The new series is out, and telly doesn't get much better than this. I've watched episodes 2 and 3 back to back tonight and I won't be sleeping easy tonight.
And lots of respect to Salma Hayek for successfully doing her own Being John Malkovitch. Some proper belly laughs there to break up the mind-twisting madness.
Turns out I've watched them in the wrong order - the last one I unwisely watched before going to bed last night was Episode 2, Loch Henry. I don't think I've been as disturbed by a TV show since Chris Morris' Jam.
Seen 3 of the new ones so far, and Loch Henry is my favourite by a country mile.
I had the entire plot guessed after 20 minutes, but the reveal was something else.
The music, the power-drill, the glee on her face - powerfully disturbing.
Knowing that some poor fucks have met their maker in similar fashion in real life is what makes this one hit the gut.
Being a bit TAPS* when it comes to plot twists, I really didn't see it coming. Well, maybe part of it - I won't go into too many spoilers. But yeah, it was the music that got me too. I'll never hear that song again without shuddering.
Enjoyed all of them but for me demon79 was just class maybe being 9 in 1979 it just hit a bit more
Oh yes, me liked 'em all, more or less.
Well, I thought it wouldn't get much more disturbing than Loch Henry, but I watched Beyond the Sea last night and was genuinely afraid to fall asleep in case I dreamed about that ending.
That one was as bleak as fuck.
Perhaps against my better judgement, since this is hardly the cheeriest of series, I decided to go back to the almost start and go from there. Fifteen Million Merits still feels remarkably relevant, given that it was released back in 2011. That notion of everything being about buying shit that isn't real combined with the distribution of anger feels very NFT/Twitter. Then The Entire History of You is extraordinarily bleak. Looking online, it's also interesting to see how many people despise Whittaker's character, Ffion, despite the fact her husband is clearly an abusive and controlling arsehole. (Yes, she lied and cheated – possibly twice. But he is awful to an off-the-scale level. So, er, probably ESH in Reddit AITA parlance.)
Konnie Huq co-wrote Fifteen Million Merits, which by the end is about the lucrative uselessness of being a witty commentator on a system you are part of, i.e. Charlie Brooker, her husband. So that's interesting.
I was disappointed with this latest series. It felt like there was no real social commentary. It was more a set of short plays than a twisted taking of a modern idea to its ultimate and absurd conclusion. They were good, but not Black Mirror.
With the exception of Beyond the Sea, which had a mind-boggling plot hole: why were their human bodies in space and replicas on Earth? Surely you'd do this the other way round?.
(I can't find spoiler tags, so have put the plot hole in white after the above colon - highlight to see it)
My grud, you're right. Never even occurred to me.
Me neither. It might mean that I'm stupid. Or it might mean that the story was so gripping that I was too engrossed in it to notice or look for a plot hole. I enjoyed it anyway.
There was some cut off throwaway line about the human factor being important...
TBH the mission and premise of the story is so abstract it doesn't really matter.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 20 June, 2023, 04:17:53 PMI really didn't see it coming.
Ah c'mon, they'd have Monica Dolan playing the villain in a documentary about Monica Dolan curing cancer.
Quote from: Richard on 30 June, 2023, 10:35:25 PMMe neither. It might mean that I'm stupid. Or it might mean that the story was so gripping that I was too engrossed in it to notice or look for a plot hole. I enjoyed it anyway.
A record scratch of a plot hole, but I enjoyed the hell out of that one too.
Quote from: Link Prime on 04 July, 2023, 12:25:42 PMQuote from: JayzusB.Christ on 20 June, 2023, 04:17:53 PMI really didn't see it coming.
Ah c'mon, they'd have Monica Dolan playing the villain in a documentary about Monica Dolan curing cancer.
I didn't recognise her at all. If I'd remembered it was her who played Rose West in that series of a few years ago, I might have had more of an inkling.
It has taken me more than long enough to think of this, but if something goes wrong with the link, you'd want your astronauts to be on the ship, not stuck on Earth leaving the ship without a crew. So it's not a plot hole after all!
Hm. Better to lose a ship and two robots than a ship and two humans, surely? Plot hole for definite.
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 July, 2023, 06:47:31 PMHm. Better to lose a ship and two robots than a ship and two humans, surely? Plot hole for definite.
