I really like Black Mirror and I'm unafraid to say it
Also, jokes about the premise are fun
― mh, Tuesday, 2 January 2018 17:04 (six years ago) link
Metalhead was probably the best thing about this season, even if it doesn't feel like it belongs to the Black Mirror Universe (not just in theme, but more on this later). USS Callister was fun but then completely fell apart once they got to the wormhole and/or trying to work out what the last 10 minutes *means* destroys the logic of the rest of it. Hang The DJ had quite an engaging story but the tech bolt-on to provide DO YOU SEE was clunky as hell.
Didn't care for either Arkangel or Crocodile, they were both completely in service of the one DO YOU SEE idea and the circumstances portrayed were pretty ridiculous.
Black Museum was kind of hacky and predictable but, as noted above, adhered pretty strongly to portmanteau tropes (spooky owner linking the plot strands, which all subtly contribute to each other and culminate in pet toad hoisting). The real reason for it, however, is I think it's there to act as an anchor to prove the Black Mirror universe exists and all the stories take place in the same setting. In the Black Museum I spotted:
Photos of the 'victim' from White Bear and Michael Smiley's character.The bath from Crocodile.The DNA converter from USS CallisterThe Arkangel tabletA bee from Hated In The NationA mention of "old people uploading to the cloud" i.e. San JuniperoThe embalmed(?) body of the artist from The National Anthemand finally one of the death masks appears to be Charlie Brooker.
In a different episode, the porn film she watches in Crocodile is the one that gets made in Fifteen Million Merits.
― Bimlo Horsewagon became Wheelbarrow Horseflesh (aldo), Thursday, 4 January 2018 16:16 (six years ago) link
I really like Black Mirror and I'm unafraid to say itAlso, jokes about the premise are fun― mh, Tuesday, January 2, 2018 5:04 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― mh, Tuesday, January 2, 2018 5:04 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
me too
― FREEZE! FYI! (dog latin), Thursday, 4 January 2018 16:19 (six years ago) link
The first section of Black Museum (written by Penn Gillette!) was just fucking gross. And then the idea that people would enjoy owning a screaming keychain of a permanently-tortured human soul was misanthropic, even for Black Mirror.
I thought Metalheads was well-made, but I could have used a little more backstory/explanation. Is this a Skynet world?
Hang the DJ was pretty cool.
Surprised Black Mirror hasn't done the VR world hell idea, a la Iain Banks' Surface Detail...
― DJI, Thursday, 4 January 2018 19:06 (six years ago) link
It's not the best episode but I'm surprised how negative the reception to black museum is. there's way too much going on in it and none of the individual stories in it would be strong on their own, but idk it was fun in how over-the-top it all was
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Sunday, 7 January 2018 20:35 (six years ago) link
I've only watched 3 so far - Crocodile was stunning (landscape etc) and not too bad as a straightforward drama (end bit was laughably eye-rolly). It winds me up no end how the 'technology' plots don't stand up to the slightest scrutiny, not even where ideas overlap. For example even in Arkangel, people avoid the single child with the implant because of 'spying' fears; yet in Crocodile every living being is potentially subject to being on the giving/receiving end of similar 'spying' with a device common enough to be used by insurance companies yet it's not really known about. Picking 'holes' obviously pointless to even start, but it's kind of frustrating how little effort's been put in to extend any idea beyond 'what if phones but too much'.
OK lol I take it back cos as I was typing this my laptop switched itself off
― kinder, Sunday, 7 January 2018 23:20 (six years ago) link
I had more of a problem with the idea (in the first episode) that you could generate a simulated copy of someone's personality and memories from their DNA.
― DJI, Sunday, 7 January 2018 23:46 (six years ago) link
I never thought of the different episodes of Black Mirror as all taking place in one universe, so your criticism doesn't bother me as much. Depending on how a technology evolved, it could make for very different use-cases. However, Black Museum seems to suggest that all (or at least some) of the episodes are from the same reality.
― DJI, Sunday, 7 January 2018 23:51 (six years ago) link
(in which case your criticism is totally valid)
― DJI, Sunday, 7 January 2018 23:52 (six years ago) link
As much as I enjoyed that episode - the memories being included in people’s DNA was pretty dumb.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 8 January 2018 00:03 (six years ago) link
i watched Marjorie Prime last week, and my final take was: it was like BM would be if Brooker wasn't an absolute pile of fucking overrated doggie plop.
― calzino, Monday, 8 January 2018 00:55 (six years ago) link
20 minutes into season 4 episode 1. my prediction is something is going to go badly.
― treeship 2, Monday, 8 January 2018 01:54 (six years ago) link
i do not think this guy will stand up to his business partner, gain confidence, and win the affection of that girl.
i hope i'm proven wrong.
― treeship 2, Monday, 8 January 2018 01:55 (six years ago) link
oh fuck
― treeship 2, Monday, 8 January 2018 02:14 (six years ago) link
Livetweeting Black Mirror could be pretty funny.
― DJI, Monday, 8 January 2018 02:17 (six years ago) link
nerds are the worst
― treeship 2, Monday, 8 January 2018 02:42 (six years ago) link
Haven't seen Black Museum yet, but I wasn't particularly assuming any take place in the same universe other than some sort of future western society that's like ours but with one thing changed/changing that somehow hasn't affected the rest of society (this doesn't apply to every ep obv).Consider how many thinkpieces, jobs, opportunities etc smartphones (or even any one particular use of a smartphone, app, whatever) have spawned yet being effectively forced to show your memories on demand is like oh nbd
― kinder, Monday, 8 January 2018 22:56 (six years ago) link
tbh every time I think of the cryptkeeper framing I mumble "gree hee hee"
― mh, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 01:00 (six years ago) link
Black Museum is very bad because of the tone. It's very SyFy Channel cheesy bullshit.
