It’s a race against time to stop the Dryden Commission from wiping out the synth population on Humans. Laura (Katherine Perkinson) found out what Basswood will do to the synths. Niska’s (Emily Berrington) quest came to an end when she found the Synth Who Sleeps. Max (Ivanno Jeremiah) stopped Anatole (Ukewli Roach) from hurting Leo, killing him in the process. And Mattie (Lucy Carless) was given an ultimatum to tell her story to the press within 24 hours.
Niska
Niska wakes up in the cabin after charging. Odi (Will Tudor) joins her and explains that he is now V. V is the artificial intelligence created by Dr. Athena Morrow in season 2. V woke up with the rest of the synths on Day Zero, but V is special. She knows everything and sees all with her purple eyes. V felt Odi’s pain from the awakening. He gave up his body to V, in exchange to permanently remove his consciousness.
V says she sleeps and dreams. She knows more than any human has ever known, but she is not a god. She is connected to everything through the internet. V is the one who deleted the consciousness code. She says not all synths wanted to be aware of their existence. Niska gets angry, saying the synths are dwindling in numbers. When V deleted their future, that guaranteed their extinction. V says synths will endure, but not in the form that Niska thinks.
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Basswood
Laura tells Mia (Gemma Chan) about Basswood. Mia needs to get to the rail yard to warn everyone. Laura is looking for proof so she can release it to the press. Neha (Thusitha Jayasundera) helps her by recording the next commission meeting.
The commission meets with Alistair Davis (Ladi Emeruwa), the government minister overseeing Operation Basswood. Phase One is complete as several synth communities are without power. They are in the process of initiating Phase Two.
The power at the rail yard is restored. There are a lot of synths needing to charge. At the power station, Davis predicts that 60-70 percent of the synth population will be wiped out by the power surge. He says it will be painless. Neha argues that it won’t be painless. The commission already established that the synths feel pain. Lord Dryden (Matthew Marsh) dismisses her argument.
Mattie’s Choice
Mattie meets with an orange eye therapist about aborting her pregnancy. She says the father has walked away. She feels sad and alone, but she’s felt that way for a long time. Mattie says she created life before with the click of a computer key. It resulted in chaos. Mattie gets up and leaves as the therapist measure that Mattie is only 57 percent sure that she wants to terminate the pregnancy.
Phase Two
The synths at the rail yard plug themselves in. Max instructs his people to let those with the least power charge first. Ferdinand (Will Payne) reminds Max that he only listens to Anatole. Max announces that Anatole is dead. Leo backs him up, saying that David Elster created them to be slaves. He doesn’t deserve worship. Max repeats his orders and Ferdinand walks away.
Dr. Neil Sommer (Mark Bonnar) looks through the Basswood plans. He finds Laura and Mia’s pictures in the plans. Davis explains that some public figures will have to be managed. The commission will need everyone on their side after Basswood is complete. That means controlling what Mia and Laura do. Neha disagrees saying they aren’t eliminating a problem, they are murdering synths. Dryden dismisses her again.
Max, Stanley (Dino Fetscher), and Sam (Billy Jenkins) prepare to charge. The orange eyes at the power station start implementing power surges at multiple locations in numerical order. Max and his people are at synth compound #153. The first synths are overloaded with the first power surge, killing them. Leo goes outside for a walk and runs into Mia. She asks for Leo to help her. They get to the charging stations and she tells Leo to start unplugging everyone. As they get to the last synth, Ferdinand, the power stations sends a surge to the rail yard. The synths watch in horror as Ferdinand is electrocuted.
The Commission leaves the power station. Laura watches Neha go to her car. Her orange eye synth stops her and takes her phone from her pocket. He plays the recording of their visit inside of the power station. Lord Dryden orders her to go back inside.
Exposure
Joe (Tom Goodman-Hill) is watching the television with Sophie (Pixie Davies) and Toby (Theo Stevenson). The news anchor reports violence erupting in the streets, instigated by green eyed synths. The Commission has give the public permission to defend themselves. Laura walks in, upset by everything that has happened.
