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Black Mirror (1 Viewer)

bigbottom said:
Haven’t watched the second two, but I really liked the first. I think it’s because my favorite episodes are those that depict how technology can affect interpersonal relationships. 
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At the end of the first are we to believe that all of the reality we saw was just game time? For both the husband and wife? I didn't get it

 
tommyboy said:
At the end of the first are we to believe that all of the reality we saw was just game time? For both the husband and wife? I didn't get it
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I’m not sure what you mean. In the end, he finally tells his wife the truth about what was going on. They ultimately reach an agreement where once a year on his birthday, he meets up with Karl in the game and she goes out to get some strange.
 
Striking Vipers was the only episode of season 5 that I thought was comparable to the best of prior seasons.   Even then, it wouldn't make my top 10 episode list.

 
bigbottom said:
Haven’t watched the second two, but I really liked the first. I think it’s because my favorite episodes are those that depict how technology can affect interpersonal relationships. 
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Striking Vipers was by far the best of the three episodes.  It has an interesting idea -- is the online "you" the same person as the real-world "you?"  It just isn't executed that well IMO. 

 
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IvanKaramazov said:
Striking Vipers was by far the best of the three episodes.  It has an interesting idea -- is the online "you" the same person as the real-world "you?"  It just isn't executed that well IMO. 
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Yes. And also, does virtual reality allow you to experience existing real-life relationships in new and unexpected ways?

 
If Striking Vipers was the best (the only one I've seen so far) I'm not going to prioritize watching the other episodes. 

 
Can someone explain Smithereens (episode 2 of this season) to me?

1. Did the sniper kill Chris at the end? Kill the hostage?

2. Any idea what the mom found on her daughter's persona account?

3. I get the whole irony thing about the hostage situation causing phone notifications but wtf would they end the episode like that?

4. I didn't realize that was Topher Grace until the credits.

It had potential. 
 
About the Ashley O episode with Miley Cyrus....

Probably the worst episode in the entire Black Mirror series. 
 
eoMMan said:
Can someone explain Smithereens (episode 2 of this season) to me?

1. Did the sniper kill Chris at the end? Kill the hostage?

2. Any idea what the mom found on her daughter's persona account?

3. I get the whole irony thing about the hostage situation causing phone notifications but wtf would they end the episode like that?

4. I didn't realize that was Topher Grace until the credits.

It had potential. 
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1. Yes. No.

2. No. But the point was that she was finally provided the opportunity to find some answers.
 
I've only watched Striking Vipers so far and agree that it is an interesting concept but something was missing from it being a great episode.  Potentially could be a real scenario some day in the near future. 

 
eoMMan said:
Can someone explain Smithereens (episode 2 of this season) to me?

1. Did the sniper kill Chris at the end? Kill the hostage?

2. Any idea what the mom found on her daughter's persona account?

3. I get the whole irony thing about the hostage situation causing phone notifications but wtf would they end the episode like that?

4. I didn't realize that was Topher Grace until the credits.

It had potential. 
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1. That was not shown

2. No

3. Agree

4. Seemed pretty obvious to me

 
I haven't watched the last season, but given the comments and how lame I felt season 4 was, is it fair to say this show has run its course?  

 
Captain Cranks said:
I haven't watched the last season, but given the comments and how lame I felt season 4 was, is it fair to say this show has run its course?  
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Not really.  The individual episodes have always been uneven, there just wasn't any standouts.  Doesn't mean they don't make you think.  The 1st episode is worth watching for the memes from it alone.

 
While I didn’t care for episode 2 basically being an hour long don’t text and drive PSA, I thought it was interesting how much info his social media company had on him, more info and better analysis than what the police had

 
Dan Lambskin said:
While I didn’t care for episode 2 basically being an hour long don’t text and drive PSA, I thought it was interesting how much info his social media company had on him, more info and better analysis than what the police had
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Yes, I think the episode had a double meaning

 
Dan Lambskin said:
While I didn’t care for episode 2 basically being an hour long don’t text and drive PSA, I thought it was interesting how much info his social media company had on him, more info and better analysis than what the police had
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The PSA was the least of the points being made, IMO.

The idea of how much literal power the social media companies have (via information) is frightening. And then there is the figurative sway they hold by how they program our behavior.

The biggest point, I think, is that we care about an event as long as we can be a participant in said event. As soon as the event ends (regardless of whether it was Chris or Jaden in this case) we're immediately "on to the next" - be it a dude returning to a basketball game or a CEO to his meditation.

Once it doesn't involve us, we stop caring - and we never cared about the participants to begin with. Bottom line, I think it's an indictment on our digital voyeurism.

 
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The thing I didn't like about episode 2 was it was basically all realistic now. I like the episodes that have "futuristic" technology to drive the moral of the story. It was way too similar to the pig episode.

 
Andy Dufresne said:
The PSA was the least of the points being made, IMO.

The idea of how much literal power the social media companies have (via information) is frightening. And then there is the figurative sway they hold by how they program our behavior.

The biggest point, I think, is that we care about an event as long as we can be a participant in said event. As soon as the event ends (regardless of whether it was Chris or Jaden in this case) we're immediately "on to the next" - be it a dude returning to a basketball game or a CEO to his meditation.

