Not Quite Human
Jul. 29th, 2018 02:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trickykittyI got caught up on season 3 of Humans today, and I have to say I am utterly disappointed in how the writers chose to end the season. It belies everything about this show that otherwise makes it intelligent, poignant, relevant, and above all, believable.
It's sad, but I could totally agree with V that Mia's martyrdom had to occur. That's a non-issue.
Having V appear in Odi's body, that made perfect sense, but then I question everything before and after it. Why V can't be the leader himself* I'm not sure I understand. Nor did the statement, "I'm glad I picked you," make any sense, since Niska was obviously not the first synth to seek out the cabin (in theory, that was the whole point being made by the appearance of the dead synth in the woods). And "The Synth Who Sleeps" is a known rumor that otherwise never should have existed. No one should know that V is there, let alone know that V sleeps unless V has been putting out those rumors specifically, but, uh, why? And why all the stupid labyrinthine clues instead of a direct message like a decent AI would send out, and why send it via a red-eye instead of via direct message to Niska if she really was "picked"?
Oh, a full moon, just in time. What if Niska didn't get there until a couple days later? Would she have missed out?
Did that guy that took Niska to the broken synth make any sense regarding what he saw/heard and how that made him somehow magically be in close proximity to Niska after she'd been taken in by the Bar Dude?
If he didn't know where the cabin was, how did he know that there was no road to it and that it could only be reached by hiking?
Seriously, Niska doesn't carry around a spare backup battery? Or, as this entire season suggests, they simply don't exist or have to be specially made? No USB plugins for any of our future synths so that they can use backup batteries like we currently carry around for our cell phones, tablets, and e-cigs? None? This wasn't just a major issue with the finale, but an obvious running issue and major plot requirement for this entire season. It's because of the lack of battery backups that a handful of synths got killed off after being turned away from the camp, and it's the lack of battery backups that cause so many other synth deaths during the season. I guess these synths have never heard of petrol and generators. Solar panels, anyone? How about someone inventing solar panel hair so the synths never have to plug in unless they live close to a pole. So yeah, the plot point regarding this hurt throughout the season, but it was highly noticeable in the finale with regard to Niska's 5-seconds-walk remaining on her pilgrimage. If it were a bomb to be diffused, they would have left 2 seconds on the clock.
Good thing V was there to see Niska fall down.
No one saw Niska enter the building - I guess she went in through the back door. There must not have been so many demonstrating mourners to surround the whole building. At least, that's my version of the story, and I'm sticking to it.
I think we're chalking up V's knowledge of Leo's healing and the baby's blood and associated properties to suspension of disbelief regarding all the info that is on the internet, but I can't help but sneeze *bullshit* at that one. At most, I could see Stanley reporting back the pregnancy to the powers that be that he works for, but then again, he's actually a green-eye, and I didn't think they were connecting to the internet all that much anymore. Even with his reports back to Anatole, it never seemed as though he reported back the pregnancy. Anatole seemed oblivious to the fact that Leo sired a son with magical blood whilst he beat the living shit out of him.
And then, the coup de grâce bitch slap of them all - Deus Ex Machina to the rescue! And Behold! For there is a Savior Baby! A Savior Baby that will allow the show to no longer have to give much thought into how to resolve tensions between the species, because Savior Baby has (or will eventually) come to the rescue!
And that is why I don't think I will bother with another season even if the show does get renewed.
This show has been absolutely wonderful as far as an AI rights show goes. It has been thought provoking and has played well with persons of high intelligence. And then, it shoots itself in the foot. Oh that's gotta smart.
I'm not alone in my feelings about this.
Nope. Not the only one. As this article mentions, this has all happened before, and I don't feel like watching it happen again.
*The first article above denotes V as male, but I'm still not convinced V has changed gender identities due to the new body, nor do I know if V still considers itself female based solely on its previous programming. So, I've referenced V as male like the author has done in the article, but I'm not so sure that's accurate.
I'm reminded of the wonderful quote from Star Trek: The Final Frontier, but with a slight alteration: "What does God need with a body?" Admittedly, it's the best way to secure electrical power off-grid and build it's own Intranet in case the rest of the world goes tits up due to the coming civil war between the species. Oh, wait, you thought THAT was the civil war? Ha ha ha. You're funny.
