the concept of the layered nightmare and the fact that the whole thing took place in .004 seconds. the idea that the stimulus was so potent that it blew his brain out. the last scene when we finally reach reality and the VR people very calmly and casually assess the situation and throw him in a bodybag.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 02:37 (seven years ago) link
Well yeah ok that was quite unnerving.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 03:13 (seven years ago) link
We watched that one last night and, yeah, cool dream-within-a-dream horror flick. Had me jumping like TV shows never do.
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 03:17 (seven years ago) link
What I was most taken by, is the aesthetic theyve always had in the series of stuff being just far enough in the future that it is all still familiar, but has a glossy sheen of "lots more futuristic". My particular fave on that front was the self driving car in Hated in the Nation.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 03:24 (seven years ago) link
As in: shit, it never occurred to me that if cars drove themselves we wouldnt even need to all sit forward-facing!
Playtest scared the hell out of me, mostly the idea you can't trust your senses. other TV/movies have done this idea, but I thought BM executed it well. I like that it starts with obvious stuff like the spider, then transitions to stuff where you wonder if it's possible with just sight and sound, and ends with all the rules gone. and yeah, that it all happened so quickly is scary too. a lot of my greatest fears are similar to stuff that happened in this episode, fittingly
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 10:29 (seven years ago) link
Somebody - I think Mercedes - has a concept car where the seats face each other like that.
I seriously covet the drafting table in "Be Right Back."
― marzipandemonium (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 13:22 (seven years ago) link
the fact that the whole thing took place in .004 seconds
I thought this really undermined it. Too much of a leap to imagine a consciousness being able to experience/process all of that in so little time. Such a compressed duration has no meaning.
― nashwan, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 13:28 (seven years ago) link
If there's a company in England that's regularly killing shaggy selfish hippie Boho-American tourists, all I can say is good luck to them, and I wish them success. They should get a grant or something.
― marzipandemonium (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 14:23 (seven years ago) link
I thought this really undermined it. Too much of a leap to imagine a consciousness being able to experience/process all of that in so little time. Such a compressed duration has no meaning.― nashwan, Tuesday, November 15, 2016 1:28 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― nashwan, Tuesday, November 15, 2016 1:28 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Stuff similar to that happens to me in dreams all the time. Like when I look at the clock, doze off, have what feels like an epic dream, wake up and it's only 5 minutes later.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 14:40 (seven years ago) link
One of my favourite things about 'Playtest' was that it was an incredibly elongated setup for a groanworthy punchline. (And that's not sarcasm, btw, I genuinely loved that about it.)
Does anyone know if netflix pushed for it to be more American-centred this time, btw? I can see why, I guess, if they're trying to expand the audience, but I found the number of US episodes a little grating.
― emil.y, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 14:46 (seven years ago) link
glad to hear you loved that groaner of a punchline too, emil.y
the next best part was that none of it was part of the video game simulation -- they never had a chance to start it, all of what he experienced was his brain severely fucking up when the cell phone interfered with the startup
― mh 😏, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 15:09 (seven years ago) link
So the lesson is phones are bad? But if you call your mom often enough, phones are good.
― marzipandemonium (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 15:11 (seven years ago) link
It was a little hard to pull a coherent lesson/message/commentary, I agree. The relationship between the protagonist and his Mum was interesting: it was remarkably blank, given how central it was to the plot. Any time I've avoided my Mum, it has been because I've actually been angry with her about something she did or felt I needed to distance myself. The only reason this guy gave was that he had trouble connecting with her or getting along with her. Even in his subconscious, she only ever really appeared as a source of guilt, with no real independent personality or specific memories attached to her.
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:06 (seven years ago) link
The main reason the guy gave was that he and his mom never really connected after his dad died! That's pretty huge.
― mh 😏, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:10 (seven years ago) link
As in his father's death was recent and he didn't know how to relate to her anymore so he left on this extended, directionless trip.
― mh 😏, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:11 (seven years ago) link
It just seems a little vague, which is fair enough, given that he was talking to a Tinder hookup, but I might have thought that more would at least come out in his subconscious exploration. Not saying it was a failing per se, just that it was striking.xp It didn't seem like he had related to her much before, either, though.
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:13 (seven years ago) link
― marzipandemonium (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, November 15, 2016 3:11 PM (one hour ago)
This is one of the things I hate about Black Mirror commentary - why do you think there is a lesson at all? Not all works of fiction need to be parables.
― emil.y, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:50 (seven years ago) link
I mean, if I was going to take away any lesson from that episode, it would be "you can make a really enjoyable TV show out of a terrible terrible joke".
