You can't hold the tide with a broom
While K’s awareness is now expanding, we see the opposite in Luv, her focus becoming laser like. To her, the child is the only thing that exists.
This difference in mindset between K and Luv is exemplified by their actions, which reveals their underlying characters. K’s rage is directed inwards, thereby fueling his drive with a quiet focus. Luv’s rage is directed outwards and consumes her to such a level, that she goes against her creator.
The breaking of the whisky glass in Joshi’s hand is a simple act, but brutal in its execution and infliction of pain. Luv’s words are telling here. They indicate that her reasons are an inversion of K’s:
Luv: “You tiny thing. In the face of the fabulous new, your only thought is to kill it. for fear of great change? You can’t hold the tide with a broom.”
This moment of high emotion then reveals a hidden thread:
Luv: “You’re so sure, because he told you, because we never lie. I’m gonna tell Mr. Wallace you tried to shoot me first, so I had to kill you.”
This opens up a side of Luv in which she mirrors K: the existential rage simmering beneath her surface.
This suggests that Luv, much like K, dreams in secret.
But what is it that she dreams of?
To understand her aims, it’s necessary to analyze what she knows, and the logical conclusions of that knowledge.
Knowing Wallace’s disregard for individual Replicants, Luv knows that he will view the missing child with a cold, scientific detachment. This means analysis, experimentation, and certain death.
However, her reaction to the news of the child being ‘retired’ contradicts this knowledge. To Wallace, it is irrelevant if the child is alive or dead, as dissection, (i.e. death) is required. Added to this, we see tears as she kills Joshi. Therefore, Luv’s emotional reaction at the child’s ‘retirement’ raises a series of questions.
Firstly:
Does Luv support the Replicant freedom movement?
Does she see the child as being a step towards a Replicant-positive future?
While the first one seems unlikely, the second seems closer to Luv’s hidden desires, at least initially.
With further analysis, her behaviour starts to indicate something at a deeper level.
Namely:
Does she intend to deliver the child to Wallace?
Or, does she intend to keep the child herself, for other purposes?
Her intention to lie to Wallace shows that she has her own motives. This negates the pro Replicant stance discussed earlier, as any information pertaining to the child would be beneficial to the freedom movement.
Added to this, the risk involved in her actions at the police station suggests another possibility, that of a personal agenda.
Consider the following:
Why would she be willing to go against her creator?
What would the stakes be, to betray someone as powerful as Wallace?
With these two points, it can therefore be understood that Luv is acting out of an individual need.
She aims to keep the child herself.
Evidence that this is the case can be seen in her actions – killing a police officer in a police station – this is a move of incredible risk, as the station would certainly be filled with cameras, officers, time logs and visitor records. The chances of her actions being recorded, ad traced back to Wallace, would be very high. The fact that she kills Joshi anyway shows that she is prepared to deal with the ensuing consequences.
This is beyond her in built need to fulfill her bosses orders. This indicates desperation.
But what need would be so powerful as to transcend a command from her creator?
There is only one possible reason.
The strongest urge that Luv could experience.
The urge to be a creator herself.
Luv wants to be a mother.
So the question now becomes the following:
does she intend to capture the child and become a surrogate mother?
or does she aim to study the child so she can learn to bare her own children?
Luv’s intensity in this scene can reflects the strength of her desire for motherhood. However, there is a major fault in her plans here. Despite the strength of her convictions, this is an individualistic aim. This can be seen by comparing Luv’s narrowing focus, to K’s expanding awareness in the wilderness.