S02.E04: Series 2 Episode 4

[Cranberry]

Quote

Mia and Ed get closer but their relationship is thrown into jeopardy when their secret is discovered. Toby gets closer to Renie but offends her when he breaks through her synthie mask. Things look bleak for Niska until Laura brings in a surprise witness. When Milo  confronts Athena about her secret agenda, she persuades him her research could be mutually beneficial. Karen and Pete delve deeper into the mysterious 'seraphim' investigation. As Hester's influence over Leo becomes clear, cracks appear between him and Max.

[John Potts]

Lots of things to like about this episode, with a couple of black spots.

Still loving Niska's story. Nice to see her German girlfriend again and loved her for saying she still thinks of Niska as human even knowing she's a Synth. And seriously, WHEN will BadGuys(TM) learn that the worst thing to do to cause people to drop a contentious case is to threaten them? The best example was in Foyle's War where somebody attempts to intimidate Foyle's some time driver Samantha and she went, "Well I didn't think anything of it, but now you're trying to threaten me, I'm telling EVERYONE!" Though that "Gas man" scene made me think, "Sending in a Synth gas man would be a really good scam for burglars!"

Liked Athena's interactions with her boss. It's nice to see he's aware of what she's up to (is she keeping the digital upload of her daughter's brain on HIS server? Because if so, he's really got her by the short & curlies) but that she managed to spin it so helping her ALSO helps him. Because let's face it, having the means to provide functional immortality should make you the richest man in the world.

Also nice to see that part of the Synths becoming more "human" is them thinking less alike. Leo being prepared to sacrifice one Synth for the good of the cause being opposed by the more "Save them all!" Max was a nice (and believable) development. Though it was a total "Well DUH!" moment when they discovered that it was the (a?) Synth manufacturer who was trying to sweep them under the carpet, because who has the greatest interest in keeping it quiet? Though clearly the manufacturers have their hooks deep into government if their response to discovering Pete is a cop wasn't, "Oh shit, he's a cop!" but "You don't want to look into this" (unless it was a pure bluff, I suppose).

Still liking Mia's story least, particularly now everyone in it (other than Mia) has turned evil. I presume the café owner sold her out because he needs the money for his mother, but his friend seemed more curious about Mia than outright evil prior to this.

[NorthstarATL]

I'd forgotten about the "off" switch, so having Odi use it  on the threatening Synth prior to having it used on Mia was a nice reminder. I think you're right about Gunnar...er.. Ed''s motivation, but it might be a nice turn of events if it's a fake out for the audience and he's "playing" his friend. I was thinking, though, if you have consciousness and you know you have an "off" switch, wouldn't your first priority be to figure out a way to disable it?

  Hester is more Niska than Niska is at this point. I don't know what bringing in the GF does for the case. Laura is not trying to prove that humans can see Synths as "human". Her boss was right, though. There's no "win" in Niska's case, and her entire plot bugs me, almost as much as Mia's.

 I do like Athena's plotline, though, and Odi and the girls are great, so it's not all bad.

[kieyra]

Hmm. I know they only have eight episodes, but I feel like the stakes got too high too fast.

-Team Leo going over to the dark side (maybe)

-Death threats against Laura, while she's being told that Niska's case is hopeless anyway

-Mia kidnapped

-Evil corporate dude shows all his evil cards 

-The terrible terrible terrible haircuts 

-Meanwhile, possibly my least favorite SciFi abstraction, "make a copy of your brain and upload it somewhere and pretend that's the same thing as your own personal identity/awareness/"soul" being preserved". 

[Clanstarling]

Never liked whiny Leo much anyway. So his decision wasn't a surprise.

Speaking of whiny, I was just getting to almost liking Joe when he got all snotty about Laura needing to get to her job. It's not like the girl has an immediate issue they can solve by her staying home. Parents still need to work, even if their kids are having issues.

Interesting that the synth delivering the threat pushed Joe - I thought that was supposed to be something only a conscious synth could do.

I do agree that the stakes kind of blew up all at once.

Love conscious Odi. Not loving humans imitating synths.

Mia's story has been the least interesting - but I assume that she'll be sold to Qualia and presumably meet up with Athena, so it should get a little more interesting.

The bit about synths hacking Joe's work and firing him is intriguing.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Clanstarling

[mjc570]

On 11/21/2016 at 8:16 AM, John Potts said:

Liked Athena's interactions with her boss. It's nice to see he's aware of what she's up to (is she keeping the digital upload of her daughter's brain on HIS server? Because if so, he's really got her by the short & curlies)

I thought that was exactly what he was saying (ie, her daughter being on his server), and that's why she changed her attitude.  Nice to see he's one step ahead of her, maybe she can dial down the arrogance for a while.

