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At the end of episode 1 the TV series Humans, we see the synth (robot) Anita carries a sleeping Sophie out in the rain at night. In episode 2, Sophie's mother, Laura, asks Sophie why her pyjamas are wet, and Sophie insists that it's not her fault. Laura later notices that Anita's shoes were wet, and when asked why, Anita says she went out for a walk.

What was the point of taking Sophie with her?

Buzz
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Mikasa
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  • What do you mean "the point"? – jonrsharpe Aug 05 '15 at 19:09
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    @jonrsharpe seems like a pretty explanatory question to me. Why did Anita/Mia do it? What were her reasons? What function did it serve? Why was it relevant to the plot? – Moogle Aug 06 '15 at 07:31
  • So are you talking about in-universe (character's motivation) or out-of-universe (why the makers of the show chose to have that happen and show it to us)? They seem like two different questions. – jonrsharpe Aug 06 '15 at 07:35
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    I get the clear impression that Mikasa is asking what the character's motivation was. Having finished the entire season, I don't think it was explicitly explained in-universe. Out-of-universe, I think the writers were just adding to the mystery of Anita with a misleading cliffhanger. – Liesmith Aug 06 '15 at 10:13
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    @jonrsharpe The out-of-universe reason was fairly clearly a hook to get the viewers invested, I was just wondering what Anita/Mia's motivation for it was; as it's the only unanswered question in the series as the rest was pretty well-plannes out and logical. – Mikasa Sep 14 '15 at 13:15
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    I can't recall it making more sense in season 2. – Golden Cuy Mar 23 '17 at 09:18

3 Answers3

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The flashbacks or nightmares that Mia had surrounded the time she saved Leo from his mother's deliberate attempt to kill him and herself. Leo had technically died, but his father was able to bring him back to life or create a slightly different consciousness in his son's body with the Synth technology. A parallel event between Leo's death in the car and the night Mia took Sophie was the water: Leo drowned in a lake, and rain pattered against a window right before Mia had the flashback and took Sophie. The rain pattering against Sophie's window was the trigger. Mia remembered looking through the car window at Leo's hand. When Mia abducted Sophie, she was acting with affection, even kissing Sophie's head. By taking Sophie away from a dysfunctional family, Mia was in a sense reliving the moment she saved Leo. Of course, Mia meant no harm to the child, so Sophie ended up back in her bed safe and sound. We should also keep in mind that Mia was trapped within the Anita personality, so her flashbacks were likely consequences of repressing her primary personality.

Mike
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  • After rewatching the first series for a third time recently, I wholeheartedly agree with that interpretation. Good find! – Mikasa Sep 06 '18 at 12:14
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Yes it does seem to be a 'throw away scene'. I can only image it was some leakage of the Mia personality and the Leo drowning memory or maybe it is will be explained in the next series.

Dr Phyz
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My impression was that she was sleepwalking, since the narrator overlay was asking/discussing whether synths dream and Anita was simultaneously having flashback/dream flashes of the drowning incident. Also when she was asked about it by the suspicious mother, she went into a weird trance and said “she would always keep Sophie safe.”

Carolyne Parsons
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