What?
I thought Deckard said he never retired a human by mistake. That’s not the same thing…
Yeah, they’d pretty much have to run the test on humans, as part of their training on how to administer it.
I repeat: The VK stuff was stupid as a plot device. They made a big deal out of it early on and then dropped it. It’d be like Star Wars stopping the use of light sabers after Obi-wan did the training thing with Luke.
Think about it. Why on Earth would Deckard (or Holden) need to run VK tests on Leon, Roy and company when he already had their IDs and everything? Why did Deckard even bother bringing the kit with him? It made no sense within the world of the movie, it’s only purpose was exposition on replicants and emotions. Once the exposition was done, the VK was put away, not to be seen again.
Also, again, Holden has been sent over to run VK tests on the new (not potential) employees by Bryant in case one of the replicants had already gotten a job at Tyrell. Again, they don’t do the test as a general rule. (Otherwise Leon wouldn’t have already been working at Tyrell.) Holden was doing a cop thing on a current case.
Thinking it over, I think you’re right. Holden carrying out the test can be fanwanked away by saying the IDs of the replicants hadn’t come through yet. But that still leave Deckard no reason to be carrying out the tests.
How many times in the movie do we see Deckard using it?
I can think of only one, at the request of Tyrell.
It seems quite plausible to me that there might be a law requiring the test before retiring a replicant, obviously with a “heat of the chase” exception. Things could get really ugly if they captured a human on suspicion of being a replicant and killed them just because they looked like a known escapee-- There has to be some level of due diligence.
Not sure how relevant it is, but they made a big deal in the book about most nexus 6 replicants being very good at changing their appearance. I think in the book, Deckard wasn’t even sure Zhora was a replicant until she attacked him. Also in the book, LE personnel had to take the VK test every couple of months I think.
And thinking about it some more, the VK test of Rachel can also be explained. Perhaps Deckard was sent to perform the test to gain a better understanding of the Nexus 6 emotional responses. The Nexus 6 might be better equipped to blend in than the earlier replicants he was used to dealing with. I agree with ftg that the VK test is an expository device, but I don’t think it deserves the status of a fully fledged plot hole.