money - (some) people will pay to make their Synths fully sentient so why not have him simply want to claim David Elister's work for himself? And Laura's defence of her rights was truly pathetic given she's a lawyer. Synths may have no rights (as machines) but humans certainly do - Hobb has no right to burst into their home and take their phones willy-nilly. I'm sure he'd argue that Sentient Synths are a potential threat and he'd have a point (Nyska is at least an attempted murderer) - he could even argue that Laura's family are plotting subversive acts and so constitute terrorists - but that's just it: they're arguable and could be challenged in court... by a lawyer... like Laura. As for Leo, he is in no way "A grey area" - the law would suppose him to be human (admittedly one thought dead, so his father might have been in trouble for not reporting it) who'd just had an experimental surgery to keep him alive until a specific law was passed stating that "X procedure means you don't count as human (any more)" OK, I get that people are more interested in "Human drama" than technical issues, but that's just a cop out for people writing dramas who can't present them in an interesting way!

[NorthstarATL]

 

I'd have much preferred him to be doing it for the money - (some) people will pay to make their Synths fully sentient so why not have him simply want to claim David Elister's work for himself?

I don't see how that is any more an interesting premise than what was presented. Financial gain is the root of most fictional (and non-fiction) plotting. Just my opinion, of course, but wanting to give the Synths consciousness and THEN controlling them is far more diabolical and evil and trancends the "in it for the money" motivation, though that might also be a part of it.

 

[Sakura12]

I didn't like the Hawkings in the beginning especially Laura and Mattie, now they are on my favorite characters list. I loved seeing them all work together. They got Max back but lost Fred. :(

 

Also why did Karen started acting more robotic after her reveal? Before she acted more like an unsociable person that was a little stiff. Then she started acting full on Synth after she told Pete. I'm surprised Hobbs didn't want to experiment on her more than the others. She has brown human eyes not the metallic green ones and she's lived as a human for years, even drinking and eating with them. She's the upgraded version, the rest are old models. 

 

Season 2 should be interesting providing they can get everyone back this being a British show. I do wonder what Niska's up too, since she gave the drive to Laura and made a copy or stole the one with Leo's memories on it. 

Edited August 3, 2015 by Sakura12

[John Potts]

NorthStarATL wanting to give the Synths consciousness and THEN controlling them is far more diabolical and evil and trancends the "in it for the money" motivation.

 

 

I absolutely agree it makes him more evil, but it makes little (character) sense. Hobb seemed to want to give the Synths free will just so he could take it away again which (if he was a sociopath) might make sense, it just makes him a one in a million (or one in ten of TV villains!). Wanting to get rich (and not caring who gets hurt in the process), wanting the fame of doing it or even wanting an army of robot slaves to take over the world would seem more believable motivations (to me, at least).

[Sakura12]

Maybe we haven't seen all of his plans yet? He doesn't seem fond of whoever those people are that are watching him. Maybe he plans on making himself all the Synths' primary user, therefore being able to control any of them at any time he chooses.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Sakura12

[Daisy]

I didn't like the Hawkings in the beginning especially Laura and Mattie, now they are on my favorite characters list. I loved seeing them all work together. They got Max back but lost Fred. :(

 

Also why did Karen started acting more robotic after her reveal? Before she acted more like an unsociable person that was a little stiff. Then she started acting full on Synth after she told Pete. I'm surprised Hobbs didn't want to experiment on her more than the others. She has brown human eyes not the metallic green ones and she's lived as a human for years, even drinking and eating with them. She's the upgraded version, the rest are old models. 

 

Season 2 should be interesting providing they can get everyone back this being a British show. I do wonder what Niska's up too, since she gave the drive to Laura and made a copy or stole the one with Leo's memories on it. 

 

 

I honestly think Karen was finally free to be herself. she didn't have to hide being a Synth (everyone knew). I caught that too, like... was she acting Snyth-y after she slept with the cop?  Because I was totally noticing how she wasn't walking like a Snyth. 

 

Though Karen/Beatrice was cold, she was going to overload all of them and have them die/shut down. then she gives up the code..

And Niska being all "deuces" (and creating a copy of a copy - she's very stealth too!)

 

Hobbs creating conscience synths  so they can be basically Freds... that's horrible

(but i am happy. Maxie is alive and well). he was my favourite.