Also no exercise machines, food, drinking and showering water needed. Knowing that plot hole has made the whole thing a little bit less impactful for me, and I'm glad of that, as it fucked with my head quite a bit.
Or maybe... Everyone on (this alternate) Earth is a robot and the astronauts are unique, specially grown synthetic humans. The headf*ck returns!
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 12 July, 2023, 06:14:56 PMOr maybe... Everyone on (this alternate) Earth is a robot and the astronauts are unique, specially grown synthetic humans. The headf*ck returns!
Oh feck. My mind!
No, wait, hang on. The Manson-type group thought metal robots were weird and unnnatural, so my mind is unfecked again.
Self-haters, driven to delusions of biology by the cognitive-linkage error of remorse over sending innocent biological beings out into space, detesting themselves and, by extension, the whole robot race as slave-masters. In their twisted logic circuits, they severed the connection to set the humans free...
Somebody should write a BM about this conversation; "Head F*cking on a Comic Book Forum."
It's taking me a lot longer to get through these, and I'd somehow forgotten quite how bleak they were. Prescient too, at least with the start of series 2. Be Right Black feels topical in a world of generative art, when Martha screams at not-Ash that he's not enough. "You're just a few ripples of you, there's no history to you. You're just a performance of stuff that he performed without thinking, and it's not enough." And yet that is... a lot of everything right now. (The black humour of putting away memories in the attic was chef's kiss good.)
White Bear was one where I remembered the twist but not some of the specifics (notably Tyres from Spaced taking quite the turn). Again, it feels more relevant today, what with all the Gammons arguing for what about to torture for people who commit heinous crimes. That made the episode extremely uncomfortable viewing towards the end. But also, I felt a bit uncomfortable with how it turned out the sole POC of note in the entire thing was the big bad. And some of the details of what happened (regarding coercion/falling under someone's spell) adds depth there that I'm not sure anyone's really grappled with.
I'm not sure whether the episode is a bit racist, or a commentary on how society treats minorities/people without power, or how a system might treat someone if they cannot get their hands on the true perpetrator of an atrocity and so have to 'made do' with someone once removed.
Just finished Demon '79. Brilliant evocation of an era, funny and charming, but the ending was such a damp squib. They'd set themselves up for something quite clever, whereby Nida's well-meaning attack on Michael Smart inadvertently ushers in a future even worse than the one she was trying to prevent - 'Hero politician assaulted by unhinged immigrant!' the tabloids would proclaim the next day. Cue riots, civil unrest and a landslide victory for either Smart or the National Front.
Instead they did absolutely nothing with any of that foreshadowing. The political subtext woven throughout the episode ultimately goes nowhere, and a random nuclear attack happens instead. Oh well.
Quote...worse than the one she was trying to prevent
Would that really have been worse?!
I'm continuing my very slow re-watch. The Waldo Moment wasn't nearly as strong as I remembered, being packed full of tropes and undercooked writing, and the epilogue has all the subtlety of a brick. But it again feels quite current, in the sense people are increasingly glued to broadly inconsequential stories and ignore all the horrible political shit going on at the same time. (Days of Huw Edwards stories while the govt essentially outlaws asylum.)
Spoilers are legion below so avert your eyes if you've not seen this season.
My two creds:
Joan is Awful
Probably my favourite episode from this series and one that is most faithful to the vibe of future tech / media being an existential threat. Fabulous seeing all of Joan's colleagues, lovers and friends immediately taking everything they saw onscreen to be the objective truth.
The third act anonymous technician with Michael Cera's face : 'We're not in realty right now. This is Fictive Level One' was the cherry on the cake.
Loch Henry
Superb all the way to it's surprising ending. But was this was a Black Mirror episode? I suppose the despondent final scene with it's commercialisation of human misery was in keeping with The Waldo Moment or even 15 Million Credits, but probably more at home in Tales from the Crypt or Inside Number 9.
Beyond The Sea
Good slow build and I loved the hi tech / low tech mash up: the space ship was all very chunky push button but the androids and consciousness transfer years ahead of present day tech. But... this did not quite earn its ending. Sure, any of us may be capable of murder as a crime of passion but nice guy David as pre-meditated, calculating killer? I don't buy it.
