Black Mirror (5 Viewers)

[Osaurus]

Think I liked the Miley Cyrus episode the best of the 3 in Season 5. It was a bit sappy and obvious at times, but couldn’t help thinking about how Ashley’s life somewhat mirrored (pun intended) Miley’s life. Favorite part was Ashley Too with the anarchy sticker and spiked bracelet/skirt or whatever you would call it.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Striking Vipers would have been better if...

Spoiler

It would have condemned Danny and Theo equally - showing they were equally to blame for their relationship dissolving.

A happy balance like this episode resolved is unlikely in any reality.

The implication that technology allows for consequence free liberation is the real fantasy.

 

[shadyridr]

Ashley O episode was my favorite of the season. 

 

[Zow]

Finished them all this past weekend. I thought the season was fine. Would rank them 1-3 in their order but I didn’t dislike any of them. 

 

[leftcoastguy7]

Didn't really enjoy this season. (only three episodes??)

Miley Cyrus one was ok,  2nd episode was way too long and drawn-out.  Just boring. Get the guy on the phone already.

And Striking Vipers -- didn't think I was homophobic but I just might be now after watching that.  Terrible. 

 

[ghostguy123]

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. 

 

[ghostguy123]

Probably the worst season so far, but still good.  People talking about wanting them to stop the show are idiots.  Probably the same people who hate TWD but watch every week.  

Striking Vipers was good, interesting techy stuff mixed with the effect it would have on actual relationships.  

Smithereens was a slow burn but not bad.  Interesting to see just how quick and easy they can figure everything out about someone, 100x easier than law enforcement.

AShley O episode was ok I guess.  MC was good in that one, perfect role for her.  

 

[adonis]

I keep thinking about the episode where the two folks are dating, speed dating, and they're required to date according to an algorithm.

I won't give away the ending, but for others who have seen it, I find it a compelling concept to keep going back to and thinking about.

Several episodes from this series have me thinking about them long after viewing them.  One other is the one where you get some kind of implant that allows you to record and have near instant playback of everything you see/hear.  Really loved the idea and execution of it.

Just bumping the series as while there are some that I didn't particularly enjoy or find intellectually/personally compelling, there were quite a few that were really really good.

 

[Todem]

One of my favorite shows around. And season 3 was solid as well. Ashley O and Striking Vipers were the two best of the three hands down.

 

[Scoresman]

I keep thinking about the episode where the two folks are dating, speed dating, and they're required to date according to an algorithm.

I won't give away the ending, but for others who have seen it, I find it a compelling concept to keep going back to and thinking about.

Several episodes from this series have me thinking about them long after viewing them.  One other is the one where you get some kind of implant that allows you to record and have near instant playback of everything you see/hear.  Really loved the idea and execution of it.

Just bumping the series as while there are some that I didn't particularly enjoy or find intellectually/personally compelling, there were quite a few that were really really good.

Hang the DJ, right?  Easily the best episode of the series.  

 

[adonis]

Hang the DJ, right?  Easily the best episode of the series.  

Yes, that was the one. 

*somewhat spoiler*  Got to thinking yesterday that a certain politician has these Monte-Carlo type simulations going on in his brain, trying to determine the efficacy of certain lines of attack or public statements.  He runs through all these simulations, and then decides on the most effective one and puts that out.  Then I got to thinking what if we were simply one of those simulations, where we're giving real-time feedback to certain insane scenarios in order to give feedback to someone else deciding whether to do a certain thing or not.  And then I was reminded of this episode which is essentially the same idea, except incredibly well done from a story telling perspective.  I haven't yet tried running for the boundaries, but with all the craziness going on, maybe I'll do it and see what happens .

 

[adonis]

One of my favorite shows around. And season 3 was solid as well. Ashley O and Striking Vipers were the two best of the three hands down.

I saw Ashley O and really enjoyed it.  Striking Vipers I had loaded on ipad for a long flight, but couldn't bring myself to watch that with others clustered all around me due to the graphic stuff.  Forgot about it and didn't watch it, so I'm glad you mentioned it.  Will watch that this week.

 

[The Gator]

Season 7 Trailer

 

[eoMMan]

Thoughts on this latest season?

I think the first two episodes (Common People and Bete Noire) are the best along with USS Callister. The other three episodes were kind of so so.

 

[The Gator]

Enjoyed the first episode. This isn't a show I like to binge so it'll be a slow roll out

 

[Scoresman]

Through 4 episodes and they’ve all been pretty good. Nothing topping the really great episodes from seasons past, but still worth a watch.

 

[Zow]

I keep thinking about the episode where the two folks are dating, speed dating, and they're required to date according to an algorithm.