 

so happy with season 2 is going to happen.         

[tatterd]

I absolutely agree it makes him more evil, but it makes little (character) sense. Hobb seemed to want to give the Synths free will just so he could take it away again which (if he was a sociopath) might make sense, it just makes him a one in a million (or one in ten of TV villains!). Wanting to get rich (and not caring who gets hurt in the process), wanting the fame of doing it or even wanting an army of robot slaves to take over the world would seem more believable motivations (to me, at least).

 

I got the impression that he's interested in the scientific or intellectual aspect of giving the synths consciousness but is aware that it might cause issues, which is why he then wants to control or restrain them.  It's a pragmatic form of sociopathy.  I don't think Elster ever really thought about potential consequences until possibly the end, and George would have gone with the ethics over the science.  Hobb is fascinated by the technology but I don't think he actually really considers them human.

 

Really looking forward to season 2. 

[Sakura12]

Which still brings me back to why was Hobbs not more interested in Karen? She's the upgraded model from the others. She's got normal eyes and can eat and drink, if someone wanted a companion, she would be the better option then a Synth that would just there with you at a restaurant. 

 

She's the one he should be studying. 

[John Potts]

tatterd I got the impression that he's interested in the scientific or intellectual aspect of giving the synths consciousness but is aware that it might cause issues, which is why he then wants to control or restrain them.  It's a pragmatic form of sociopathy.  I don't think Elster ever really thought about potential consequences until possibly the end.

 

 

That's well thought out, cogently argued... and (mostly) absent from what we saw onscreen. Maybe that is what he was trying to do (and TPTB intended to say), but if so, couldn't he have spent the time he was monologuing to Leo about how he can't have an army of sentient Synths running around?* Thinking about it, he reminded me of Bolivar Trask from X-Men Days of Future Past, who did take the view "I rather admire them - but if it comes to a war between them and us, I'm going to make damn sure it's us that wins!" (so I guess there were element of that onscreen, they were just a bit too subtle).

 

Also agree that David Elster was one of those "Visionaries" who gets so caught up in his work that he doesn't think about the consequences (very much in accordance with how Mary Shelley wrote Victor Frankenstein, in fact). It's a shame we never got to see much of "Humans First" because they could have a few valid points (in fact I was hoping that Leo's family were going to hide among the Anti-Synth rally, because that would be kinda amusing as well as giving us a chance to hear what the Bad Guys had to say). But I guess crowd scenes are expensive, so we only got one.

 

* Ironically, exactly what he's probably going to get, if Nyska gets her way, but Create Your Own Villain is a cliché in its own right!

[henripootel]

Just my opinion, of course, but wanting to give the Synths consciousness and THEN controlling them is far more diabolical and evil and trancends the "in it for the money" motivation

True, but also more stupid.  For a good explanation on what'll happen next, watch The Incredibles and see how long it takes Syndrome's Omindroid to modify itself and turn on him.

[Athena]

Which still brings me back to why was Hobbs not more interested in Karen? She's the upgraded model from the others. She's got normal eyes and can eat and drink, if someone wanted a companion, she would be the better option then a Synth that would just there with you at a restaurant. 

 

She's the one he should be studying. 

 

Karen's modifications from the others seem mostly cosmetic. Her eating and drinking is just basically a sack and her eye colour does not seem like it would be hard to achieve. She is better at acting human because she's been alone and adapted to it. Mia, Niska, and Fred can pass easily as well. I do agree that Karen is a fascinating character in that her time alone among the humans makes her unique.

[molshoop]

 

I do agree that Karen is a fascinating character in that her time alone among the humans makes her unique.

 

     She is certainly interesting.  She has spent most of her time around humans and she's a cop, yet she still thinks

     "real" humans must be saved from the Synths.

    

[Primetimer]

An exhilarating season closes with a lot of questions.

Read the story

[sluggish neko]

 

As for Leo, he is in no way "A grey area" - the law would suppose him to be human (admittedly one thought dead, so his father might have been in trouble for not reporting it) who'd just had an experimental surgery to keep him alive until a specific law was passed stating that "X procedure means you don't count as human (any more)"

 

That bugged me too. How is his brain/Synth interface any different from having a pacemaker? Without the machinery, he'd be brain dead; without a pacemaker, a human would have no regular heartbeat and eventually be dead dead.  So... how does that disqualify him from being a person? That was one of many huh? moments that made my brain hurt and as I've learned to do with this show, best not to think too hard about the science or logic of it.

