Television Black Mirror | Season 6 out June 15th

I actually liked 2 the best, three was decent fun and 1 was really boring and went no where :nervous:
 
Watched the first 3 so far. All okay but all a far cry from BM at its best. The first one started out brilliantly but didn’t go anywhere. The second was tense with some great acting. The third was interesting enough but I’m not digging these upbeat endings. Black Mirror should be bleak.

Edit: Well this is shit, it’s only 3 episodes total. What a massive let down. Have to now say it’s a shite season. Probably shouldn’t have bothered. Bring us a whole season. Boo.
 
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Thought all 3 ranged from poor to average. Don't think I will be rewatching any of these ever again.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Well that might just tell you about the quality of the other two...

Smithereen is definitely pretty average too. It's almost pulled off by an excellent performance from Andrew Scott, but its message whilst undoubtedly true felt too flimsy to carry an hour long episode.

Here's hoping Ashley Too can redeem the season.
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Totally disagree with regards to Smithereens episode. The message is we are addicted to social media platforms, which cause us to spend more time looking at screens than living life and that those companies own more data on us and therefore knows more about us than the establishment does. It’s a real issue that pervades society right now, and the bleakness of it is the entire episode happened and nothing changed.
 
I liked episode 1. For me it was about the exploration of the concept of relationships more than it was about sexual orientation that many on here have lacthed onto. (I think this speaks more about them and their mindset). I'm at the same age as the characters and the conversations it sparked between me and the Mrs went into some unexpected directions. Now I best be watching the next episode quickly to get into a different headspace before we divorce or something.
 
That'sHernandez said:
Totally disagree with regards to Smithereens episode. The message is we are addicted to social media platforms, which cause us to spend more time looking at screens than living life and that those companies own more data on us and therefore knows more about us than the establishment does. It’s a real issue that pervades society right now, and the bleakness of it is the entire episode happened and nothing changed.
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Yeah there's no doubt that the episode was right, but so was the Waldo Moment and everyone hates that.

What I doubt is that the episode's focus was strong enough to prevent it from becoming an hour long infomercial about how you shouldn't use your phone when driving, which might have been fine if not for the fact that the final sequence felt like a low tech version of the final speech at the end of Fifty Million Merits.

It's not irredeemably terrible, but that's mostly a result of the acting and the episodes it was released alongside. It still compares pretty poorly with the back catalogue.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Yeah there's no doubt that the episode was right, but so was the Waldo Moment and everyone hates that.

What I doubt is that the episode's focus was strong enough to prevent it from becoming an hour long infomercial about how you shouldn't use your phone when driving, which might have been fine if not for the fact that the final sequence felt like a low tech version of the final speech at the end of Fifty Million Merits.

It's not irredeemably terrible, but that's mostly a result of the acting and the episodes it was released alongside. It still compares pretty poorly with the back catalogue.
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Yeah fair point. I personally think Black Mirror is beginning to tire now and struggles to find narratives it hasn’t already done, but in a slightly different way.

Brooker probably needs a bit of a break from it to be honest. The first episode felt unnecessarily drawn out. Have yet to watch the third episode.

Edit: I also thought the first episode was pretty poor; it’s basically asking ‘Is shagging Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy cheating if their avatar in a ‘fighting game’ is controlled by another guy?’ The answer is blatantly yes and I didn’t really understand why it was possible for the avatars to have intercourse, why would that be programmed into a fighting game? All seemed a bit silly.
 
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That'sHernandez said:
Totally disagree with regards to Smithereens episode. The message is we are addicted to social media platforms, which cause us to spend more time looking at screens than living life and that those companies own more data on us and therefore knows more about us than the establishment does. It’s a real issue that pervades society right now, and the bleakness of it is the entire episode happened and nothing changed.
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The message that we're addicted to social media is nothing new though, and it's nothing that hasn't been done before. I thought it was a very strong episode, but primarily due to the character work as opposed to the commentary on technology.