Mazey Day
40 mins in and out. The twist was great, the transformation in real time was supreme and the final shot was a jaw-dropper. Something still nagged at me as the titles rolled. A bit of online research revels the person she ran over in Czech was a werewolf; the curse transferring to Mazey when she touched the body with the open wound on her cut finger. Just wish that had been made slightly more clear.
Demon 79
Great way to wrap the series. Both leads were absolutely excellent and the central thrust reminded me of the awesome Bill Paxton-directed Frailty from 2001.
Jimbo, I agree that Michael Smart surviving with Nida's frenzied attack being the catalyst for a true future hellscape would have been excellent but I still think this ending: Nukes plummeting; "I'll give it a go." ; hand holding; Bright Eyes, was amazing.
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 19 July, 2023, 12:59:34 PMJust finished Demon '79. Brilliant evocation of an era, funny and charming, but the ending was such a damp squib. They'd set themselves up for something quite clever, whereby Nida's well-meaning attack on Michael Smart inadvertently ushers in a future even worse than the one she was trying to prevent - 'Hero politician assaulted by unhinged immigrant!' the tabloids would proclaim the next day. Cue riots, civil unrest and a landslide victory for either Smart or the National Front.
Instead they did absolutely nothing with any of that foreshadowing. The political subtext woven throughout the episode ultimately goes nowhere, and a random nuclear attack happens instead. Oh well.
I liked the ending. The ending you propose was precisely what I was expecting and therefore would've been far more of a damp squib for me. The "tries to stop something, ends up making it happen, possibly even more so" is a twist that's already been done, thousands of times, in everything from The Twilight Zone to Star Trek to Future Shocks to Bruce Willis films.
I just got through White Christmas, which is a very special kind of dystopian hell. Easter eggs linking the episode to others, to drive wonks mad over the years, and quite the line in various levels of torture. But also: this isn't the first time even by this point we've had a woman be unfaithful and it send a toxic man off the deep end. Hmm.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 30 June, 2023, 10:20:02 AMI was disappointed with this latest series. It felt like there was no real social commentary. It was more a set of short plays than a twisted taking of a modern idea to its ultimate and absurd conclusion. They were good, but not Black Mirror.
With the exception of Beyond the Sea, which had a mind-boggling plot hole: why were their human bodies in space and replicas on Earth? Surely you'd do this the other way round?.
(I can't find spoiler tags, so have put the plot hole in white after the above colon - highlight to see it)
TBH I couldn't get passed there was no 'Houston' monitoring/controlling or involved in their comms.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 29 July, 2023, 01:30:49 PMI just got through White Christmas, which is a very special kind of dystopian hell. Easter eggs linking the episode to others, to drive wonks mad over the years, and quite the line in various levels of torture. But also: this isn't the first time even by this point we've had a woman be unfaithful and it send a toxic man off the deep end. Hmm.
Well, I've learned a new word today.
Halfway through season 3 now, all of which appears to be '30 seconds into the future' so far. And this is also one episode before I stopped watching. So after San Junipero (which I recall adoring first-time around), all of these will be new.
I thought all of these first three were solid episodes. Nosedive neatly takes obsession with social media to its extreme, and frankly seems more relevant now than it did in 2016. It's also chilling to think that some countries have been more widely experimenting with personal rankings. The ending, with the palpable thrill of being 'free from all this shit' resonated with me.
Playtest was an oddball – Black Mirror as out-and-out horror. Structurally, I found it interesting, because the internal logic didn't hold together until the thing ended, whereupon it actually made some sense. And the casual disdain for people working within gaming seemed on point, as ever.
Shut Up and Dance was interesting on multiple levels. I vaguely remembered bits of this, and found it interesting to watch given the huge number of scams circulating right now. I can see why people would fall into those traps, if they get something suitably believable. The difference here is the series (as usual) taking that theme to its logical extreme conclusion.
What did surprise me is the twist at the very end. I'd totally forgotten about that, and it's a rug pull that made the episode hang together far better, even if 1) the outcome of the battle didn't really make sense, and 2) it likely made the audience feel a bit icky, on the basis of where their loyalties (to some degree) may have lied until that moment.
Taken in three-episode chunks, though, that feels like the strongest run since the beginning.