 

Much like on Merlin, Colin Morgan is better than this show. How Karen could ignore Leo's plea for help is beyond me. Look at those puppy dog eyes! In the end, it boiled down to a Surrogate Mother vs. Duplicate Mother Battle... and I guess Mia has more desperate eyes? Or maybe Karen has some bit of maternal feeling programmed in her? I'm still not sure why she made a 180 turn.

 

Hmm... Probably not a good idea to let the murderer decide what to do with the code of great Synth importance. No one thought it weird that Kill-All-Humans Niska suddenly trusted Laura the human? I'm rooting for Niska to unleash that code and cause chaos in Season 2, but I probably won't stick around to watch it.

 

[Auntie Anxiety]

Meh. Probably not watching next season because this just got too silly and formulaic. Killing off William Hurt's character was a mistake.

[izabella]

So they just left Fred at that church, covered in a tarp?  Won't he "die" after he's been off too long? 

[thuganomics85]

Max lives, so all is right in the world!  Of course, now Fred is infected with some kind tracker by Hobb that no once can get out, so they just left him in that basement, I guess.  I mean, I hope they at least turned him back on and ran out of there, or isn't he just going to eventually rot or something?

 

Kind of a quite finale compared to these past few episodes, and I was somewhat underwhelmed with a few things.  I felt like most of the resolutions to whatever the problems were ended up being easy, and there wasn't much suspense.  Even the big "doctors getting ready to shut down the Synths", lacked impact, since he started with Mia.  Had it been one of the other three, I could see them going far as to kill one of them, but I really doubted they would kill her (plus, I would riot if this show dared to take away Gemma Chan from this.)  And while I liked the idea that it was Mia that finally convinced Karen to help them, I still felt like it was a bit too convenient and not well-earned.  I think had we spent more time with Karen, I would have enjoyed it better.  And then the ending.  Should have seen it coming, but I'm disappointed that it looks like Niska has nefarious plans, and will probably end up being bad as opposed to more shades of grey.

 

Still, there were other stuff I really enjoyed.  I thought Colin Morgan gave a stand-out performance in this particular episode, and I really felt for Leo and his love for his family, even if they are all Synths.  He really would die for them and wouldn't want to keep living without them.  Pete finally was kind of fun with the Hawkins kids, and I even enjoyed him and Karen reuniting.  While I still found it rushed, I do think that Karen has become more interesting now, and I'm curious to see where they go with her next.  Finally, the Hawkins in general.  Can't believe I'm saying this, but I kind of grown to like all of them, and I loved all their little moments with the Synths, like Mia/Lauren's trust with one another, and how much faith Leo had in Mattie to oversee their little mind-trip.

 

In the end though, I enjoyed the series and will be back. It wasn't perfect and I do worry if I'll end up missing George/William Hurt a lot (and Odi!  Did that bastard Hobb keep his word and killed poor Odi?!), but I really enjoy the a lot of these characters and the performances from the actors.  Plus, Gemma Chan.  She's not just a great actress, but also extremely gorgeous.

[TomGirl]

Agreed, both Gemma Chan and Emily Berrington are stunning!

[LeGrandElephant]

I liked the show overall, but in this episode I couldn't believe everyone was just letting Karen stand around and telling her their secrets and stuff. I would think the government / Hobbs would at the very least have her locked in a room as well.

[shrewd.buddha]

I call BS on leaving Fred behind  - turned off and covered up, no less. It would be differnent if there was some plan to return for him - or leave him with the Hawkings family -- but it appeared everyone was going their separate ways.

 

Much of this episode just felt like a setup for the next season (everyone separated) and not like the conclusion to a particular story. Realistically, the Hawkings family drama should be done and something else would take its place next season. If they play a prominent part of the next season it will feel forced (much like other shows that get too attached to characters whose stories are done). 

 

We will see how the next season shapes up... But after this 'finale' I am worried that the writing may be going downhill and we will  just have the same issues and stories recycled next time. 

 

Problems for me : 

Niska is still wanted for murder (whether or not she didn't know better at the time). 