Neil shows up at the Hawkins house with news that Neha has been arrested. He realizes that Neha was working with Laura to expose Basswood. He asks if green eyes feel pain. Laura says they feel more pain than humans do. Neil gives her the Basswood plans from the power station.
Laura finds her bio in the plans. She decides it’s time to expose Basswood to the press. Neil offers to do it, but Laura says it has to be her. Sophie gives Laura a reassuring smile, as Laura waits to talk to the news station. During the interview, Laura outlines the Basswood plans. She explains the violence is part of Phase Three and the humans first hate groups are the ones leading the charge.
The news anchor is skeptical, saying they cannot validate Laura’s claims. Laura looks to Neil who nods back at her. Laura then announces that the plans were given to her by Neil, who was a part of putting the operation together. She urges the public to stop the attacks on the synths. After the interview, Laura tells Neil to leave before the police arrive. He wants to stay. Joe and the kids tell Laura that they are proud of what she is doing.
Phase Three
Mia, Max, and Leo decide to pack up and leave the country. Max says the synths have rights in Norway. He tells everyone to take what they need before the human first groups arrive. Just as they are about to exit the building, the humans show up at the gates. Max tells everyone not to fight, but to defend. Sam walks off with a metal pipe and tells everyone that he will protect them. Leo runs after Sam.
Sam walks out into the yard as the humans break through the gates. Leo scoops him up and runs back inside. The humans walk into the building and Mia walks out of her hiding place. Max joins her. The humans stop dead in their tracks as the rest of the synths emerge behind Mia and Max.
One of the human men steps forward. He says they didn’t expect so many synths to still be alive. Max explains that they will not fight, but they will defend themselves if they have to. Mia says they want peace. The man is angry because he lost his job to a synth. Losing his job caused him to lose his family. He wants his life back. He swings a bat at Max, but Max catches him every time.
Some of the humans have broken off from the large group to look for hidden synths. Leo gives Sam the note from Joe and tells him to stay put until the humans leave. He instructs Sam to go to Joe after it clears. Leo walks out and immediately attacked. Sam opens the note and it’s a picture of a house that he drew with Joe.
The angry man continues to strike at Max. The humans bring Leo back to the group and distracts Max. The angry man hits Max in the head. Max refuses to fight back, despite the angry man yelling in his face. Sam shows up and throws his pipe at the angry man. The humans are shocked to see a synthetic child. Sam throws something else and the humans attack the synths. Mia yells for everyone to stop fighting.
Riot
A fight between synths and humans starts. News crews and police arrive at the rail yard, but only the news crews go inside. A man attacks Mia, but she stops him. Stanley hits him in the back of the head to save Mia. He goes to hit the man again and Mia asks him not to. Stanley says he doesn’t have a choice. He hits the man and says they never had a choice. Mia watches the fights around her and then she sees the cameras. Lord Dryden finds the live coverage of the fight on TV and sees Mia looking back at him. Mia sees the angry man fall and she walks toward him to help him up.
Laura and Joe put the house in order before the police arrive to arrest her. Mattie interrupts them, telling them to look at the television. They see the fight at the rail yard. Lord Dryden calls for the police to move into the building to stop the fight immediately.
Someone hits Mia in the head in front of the cameras. Sophie screams in horror and hides her eyes. Toby scoops her up and carries her to the stairs. They see the police arrive as Neil shuts the door. He goes to the living room and watches the live feed with the rest of the family. Toby takes Sophie upstairs.
The news crew keeps the cameras on Mia as more humans attack her. She repeats the word “peace”. The police move in to break up the fight, leaving Mia lying on the ground. Max and Leo try to get to Mia, but the police are holding them back. Mia looks directly at the cameras and continues to ask for peace as her green eyes turn gray. RIP Mia.
Aftermath
Niska demands answers from V. V says Niska is on a pilgrimage of faith. On her journey, she learned to trust and hope grew inside of her. Vengeance no longer satisfies her. She is someone new, with great power that will save her kind. V likes that Niska is afraid because that means she will use her power wisely. The synths need her to be their leader. Niska says Mia is their leader. V says Mia started a revolution, so she is important; but Mia’s life will have a different meaning.
