Electric Dreams: Human Is - synopsis and character bios

24 October 2017

Extended synopsis of episode

In Human Is, Intergalactic Intelligence Agency (IIA) Director Vera Herrick (Essie Davis) and her husband, Silas Herrick (Bryan Cranston), have been married for 23 years. But theirs is a complicated marriage, not least because of the cold-hearted nature of Silas.

Both are senior officials at the IIA tasked with securing a precious commodity needed for the survival of Terra –the planet formerly known as Earth – and Vera and Silas’s home. However, the nearest planet harbouring the resource, Rexor IV, is home to a savage and vicious race of aliens, Rexorians. Silas and his team go on a mission to Rexor IV, but their ship is ambushed by the Rexorians.

Vera prepares for the worst when all hope for Silas and his team seem lost. But to her surprise and delight, Silas returns home completely unscathed. That, however, is not the most miraculous thing: Silas is a changed man. His love for Vera knows no bounds and his appreciation for life appears limitless.

Vera is delighted to have the man she originally fell in love with back again, but is this really the same Silas who left for Rexor IV?

 

Character biogs

VERA (played by Essie Davis)

Vera is an intellectual heavyweight and a high ranking official with the Intergalactic Intelligence Agency (IIA). She is married to Silas Herrick, a highly decorated Colonel also with the IIA, but Silas is a cold man and any connection between them waned long ago. Vera is desperate for human connection, even if it means finding it in unconventional places, and when Silas returns from a dangerous mission a changed man Vera is overjoyed to finally reconnect with the man she loves.

 

SILIAS (played by Bryan Cranston)

A Colonel in the Intergalactic Intelligence Agency, Silas is cold hearted but also a pragmatist who believes in his job and his duty to Terra. Notions of love and romance are simply that, notions. When Silas returns from a dangerous expedition to Rexor IV he is a far cry from the cold and clinical man he once was, instead he is now full of joy, love and wonderment. But but is this really the same Silas who left for Rexor IV?

 

YARO (played by Ruth Bradley)

Yaro is Vera’s second in command. She is a confidant to Vera when she has a crisis of conscious and there to offer her words of wisdom. Yaro is someone that Vera has come to rely on for emotional guidance in the absence of any from her husband.

 

GENERAL OLIN (played by Liam Cunningham)

Decisive with a thunderous voice, General Olin is a military commander to his core and he will stop at nothing to ensure the survival of Terra, even if it means the destruction of other worlds and civilisations.