As we creep ever closer to the series finale, the lines between synths and humans are blurring even more and questions need to be answered. Here is Rebecca’s recap of Humans episode 5…

We begin tonight with Niska and Leo discussing the possibility of humans one day accepting them and their fellow synths as a full-fledged part of society and she muses:

“If we could make more of us, then the humans would have to accept our existence.”

To this, Leo informs her that his father hid the secret of synth consciousness within his so-called machines, before, rather abruptly, sending her to Dr. Millican’s to keep out of the way – she is wanted for murder after all. Unsurprisingly, her attempts at impersonating a human don’t fool Vera.

Mattie, meanwhile, is preoccupied with trying to find out whether the name Mia means anything to Anita, but her investigations into such are rather rudely disrupted by the holding of a family meeting, during which she is made aware that Anita is:

“…really old, and probably illegally modified.”

Whether or not Anita remains a part of the family is put to a vote and, surprisingly, Laura votes for her to stay (I didn’t quite see that one coming!) Toby, of course, driven by his crush, is more than happy about the decision.

Elsewhere, Karen and Pete are called into the boss’s office and given a sharp warning:

“If this dolly hurts anybody else then I’ll be replacing the pair of you with synthetics.”

Mattie proves to be a pivotal part of this episode and is called upon by Leo, to whom she gives Anita after getting her away from the manufacturer who calls round to collect her. The embrace between Anita and Leo is a little awkward, not at all helped by her telling him bluntly:

“Any inappropriate physical contact must be reported to my primary user.”

Back at home a while later, Mattie continues to collect data on Anita and gets a shock while reading through her activity report, coming across a startling piece of information, to which she glares, then cries at Toby:

“You little pervert. You had sex with her.”

Panicking, Toby covers for his Dad in order to keep his crush in the house, and the two have a little chat, leading for Toby, in response to the question why he would sleep with Anita to deadpan back:

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

Hobb has gained access to Leo’s records. Reading through them, it comes to light that Leo was brain dead before he was handed over to David and put in his care prior to dying a few weeks later. His final conclusion?

“David succeeded in creating true AI and I don’t believe for a moment he’d have been satisfied with a legacy of just four machines.”

On a brighter note, Odi is found in the woods, malfunctioning and dripping blue blood (yes, I count that as a good thing…at least he’s not on his own anymore). Pete, on the hunt for synths and determined to find Odi, calls round at Dr. Millican’s house, issuing him with a fine for fly-tipping, unaware that Niska is also present, lurking with scissors in hand (I swear she gives me the creeps).

Karen is becoming increasingly intrigued with Niska and her story and, talking things over with Pete, the possible dangers of synths posing as humans becomes the focus of the conversation, which makes Pete more and more uneasy. As she steals one of his chips, holding his gaze, he muses:

“That changes everything.” (he’s not wrong!)

Unable to hide the truth anymore and in order to get Toby off the hook, Joe finally confesses his dalliance with Anita to Laura, complete with the typical excuses (surely he could at least come up with something original?!)

“I’d had a few glasses of wine and I was pissed off with you.  It was nothing. It was a moment of complete stupidity.”

The episode ends on a considerably weaker note than it has over previous weeks with lots of tears from Leo, Niska being her usual sneaky self and checking out Dr. Millican’s photos while, in the most unsurprising scene of the night, Joe, with his bags packed, steps into a taxi.

Will Niska kill again? Will Laura forgive Joe? And what does the whole thing mean for Anita? We have a week to make our guesses…see you then!