Episode 1.2

"**Episode 2**" is the second episode of *Humans*. It originally aired in the UK on 21 June 2015 and in the U.S. on 5 July 2015. The episode was watched by 4.5 million people in the UK and 1 million people in the U.S. It received fairly positive reviews.

## Plot

Laura realises something is strange when her daughter Sophie wakes up in a different pair of pyjamas to the ones she went to bed in, although Sophie does not know why and Anita, their synth, denies that she took Sophie outside.

Mattie is attempting to tamper with the code of a synth, but this fails and the school that owns the synth is alerted. They suspect Mattie and talk with her mother, Laura, but have no evidence. Laura takes Mattie shopping and she admits it was her; they both discuss their dislike of and apprehension towards synths.

Leo finds Silas and learns that Anita has been given a new personality, but he is unable to discover where Anita is. Leo narrowly escapes after things become violent, but is injured in the process. Max helps him along to a public toilet and is able to restart an unconscious Leo by using wires from the lights. Meanwhile, Silas is arrested for tampering with synths.

George Millican tells his synth Odi to hide, while his care worker forces a new synth named Vera upon him. George dislikes Vera, but mutters that he was involved in creating her as parts of his original designs are still implemented in synths today.

Niska works at a synth brothel and after a client asks her to act young and scared, she strangles him and escapes. She digs into the back of her neck and removes her anti-theft chip amongst her blue blood.

Mattie notices Anita does not transfer data with other synths and Laura makes a phone call to a help desk. After Anita cuddles Sophie without a parent's express permission, Laura announces that she is being returned and tells her children to say goodbye to Anita.

## Reception

### **Ratings**

On 21 June 2015 in the UK, the episode garnered 4.45 million viewers on Channel 4 and 0.660 million viewers on its timeshift service. It was the highest-rated show on the channel that week. A total of 5.77 million viewers watched the show including recorded views. In the U.S., the episode aired on 5 July 2015 and received 1.091 million viewers. This was a significant decline from the number of viewers for the first episode; Brian Cantor of *Headline Planet* suggested this may have been because the episode aired at the same time as post-World Cup coverage on Fox.

### **Reviews**

Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode 7.5 out of 10, claiming that it was "a good follow-up to the premiere" and "kept the intrigue going". Fowler complimented George's story, said that the "big surprise about Leo" did not "truly feel meaningful" as "we hadn't really gotten to know Leo all that well" and suggested "the different stories within Humans might start to interconnect more".[1] Ed Power from *The Telegraph* gave the episode 3 out of 5 stars, saying that the "side stories were thinly sketched and lacked urgency", although he complimented the "slow-burn fright fest" scene where Anita hugged Sophie "in a ghastly parody of maternal affection".[2] Neil Midgley from *Forbes* described the episode as "full of ... little mysteries, each of them neatly set up by the reveal of a tiny fragment of plot" and said "Vera is one of the great joys of *Humans*."[3]

Neela Debnath of *Express* claimed the synths were "more likeable than the 'real people'" and opined that "*Humans* continues to be a provocative watch that challenges our views on existentialism."[4] Morgan Jeffery of *Digital Spy* said the episode was "for the most part original, engaging and agreeably unpredictable."[8] Rob Smedly of CultBox described Episode 2 as "another strong episode and one that continues to explore without ever alienating the viewer."[5]

## Gallery

1/10
## References

1. http://ign.com/articles/2015/07/06/humans-episode-2-review
2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11686457/Humans-episode-two
3. http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilmidgley/2015/06/21/humans-episode-2-channel-4-review-is-colin
4. http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/586036/Humans-episode-2-review-synth-Blade-Runner
5. http://www.cultbox.co.uk/reviews/episodes/humans-s01e02-channel-4-episode-2-review