On Season 1 Episode 3 of Almost Human, titled Are You Receiving?, Kennex and Dorian find themselves dealing with a hostage situation. As time goes by, things are not quite what they seem, however. Josh provides the episode recap, while both Violet and Josh provide commentary on this week’s episode of Almost Human. Let’s get into this week’s episode, titled Are You Receiving?
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Almost Human, Season 1 Episode 3: Are You Receiving? Recap Overview
Need a quick Almost Human episode recap of Season 1 Episode 3, titled Are You Receiving? Here is a summary of events for the episode. Each event is linked to the more detailed Almost Human episode recap for Are You Receiving? if you need more information!
- Some men enter a building, shoot a security guard, and take hostages. Kennex and Dorian are called to the scene.
- A bomb tears a hole in the building, and Kennex and Dorian try to help evacuate people. Kennex tells Maldonado to turn communications within the building off–exactly what our hostage taker wants.
- Kennex talks with a hidden hostage, who provides some information to Kennex about he abductors. Kennex and Dorian have an altercation, and discover the men are impersonating another criminal group. Meanwhile, Rudy comes up with a plan to use a decoy to meet the leader’s demands of a bomb trigger.
- Kennex repairs Dorian, and his “informant” girl is able to turn a cell phone on, allowing Kennex to hear the kidnappers.
- Kennex discovers the true intention of the hostage situation is to rob a nearby palladium vault. Kennex has the alarms turned back on so that the crew of criminals are trapped in that building. Meanwhile, Dorian takes out many of the hostage takers–and is helped by Kennex to finish up the situation.
- Kennex is thanked by Paige, the girl he spent time on the phone with. He also gets an ovation back at work, and Dorian tells Kennex that he fears death.
Almost Human Episode Recap: Are You Receiving?, the Details
We Have a Situation
Season 1 Episode 3 of Almost Human begins with Officer Kennex waking up from his alarm. He has to put on his prosthetic leg. It is a little creaky, so he tries the olive oil trick Dorian told him about. Seems to work. At an office building, a man named James delivers a package to a woman named Mrs. Miller. He leaves, and some men enter the building. They confront him, and pull a gun. They shoot him dead. Moving in further, they head to the “Server Room”. They begin breaking into the server area, and plant a device of some sort.
Dorian and Kennex talk, and have some “witty banter”. They get a call for a homicide, and head to the scene. Dorian attempts to access the archive footage, and sees the men enter the building, and sees they went to the 25 floor. The footage is sent to Maldonado to identify the suspects. Kennex orders an evacuation for safety.
The Bomb Goes Off
On the 25th floor, the men are holding employees of the building hostage. A woman hiding under her desk is discovered by one of the men. He asks her name, and it is Jenna. He has her join the rest of the group. One of the men uses a remote, which causes the device to activate. It rips a hole into the building.
Kennex and Dorian help evacuate people, and Maldonado is asking why Kennex continues into the building. Maldonado tells him to turn around, but he refuses, and tells Maldonado to block all comms coming and going to the building. He then hangs up on her, and proceeds further in. Maldonado jams the comms as requested. The leader of the terrorists expected this plan. Dorian tells Kennex they can use the air system to get to the 25th floor. We also see that Dorian is receiving all emergency calls, as they cannot leave the building. A call from a hidden girl, named Paige, is received by Dorian. Kennex asks where she is.
The Villains Mean Business
Back with the hostage group, the men execute a man. Kennex is told this by the girl on the phone with him. The men then toss the victim out of the window, and leave a note “No cops, stay out” on the body. Maldonado orders a drone to begin negotiations. The leader of the group receives the communications device. He makes his demands: Basically keep cops away from the building. She obliges. He then asks for an escape detail, and for a device which is of a military use. She doesn’t agree to this, and asks about the hostages. He gives her a 43 minute deadline.
Dorian tells Kennex that the device is a trigger for a bomb. Kennex asks Paige about the hostages and the gunman. She provides the best information she can. He tries to calm her down as she begins to freak out some.
Rudy comes up with an idea to stall the group, by making a fake igniter, that will be passable as a real one–but if they try to use it, it will not work. Meawhile, Stahl provides information to Maldonado of the leader.
Kennex continues up the stairs, and they come under fire. Through trickery, Kennex is able to wound the gunman they encountered. Dorian is wounded, but Dorian is more concerned with a “start” button he found on the man. Suddenly the man’s face changes, and we learn he had a device which changed his face. They discover that the man was impersonating a member of a radical political group. Dorian then explains he is damaged, and will not be able to move in 5 minutes.
Damn it Jim, I’m a Cop Not an Android Repairman!
Kennex tries to make some repairs. Unfortunately, he knocks Dorian unconscious. Rudy, meanwhile, is working on his decoy, while being harassed by a android.
Paige calls up, and tells Kennex that the man keeps going to a corner of the room for some reason. He continues to try to make her calm down. He tries to fix Dorian still, and manages to wake him up. The gunman that Kennex wounded made it back to the leader, and tells him about Kennex and Dorian.
The leader contacts Maldonado and asks about the two men in the building. Maldonado plays dumb. The leader then asks about his device, to which she confirms is almost done.
