Black Mirror Reflect-all

Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the episode. I just thought that particular bit was wait... what?

tanstaafl wrote:

If someone has seen Metalhead, I don't get the...

Spoiler:

...teddy bears?

Was it supposed to be that they send deathbots after people who steal anything, even teddy bears? Is there something there I'm supposed to get? I guess there was the White Bear episode from a few seasons back, but I don't see any other connection.

I'm not watching them in order, so maybe an earlier episode?

Major spoilers, and an explanation (Metalhead episode only), at this link.

Loved the first episode. Also man he left a

Spoiler:

do not disturb sign on his door and everyones off work for nine days. So I guess he dies of thirst?

Reguaring the first episode.

Spoiler:

Finished binging season 4. They perfectly ordered the episodes from worst to best in my opinion. I just couldn't abide the bad science in Callister, and it kinda ruined the episode for me, particularly because I can come up with a half dozen different ways they could have written it that would have made sense, but maybe I'm just being a bit too . Metalhead and Black Mirror were amazing!

One tip- if you're going to watch them out of order, leave Ep 6 for last, as there are a couple throwbacks to the earlier episodes. Nothing major, just a few Easter Eggs that were kind cool to see.

USS Callister:

Spoiler:

So they traded going from pseudo-Star Trek Bridge Crew to pseudo-EVE Online. Have fun with that.

Not a critism at all. Just curious. Why do some people watch the episodes out of order?

strangederby wrote:

Not a critism at all. Just curious. Why do some people watch the episodes out of order?

It sometimes makes some of the references and easter eggs make more sense if you watch certain episodes in a certain order. Plus, who wouldn't want to save San Junipero for last in Season 3?

Rat Boy wrote:

Plus, who wouldn't want to save San Junipero for last in Season 3?

The answer to the question "but how would you know that until you've already watched it?" will be answered in a future Black Mirror episode.

Concerning Archangel.

Spoiler:

Someone imeadatly finds the correct charger for the tablet they stored away for years? Most unrealistic thing I've seen yet in this series

Interesting. I see a lot of people elsewhere hating on Metal head but I thought it was stunning.

Just watched Crocodile.

Spoiler:

Why is that the name of the episode?

I thought it was Peter Pan reference.

I agree Tscott. There must be something we are missing. Perhaps:

Spoiler:

Isn't there something about crocodiles where they will keep on eating indefinitely or that once they chomp down on something, they don't let go?

I can't wait for others to comment on "Hang the DJ". It is absolutely one of my favorites of all the seasons.
Regarding "Arkangel":

Spoiler:

I found it interesting that you can take it on face level and be concerned about the technology. Or you realize that the technology is a metaphor and be concerned about societal trends from as far back as the early 80's (PMRC)

Rat Boy wrote:

USS Callister:

Spoiler:

So they traded going from pseudo-Star Trek Bridge Crew to pseudo-EVE Online. Have fun with that.

Well to be fair...

Spoiler:

If you think about it, the crew is the ultimate group of power gamers. They have the time to play the game 24/7 in a way really no human player could, allowing them to amass the most powerful ship and equipment. They also make a great team that trusts each other, which is critical when putting together an awesome PVP team. Finally, I bet being in the code gives them at the very least a speed advantage, if not the ability to hack the crap out of their surroundings.

My biggest problem with that episode was the following:

Spoiler:

How exactly was Daly trapped in the machine? I get that his special controls were erased, but I can't imagine a system like that wouldn't have some kind of failsafe to bring you out of the trance if your life signs didn't start to get weak.

jdzappa wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

USS Callister:

Spoiler:

So they traded going from pseudo-Star Trek Bridge Crew to pseudo-EVE Online. Have fun with that.

Well to be fair...

Spoiler:

If you think about it, the crew is the ultimate group of power gamers. They have the time to play the game 24/7 in a way really no human player could, allowing them to amass the most powerful ship and equipment. They also make a great team that trusts each other, which is critical when putting together an awesome PVP team. Finally, I bet being in the code gives them at the very least a speed advantage, if not the ability to hack the crap out of their surroundings.

My biggest problem with that episode was the following:

Spoiler:

How exactly was Daly trapped in the machine? I get that his special controls were erased, but I can't imagine a system like that wouldn't have some kind of failsafe to bring you out of the trance if your life signs didn't start to get weak.

