Human 1.3 - Happiness

Human : Happiness
Genre : Sci-Fi / Drama
Showrunner: Michelle MacLaren
Writer : Ann Morrow

Cast: Justin Theroux, Letitia Wright, Bryan Batt, Michelle Fairley and Adrian Rawlins

Plot: Charles Foy (Adrian Rawlins) wrestles with the thought of telling his employees that they are stuck in a meaningless void, but he decides that, for the benefit of his research, they shouldn’t know until research is completed and Charles got what he deserved. He thinks it’s highly unethical, but besides, he might find a way to get them out before they even notice. It’s going to be one hell of a challenge, but he never stepped away from one and today is not the day he’ll give up in front of adversity. He gives them a car inside the simulation with a GPS with coordinates on it. He tries to contact them, but he can’t seem to be able to talk to the scientists, he’ll have to improvise to reach out to them. 

Adam (Bryan Batt) and Julia (Michelle Fairley) force the two androids, James (Justin Theroux) and Eva (Letitia Wright) to get down the tallest building in the city. When they reach the first floor, they see flashing signs directing them to the nearest car. They get in it and the GPS turns on. Julia tries to contact Charles, but she gets no response. James and Eva sit in the back in silence, as Julia and Adam do. Adam whispers to Julia that she should have a conversation with them, because this is what they’re here for. She asks them what was their favorite part of the day so far and James says he liked to explore the city a lot and Eva thinks about it, looks at James and says the exact same thing. Julia reminds her that she can have her own answer, after all, she has free will and  Eva changes her answer and she says she liked it at the top of the building because it felt like she was on top of the world and it felt good, she felt liberated. Adam notes that it was insightful and he’s beginning to wonder where this GPS is taking them when he takes a road that leads out of town.

While they are out of town, Charles is hard at work to replace the concrete jungle he created for a smaller town to try and ease the load on the system with the hopes that it will bring everything back to normal. He believes he has the right to hope even if his interior voice is telling him otherwise. He replaces the city with a small rural American town. He puts the emphasis on two particular houses, one for James and Adam, the other for Julia and Eva.

They have reached their destination and they find themselves in near a river with a rich forest in the background. They find a drape on the ground and a basket with food and wine in it. They wonder what this is about, and Julia tries to contact Charles again, but to no avail. She shares her concerns with Adam who doesn’t think it’s that bad, he’s probably in the bathroom, or something. They both realise they aren’t hungry and they just stop and lay down to take a moment to look at the landscape. They realise that are lucky to be a part of their experiment and they realise how far technology has come. Their calmness is put to the test when they realise they lost sight of James and Eva. They call them but they are nowhere in sight. They separate to cover more ground and begin to look for them in the forest. 

Adam realises that even if all he sees technically isn’t real, the simulation does a great job to make it seem real. He can feel the sun hitting on him and he sees the biodiversity of a real forest. He wanders around the forest and stumbles on Julia, who hasn’t seen the androids either. They lean on trees to take a breather and they stop talking all of sudden, Julia heard something. They follow the sound and find James and Eva in the river, swimming. Eva begs them to come, smiling from ear to ear. Adam and Julia both say that they might as well have fun and join them in the river. Eva particularly enjoys it and she loves how the fishes tickle her feet. James does his best to protect Eva and he follows her everywhere she goes. The camera zooms out as we hear them laugh and having fun.

Charles thinks to himself that it’s still going well regardless. His plan didn’t work and despite getting rid of the giant city, communication isn’t back and he checked and double-checked, there’s no way to bring them back. He swears to himself that he won’t leave the laboratory until he finds a solution, but only after he does this one thing. He grabs his coat and exits the laboratory.

They are all out of the river, eating on the shore. Adam and Julia share life anecdotes that make both James and Eva laugh at how silly humans can be. Julia defends herself by saying that androids can be silly sometimes and Eva agrees. Adam asks them if they had they liked their day today and Eva says that although the water was cold, it was the best day of her life and James agrees. Adam says the best for them is yet to come, after all, they’ve been alive for only one day. They all share a laugh and get back in the car. Eva can’t wait to get back on top of that building again.

Charles is back in the laboratory with a covered cage. He takes the sheet off to reveal a parrot. He greets his partner for the next couple of days and the parrot greets him back. Charles wonders what he got himself into and he notices they are leaving the river, so he watches them carefully.

As they get back to the city, they can’t help but notice that something has changed. Julia has a bad feeling, but Adam says it’s all probably part of the plan. Eva is sad that the tall buildings are gone and James reassures her in the backseat. They drive all the way to a cozy neighborhood. Adam pulls over in his parking spot and enters his house with James. Julia and Eva enter their house and Julia can’t help but notice a note on the table. She reads the note and Charles prays that she doesn’t panic. Julia drops the note of the floor, things aren’t looking good for Charles.