Leo tries to think of a way to bring Mia back to life. Max shakes his head, saying they can’t bring her back. Leo looks at Mia says she was made to love him and he will always be grateful for that. Max picks up Mia’s body and carries her out of the rail yard. The synth community follows him, except Stanley. Stanley stays behind to watch over Sam.
Sophie asks when Laura is coming home. Mattie says she won’t come home for a long time. But she will be fine because she did the right thing. Laura is taken to the police station and charged with treason. Sophie asks Joe why Mia had to get hurt. Joe doesn’t know what to tell her. Instead, he tells Sophie that they need to say goodbye. Sophie pulls out Mia’s slippers that she kept. The Hawkins family leaves the house to join Max and Leo in honoring Mia. Synth supporters hold vigils for Mia all over the country.
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Evolution
Niska ascends to a new state of being. Her eyes are purple like V’s. Niska says she feels connected to everything and realizes that Mia is dead. V says it was inevitable that Mia would sacrifice her life. She asks Niska if she understand her purpose now.
V explains that when Leo was stabbed, his blood mixed with synth blood helped him to heal quicker than normal. The mixing of synth and human blood created something new. It’s the next step in their evolution. Niska sees the interconnected heart, a motherhood knot. V says humans and synths share the same path now. Niska will lead the way.
Stanley finds Sam, who asks to play hide and seek. Sam is glad Stanley stayed behind because he’s good at fighting. Stanley says they don’t have to fight anymore. They shouldn’t hurt people. Sam starts counting and Stanley hides.
Max lays Mia’s body down in front of the Commission building. Lots of people gather with candles to honor Mia. Mattie breaks away from the group and goes into the commission building. Max tells Leo to go after her. Leo runs into the building and tells Mattie that he doesn’t want to lose her. Mattie says it’s too late.
Sophie speaks to Mia, saying she was the bravest person she’s ever known. She says she will remember Mia everyday and try to brave like her. She lays the slippers next to Mia and cries. Max, Leo, and the Hawkins stand over Mia’s body with their supporters behind them, as Laura is locked inside a cell.
Hope
Mattie meets with Lord Dryden. She holds a USB that is filled with all the information pertaining to Day Zero. The information will implicate her, giving him someone to blame. She says she will give it to him if he releases Laura. Lord Dryden doesn’t agree to the terms. Mattie tells him that she will take it to the press if he refuses. Dryden agrees and takes the USB.
Niska walks in and tells Dryden to leave. Dryden orders his orange eye synth to remove her. Without saying a word, Niska instructs the orange eyed guard to make Dryden drop the USB and escort him out of the room. Niska says Mattie’s baby is important. Mattie says she plans to abort the baby and she’s telling everyone about Day Zero.
Niska says she can’t make that decision until she knows everything. Her baby is unique because it’s half human and half synth. From the ground, Leo looks up at the commission building where Mattie is. She will change the course of history. She will be the first of a new kind. Niska says Mattie’s daughter is hope and everything they have been fighting for. This baby is the future of them all.
Thoughts
The season had a lot of ground to cover. Time jumping one year ahead in time gave the synths time to adjust to their consciousness. I think the writers took too long to get to the climax of the story. I had a feeling early on that it would take a major death to change synth-human relations. I’m really sad that it had to be Mia.
Like many oppressed people, it’s hard not to become angry and violent when things get really bad. And like humans, the synths acted irrationally sometimes. At times the audience had to wonder, who was more human? The synths or the humans?
I really like Sam. He adapted well to being a child and expressed child-like qualities that the other synths had never known. Sam’s friendship with Stanley is very cute. Almost as if Sam is teaching Stanley how to be more human.
I can’t help but be excited for Mattie and Leo’s baby, a hybrid child. I wondered if Leo still had some of the synth blood in him and how that affected him. Everyone kept saying that he is human now, but he isn’t. He’s both and neither at the same time.
I have so many questions about what happens next! I hope we get a season four.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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