I won't give away the ending, but for others who have seen it, I find it a compelling concept to keep going back to and thinking about.

Several episodes from this series have me thinking about them long after viewing them. One other is the one where you get some kind of implant that allows you to record and have near instant playback of everything you see/hear. Really loved the idea and execution of it.

Just bumping the series as while there are some that I didn't particularly enjoy or find intellectually/personally compelling, there were quite a few that were really really good.

I haven't watched much of this show in the last few years, but I wanted to comment that I do sometimes think about some of these episodes. Working in criminal justice, the episodes which cross my mind from time to time and have an impact on the way I think are:

White Bear

Spoiler

The one about the girl being inexplicably followed and stalked with the twist that this is her punishment for a horrific crime. This crosses my mind when there is public bloodlust after on of my clients. I feel sympathy for the girl, which suggests I probably work on the correct side of the aisle for me personally.

Shut Up and Dance

Spoiler

Similarly, the protagonist turned antagonist in this episode is inexplicably stalked by a group but that turns out for a decent reason. The main character is a pedophile and he is ultimately set up for a day of terror as punishment for his crimes. Again, I'm reminded of this sort of bloodlust when I read public comments about individuals I've gotten to know as humans and it strengthens my belief in the 8th Amendment.

Crocodile - I see a lot of my clients in the main character.

Loch Henry - More so as a satire of the podcast wanna be detectives who get off on tragic crimes. It then turns to

Spoiler

family members of criminals painfully realizing that their family members committed horrible crimes - something I have to pretty regularly deal with as family members will demand to know why their loved one client of mine is taking a plea.

The Entire History of You - With somewhat shame, I concede that the main character acts as irrationally as I did when going through the breakup that I so chronicled on this board in amazing detail. In other words, I could connect with him and his jealous insecurity as such dominated a couple years of my life and arguably ruined what should have been a good period of time for me.

 

[Scoresman]

Through 4 episodes and they’ve all been pretty good. Nothing topping the really great episodes from seasons past, but still worth a watch.

And of course right after I post this I watch the fifth episode and it is an instant classic. Paul Giamatti is phenomenal in it.

 

[-fish-]

just watched Common People. Awful. Lazy writing, tired premise. Very disappointing.

 

[The Gator]

Watched episode 2 a day after watching The Mandela Effect movie. That was trippy

 

[bigbottom]

just watched Common People. Awful. Lazy writing, tired premise. Very disappointing.

It felt VERY real to me.

 

[-fish-]

Didn't much like the second episode either, but I enjoyed the other 4. The Paul Giamatti one was very well done.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Still need to watch Eulogy and Callister

Plaything - loved this one, but I am a sucker for AI doom scenarios

Common people - seems like this one is getting panned online, i thought it was great. I definitely like the ones that have a sense of realism to them better

Bete Noir - meh…it was ok, like I said, i prefer the one’s more grounded in reality

Hotel Reverie - snooze fest

 

[ghostguy123]

Yeah Hotel Reverie was dumb.

Plaything was good.

 

[The Gator]

Thirded for Plaything

 

[stbugs]

just watched Common People. Awful. Lazy writing, tired premise. Very disappointing.

It felt VERY real to me.

The only thing I didn’t like was that a teacher and a welder may not be rich but they were living really cheaply with no kids. I liked the show but it just seemed hard to believe that $300 a month to start would be some hard to attain amount. I understand that they had to struggle to bring in that web site and show how hard it was for them to deal with the increases but I felt like I had to ignore the dollar amounts to not roll my eyes.

 

[FlagDynasty]

I felt the same way watching it. Like, I get that they wanted to show the grind and tension of building something from nothing, but $300 a month between two adults with steady jobs and no kids? That part felt a bit forced

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Eulogy - ehh it was ok

Callister 2 - I’ll be honest I didn’t love the first one either

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Think I’d rank the new season

Plaything
Common people

Eulogy
Callister
Bete Noir



Hotel Reverie

 

[shuke]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

Thank you. This is a fictional universe, the amount doesn't matter.

 

[Scoresman]

I would watch a spinoff series based on Callister.

Like Star Trek meets Herman's Head. Yes please.

 

[-fish-]

just watched Common People. Awful. Lazy writing, tired premise. Very disappointing.

It felt VERY real to me.

The only thing I didn’t like was that a teacher and a welder may not be rich but they were living really cheaply with no kids. I liked the show but it just seemed hard to believe that $300 a month to start would be some hard to attain amount. I understand that they had to struggle to bring in that web site and show how hard it was for them to deal with the increases but I felt like I had to ignore the dollar amounts to not roll my eyes.