― kurt schwitterz, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 06:24 (six years ago) link
i like black museum--the tone doesn't strike me as that different from the Hamm Christmas Special--but it def feels like a different show than Metalhead, which felt refreshingly beamed in from a different channel
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 15:53 (six years ago) link
Season was good overall. Feel like they're running out of ideas a little bit though - it's like every episode is about consciousness or being inside someone's head, a slightly different Cookie. Hang the DJ was maybe the most interesting take on that this season, but there's a lot more they could do outside of that. Yeah Metalhead was refreshing in that respect
I dunno about Black Museum... some of the ideas were cool, but the conclusion of each story is just way bleaker than it needs to be, with the shit like the keychain. There's a point at which I feel like the writer is just not a good person
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 10 January 2018 15:26 (six years ago) link
The real reason for it, however, is I think it's there to act as an anchor to prove the Black Mirror universe exists and all the stories take place in the same setting.
I just figured the real reason for this episode (and the White Christmas one) is that they had a bunch of ideas they couldn't stretch out to episode length
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 10 January 2018 15:30 (six years ago) link
Any trend (real or hypothetical), taken to its extreme, is the template. So in a way, Black Mirror is a Portlandia spinoff.
― dunsinane in the membrane (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 15:32 (six years ago) link
He's on Desert Island Discs this week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09kx840
― millmeister, Wednesday, 10 January 2018 15:55 (six years ago) link
“I lived in a field, and now I live in a tin!”
― kim jong deal (suzy), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:55 (six years ago) link
metalheads should have been called "strong and stable"
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 11 January 2018 14:41 (six years ago) link
extremely happy w my decision to watch only "san junipero" from last season and "uss callister" & "metalheadz" from this season, i feel like i'm 3 for 3
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 11 January 2018 14:43 (six years ago) link
those little tracker flechettes the robot tracker fired made me cringe! ouch
I'm not going to think too much about whether the ending, with the reveal of what they were looking for, is a definite reference to another episode. Probably.. yeah
― mh, Thursday, 11 January 2018 14:46 (six years ago) link
I didn't enjoy Metalheads much. But it was probably the right aesthetic decision to have no backstory, no frame. Why are there robot dogs here; why are they so frickin determined, what do the robots even want, why are they so scarily good at what they do...
Every smart thing the lady does to confuse or outwit the robodog strikes me as deserving of better payoff.
― mime kampf (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 11 January 2018 14:55 (six years ago) link
I'm still on the "why do stories explain too much instead of relying on a simple premise and dumping us in, in media res, like good stories should be able to" so I'm perfectly fine with how it was structured
imo the point of survival horror is undermined if we know where and how the monster comes from, the unknown is the real fear
― mh, Thursday, 11 January 2018 14:59 (six years ago) link
I've watched about 14 episodes. I have actively enjoyed 2. The rest ended with me saying "that's it???" (even though they all seem overly long).
― Yerac, Thursday, 11 January 2018 15:16 (six years ago) link
awwww mia don't help your junkie boyfriend hide that body
― treeship 2, Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:02 (six years ago) link
huh, in the end she is more ruthless than him.
― treeship 2, Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:10 (six years ago) link
well
we don't know yet
holy shit
― treeship 2, Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:11 (six years ago) link
ok.
wayyyyy more.
― treeship 2, Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:12 (six years ago) link
love this show.
― treeship 2, Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:13 (six years ago) link
'the baby...was blind!!!!'
― iatee, Saturday, 13 January 2018 16:56 (six years ago) link
Not like a baby is capable or forming coherent memories at that age but whatever, still enjoyed it.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 13 January 2018 17:45 (six years ago) link
Um, hate to quibble or spoil but it looks like the box can get the visual feed from even the most unlikely of sources, and this becomes a crucial plot point. Presuming a sighted baby would have been no trouble.
― mime kampf (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 13 January 2018 17:48 (six years ago) link
not that it matters, but hamsters have notably terrible eyesight
― Number None, Saturday, 13 January 2018 17:59 (six years ago) link
that was not a hamster!
― mh, Saturday, 13 January 2018 18:30 (six years ago) link
my bad
guinea pigs are pretty blind too
― Number None, Saturday, 13 January 2018 18:32 (six years ago) link
Metalhead would have been greatly diminished by a backstory or explanation. You already know what a guard dog is.
Feel like they're running out of ideas a little bit though - it's like every episode is about consciousness or being inside someone's head [...] there's a lot more they could do outside of that. [...]I just figured the real reason for this episode (and the White Christmas one) is that they had a bunch of ideas they couldn't stretch out to episode length
― Vinnie, Thursday, January 11, 2018 2:30 AM (three days ago)
the vast TVGH writing staff
Any idea why Crocodile was filmed in Iceland (by the looks of it) but everyone had an English accent?
racist
― Haribo Hancock (sic), Saturday, 13 January 2018 21:07 (six years ago) link
had to pause and restart
― treeship 2, Sunday, 14 January 2018 01:18 (six years ago) link
i'm not buying mia's "crocodile tears" following her murders
― treeship 2, Sunday, 14 January 2018 01:19 (six years ago) link
lol this children's recital with the 1920s mobsters
― treeship 2, Sunday, 14 January 2018 01:22 (six years ago) link
Crocodile is phenomenal.
All but the first and last are super imho.
― lilcraigyboi (Craigo Boingo), Sunday, 14 January 2018 18:14 (six years ago) link
The first one was the weakest so far for sure. Going to watch metalhead tonight.
― treeship 2, Sunday, 14 January 2018 18:17 (six years ago) link