#CurrentlyWatching: Humans

July 6, 2018 Kat Impossible10 Comments

I realise that I haven’t done a #CurrentlyWatching post in quite some time, but I rediscovered the show I want to talk about today for myself after having taken a bit of a break from it. When I turned to Twitter to rave about it, I realised that very few of my friends even knew about the show, so I now want to introduce Humans to you.

This SciFi gem is currently in its third season and the stakes just keep getting higher and higher. It airs on Channel 4 in the UK and AMC in the US. Originally it is based on the Swedish fiction drama Real Humans, but since I haven’t ever seen that, I cannot attest to how close or far they are from their storyline.

Humans shows an alternate reality where humans have advanced so far in technology that they introduce robotic servants called Synths to households. The show portrays the struggles of that shift in society as well as the repercussions once the Synths become self aware.

I cannot tell you what first drew me to this show back when it premiered in 2015. I think they had some very intriguing advertising that made it look like they really wanted to sell Synths to people. If I remember correctly, they even had a Facebook messenger chatbot for a while that sent you on a little adventure with a synth. No matter how I found out about the show though, it was one of the few I watched live every single week and that in a time where I stream pretty much anything after its original air time. However, I can definitely try and tell you why I stuck with it.

Humans is a show that doesn’t try to persuade you with many gimmicks. It has a higher production budget than the Swedish parent show, but it is rather quiet and eerie still. As the title promises and despite the focus on Synths and artificial intelligence as a big theme, this show really is about the human condition. How do we act when there is something in front of us that looks like us and is able to act like us, yet we are told they are merely a machine? Do we show compassion? Does our darker side win? There is something very unsettling and creepy about the whole thing, but at the same time you will be able to find yourself in multiple characters and their struggles. Over the seasons, Humans builds up and adds more complex moral questions to the story. What starts in a small household with only a specific group of Synths being conscious, soon begins to spread and becomes a global issue. I found it extremely fascinating to see the characters confronted with difficult decisions and the way they decided to deal with them. It made me question how I would act, especially since technology these days is targeted in the direction of human-looking AIs becoming a real thing.

In addition to the moral dilemmas, I was really happy with the casting! I know that the actors and actresses who were cast as the AI robots had to visit a specific Synth school to study the behaviour and mannerisms of their characters. The acting is really phenomenal on their part. But also the rest of the cast seem like good choices and realistic for their age groups as well. Over the seasons there are a couple of guest appearances and limited character arcs that I also had a lot of fun with.

CW: rape, abuse, suicide, violence

It is very difficult to spotlight just one character. The main synth group the show is based around is extremely faceted and each and every one of them would deserve the spotlight for sure. My personal favourite is Matty, a badass hacker girl. I also have a soft spot for Leo, a person who is stuck between humans and synths, not sure where his alliance should lie and he fits in. However, the person who has probably gone through some of the most significant development is Laura Hawkins.

She is a working mother, an initial skeptic in regards of synths who later turns into a synth-rights-advocate. While I may not always agree with her approach to things or decisions for that matter, that woman is really there when it counts and ultimately does the right thing. She is fiercely protective of her family, but also extends that protection to others in need. She’s tough and resilient and if I ever were in a pickle, I’d want her in my corner.

I hope you got a closer look at Humans and maybe would consider watching it now? Have you already seen a couple episodes? Let’s talk about it!

#CurrentlyWatching: Lost in Space

April 20, 2018 Kat Impossible16 Comments

I am finally back with another installment of #CurrentlyWatching. I have discarded all sorts of themes (although I probably still would have had a couple up my sleeves I suppose) and will just do one post per week again. I wanted to give you all a little break to catch up on your watching, because today I am here to talk about Lost in Space.

Lost in Space is a new Netflix original, which is technically a remake of the 1960s science fiction and adventure show as well as a late 90s movie. I have seen … none of those? Which is not an issue whatsoever for me personally, as it is a total reboot and starts fresh again. There’s one season out so far and there are mixed reviews. Similar to the Anne with an E reboot, a lot of people were missing the happy and quirky, more humerus approach. I guess you just need to watch it as something completely different than the work it is based of? I understand that can be difficult to do if it is something you loved, but then I just feel like people should understand what Netflix does by now, cause that is how they tackle most of their narratives – make it more darker and troublesome.

Lost in Space follows a family, the Robinsons, after they crash-land on a unknown planet and have to survive to make their way to the human colony in space.

I know my reading list is mostly full of fantasy and contemporaries, but just like with my books, I love SciFi as well. I don’t crave it all the time, but when I hear or in this case see that something is done right, there is no hesitation from my side to check it out. With this one, it was most of all the cinematography and the top notch CGI that drew me in. If the story is solid, I might be able to overlook low budget effects, but I am always overjoyed when I don’t have to. Also, I took one look at the location and knew immediately that they filmed it near Vancouver, which made my heart rejoice. That may be a very biased way to judge a show, but if it gets me to watch the program, does it really matter?