Once it doesn't involve us, we stop caring - and we never cared about the participants to begin with. Bottom line, I think it's an indictment on our digital voyeurism.
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There was a thriller/horror movie a few years back (don't remember the name) where the killer had his victim attached to a contraption that was monitored by a camera streaming to the web.  The more views/hits/likes/whatever he got, the quicker the victim died.  

As horrible as it sounds, I could see something like this happening in real life at some point.

 
So was what they were doing in Striking Vipers considered gay?  I mean the fact that the one friend said that it just wasn't the same with other people and the fact that he was screwing the guy every session makes me think he definitely is.  It gets more complicated with the married friend, however.  But just for the record, if that technology existed, I'd definitely be getting it on with virtual fighting game hotties.  

 
Scoresman said:
So was what they were doing in Striking Vipers considered gay?  I mean the fact that the one friend said that it just wasn't the same with other people and the fact that he was screwing the guy every session makes me think he definitely is.  It gets more complicated with the married friend, however.  But just for the record, if that technology existed, I'd definitely be getting it on with virtual fighting game hotties.  
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I don't know. There was no connection in real life when they kissed.

 
Smithereens episode is a yawner, but not as awful as Striking Vipers. I didn’t fast forward through it, but I surfed on my phone throughout. I did like Topher Grace’s performance. His character is a little change of pace for the show.   Sadly, this show needs to end now.

 
Scoresman said:
So was what they were doing in Striking Vipers considered gay?  I mean the fact that the one friend said that it just wasn't the same with other people and the fact that he was screwing the guy every session makes me think he definitely is.  It gets more complicated with the married friend, however.  But just for the record, if that technology existed, I'd definitely be getting it on with virtual fighting game hotties.  
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I think they're both at least bisexual in nature. In the game, Kyle is a woman but is screwing a dude. So that's at least partly homosexual. In real life the married guy (can't remember his name) *DID* feel something when they kissed (or it was implied by his reaction).

 
Worm said:
I think they're both at least bisexual in nature. In the game, Kyle is a woman but is screwing a dude. So that's at least partly homosexual. In real life the married guy (can't remember his name) *DID* feel something when they kissed (or it was implied by his reaction).
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Karl and Daniel.
I'm not sure Dan felt anything with that kiss, and I think he's 100% straight. Otherwise he'd be sexing male fighters in the game.
Karl is at least bi-curious. But he's not looking for men in real life.

 
EYLive said:
Karl and Daniel.
I'm not sure Dan felt anything with that kiss, and I think he's 100% straight. Otherwise he'd be sexing male fighters in the game.
Karl is at least bi-curious. But he's not looking for men in real life.
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Dan was like "uhh, yeah, me neither :oldunsure: "...

 
Scoresman said:
So was what they were doing in Striking Vipers considered gay?  I mean the fact that the one friend said that it just wasn't the same with other people and the fact that he was screwing the guy every session makes me think he definitely is.  It gets more complicated with the married friend, however.  But just for the record, if that technology existed, I'd definitely be getting it on with virtual fighting game hotties.  
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I viewed that as being the point (which was hammered home when they both kissed IRL and felt nothing)  As BB said earlier, is the VR world an actual reflection of the real world you? 

I think it's a good question and it's one that strikes home for me for two reasons.  First, I've experienced it personally. This board should be well aware of that as, like a dozen years ago, I acted like a selfish, whiny idiot.  I can assure you that, while that online version of me may have been a small part of me, had anybody met me in real life they would have realized quickly that my "normal" personality was, well, normal and I was using the board as an outlet for emotions resulting from a breakup.  To a lesser degree, and I'm willing to bet I am not at all unique in this, I've watched and enjoyed some pornographic acts/scene/scenarios that I would have declined actively engaging in or even wanting to engage in IRL. 

Second, in my profession I work with individuals who have engaged in online acts that are charged as very serious crimes with the punishments being equal to (or even some times greater than) the punishments the person would be facing if he actually engaged in the act in real life even though there's no evidence that the person has even attempted to engage in those acts. While I certainly do not condone these online activities and agree they should be criminalized, I find it difficult to not at least have some compassion for these individuals because the crimes are often committed at like 2 AM online in one's basement where a person may "act" in a way inconsistent with his overall makeup. 

Returning to the motif at end in Striking Vipers, the VR question is compounded I think we sexual fluidity.  In that sense, I think the episode reaffirms the idea that we are all not 100% heterosexual and that there's a vast area of grayness between being straight and gay.  As such, to finally answer your question in bold, no - I do not think what they were doing should be considered "gay" by definition. 

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
I literally just turned this episode off halfway through. Boring and seems unoriginal. 
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I'd recommend trying it again. I found the ending to be vey thought-provoking (as you can tell by my high school essay above) and relatively well executed. 

Overall while it's nowhere near top 5 or even top 7 for me, I'd put Striking Vipers on the better side of average for Black Mirror episodes. 

 
I feel Striking Vipers perfectly accomplished what one of the original purposes of the series is.  That is, offering a glimpse into the future and how technology affects us as a society including our relationships.  This episode literally gave us another possible definition/categorization of sexuality based on the technology of virtual reality.  Easily the most thought-provoking of the 3 episode batch we got.  

 
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