It didn't seem to make sense that Hobbs would let Karen just walk away.  

These advanced androids don't have internal tracking systems? Even smartphones can be tracked with the power off. 

Next season I would like to see more technological advances than just life-like androids. It doesn't seem natural to have one without the other. 

Edited August 17, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[marcee]

Was there any relevance to the little one dropping her giraffe? I felt like they made such a big deal of it happening that it would come back to bite them somehow, but... no.

Edited August 17, 2015 by marcee

[BensBritches]

I was a bit disappointed with this finale.  It just seemed too trite and too "tropey" for what had come before it.  Like the above referenced scene where the doctors (or scientists) are going to destroy the synths, but they take FOREVER to begin the procedure and then there's a phone in the "surgery" room that rings just in the nick (no pun intended) of time... I hate that trope and expected better from this show.

 

The thing with Leo being a grey area also didn't make much sense.  He isn't really a synth, so much as a human who has hardware inside to keep him alive, right? Have we ever really found out what Leo needs to survive?  He appears to need to be "charged" or jumpstarted, but otherwise I'm not sure what it takes for him to survive.  I assume he could be killed again, he certainly seems to need to eat and can bleed and breaths- I wonder if we'll get more insight into how Leo has been modified in the second season.

 

During this whole ordeal in the finale, how did none of the synths need to charge themselves? And when did Dr. Hobbs do the implantation in Fred. Was it back when he had possession of Fred and was supposed to "kill" him?  So Hobbs could have tracked him/been in control of him all along? Was that why Fred's fingers twitched, he stared off and mumbled to himself? 

 

Was there significance to the flashdrive Mattie was missing at the end?  Because she seemed sort of nonplussed by it, but if it was a copy of the code/Leo's memories that was now in Niska's possession, I'd think she would have been more upset about losing it.  And did Niska steal the flashdrive (or whatever it was she had at the end) or make her own copy (when did she have time to do that)? 

 

And maybe I'm missing something, but what is the importance of Leo's downloaded memories? I don't think he has any memories of how the synths came to be or any such thing that would be useful for developing more sentient synths, right?

 

All in all I liked this show but I found the ending a let down.  I would have loved to have seen more development of Karen and Leo's relationship. While Karen is not Beatrice, I think the fact that Beatrice tried to kill Leo when she killed herself would produce all kinds of mixed emotions for both Leo and Karen (who had Beatrice's memories, didn't she?).  This conflict, while somewhat played out for Leo went way too quickly and if Colin wasn't such a good actor, I'm not sure I would have gotten as much of an emotional gist for their scenes as I did.  The psychology of the inter-relationship between Karen/Beatrice, Leo and Mia is fascinating to me, but wasn't really touched upon in a way that satisfied me.  Oh well...

 

There's more, but I'm forgetting it now...

[Athena]

Was there significance to the flashdrive Mattie was missing at the end?  Because she seemed sort of nonplussed by it, but if it was a copy of the code/Leo's memories that was now in Niska's possession, I'd think she would have been more upset about losing it.  And did Niska steal the flashdrive (or whatever it was she had at the end) or make her own copy (when did she have time to do that)?

 

Niska stole Mattie's flashdrive so she could make herself a copy of the conscious code. She was nonplussed because she had no idea that Niska stole it and put that information on it. To everyone in the Church basement, Niska made a copy and put it in a flashdrive to give to Laura for safe keeping. Niska probably copied it in both the flashdrives at the same time when everyone's backs were turned. When they asked her, she gave a copy to Laura (or maybe Laura's drive had nothing on it, who knows).

[CoderLady]

That was an interesting mix of loose ends and resolutions, but it works for me. I'm looking forward to season two.

 

The Hawkins' story is pretty much wrapped up, though Fred's isn't. Leo, Mia and Max might have some trouble blending in if they stay together but if they limit their time together in public it should be ok. Hobb is an evil bastard who will continue to chase the little family.

 

What I'm really, really looking forward to is how the relationship between Pete and Karen will develop. They seem to still be work colleagues and possibly lovers going forward, if Karen hasn't been outed as a synth. I like the idea. It's like Almost Human, but better.

 

All in all, I enjoyed the whole season with the exception of their losing George Millican. He had potential.