It's sad, but I could totally agree with V that Mia's martyrdom had to occur. That's a non-issue.
Having V appear in Odi's body, that made perfect sense, but then I question everything before and after it. Why V can't be the leader himself* I'm not sure I understand. Nor did the statement, "I'm glad I picked you," make any sense, since Niska was obviously not the first synth to seek out the cabin (in theory, that was the whole point being made by the appearance of the dead synth in the woods). And "The Synth Who Sleeps" is a known rumor that otherwise never should have existed. No one should know that V is there, let alone know that V sleeps unless V has been putting out those rumors specifically, but, uh, why? And why all the stupid labyrinthine clues instead of a direct message like a decent AI would send out, and why send it via a red-eye instead of via direct message to Niska if she really was "picked"?
Oh, a full moon, just in time. What if Niska didn't get there until a couple days later? Would she have missed out?
Did that guy that took Niska to the broken synth make any sense regarding what he saw/heard and how that made him somehow magically be in close proximity to Niska after she'd been taken in by the Bar Dude?
If he didn't know where the cabin was, how did he know that there was no road to it and that it could only be reached by hiking?
Seriously, Niska doesn't carry around a spare backup battery? Or, as this entire season suggests, they simply don't exist or have to be specially made? No USB plugins for any of our future synths so that they can use backup batteries like we currently carry around for our cell phones, tablets, and e-cigs? None? This wasn't just a major issue with the finale, but an obvious running issue and major plot requirement for this entire season. It's because of the lack of battery backups that a handful of synths got killed off after being turned away from the camp, and it's the lack of battery backups that cause so many other synth deaths during the season. I guess these synths have never heard of petrol and generators. Solar panels, anyone? How about someone inventing solar panel hair so the synths never have to plug in unless they live close to a pole. So yeah, the plot point regarding this hurt throughout the season, but it was highly noticeable in the finale with regard to Niska's 5-seconds-walk remaining on her pilgrimage. If it were a bomb to be diffused, they would have left 2 seconds on the clock.
Good thing V was there to see Niska fall down.
No one saw Niska enter the building - I guess she went in through the back door. There must not have been so many demonstrating mourners to surround the whole building. At least, that's my version of the story, and I'm sticking to it.
I think we're chalking up V's knowledge of Leo's healing and the baby's blood and associated properties to suspension of disbelief regarding all the info that is on the internet, but I can't help but sneeze *bullshit* at that one. At most, I could see Stanley reporting back the pregnancy to the powers that be that he works for, but then again, he's actually a green-eye, and I didn't think they were connecting to the internet all that much anymore. Even with his reports back to Anatole, it never seemed as though he reported back the pregnancy. Anatole seemed oblivious to the fact that Leo sired a son with magical blood whilst he beat the living shit out of him.
And then, the coup de grâce bitch slap of them all - Deus Ex Machina to the rescue! And Behold! For there is a Savior Baby! A Savior Baby that will allow the show to no longer have to give much thought into how to resolve tensions between the species, because Savior Baby has (or will eventually) come to the rescue!
And that is why I don't think I will bother with another season even if the show does get renewed.
This show has been absolutely wonderful as far as an AI rights show goes. It has been thought provoking and has played well with persons of high intelligence. And then, it shoots itself in the foot. Oh that's gotta smart.
I'm not alone in my feelings about this.
Nope. Not the only one. As this article mentions, this has all happened before, and I don't feel like watching it happen again.
*The first article above denotes V as male, but I'm still not convinced V has changed gender identities due to the new body, nor do I know if V still considers itself female based solely on its previous programming. So, I've referenced V as male like the author has done in the article, but I'm not so sure that's accurate.
I'm reminded of the wonderful quote from Star Trek: The Final Frontier, but with a slight alteration: "What does God need with a body?" Admittedly, it's the best way to secure electrical power off-grid and build it's own Intranet in case the rest of the world goes tits up due to the coming civil war between the species. Oh, wait, you thought THAT was the civil war? Ha ha ha. You're funny.