Don't forget, they also have...

Spoiler:

...Daly's "control the simulation" device. Talk about "hax".

fangblackbone wrote:

I can't wait for others to comment on "Hang the DJ". It is absolutely one of my favorites of all the seasons.

Just finished watching that one. Still digesting it in my mind, but my first thoughts are "Yeah... yeah, that was good."

Spoiler:

I'm also looking on Amazon.com for the best Smiths compilation album with "Panic" on it.

"Louder than Bombs" probably. Sadly someone stole my copy of those CD's...
What I got out of "Hang the DJ":

Spoiler:

You can find "the one" but not be in the right mental state to accept the relationship.
Experiencing bad relationships and letting them run their course prepares you for that.
Adversity should bring you together. Adversity should make you want to overcome it together.
In the right relationship you should fear risk less.
To prepare for "the one" you need to show the capability to screw up royally and be forgiven.
To prepare for "the one" you need to show the capability to forgive when they screw up royally.
You are ready when you seek a true partnership, working together as equals against whatever comes.
Equals means similar but complementary and does not mean a mirror of yourself.

Arkangel:

Spoiler:

Well, I guess people need to re-work the whole "chip-in-the-head" watch order to work around this episode.

kuddles wrote:

One could argue that The Waldo Effect episode also already took place during the US presidential election.

I've been catching up on Black Mirror over the past couple of weeks and this was tonight's viewing. The other episodes have been depressing in a "I could see this happening in the future" kind of way, but this was depressing in a "this kind of, sort of, actually did happen" way.

Watched the first two; I don't think we're off to a good start;

USS Callister;

Spoiler:

I had a problem with the entire "tech so advanced it's practically magic" about DNA but decided to look past it, as the premise of the show is how someone with absolute power is a despot within his bubble, not the technological accuracy with which the absolute power is gained in order to make the premise work. But the rest of the episode IS strictly about the tech and to work around it. The episode forces a happy ending (heroes get to live while evil despot god gets his comeuppance) by breaking just about every laws of physics and networking in order to get it.

I would much rather have RenderedCole contact RealCole and together expose evil CTO and then have RealCole delete all rendered heroes, or a darker end yet; the render heroes hack the engine so that the evil CTO could not leave the game and would starve or die of dehydration by forcing their fate on him: he can't ever leave the game. Once he dies, they find a way to erase themselves. You know, dark.

Arkangel felt like a good rough draft but not quite where it needed to be.

Spoiler:

It's the story of a helicopter mom and a kid that resents the helicoptering so much she runs away to join the circus. I readily admit that had I been the mom, I would probably checked as much as or more on my kids. I would probably also react the same way the kid did (running away, not... breaking the tablet).

I would have preferred a Monkey's paw-esque take on the technology, where overreaching created a downward spiral of problems where using the tech to solve the problems created by using the tech created even worse problems.

off to watch some more!

So has anyone had bad dreams because of the series? This hasn’t happened to me in a long time but Archangel and Crocodile really hit me as a parent.

Just finished s1ep1 with the pig boinking episode. Guess I am starting down the rabbit hole. So is this all related but not touching one another?

Hobear wrote:

Just finished s1ep1 with the pig boinking episode. Guess I am starting down the rabbit hole. So is this all related but not touching one another?

I described Black Mirror to my wife as "this generation's Twilight Zone". It immediately turned her away from the show, but I stand by my comparison.

I started with Metalhead after reading an article entitled something like "Metalhead is everything people who hate Black Mirror hate about Black Mirror."

The writer didn't exactly hate the episode, but wasn't particularly fond of it either.

I loved it and thought it was a great place to start the season in the middle. So bleak.

The funniest part was my wife thought I started an episode of Indian Detective and was very confused what was going on until I told her it was. It was like 15 minutes in before she realized it was black mirror.

Badken. Link to article? So I can disagree with it?

Director Jodie Foster had a lot of interesting things to say about Arkangel.

Man you guys, I haven't even gotten to the new season yet, but in advance of that, i watched San Junipero with my wife. My second time seeing it, her first. Holy crap does it get so much better on the second viewing. The entire episode is a drip-feed of progressively less subtle hints.