In fact a lot of the more impressive pieces of social commentary within the episode (I felt) were some of those more detached from the technological concerns. The look at the absurdity of bureaucracy was quite fun, enjoyed the main character's utter bafflement at an intern being turned out in a full suit and giving across the impression he was some sort of senior manager.:lol:

I also felt it worked from a narrative POV insofar as Black Mirror is often at its strongest when one minor incident or decision or feck-up can end up resulting in things spiraling out of control. The show is often at its best when it imbues a feeling of powerlessness in its characters.
 
simonhch said:
Watched the first 3 so far. All okay but all a far cry from BM at its best. The first one started out brilliantly but didn’t go anywhere. The second was tense with some great acting. The third was interesting enough but I’m not digging these upbeat endings. Black Mirror should be bleak.

Edit: Well this is shit, it’s only 3 episodes total. What a massive let down. Have to now say it’s a shite season. Probably shouldn’t have bothered. Bring us a whole season. Boo.
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I think it's fun when you get the occasional upbeat episode though. Endlessly telling us that technology is bleak feels like the sort of thing your grandmother tells you and gets boring and unobservant after a while. San Junipero's one of my favourites because it takes technology and looks at the potential positives of it.

For me the final episode didn't work though because of how tonally jarring it was. Concepts like a pop star who's a slave to the industry and a lonely girl who takes solace in something that isn't really real are fundamentally interesting, but the episode undone all that by essentially becoming a weird slapstick comedy towards the end. Instead of getting an interesting resolution we were just sort of given a literal car crash.
 
That'sHernandez said:
Yeah fair point. I personally think Black Mirror is beginning to tire now and struggles to find narratives it hasn’t already done, but in a slightly different way.

Brooker probably needs a bit of a break from it to be honest. The first episode felt unnecessarily drawn out. Have yet to watch the third episode.

Edit: I also thought the first episode was pretty poor; it’s basically asking ‘Is shagging Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy cheating if their avatar in a ‘fighting game’ is controlled by another guy?’ The answer is blatantly yes and I didn’t really understand why it was possible for the avatars to have intercourse, why would that be programmed into a fighting game? All seemed a bit silly.
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I think all 3 episodes had their logical loopholes. This season has been entertaining, but it has not been the gripping show it has been in the past.

First episode was fun to watch, but as you said, it makes no sense for a Mortal Kombat game to have sex programmed into it. Might have been better if they had shown the game as an RPG maybe. Also, they just start kissing and making-out quite randomly without any warning or indication of what triggered the lust.

Second episode was quite boring frankly. For one thing, it was a full length hostage situation with a psychologically disturbed antagonist and we have seen movies and other shows do it far better than what Black Mirror did. So it was old hat, and the Smithereens app being touted as a causative factor was a bit forced. Still liked Topher Grace's near-parody portrayal of hippie Jack Dorsey though.

Third episode was entertaining, but it felt more like a Disney comedy movie or something. It was uncharacteristic of a cold, meticulous show like Black Mirror to show what could be classified as silly cinematic liberties -- like 2 girls breaking into a mansion (no CCTV?) and taking out 2 big bruisers all on their own. Also seemed like subtle propaganda to justify Miley Cyrus' wild child days -- not that anyone cares of course.

Finally, Episode 3 had some potential which was squandered. There were 2 separate storylines that were left unexplored -- the girl Rachel's obsession with the AI doll potentially turning morbid, and the pop singer being used as a lab rat by her manager and getting drugged to suppress her true emotions. Instead of exploring either of these to their logical conclusions in typical BMesque way, they were tied up clumsily to result in a comedy.

Overall, 6/10 for me. Episodes 1 and 3 were watchable while 2 was a bit of a snoozefest despite some good acting. Nothing groundbreaking.
 
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Episode 3 is so hilariously bad it must rank amongst the worst of the entire series.
 
Hang on, did they mean to say that any VR game will eventually turn into a sex game? It was a bit silly.
 
Imagine episode 1 but in the context of GTA Online. Would've created some massive outdoors orgies.

Episode 2 was definitely my favourite episode of the new season. Great tension and some really good acting by the main character.

