Production and Design.
I found it really hard to enjoy this episode when I first started to watch it and then I realised that was the setting the story wanted to make, you think I would have learnt this after the last episode I watched Real Life. In the year 2050, Terra seems really resourceful yet pretty bland, a little too beige for me personally. I soon realised Vera Essie Davis is on that same spectrum as me as she is looking for a life with more colour and even more passion. You would have to be pretty judgmental to find anything wrong with this episode from a visual point of view as they manage to blend practical and digital effects so seamlessly. My only real gripe is the costume design that reminds of something Coldplay would wear on a world tour but that caused a slight smile more than any real disappointment. I bought into this vision of the future very easily and felt the claustrophobic feel of a planet starved of air and the desperation of finding nature and freedom in this dystopian vision. As always, the look of this episode like the rest I have reviewed has looked pretty fantastic.
Story.
You know, I really have to question if I’m a true science fiction sometimes when it comes to writing about what I found interesting about the stories I have read or watched? Human Is, for me, is a perfect example of that. I often get lost in the story about a dying world desperately in need of clean air, and to succeed in the production of this they need to pillage the planet Rexor IV of Hydron, even those few lines give me a bit of a headache, don’t get me wrong, I can easily follow it as a reader or viewer, but wow! trying to write about that stuff is pretty tricky for me. But then again, I love the underlying message the story is trying to give me and the sci-fi elements are just the trimmings to make it look spectacular or in some cases cover up stories we would just not be allowed to tell using real-world characters. I started to write about the story and it just felt like I was missing the point in what I was trying to say, I just thought start again and just be honest in how it made me think about it. This story reminds me of why I love Philip K. Dick so much as he really nails down those deep feelings about what it is to be human, this episode very much demonstrates that.
Colonel Silas Herrick Bryan Cranston and his wife Vera are a great force together to the outside world but the relationship is a cold as the home they live in, in reality, her husband is a terrible human being. That is at least till he returns from his latest battle where his fondness for his wife has been rekindled or has it? The government soon arrest Silas as they have reason to believe their beloved leader is actually not the person he seems, instead his body has been taken over by a Rexorian alien. In front of a jury, Silas has to prove his innocence and when he chooses love over freedom his wife points out that if her husband could show emotion like love and empathy, then he can’t be enemy as they wouldn’t feel that way. Later as the show ends, Vera asks Silas what his real name is and we learn that she knew all along her real husband was gone.
Conclusion.
I really enjoyed this show and it had nothing to do with science-fiction but humanity itself. You have the fearless leader in Silas that everyone adores, intentionally or unintentionally ignoring his flaws and recognising his part in doing something for the greater good of his people, sounds familiar, right? I really enjoyed Vera’s story arc as she herself is looking for something with more meaning in her life, I mean, who would seriously love living in a cave, regardless of the decor? And then there is the total ignorance that anything other than a human could feel love and compassion. I somehow think the story is also about how we look at our enemies in battle and is very reminiscent of what happens on our planet today without going to deep. The greatest moment for me is when Vera is under water in the bath and Silas comes in to help her, it was then that I realised he was in fact not the same person as he could feel danger towards Vera and comes to help, in fact, I would say that is on a completely new level of caring for another person, its almost telepathic and much more interesting. All in all, I really enjoyed this show for the reasons in my conclusion more than the sci-fi elements this time around and I’m glad I got this message from the show. I give this 10/10 Dicks.
If you would like to read any of my previous posts on Philip K.Dick and Electric Dreams, then click on the link below.
https://talesfromtheneonbeach.com/the-philip-k-dick-archives/
Did you watch Human is? What are thoughts about the episode and my conclusion? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Who’s more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him? 