Summary

• Blade Runner 2049's baseline test measures a replicant's emotionless state for their work fitness.
• Ryan Gosling's Officer K goes off-baseline during the test, revealing emotional compromise.
• The baseline test in Blade Runner 2049 came together through the collaboration of several minds behind the scenes, including Denis Villeneuve, Roger Deakins, and Ryan Gosling.

Set in a world where the lines between humanity and technology are blurred, the Blade Runner property has always pondered on the nature of identity. Playing into these themes, each installment of the sci-fi franchise has featured its own kind of psychological test to determine whether someone behaves like a real person or a stone-cold replicant.

In the original Blade Runner, the Voight-Kampff test involved monitoring a test subject's heart rate, pupil dilation, and other physical factors while being asked a series of questions that are designed to elicit an emotional response. Humans would have a different baseline set of physical measurements than replicants, who would struggle with these questions since they lack any empathy. The Voight-Kampff test would eventually pave the way for the baseline test that K (Ryan Gosling) undertakes in Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on May 8, 2024: With the recent announcement of the miniseries Blade Runner 2099 electrifying the franchise's fanbase, Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 remains a cult classic sci-fi film, serving as a worthwhile sequel to Ridley Scott's iconic 1982 film. One of the more intriguing elements of the 2017 sequel is the introduction of the baseline test, which Ryan Gosling's Officer K takes during the film. This article has been updated to uphold current CBR guidelines and to add more information about the conception of the baseline test in Blade Runner 2049, including how Gosling contributed to the idea behind the scenes.

The Process of Blade Runner 2049's Baseline Test

Blade Runner 2049 Cast & Characters
Character	Actor
Officer K	Ryan Gosling
Rick Deckard	Harrison Ford
Joi	Ana de Armas
Luv	Sylvia Hoeks
Lieutenant Joshi	Robin Wright
Mariette	Mackenzie Davis
Niander Wallace	Jared Leto
Sapper Morton	Dave Bautista
Coco	David Dastmalchian

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The idea of a baseline test is extremely important in Blade Runner 2049, as it seeks to measure a replicant's mental state. An emotional response is measured by the same types of physical measurements that the Voight-Kampff used since this test found a quantitative way to measure stress and emotion. A good replicant blade runner should be an emotionless, obedient servant that is unaffected by retiring fellow replicants on the job. If a test subject conforms to these expectations during their baseline test, then they pass. However, if the subject starts to show any signs of emotion or hesitation, they are deemed to have human traits and are therefore unfit for work.

First, the baseline test has the blade runner recite their baseline, which is something that resembles a line of poetry, but the replicant is supposed to read it without rhythm or intonation. Then, the mechanics of the baseline test include an unseen questionnaire that asks a series of provoking questions, like, "Do you long to have your heart interlinked?" in rapid succession to elicit a stress response. A functioning replicant is supposed to respond with the same words, unfazed by the emotional nature of the questions, and exhibit the same composure as when they read their baseline.

The Fluctuating Psychological State of K in Blade Runner 2049

When Officer K, played by Ryan Gosling, first takes the baseline test in Blade Runner 2049, he passes with flying colors, as he recites the affirmations perfectly. The second time around, however, he discovers that he is off his baseline. His response times are delayed, and he swallows hard, indicating he is stressed over the emotionally provoking questions. In short, K has been emotionally compromised and deemed unfit to do his job.

The baseline test essentially measures how human a replicant is, with any form of emotion whatsoever seen as undesirable. Fundamentally, this is a check for consistency since humans are emotional creatures, which contains an element of unpredictability. A good replicant is robotic in nature, unwavering from its duty time and time again, so to be human is to be off the baseline.

How Blade Runner 2049's Baseline Test Came To Be

Replicants in the Blade Runner Franchise
Character Name	Model	Actor
Rick Deckard (possible)	Unknown	Harrison Ford
Roy Batty	Nexus-6	Rutger Hauer
Pris Stratton	Nexus-6	Daryl Hannah
Zhora Salome	Nexus-6	Joanna Cassidy
Leon Kowalski	Nexus-6	Brion James
Rachael	Nexus-7	Sean Young
Freysa Sadeghpour	Nexus-8	Hiam Abbass
Sapper Morton	Nexus-8	Dave Bautista
Mariette	Nexus-8	Makenzie Davis
Luv	Nexus-9	Sylvia Hoeks
Officer K	Nexus-9	Ryan Gosling

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There is an interesting story behind the creation of the baseline test in Blade Runner 2049. In an interview with Den of Geek in 2018, director Denis Villeneuve, the baseline test was originally imagined as a face-to-face interview between the officer and the superior. However, Villeneuve and his cinematographer Roger Deakins came to believe that the test needed to be more "inhuman" and "claustrophobic." Villeneuve and Deakins went back to the drawing board for this sequence, coming up with a new concept for the baseline test that saw Ryan Gosling's Officer K interrogated in a mostly empty white room. The director went on to describe K as "an animal in a cage," underlining just how little his superiors care about him and what the social status of replicants was at this point in the timeline of the Blade Runner franchise.

“Cells interlinked within cells interlinked. Within one stem. And dreadfully distinct. Against the dark, a tall white fountain played.” - Line Officer K quotes from Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire.

The story gets more interesting from there and even incorporates some suggestions from lead star Ryan Gosling. According to Villeneuve, the original scene simply saw Agent K reciting a line of poetry for his baseline test. However, the filmmakers came to believe that the scene still wasn't quite clicking with their vision. Ryan Gosling then suggested a method that he had seen actors use to memorize Shakespeare, which involved excessive, sometimes intrusive repetition. Gosling's suggestion was accepted and text from Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire was selected, finally helping Villeneuve and his associate achieve the perfect scene that they had envisioned.

The baseline test is an intriguing addition to the Blade Runner franchise, giving audiences a terrific way to check in with the emotional state of its replicant characters, including Officer K. The scene was the brainchild of several great minds behind the scenes, including director Denis Villeneuve, cinematographer Roger Deakins, and actor Ryan Gosling.