Episode 3 was just garbage. One of the worst in the entire series next to Metalhead.
 
The raising of the budget (and with it production values, starry casting etc.) seems to have coincided with a lessening of bleakness, which I find a pity. I found something to enjoy in each of the new eps (I'd say it goes Scott > Mackie >>> Cyrus) but for me they don't really stand up next to my favourite episodes from previous series. The National Anthem and White Bear for example made me feel dirty for having watched them, with some great moments of coal-black comedy, while particularly in the case of Mackie and Cyrus's eps there was too much gloss and levity to proceedings to qualify them as classic Black Mirror.
 
Episode 1 was meh.
Episode 2 was great i thought. It was genuinely tense.
I haven't watched episode 3 and i'm thinking i should probably leave it alone :lol:
 
Love how mixed and differing opinions are on this. Can see this just by the last few pages on this thread :lol:
 
So slightly adult but still very Disney Hanana Montana episode 3
 
Just bought a copy of Striking Vipers. Think I'm gonna return it. Every time I log online to play a competitive match, people keep shoving their cock in my mouth. Awful game.
 
Finished it yesterday and have to say I’m quite disappointed. Two was the best due to the acting and tension, it didn’t have anything interesting to say that hasn’t been said before though. One was really silly and pointless and I have no clue what they were thinking when doing the last one.
 
Thought the 1st episode was quite good. There are some moral implications to explore in that episode which make it interesting. The 2nd episode was purely made to be suspenseful and that's it. Didn't really offer any sort of moral thinking on technology. Not sure what they were going for there. The 3rd episode was too long and just wrong. Although I appreciated the shout out to Nine Inch Nails throughout.
 
This bump does not bring news.

I caught up on all the netflix ones recently.

From favourite to least favourite:

White Bear
Hated in the Nation
Hang the DJ
The National Anthem
White Christmas
Shut Up and Dance
Bandersnatch
Metalhead
Be Right Back
USS Callister
The Entire History of You
Smithereens
San Junipero
Black Museum
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too
Crocodile
Striking Vipers
15 Million Merits
Nosedive
Men Against Fire
Playtest
Arkangel
The Waldo Moment

With the pass mark being below Black Museum.

And that's how I discovered I'm racist about having American accents in my Black Mirror.
 
Scrumpet said:
This bump does not bring news.

I caught up on all the netflix ones recently.

From favourite to least favourite:

White Bear
Hated in the Nation
Hang the DJ
The National Anthem
White Christmas
Shut Up and Dance
Bandersnatch
Metalhead
Be Right Back
USS Callister
The Entire History of You
Smithereens
San Junipero
Black Museum
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too
Crocodile
Striking Vipers
15 Million Merits
Nosedive
Men Against Fire
Playtest
Arkangel
The Waldo Moment

With the pass mark being below Black Museum.

And that's how I discovered I'm racist about having American accents in my Black Mirror.
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The American takes something away IMO.
 
Just watched the Miley Cyrus one. Shite to be honest.

The mouse thing knocking out or killing the security guy was the point at which I knew it was a load of shit. The ending was nothing. Like actually nothing.
 
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Smithereens was weirdly small scale. Basically amounted to some guy fecking up and looking at his phone while driving. Big woop.

A decent watch, but not a decent Black Mirror for me.
 
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San Junipero is still the best episode.

The Entire History Of You fecked with my head the most, though. It's the only episode where I'm thinking: "yeah, that sort of technology would totally destroy me"
 
Thankfully I've still got quite a few old ones to watch as I've always picked and chosen random episodes.

On the subject of it tiring, I'd like to see more like USS Callister. Maybe better to go in a slightly different direction and call the show something else though.
 
Waldo Moment is awful. Might be a commentary on the farcical nature of politics, but as an episode it was dull, devoid of ideas and never went anywhere. Literally nowhere.

Also Waldo was incredibly annoying and had me routing for the Tory, which is some feat.
 
Didn't Charlie Brooker say the world doesn't need any Black Mirror right now?

Somethings made him change his mind...

$$$
 
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