Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a New York–based journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, where she is an Associate Editor, and The U.S. Sun, where she previously served as a Senior Consumer Reporter.
She specializes in network television coverage, delivering sharp, thoughtful analysis of long-running procedural hits and ambitious new dramas across broadcast TV. At Collider, Amanda explores character arcs, storytelling trends, and the cultural impact of network series that keep audiences tuning in week after week.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is bilingual and holds a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies from the University of New Haven.
While artificial intelligence has become a popular topic in television series, very few do it with the level of compassion that Humans does. Although high-budget productions take the approach of thrilling action and impending destruction, this British sci-fi series tackles the more troubling question of what happens when technology does not destroy the human race but integrates itself into everyday life.
Across three seasons, the AMC and Channel 4 co-production takes a familiar sci-fi premise and grounds it in ordinary lives, turning an AI thriller into an emotional family drama, a social commentary, and one of the genre’s smartest character studies, and critics clearly agreed with the fact that it's rated No. 20 on the Best Sci-Fi Series list on Rotten Tomatoes. While artificial intelligence has become a popular topic in television series, very few do it with the level of compassion that Humans does.
'Humans' Turns a Familiar Sci-Fi Premise Into Something Surprisingly Personal
Humans takes place in a different version of today's Britain and introduces the concept of ultra-realistic robots known as synths, which have become as popular as mobile phones and are used for many purposes, such as assistants, medical staff, maids, employees, and partners. For many families, buying one is simply the next logical convenience.
The story begins when the overworked Hawkins family brings home a synth named Anita (Gemma Chan), hoping she’ll make life easier. Instead, her arrival exposes cracks that were already there. Laura (Katherine Parkinson) worries she’s becoming replaceable as both a mother and wife. Her husband Joe (Tom Goodman-Hill) embraces the extra help a little too enthusiastically. Their children each see synths through a different lens, from admiration to resentment, reflecting a society that’s struggling to decide whether these machines are tools, threats, or something else entirely.
Before long, Humans expands beyond the Hawkins household into a much larger mystery surrounding a handful of synths that have developed genuine consciousness. The show never loses sight of its central question, though: If a machine can think, feel, remember, and make its own choices, where do we draw the line between artificial and human?
Artificial intelligence has inspired countless stories about robots taking over the world, but Humans takes a more thoughtful route. Rather than painting humanity or the synths as heroes or villains, the series explores the gray area between them. People become emotionally dependent on their machines, workers fear they’re being replaced, families form genuine attachments to artificial companions, and some characters regard conscious synths as hazardous possessions, while many see them as part of human society, deserving rights akin to those of people.
Perhaps the strongest point of the show is that it manages to be entertaining while raising such topics. It moves forward like a thriller, uncovering the truth behind the conscious synths while raising dilemmas without easy answers.
Gemma Chan Helps Make Humans Impossible To Forget
Image via AMC
A premise this ambitious only works if audiences believe in the synths themselves, and that’s where the cast excels. Chan delivers the series’ standout performance as Anita, a household synth whose behavior slowly suggests there’s far more happening beneath her carefully programmed exterior. Chan skillfully walks a fine line between seeming almost perfectly robotic one minute and projecting moments of compassion, curiosity, and fragility the next. It is a sophisticated performance that carries much of the series' emotional weight.
The supporting actors are equally impressive, as Parkinson and Goodman-Hill lend realism to the Hawkins' marriage, grounding the science fiction in a familiar home environment. Colin Morgan adds urgency to the story as Leo through his relationship with the cognizant synths in the show, and William Hurt delivers a strong performance as a retired engineer, George Millican, whose touching relationship with his aging synth caregiver proves to be one of the most moving stories of the series, demonstrating how love and companionship don’t always come with biology.
'Humans' Deserves To Be Mentioned Alongside Sci-Fi’s Greatest Shows
Image via AMC
The best science fiction is about people, and not many people or shows understand this as well as Humans does. While action sequences and large-scale catastrophes may be used to evoke tension in other productions, Humans instead uses interpersonal relationships, moral dilemmas, and the idea that the future may quietly appear in everyday conveniences.
This approach ensures that Humans remains relevant even when numerous films dealing with AI become obsolete due to technological progress. What makes this show noteworthy is its focus on accentuating timeless questions, including identity, empathy, and the characteristics of humanity.
Because of its high ratings received throughout its three-part run, Humans is now regarded as one of the best sci-fi TV shows. If you’ve somehow overlooked it, you’re missing one of the genre’s most rewarding hidden gems, and one that deserves every bit of its place among Rotten Tomatoes’ all-time greats.
Release Date
2015 - 2018-00-00
Network
Channel 4
Directors
Lewis Arnold, Daniel Nettheim, Francesca Gregorini, Jill Robertson, Mark Brozel, Al Mackay, China Moo-Young, Sam Donovan, Ben A. Williams, Carl Tibbetts, Richard Senior
Writers
Joe Barton, Emily Ballou, Daisy Coulam, Charlie Covell, Iain Weatherby, Debbie O'Malley, Jonathan Harbottle
Image via Colin Hutton / ©AMC/Kudos/Channel 4 / courtesy Everett Collection
Image via Colin Hutton / ©AMC/Kudos/Channel 4 / courtesy Everett Collection
Image via AMC.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2)
Image via AMC
English (US) ·