[Quilt Fairy]

I thought that when they all put their minds together something 'else' (something visual) would happen, but apparently the only result was some code that magically appeared on Leo's computer. That was quite a letdown.

 

The mind-meld scene where they're all around the tree reminded me of the scene in the movie Sybil where Sally Field's multiple personalities come out and resolve themselves. 

 

I also couldn't figure out why Karen was allowed complete freedom. Why wasn't Hobb trying to get all her code? He's certainly shown himself to be ruthless enough that the resemblance to Beatrice shouldn't bother him.

 

The whole "we're captured"/"we're free"/"we're being tracked" seemed illogical to me. Too many easy jumps from one situation to another. And ITA with  the poster who mentioned that they didn't appear to need to power up during this whole time. They were caught by bounty-hunters before, what's to prevent that happening again? They're on the run, and nothing's changed.

[izabella]

Does anyone know if any pieces or scenes were cut in this episode, and if so, what were they?

 

ETA - sorry, that was supposed to have the word CUT in it!  Edited.

Edited August 18, 2015 by izabella

[meep.meep]

If I were going to rank episodes, I'd give this a 4 and most of the other episodes would be 8's or 9's.  Parts of this were too silly to believe.

 

Why didn't Laura insist that Anita/Mia was her family's property, for example.  A great lawyer.

[queenanne]

Why didn't Laura insist that Anita/Mia was her family's property, for example.  A great lawyer.

 

Maybe some legal laws/rules are different in this Brave New World.  As a general point of view I'd agree that's the sort of thing you bring up and out as a story positive if "laws are different", but maybe at the moment the writers thought it too X-Men, or feared bogging us down in minutiae (or lazy, heh.  I don't rule out lazy).

[Sonja]

If I were going to rank episodes, I'd give this a 4 and most of the other episodes would be 8's or 9's.  Parts of this were too silly to believe.

 

Why didn't Laura insist that Anita/Mia was her family's property, for example.  A great lawyer.

Wasn't she leased, not bought? They also mentioned the Hawkinses would get their deposit for her back. Also, we already know that authorities can order citizens to destroy their synths, so I didn't dwell further on Laura's attempts to bring out the lawyer being shot down that quickly. The police obviously have the upper hand in the show's society.

[SlovakPrincess]

So they just left Fred at that church, covered in a tarp? Won't he "die" after he's been off too long?

This concerned me, as well.

They have no plan to fix Fred and then they all just took off. WTF? Poor Fred!

Well, maybe we are supposed to think Leo and co. are going to try and figure something out, and whatever Niska's crazy plan is, maybe she thinks it will eventually take down Hobb and free Fred from his control.

What exactly is Karen's plan? She must know Hobb will come after her looking for answers, when he can't find the others.

If they have a second season, I hope they will take a break from different permutations of the poor synth family being torn apart. It's emotionally exhausting!

[Which Tyler]

I think they just left Fred because they needed something to do next season.

Well that, and an uprising of conscious synth.s who can't rise up.

[kay1864]

So they just left Fred at that church, covered in a tarp?  Won't he "die" after he's been off too long? 

 

Yes...but all they have to do is call Hobbs and tell him where Fred is.

 

These advanced androids don't have internal tracking systems? Even smartphones can be tracked with the power off. 

 

True, but maybe there's a reason (power consumption, maybe? some other reason?) that Off means Off.  

 

During this whole ordeal in the finale, how did none of the synths need to charge themselves?

 

Presumably they were charged while at Hobbs' lab.

[Which Tyler]

Presumably they were charged while at Hobbs' lab.

weren't they all fully charged whilst at the house? They had 24 hours whilst Max was charging, and I'm sure we saw Niska and Mia charging together on the sofa

[LeGrandElephant]

I thought they left Fred because Hobb would be coming, having found out from Fred where they were. So Hobb will find Fred fairly soon, right? Not sure what the point of the tarp was though, so maybe I was wrong about that. 

 

We were surprised how quickly Hobb went from a sort of grey character who seemed somewhat sympathetic to the synths and seemed to admire them, to a completely over the top evil character who wanted to create a race of sentient/conscious slaves who would be forced to serve humanity while hating it. 

