Something On Sunday.
Notes & All Sorts...
I did something slightly unexpected, even for me, while I was recently up in Portland. I put on “Humans.” It’s a show I love and have from the start. Some of you know from previous mentions that I have a (very) large framed picture of Gemma Chan, who memorably plays one of the leads in the series, Anita/Mia.
It’s worth reading this piece, from three yeas ago, by the way, just for the backstory on how I came to have that framed picture:
(Re)View: "Humans."
There was a year when the publicity team at AMC — a lovely bunch, by the way — was planning something special and was very quietly asking some critics what their favorite AMC show was (probably not hard to figure out from the reviews, but remember the cable channel killed it with “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead,”) and since I don’t like surprises wasn’t fully playing along. Let the reviews speak for themselves. But no, said a friend who worked at AMC, this is different and don’t be difficult and do you have a show or character where, let’s say, there’s might be a photo involved?
A little less than two years ago, I revisited, with much more clarity and emphasis, the idea that a lot of us can’t remember if we finished a series or not (often because we have not), and in this post — which I quite like — I suggested we all go back and close as many loops as we can remember/find. I briefly mention “Humans” again and my shock at not having finished something I love.
Confusion and Delay: Did You Finish That Series? All the Seasons?
Before things hit Peak Crazy in the times of Peak TV, just before most critics finally admitted that they not only couldn’t watch everything, they couldn’t watch everything even in a winnowed down, edited environment — “only cable and streaming dramas,”
So, why was I lying in bed, glass of wine on the side table, gloriously free to watch any TV series or film I wanted, but staring at “Humans” instead? Honestly, I didn’t know. Exactly as I wrote in that second linked story, I put on the first episode of S3 and pressed play, only to vaguely remember what I was seeing and, more important, getting a rush of “don’t spoil it! — stop watching!” anxiety as the episode unfurled.
What the what? Deja vu all over again? Again, again?
I went back to episode six — of eight — from S2 and hit play. Yep, that looks familiar. I was about to go to the seventh episode — and so on — to recheck my viewing history so to speak, when the episode began to seem new (and exciting). Screw it, I thought, let’s check episode seven straight away. Hmmm. Yeah…yep…I remember this. And furthermore I love when…wait, what is this?
OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE.
Had I seen this or not?
I went back one more to the fifth episode of S2. Yes, I had seen this. And because I loved it, I kept watching and right at that moment decided to finish the night out with a binge of the rest of S2 episodes that I might have seen but couldn’t fully remember.
It was glorious, actually. I ended up remembering more scenes as it all unfolded, and I loved that series, that world, so much that it was fine to rewatch.
I spent the next two days watching S3 to completion. Again? I don’t think so. At least not the second half of that third season, which I definitely had not previously watched. It was excellent. And I loved the experience.
Still, what a weird trip.
(I guess it’s not entirely out of character — for me and perhaps you as well — to say you’re going to do something and then you don’t. The only difference I can think of is I said it publicly. Twice, kinda.)
Anyway. I did that.
So, in conclusion, if you’ve never seen — or never finished — “Humans,” don’t be me. Just do it right now.
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