Humans and The Feed
Recently we watched two different SciFi shows that, while promising, failed to live up to the genre. While they both failed for different reasons (in my humble opinion) there was a common theme. Let's discuss....
Humans. This is a show about robots called 'Synths'., short of Synthetics Synths are used for a whole host of things from industrial work to care for the elderly to prostitutes to house help. The last in that list being the primary function we see. Our story opens with a stressed out dad who buys a Synth to be an extra set of hands around the house for his wife and three children. Quickly we realize that what this family really needs is a therapist Synth. There is a lot of drama between the family members, but much of it feels contrived and stereotypical (the teenager is moody, the teen boy is attracted to the synth, the lawyer mom is distant with her feelings, etc). Pushing this aside, quickly we find out that while most Synths are not self aware, there are 5 that are because of a special something their creator made them with to care for his son, who we also see. There are also some police to bring in the run amok Synths, plus a 6th Synth who passes as a human. The whole thing is set in the UK so it is like a modern Blade Runner without the CGI and action. It moves at the pace of a British show and overall doesn't give much meat while the bones do have promise.
The Feed. Imagine Facebook, Youtube, Google, and your entire phone functionality in your head. That's what't the Feed is. Its a neural mesh that most every person has that allows them to connect with others, recall memories, record events, watch videos, etc all right in their mind. However, someone hacks into the Feed and causes two people to commit murder. The stories centers on a family where the patriarch and matriarch Mark Zuckerburgs of the Feed, and then their two sons and assorted friends and spouses. The mother is Michelle Fairley of Game of Thrones fame, oddly the wedding in episode 1 does not go much better for her here than it does there, but I digress. The family is dysfunctional, the dad hacks into his daughter in law's feed, stuff happens, but you find yourself scrolling through your real feed because frankly the show is dull and slow paced. Ultimately I go through 4ish episodes and I didn't much care for anyone on it. I am curious who hacked in as they make a big deal out of who could have access, but I was never trained to survive torture and continue to watch might amount to that.
While on the surface both shows have a good premise, ultimately they each should have probably just been movies. They each suffer from the problems that tend to afflict science fiction in that while the technical premise is interesting, the characters are underwhelming to terrible, and you find yourself just not caring. Good science fiction makes you dream of the future, good and bad, and what may come. Neither of these shows have that capability. If you need a background show or something surface-y while you are scrolling through Facebook, these will work, but otherwise I wouldn't waste your time.
Humans. This is a show about robots called 'Synths'., short of Synthetics Synths are used for a whole host of things from industrial work to care for the elderly to prostitutes to house help. The last in that list being the primary function we see. Our story opens with a stressed out dad who buys a Synth to be an extra set of hands around the house for his wife and three children. Quickly we realize that what this family really needs is a therapist Synth. There is a lot of drama between the family members, but much of it feels contrived and stereotypical (the teenager is moody, the teen boy is attracted to the synth, the lawyer mom is distant with her feelings, etc). Pushing this aside, quickly we find out that while most Synths are not self aware, there are 5 that are because of a special something their creator made them with to care for his son, who we also see. There are also some police to bring in the run amok Synths, plus a 6th Synth who passes as a human. The whole thing is set in the UK so it is like a modern Blade Runner without the CGI and action. It moves at the pace of a British show and overall doesn't give much meat while the bones do have promise.
The Feed. Imagine Facebook, Youtube, Google, and your entire phone functionality in your head. That's what't the Feed is. Its a neural mesh that most every person has that allows them to connect with others, recall memories, record events, watch videos, etc all right in their mind. However, someone hacks into the Feed and causes two people to commit murder. The stories centers on a family where the patriarch and matriarch Mark Zuckerburgs of the Feed, and then their two sons and assorted friends and spouses. The mother is Michelle Fairley of Game of Thrones fame, oddly the wedding in episode 1 does not go much better for her here than it does there, but I digress. The family is dysfunctional, the dad hacks into his daughter in law's feed, stuff happens, but you find yourself scrolling through your real feed because frankly the show is dull and slow paced. Ultimately I go through 4ish episodes and I didn't much care for anyone on it. I am curious who hacked in as they make a big deal out of who could have access, but I was never trained to survive torture and continue to watch might amount to that.
While on the surface both shows have a good premise, ultimately they each should have probably just been movies. They each suffer from the problems that tend to afflict science fiction in that while the technical premise is interesting, the characters are underwhelming to terrible, and you find yourself just not caring. Good science fiction makes you dream of the future, good and bad, and what may come. Neither of these shows have that capability. If you need a background show or something surface-y while you are scrolling through Facebook, these will work, but otherwise I wouldn't waste your time.
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