Anyway, let’s talk more about the story and the characters. I find myself gravitating more and more towards stories that focus on family and all that comes with it, which is the definition of this show. The Robinsons aren’t perfect, they fight, they have their problems in the past as well as the present, but they also would do anything for one another. They are a kind of patchwork family, which is just another way of modernizing the story, which I very much appreciate. Each family member has their role to play, with all their weaknesses and strengths.

For me, the emotional components balanced nicely with the more scientific stuff, that I mostly try to let sink in but don’t always get entirely. I have no problem suspending disbelief and just going with whatever I am told in that kind of setting. Do I think that there might be tiny plot holes every now and then? Yes, absolutely. But I was here for the characters and their relationships more than accurate depiction of space travel to begin with.

One thing that bothered me a little was how the villain was handled. Look, I am all for villains, but they have to have some sort of character development, motive and maybe a tinge of redeeming quality about them. With Dr. Smith there was none of that. She was manipulative, but to a point that didn’t even make sense. They were all fighting for survival and she was clearly not trained for the kind of situations they were faced with, so she needed the others.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the alien robot storyline. I’ll admit that he looked like a tall person in a suit with a mask on sometimes … but his relationship with Will, his learning progress and the continued mystery about his origin was fascinating. I, of course, don’t know if there is another season, but that robot’s story is not done yet and I am very happy about that. (The robot made me cry, folks! The robot did that!)

This is the point where I usually have my character spotlight, but the thing is that I don’t know who to spotlight in the family? Maureen is a fierce and brilliant mother and engineer, showing that you can really do it all. John is a former soldier not letting anything come between him and his kids as he has lost too much time with them already. Judy, the eldest daughter, is only 18 but has received accelerated medical training and is now the doctor for the next wave of space colonists. Then there is Penny, who seems superficial at first, but who is brave and cunning when others need help. Or Will, the youngest with only 11 years, but one of the kindest, sensible and most thoughtful kids out there who managed to befriend an alien robot that might as well could have killed him? They are this perfectly imperfect family with so much heart, because they do make mistakes and sometimes really stupid ones considering their IQs, but they are still very lovable as a whole.

There is just one last thing I want to talk about before I conclude this little post. While watching this show, I felt certain … vibes between Judy and Don (a roguish technician) and I was wondering if I only imagined them. In former versions of this story, I believe they were a couple, but I am not sure how audiences would feel about it here. As I mentioned, Judy is only 18, but Don looks like he is in his 30s (the actor is 36) and while I don’t mean to say that age difference necessarily has to be a problem when it comes to love, they do make it a lot harder to root for them? I will withhold judgement on this (cause it worked pretty damn well in From Dusk Till Dawn despite the age thing), but I am just trying to say that it might stir up some controversy. Anyway, him giving her his pet chicken to look after was one of the best moments of the season.

Believe it or not, this was one of the most fun relationships on the show!

Did you watch Lost in Space already? Are you going to? Did you miss #CurrentlyWatching? Let’s talk!

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (Book Review)

January 16, 2017 Kat Impossible23 Comments

Publisher: Michael Joseph
Page Count: 320

I wanted to read this book for very shallow reasons. I once saw the cover, matted black with silver stars sprinkled on it, and I could never ever forget it afterwards. Heck, I barely knew what it was about, but I knew I needed it for my collection. So, I was all the happier when my (majorly awesome) cousin gave it to me as a present for Christmas. It was my first read of the year and I am so glad I started 2017 off with this.

Many times now I have heard this book being compared to the Illuminae files and it’s not too far fetched of a comparison. Both are SciFi books and are told in an unusual but very effective format. Whereas the Illuminae files are very artistic, the Themis Files (which is what the series is called) have more of military order to them. Told in interviews, reports and journal entries, you are able to get the picture, but never get too close to the subjects. At least that’s what I thought at first, but by the end by heart was beating with fear of the fate of everyone involved in the project, even the people that are inherently mysterious because you don’t even know their name. This particular style of storytelling works really well for me, because I love to analyze and interpret dialogue a lot. If there’s ever too much description in a book, I’ll most certainly get bored.

I don’t want to get into the plot too much, seen as this is probably a book you best not know too much about before you read it. There’s so much mystery in this story and it’s good that way. The characters don’t know what they are doing, you don’t know what’s happening, this is something new in the world! Ultimately it comes down to this being a story about humanity. What do we do with a discovery like this? Will we use it for “good” or for “evil”? What lengths are willing to go to for scientific discovery? How do we handle the certain knowledge that we are not alone out there? These are all questions posed, but only partially answered, because the story is far from being done by the end of the book. It definitely went down some twisted and dark paths, so I hope you are up for that if you decided to read the book as well. I, for one, am extremely intrigued and glad that the sequel will be coming out later this year. Until then, I am just going to wonder what I actually read …

Bildergebnis für watson salute gif

Also, final side note, I hear this has a really good audio book, even though I haven’t listened to it myself. It supposedly has different voice actors for all the characters and quite a couple of people have noted on that. As I said, I cannot speak from my own experience, but it might be worth trying out if you are a fan of audio books.

Fazit: 4.5/5 stars! Sort of like an adult, less artistic and more straight forward Illuminae files and I love it?

5stars