All in all, a good episode.  I have to say, Joe has become pretty awesome - a good parent, a supportive husband.

Mattie (not Maddie?  Nashville reference) has become my favorite character.   

[scrb]

So there's a black market for conscious synths but where is the demand coming from?

The corporation or people who want synths who may not be completely obedient?

Who would want that?

[Quilt Fairy]

I only care about Odi and Max at this point.

[thuganomics85]

And the gang continues to splinter apart.  Now, Max has bailed on Leo, because he doesn't like Hester's methods and how Leo is following them.  Granted, it did help lead the duo to where the Silo is, but I can see why Max thinks this way.  Leo won't have any friends left at the rate he's going!

Mia and Ed were mainly boring (and a waste of Gemma Chan), until Ed suddenly powered her down, and his suspicious friend pops out of nowhere.  Wasn't sure what to make of that, but the theories that he is going to try and sell her to get money to take care of his mom makes sense.  Have a feeling they'll end up underestimating her though.

Athena and Milo have a nice conversation over expensive wine and sea bass.  It seems like all the cards are out on the table at this point, so I wonder if they'll actually be able to work together, or continue to be at odds.

Pete goes in a bit too deep at trying to track the Synths, and gets his ass kicked for his troubles.  Meanwhile, Karen continues be unsure over if she wants more like her or not.

Cool that they brought back Astrid as part of Niska's case.  I'm still wondering how Karen is going to able to sway the judge, or if she even has a chance to do so.  Of course, now someone just hacked a Synth, and freaked out the entire Hawkins household, until Odi saved the day.  Yay, Odi!

[scrb]

Why would anyone be opposed to trying Niska as a human?

She would be convicted in that case and go to prison, as opposed to being deactivated.  Not sure either fate is better than the other.

Or is Niska willing to go to jail if it means conscious synths are accorded human rights, so she's going to take one for the team?

I guess it would mean the end of free manual labor.

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 1:43 AM, scrb said:

Why would anyone be opposed to trying Niska as a human?

She would be convicted in that case and go to prison, as opposed to being deactivated.  Not sure either fate is better than the other.

Or is Niska willing to go to jail if it means conscious synths are accorded human rights, so she's going to take one for the team?

I guess it would mean the end of free manual labor.

I think that is exactly what Niska is thinking.

I feared for Mia when Ed shut her off. My initial thought was that his friend wanted "sexy time" with her, because he saw Ed and Mia kissing that one day, it took my dumb brain a minute to realize he was selling a conscious synth to get money for his mother. The actor also reminds me of a very young Bruce Springsteen.

I am really glad they found a way to keep Odi around. I really like how the actor played him last season and he is doing really good this season as well with the consciousness.

The bit I am slightly confused on. Are there 2 sets of conscious synths? The group that is awakening because of the code Niska released, and the ones that are semi-alive but more synth-like who are taking over Joe's companies higher up positions and threatening Laura?

[Quilt Fairy]

10 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

The bit I am slightly confused on. Are there 2 sets of conscious synths? The group that is awakening because of the code Niska released, and the ones that are semi-alive but more synth-like who are taking over Joe's companies higher up positions and threatening Laura?

That appears to be the scenario they're setting up.

[Eulipian 5k]

On 3/9/2017 at 5:55 AM, Spaceman Spiff said:

Why would anyone be opposed to trying Niska as a human?

If Siri on my Iphone started buying itself expensive accessories thru my Apple Pay account, I can just dump it in the wood chipper, but if da Guberment decides that Siri is conscious, and has rights, there is only so much I can do about what used to be property. This mirrors the reluctance of said guberment in recognizing the humanity and rights  of certain races in the population for hundreds of years.

It would be ironic, and par for the course, if Niska gets all her rights but Renie still gets shot in the back running away from a Stop & Frisk.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Ed's friend peeked in through the window and saw Mia kissing Ed, I was waiting for him to pull a Phil Stuckey, so I wasn't surprised when Ed and the friend were up to some kind of shenanigans at the end of this episode. I'm guessing Ed is going to sell her to help pay for his mom's nursing home bills. Is that more or less creepy?

Awwww, Odi saved the day! I wonder if the actor gets sore holding his arm at that awkward angle.

Poor sweet Max. He's just trying to do the right thing and Leo is letting Hester talk him into sacrificing a few synths for the greater good. And now Max is on his own!

Laura tracking down Astrid and bringing her in was very calculated but I know she did it in the hopes of proving Niska's consciousness. Like Leo, her goal is the common good, not the individual, so she was okay with upsetting both Astrid and Niska.