While it is sadly revealing just how often rape is used as a cheap narrative shorthand, I’m not sure that’s what’s happening here.

Although many series do feature rape for nothing more than grotesque shock value, Humans seems to use it as a vehicle for examining complicated ideas about consent and objectification.

(By the way which episodes are you referring to? As far as I can remember, the only actual rape scene featuring Niska is in episode 1. She murders a paedophilic client and escapes the Synth brothel in episode 2.)

I’m also extremely sick of continually seeing rape used as fodder for lazy shock based storylines—but from what I’ve observed so far, Humans seems to be taking a more cerebral (for TV anyway) approach.

Additionally, I’m confused about where you picked up the idea that we’re meant to sympathise with Joe’s actions, or find him in any way likeable.

Much of the discourse surrounding Humans has focused on how Joe is a needy and resentful man who seems distant and uninterested in his own children.

In fact I’d say that a majority of the main characters are intended to be unlikeable by design. With the possible exception of Dr Millican and D.I. Karen Voss, the protagonists are almost all shown to possess various compromising personality flaws.

Consider Laura’s frequent parental absenteeism, or her (at least initially) outspoken distaste for Synths.

Joe and Laura’s children are shown to be equally straddled with dysfunction. Wannabe sociopath Mattie points a gun at Anita during one of their earliest encounters, while chip off the old block Toby later attempts to grope her in the night.

Even the breakdown of D.S. Pete Drummond’s marriage is shown to have multiple factors. While he’s clearly portrayed as the one at fault due to his violent insecurity and impotent rage, many commenters have also observed that his wife Jill’s relationship with her Synth appears at times to segue from friendly to flirty.

(In fact if the British version follows the Swedish original closely, then Jill eventually does enter into a sexual relationship with her Synth, before selling him to a trafficker when she grows tired of his increasingly autonomous personality.)

Humans approach to its characters seems quite heavily rooted in a classic misanthropic cynicism, where (for the most part) people are depicted as behaving more inhumanely than the robots that serve them.

Additionally, I’m confused about where you picked up the idea that we’re meant to sympathise with Joe’s actions, or find him in any way likeable.

Much of the discourse surrounding Humans has focused on how Joe is a needy and resentful man who seems distant and uninterested in his own children.

In fact I’d say that a majority of the main characters are intended to be unlikeable by design. With the possible exception of Dr Millican and D.I. Karen Voss, the protagonists are almost all shown to possess various compromising personality flaws.

Consider Laura’s frequent parental absenteeism, or her (at least initially) outspoken distaste for Synths.

Joe and Laura’s children are shown to be equally straddled with dysfunction. Wannabe sociopath Mattie points a gun at Anita during one of their earliest encounters, while chip off the old block Toby later attempts to grope her in the night.

Even the breakdown of D.S. Pete Drummond’s marriage is shown to have multiple factors. While he’s clearly portrayed as the one at fault due to his violent insecurity and impotent rage, many commenters have also observed that his wife Jill’s relationship with her Synth appears at times to segue from friendly to flirty.

(In fact if the British version follows the Swedish original closely, then Jill eventually does enter into a sexual relationship with her Synth, before selling him to a trafficker when she grows tired of his increasingly autonomous personality.)

Humans approach to its characters seems quite heavily rooted in a classic misanthropic cynicism, where (for the most part) people are depicted as behaving more inhumanely than the robots that serve them.

While it is sadly revealing just how often rape is used as a cheap narrative shorthand, I’m not sure that’s what’s happening here.

Although many series do feature rape for nothing more than grotesque shock value, Humans seems to use it as a vehicle for examining complicated ideas about consent and objectification.

(By the way which episodes are you referring to? As far as I can remember, the only actual rape scene featuring Niska is in episode 1. She murders a paedophilic client and escapes the Synth brothel in episode 2.)

I’m also extremely sick of continually seeing rape used as fodder for lazy shock based storylines—but from what I’ve observed so far, Humans seems to be taking a more cerebral (for TV anyway) approach.

I think that brutal rape is considered less shocking is what bothers me…. One day last week I watched an early episode from five different TV shows / seasons and Every. Single. One. used the brutal rape of a woman or child character to advance the story of a male lead.

It’s just such lazy character development and such obvious shock-value creation. We are meant to care about this rape because we are meant to care about the *rapist* and I am just so sick of that same narrative being played out over and over and over again.

There could be a number reasons for this. Part of it might be that Joe is a central character as opposed to the unnamed clients from the Synth Brothel.

But I think it primarily comes down to a difference in characterisation. Niska has been shown to be one of the rare Synths that possesses a consciousness and free will. Despite still being a machine, she demonstrates a clear capacity to think and act like a human being.

Comparatively Anita is still portrayed as robotic, passive and (for the most part) incapable of independent thought. Presumably this also translates to an increase in the uncanny valley factor, which might be behind the larger public response.

Since Niska seems more human in her behaviour, it’s possible the sex scenes featuring her may subsequently be less shocking to viewers.