Edited August 24, 2015 by LeGrandElephant

[CoderLady]

We were surprised how quickly Hobb went from a sort of grey character who seemed somewhat sympathetic to the synths and seemed to admire them, to a completely over the top evil character who wanted to create a race of sentient/conscious slaves who would be forced to serve humanity while hating it. 

 

This really blows my mind. Why in all the known hells would he want to make the poor things sentient and feeling, and then enslave them? That is just plain cruel. I want to see how this storyline plays out next season.

[April Bloodgate]

Hobb reminded me of The Flash as Lex Luthor in The Justice League cartoon who doesn't wash his hands "Because I'm EVIL!" - why would you want to give synths sentience just to control them? They are already subservient to humans (I'm pretty sure they've been stated to be Asimov's "Three Laws Compliant") so all he's doing is declaring somebody free only to enchain them again. I'd have much preferred him to be doing it for the money.

He specifically said something to the effect of, "People don't just want to be served--they want to be loved. So I'm going to sell them a synth that can love them while still being in their control." And then he said something to the government guy (one of the 2 people who were overseeing/funding him) about the economy and the market for synths with emotions. Unless I missed something else (I am seeing the edited US version.), that seems liked a stated financial motivation to me.

 

ETA: Of course, it's totally super evil to enslave sentient beings in order to make a profit, so I'm not saying he isn't an evil bad guy, just that there is a profit motive. 

Edited August 31, 2015 by Denay

[wayne67]

Personally I thought the idea behind chaining sentient Synths to servitude was fairly straight forward. The Regular Synths are programmed to behave in certain ways and only learn through updates transmitted by other Synths. It is more profitable to have a sentient Synth that can adapt to unusual situations and is forced to be loyal than a Synth that needs to be programmed for every situation. I figured it's like the ultimate upgrade to save money on programming. It's probably much easier than having constant upgrades requiring previous models to be scrapped like they did with Odi.

 

I hope Odi survives and is upgraded by Niska.

 

Poor Fred.

[LeGrandElephant]

Hobbs didn't exactly display his ability to make Fred love him or be loyal. It was clear Fred hated him and was only being stopped by crude programming from doing direct actions like killing him or revealing to the others what he had been specifically forbidden to reveal. So he had to follow direct commands from Hobbs and couldn't directly hurt him. But Fred did try to hurt him, and express his hatred of Hobbs and his plans - I wouldn't call that loyalty or love. Hobbs put in some direct forcible limits on action, but clearly did not change Fred's personality or feelings at all.

[CoderLady]

Hobbs didn't exactly display his ability to make Fred love him or be loyal. It was clear Fred hated him and was only being stopped by crude programming from doing direct actions like killing him or revealing to the others what he had been specifically forbidden to reveal. So he had to follow direct commands from Hobbs and couldn't directly hurt him. But Fred did try to hurt him, and express his hatred of Hobbs and his plans - I wouldn't call that loyalty or love. Hobbs put in some direct forcible limits on action, but clearly did not change Fred's personality or feelings at all.

 To me, that's a preview of how things would be for all synths if Hobbs got his way. He was lucky enough to get his hands on an intelligent synth with feelings and promptly turned him into an unwilling slave. Crudely done no doubt, and if he gets the means to continue he'll get better at making life a living hell for synths.

[exsexbot]

I know they had to make the ending different to the Swedish original, and setup some leads for a sequel, but this was really disappointing. A sentimental happy ending. Max got healed, and they all escape.  But too much is hard to accept.  Niska and Beatrice are both homocide suspects, why were they allowed out?  Mrs Hawkins ordered them out of the house, even though Max is dying, and turns 180 degrees, finally giving them a wad of cash. And just dumping Fred - surely they could have hid him in a metal shed, so the tracker couldn't be detected. Besides, the UK has over 5 million CCTV cameras, they would be spotted anyway. When Hobbs turns out to be a devious plagiarist out to make a fortune, why didn't the intelligence service get some goons to throw him out the door?

[John Potts]

Denay He specifically said something to the effect of, "People don't just want to be served--they want to be loved. So I'm going to sell them a synth that can love them while still being in their control."