For $1000 a month you can master any skill. Seems like you could monetize that, no?

 

[ghostguy123]

I thought Callister was really good.
Plemons was born for the role. Plays a great creepy vibe guy

 

[Zow]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

I get your point, but I watched the episode last night and honestly couldn't get past the math. I know the math wasn't the point, but I find it to be sloppy writing as I was struggling to get past their money issues. Both my wife and I - who are of similar age and deal with monthly budget issues, etc. - were confused. Mrs. Woz immediately asked, "why does he need to do so much OT if it's $300/month?" and I questioned whether wife was even working at point.

Again, I understand that the viewer should recognize the math wasn't the point, but the writers easily could have fixed the problem and as it was nonetheless a problem.

 

[Zow]

just watched Common People. Awful. Lazy writing, tired premise. Very disappointing.

It felt VERY real to me.

The only thing I didn’t like was that a teacher and a welder may not be rich but they were living really cheaply with no kids. I liked the show but it just seemed hard to believe that $300 a month to start would be some hard to attain amount. I understand that they had to struggle to bring in that web site and show how hard it was for them to deal with the increases but I felt like I had to ignore the dollar amounts to not roll my eyes.

For $1000 a month you can master any skill. Seems like you could monetize that, no?

I thought the same.

 

[stbugs]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

Sorry, but that’s silly. Even in a fictional universe they could have at least made it feel more realistic. I got the point, but as posted above it was just distracting and it wasn’t hard to come up with a less distracting amount. Heck, the ad-free tier was five times the lowest tier. Why not $1000 and $2000? No one would question people struggling to basically pay two rents per month.

I’ll give an example that I learned a long time ago about PowerPoint. I learned to be anal reviewing and adjusting any slide deck created to make sure there are no spelling or formatting inconsistencies. Those draw the audience’s eyes to them and even if it doesn’t change the point, the distraction makes it harder to keep the focus on your point.

This was kind of lazy writing where you think the audience should apologize. Maybe you might want to turn your insult to the show folks who are so out of touch that they think $300 would be hard to manage for common people.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

Sorry, but that’s silly. Even in a fictional universe they could have at least made it feel more realistic. I got the point, but as posted above it was just distracting and it wasn’t hard to come up with a less distracting amount. Heck, the ad-free tier was five times the lowest tier. Why not $1000 and $2000? No one would question people struggling to basically pay two rents per month.

I’ll give an example that I learned a long time ago about PowerPoint. I learned to be anal reviewing and adjusting any slide deck created to make sure there are no spelling or formatting inconsistencies. Those draw the audience’s eyes to them and even if it doesn’t change the point, the distraction makes it harder to keep the focus on your point.

This was kind of lazy writing where you think the audience should apologize. Maybe you might want to turn your insult to the show folks who are so out of touch that they think $300 would be hard to manage for common people.

I think you underestimate how many people in this country would have a hard time coming up with an extra $300 a month for healthcare

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The problem with Common People is that it tried to do two things - farce and tragedy - at once and it didn't quite mesh. Although independently IMO there were things to like.

Haven't we all had the Terms of Conditions changed in us in ways that make no sense and with no notice? Or been gaslit by a company telling us we're getting more for our money when we know it's less? I laughed a couple times at all that.

OTOH we live in a time when we can prolong lifespans - if we spare no expense. But the expense is a real question we have to answer as is "is the resultant quality of life 'worth' it?

Mushed together, though, the tones of each didn't mesh well in this episode.

Edit: Oh, and if you can't afford the $300/month for this procedure, you can't afford a baby.

 

[JB Breakfast Club]

I assumed it was a timeline after the dollar had collapsed. They set up the relative value of $20 with the pee drinking bit, so $300 didn't seem out of whack, relatively speaking.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I assumed it was a timeline after the dollar had collapsed. They set up the relative value of $20 with the pee drinking bit, so $300 didn't seem out of whack, relatively speaking.

My buddy makes a full time income Twitch streaming (primarily playing Destiny 2).

Nothing as crazy gross as what's shown in Black Mirror but you wouldn't believe the silly things people pay money to see someone do - often way more that $20 at a time.

 

[Zow]

I assumed it was a timeline after the dollar had collapsed. They set up the relative value of $20 with the pee drinking bit, so $300 didn't seem out of whack, relatively speaking.

Then they could have just said that. That’s the gripe. One line would help explain why a dual income home with no kids had to resort to drastic measures over $300/month.

 

[bigbottom]

I assumed it was a timeline after the dollar had collapsed. They set up the relative value of $20 with the pee drinking bit, so $300 didn't seem out of whack, relatively speaking.