Paige tells Kennex that she is going to go out to be with her sister. Kennex tries to tell her that she needs to stay put. She leaves her phone on, but goes out to her sister and the other hostages. She then asks a man to use the restroom. The man allows her, and she activates a phone on the counter.
This Sounds Familiar, Hey Wait it’s Die Hard!
Maldonado sends the finished decoy trigger into the building. The trigger arrives, and the leader comments about another crew. Kennex hears this conversation, and they figure it out that there must be other people in on the operation. Kennex and Dorian deduce that the trigger is just a diversion. They also deduce they must be heisting the Palladium refinery nearby, and the hostage situation is just a diversion.
Back with the men, another bomb has been activated. Dorian detects it, and tells Kennex. They discuss their plan, and Dorian jumps into the elevator shaft. He is able to traverse up quickly. He moves through the vents, and indentifies the men and the bomb. Dorian drops in and opens fire. He takes down several men, but is shot badly in the process. The leader then nearly finishes Dorian, but Kennex uses one of the face changing machines to infiltrate and save the day. Kennex stops the men, and tells Maldonado to turn the alarms back on, which traps the crew in the Palladium vault. Dorian then disarms the bomb.
Kennex Gets an Ovation
Afterwards, Paige thanks Kennex for saving her. Back at the station, he gets a standing ovation. Maldonado tells Kennex about the true identities of the men. Rudy comes in and complains about the repairs Kennex made to Dorian, but Kennex takes Dorian out for a celebratory dinner. On the way, Dorian thanks Kennex for saving his life. Dorian also tells Kennex about his fear of death when the guns were aimed at him.
Josh’s Thoughts: Almost Human, Season 1 Episode 3: Are You Receiving?
Almost Human’s third episode was not quite as good as the premiere, but still highly enjoyable. What has been kind of annoying me is the show started with this big back-story of a secret-ish mafia like organization, and we haven’t heard from them much since. I am hoping this show doesn’t turn into another procedural cop show, just set in the future.
This episode I could think of one movie the entire episode–Die Hard. Anyone who has seen Die Hard enough to remember the plot, would easily be able to see what I am talking about. We have a hostage situation that has the leaders of the group making a play with the cops to misdirect and mislead. There is a cop on the inside, who makes radio contact with another for help on the situation. This story is taken directly from Die Hard! Oddly enough, despite it feeling like a rip off of a great 80s movie, it still pulled it off, I thought.
The “big” questions that Dorian will bring up I think will be the most interesting part of the show. My favorite scene in this episode was when Dorian tells Kennex that he understands that he was made for this (referring to moving in to save the hostage, likely sacrificing himself in the process), but that he was afraid. Even more interestingly, and somewhat sad is that he understands this isn’t the same as what a human feels. What I find most perplexing about this conversation is the self-realization that he is “understanding”. Doesn’t that mean his fear matters as much as any other living thing? He may not feel pain, but he certainly is afraid of “death”. I thought that that scene was really good.
Dorian’s actual action scene immediately following was really good as well. I think this is the first time he is in a major gun battle, and it was really fun and thrilling—then sad when he nearly is “killed”. But again, I think the controversy of artificial intelligence is what will make this show fun. I can’t wait to see how that progresses in the future.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 3 of Almost Human: Are You Receiving?
I thought this episode was a big improvement from last week’s episode. Even if this episode was just a rip off of Die Hard, at least Almost Human put its own spin on things, as it continues to use futuristic elements effectively: they are present, but not overwhelming. The show also continues to build the close relationship between Dorian and Kennex, and inject subtly humorous moments, while still maintaining its overall serious sci-fi tone, and additionally providing emotional moments that the audience can connect with.
So far, it seems like this show does a good job at introducing characters and making you care about them in a brief amount of time. For example, at the very beginning of the episode, I was curious to see where the flirtation would go between the security guard and the woman to whom he dropped off the package, but the security guard was killed right after that! Okay, that’s probably the weakest example in this episode, the better example being of course, Paige (played by Emily Rios, better known to Breaking Bad fans as Andrea, Jesse’s girlfriend). She was extremely brave. I don’t think I could have had the courage to do half of what she did. It was so admirable the way she left her hiding place to be with her sister, and then she didn’t stop there, she went the extra step to keep Kennex informed. I’m glad that she and Kennex had that reunion at the end, and it goes to show you that what he told Dorian last week was true: he’s a cop, so he will be remembered by the people that he helped.
The show also continues to delve into the questions associated with Dorian being “almost human.” In this episode, he expresses his fear of dying to Kennex, a fear which the audience could see in Dorian’s face when he was about to get shot. I’m sure as we get to know Dorian, he will seem more and more human.
One thing that this episode did not delve into was something that was also notably absent in last week’s episode: any reference to Syndicate, or Kennex’s ex-girlfriend’s involvement with Syndicate. Seems weird to make it appear so important in the first episode, then completely drop it. Maybe they’ll bring it up next episode?
Scenes from Almost Human, Season 1 Episode 4, The Bends
Here are scenes from the next Almost Human episode, titled The Bends:
Scenes from Almost Human, Season 1 Episode 4: The Bends
What did you think of Season 1 Episode 3 of Almost Human, titled Are You Receiving? Let us know in the comments below!