 

 

Not to harp on about this (but obviously I'm going to!), but why would anyone believe that? To take a not entirely inappropriate example, supposing I pay a prostitute $100 (purely hypothetically, you understand!)* - I'm pretty sure she's going to tell me what a fantastic lover I am but I'd have to be an idiot to think she's really sincere. Likewise, if a Synth acts like they love me, I'd presume it was just well programmed fakery (whether it is or not is another matter) just like when people curse their computer/car/phone for not doing what they want - they may act like it actually has agency, but they don't really believe it was choosing not to act as you wanted. A synth would be just the same: you might be able to convince yourself that they really do feel love for you (which we've already seen examples of already with non upgraded Synths) but that doesn't make it real! 

 

* Because I'm in the UK, so obviously I'd pay in pounds

[Athena]

 A synth would be just the same: you might be able to convince yourself that they really do feel love for you (which we've already seen examples of already with non upgraded Synths) but that doesn't make it real!

 

I think the market for these synths wouldn't really care or dwell too much on it being real. Then again, what is real? The lines blur with synthetics who can feel. If you are vulnerable, lonely or shy individual, having a synth who loves you makes you appreciate that. You'd never need real humans anymore. Would it be a worthwhile existence? Probably not, but I can see why there are people who would want someone to love them automatically just like that.

 

There are high class escorts and prostitutes who offer a similar experience to their clients. Objectively, the punters know, but they build long term relationships with these women not just for the sex. It becomes a relationship built on the fact that it is a paid service. I can see how it would be like that with Slave Synths except even more twisted since the synths have no free will.

[AudienceofOne]

Not to harp on about this (but obviously I'm going to!), but why would anyone believe that? To take a not entirely inappropriate example, supposing I pay a prostitute $100 (purely hypothetically, you understand!)* - I'm pretty sure she's going to tell me what a fantastic lover I am but I'd have to be an idiot to think she's really sincere.

 

 

Tell that to the men showering prostitutes with dinner and expensive gifts. I thought his conclusion that people want slaves who are people is pretty spot on. Since actual slavery exists even today Now we get to do it on the cheap. Yay! Welcome to humanity.

[John Potts]

AudienceofOne Tell that to the men showering prostitutes with dinner and expensive gifts

 

Yes, but to an extent they know they're deluding themselves: they may believe the lady (or man) in question really loves them, but they also know they've just handed over $1000 (or however much it is). Which is my whole problem with the issue as presented by Humans: we don't need androids who "really" love their owners, just androids who can fake it convincingly (and for some people, they already have achieved that, like the woman who took her android to the theatre). 

[candall]

On ‎9‎/‎22‎/‎2015 at 1:20 PM, Athena said:

 

I think the market for these synths wouldn't really care or dwell too much on it being real. Then again, what is real? The lines blur with synthetics who can feel. If you are vulnerable, lonely or shy individual, having a synth who loves you makes you appreciate that. You'd never need real humans anymore. Would it be a worthwhile existence? Probably not, but I can see why there are people who would want someone to love them automatically just like that.

 

There are high class escorts and prostitutes who offer a similar experience to their clients. Objectively, the punters know, but they build long term relationships with these women not just for the sex. It becomes a relationship built on the fact that it is a paid service. I can see how it would be like that with Slave Synths except even more twisted since the synths have no free will.

Agree.  [I'm late to the party because I'd never heard of this show until the Sundance marathon on 5/25/16.  Hi.]

I'm surprised everyone's so disappointed with the conclusion because I thought "next stage synth" was a compelling and diabolical base for Season Two.  The whole series had reasonable but lonely people who were DYING for emotional feedback from their synths--most notably William Hurt, but also theatre aficionado woman and Pete's wife.

The primary negative of synths taking human jobs would be outweighed by the allure of synths with programmable emotions.  As they pointed out, nobody's ironing if there's a synth around to do the job, but what if people could eliminate the minefield of dating and the effort of forming social connections?  Brothel dollies who were delighted to participate in your kinks, above and beyond pay for play, would surely bring top dollar.

Would every affable Synth 2.0 have an ingrained inclination to jam an icepick in your eye?  Okay, now that wouldn't be good. 

Bring on Season Two.

[Fukui San]

On 5/26/2016 at 5:40 PM, candall said:

Agree.  [I'm late to the party because I'd never heard of this show until the Sundance marathon on 5/25/16.  Hi.]

So you're saying you hadn't heard of 'em?

</EHG podcast in-joke>