Then they could have just said that. That’s the gripe. One line would help explain why a dual income home with no kids had to resort to drastic measures over $300/month.

My recollection was that they didn’t have to resort to drastic measures over $300 a month. He just had to work extra shifts. The drastic measures started when it was $800 and then he had to pay even more for Lux time.

In any event, the money thing didn’t bother me in the least. When they said covering $300 would be difficult, I immediately took them for their word. Perhaps they were living in a city with a high cost of living. Perhaps working as a welder and a teacher barely covered their bills in the world where this took place. I certainly didn’t question the premise though I can see why others might.

 

[stbugs]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

Sorry, but that’s silly. Even in a fictional universe they could have at least made it feel more realistic. I got the point, but as posted above it was just distracting and it wasn’t hard to come up with a less distracting amount. Heck, the ad-free tier was five times the lowest tier. Why not $1000 and $2000? No one would question people struggling to basically pay two rents per month.

I’ll give an example that I learned a long time ago about PowerPoint. I learned to be anal reviewing and adjusting any slide deck created to make sure there are no spelling or formatting inconsistencies. Those draw the audience’s eyes to them and even if it doesn’t change the point, the distraction makes it harder to keep the focus on your point.

This was kind of lazy writing where you think the audience should apologize. Maybe you might want to turn your insult to the show folks who are so out of touch that they think $300 would be hard to manage for common people.

I think you underestimate how many people in this country would have a hard time coming up with an extra $300 a month for healthcare

What does that have to do with the show? The show had a teacher and a tradesman both working with no kids to support. I’d feel like that combo wouldn’t be in that group. As Andy said above they had saved to have a baby. Sorry, it just bothered me a bit and took away a bit from the show.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Sorry they weren't portrayed as poor enough for you guys. I think the point was clear enough. Add a 0 if it makes it more realistic for you

Sorry, but that’s silly. Even in a fictional universe they could have at least made it feel more realistic. I got the point, but as posted above it was just distracting and it wasn’t hard to come up with a less distracting amount. Heck, the ad-free tier was five times the lowest tier. Why not $1000 and $2000? No one would question people struggling to basically pay two rents per month.

I’ll give an example that I learned a long time ago about PowerPoint. I learned to be anal reviewing and adjusting any slide deck created to make sure there are no spelling or formatting inconsistencies. Those draw the audience’s eyes to them and even if it doesn’t change the point, the distraction makes it harder to keep the focus on your point.

This was kind of lazy writing where you think the audience should apologize. Maybe you might want to turn your insult to the show folks who are so out of touch that they think $300 would be hard to manage for common people.

I think you underestimate how many people in this country would have a hard time coming up with an extra $300 a month for healthcare

What does that have to do with the show? The show had a teacher and a tradesman both working with no kids to support. I’d feel like that combo wouldn’t be in that group. As Andy said above they had saved to have a baby. Sorry, it just bothered me a bit and took away a bit from the show.

I brought it up because in reality most “average” couples would probably have a hard time swallowing that. Stats show what…50-75% of people in the US live paycheck to paycheck

Do you know what he got paid per hour? Maybe in that universe he doesn’t make what a welder in our universe makes

Just seems like a silly thing to get hung up on. It was obvious it was an impact to them and I’m shocked this somehow ruined the story for people

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Just seems like a silly thing to get hung up on

I agree. Rather than the obvious message of for profit healthcare choosing money over people.
And the lengths people HAVE to resort to and things they have to sacrifice to try and maintain life

But hey look over there at that shiny rock

 

[D-Day]

I think the premise is making a "no brainer" decision to buy something -- in this case, life -- to companies/technology finding ways to make money off of people. Going from using a product, not willing or able to pay for the + product, and eventually BECOMING the product. At then end, she had to sleep more and more to provide bandwidth to those who paid the premium.

They had to make the starting price a "no brainer" where no one flinched at paying the price.

 

[Zow]

I think the premise is making a "no brainer" decision to buy something -- in this case, life -- to companies/technology finding ways to make money off of people. Going from using a product, not willing or able to pay for the + product, and eventually BECOMING the product. At then end, she had to sleep more and more to provide bandwidth to those who paid the premium.

They had to make the starting price a "no brainer" where no one flinched at paying the price.

For sure. The episode, as most Black Mirror episodes do, had a point.

That said, I concede I'm in the group where I couldn't get over the math and it detracted from the episode for me.

 

[shuke]

I can't believe we're still talking about this.

 

[ghostguy123]

I can't believe we're still talking about this.

Maybe that was their plan all along.....