― emil.y, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:51 (seven years ago) link
tbh I agree and I'm just not seeing the morality angle in a lot of episodes
the main takeaway is generally "whoa that's fucked up" and while I can't have all of my entertainment stand by that template, I appreciate it
― mh 😏, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 16:55 (seven years ago) link
oh whoa, i didn't catch that joke at the end! he 'called Mom' as he died. that's fucking sick
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 15 November 2016 18:39 (seven years ago) link
Ha, I rewatched for it too.
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Tuesday, 15 November 2016 18:42 (seven years ago) link
https://open.spotify.com/user/charliebrooker/playlist/1enamd7IoA2KtAoMxeiINW
― schwantz, Wednesday, 16 November 2016 00:33 (seven years ago) link
I'm just not seeing the morality angle in a lot of episodes
Really? many of them seem really "see? This is where social media/staring at phones all day/bioengineering/[insert here] will lead us in the end!".
But I dont find it too overweening, that said.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Wednesday, 16 November 2016 01:02 (seven years ago) link
lol, I mostly get "wow what if.. phones bad"
not "omg PHONES BAD warning warning!"
it's speculative, but not telling you things will be this way, repent now
― mh 😏, Wednesday, 16 November 2016 01:57 (seven years ago) link
never repent, just find new ways to fuck up before the current fuckery goes that bad
"see? This is where social media/staring at phones all day/bioengineering/[insert here] will lead us in the end!"
Yeah, this is not what it's about at all. It's not instructive, it's speculative.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 16 November 2016 02:03 (seven years ago) link
Or basically, what mh said.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 16 November 2016 02:04 (seven years ago) link
I was about to say you said it better!
― mh 😏, Wednesday, 16 November 2016 02:05 (seven years ago) link
so many OTMs in these last posts
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 17 November 2016 01:16 (seven years ago) link
Playtest is great. lol at 'yawn, so derivative' comments.. it's a well-executed, sick joke. main character was perfect Seth Rogen-like, stereotypical American/cocksure 'dude'. good job Black Mirror
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Thursday, 17 November 2016 22:34 (seven years ago) link
seth rogen is canadian
― harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 17 November 2016 22:34 (seven years ago) link
for better or worse he's ours now
― mh 😏, Thursday, 17 November 2016 22:36 (seven years ago) link
If a gaming company wants to kill Seth Rogen too I'm fine with that.
― marzipandemonium (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 17 November 2016 23:16 (seven years ago) link
Watched them all now - Nosedive and San Junipero were the best ones
― Neptune Bingo (Michael B), Thursday, 17 November 2016 23:40 (seven years ago) link
agreed
― flappy bird, Friday, 18 November 2016 02:37 (seven years ago) link
https://twitter.com/blackmirror/status/799702690796216321
― schwantz, Friday, 18 November 2016 23:54 (seven years ago) link
^scared the crap out of me
― Crazy Eddie & Jesus the Kid (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 19 November 2016 00:06 (seven years ago) link
They turned up the music-creepifier filter to the max!
― schwantz, Saturday, 19 November 2016 00:11 (seven years ago) link
Put off starting this (from the beginning) forever, but just dove in last night with the first episode, the prime minister/pig one. I'm really not sure what to think of it, but it felt pretty ... mean? And with no real object of satire. But look forward to more, I guess, since the anthology format can make things pretty hit or miss.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 21:46 (seven years ago) link
Loved the first 2/3 of 'San Junipero' unreservedly, felt like the last bit was unnecessarily Black Mirror-y, could have left it with an explanation of what was technically happening then a cut to the real world and fade to black.
first of the season, awful, next two meh - the show so often fails to make an interesting comment on the nihilistic dystopia it's providing.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 13 December 2016 21:52 (seven years ago) link
the only good eps of the new batch were nosedive & playtest
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 21:55 (seven years ago) link
Nosedive was the absolute worst. GUYS DO U SEE SOCIAL MEDIA IS PERVASIVE AND UNDERMINING OUR HUMANITY
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 13 December 2016 21:58 (seven years ago) link
it was cute, but its also something i see zero need to argue abt; all these are p subjective in a way, mores than other tv i think
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 22:01 (seven years ago) link
I thought Men Against Fire was great. Same for Hated In the Nation.
― schwantz, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 22:26 (seven years ago) link
So wait, the show remains frustrating and sort of nihilistically pointless throughout all three seasons? I really liked "Dead Set," I thought it was clever and well-done.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 23:08 (seven years ago) link
still haven't watched Men Against Fire, should get around to that
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 14 December 2016 03:39 (seven years ago) link
Watched "Shut Up and Dance" a couple of nights ago. That one was pretty brutal.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Wednesday, 14 December 2016 03:50 (seven years ago) link
See now I didnt like men Against Fire. I thought it was using too blunt a moral hammer. Also it just wasnt very engaging, for me.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Wednesday, 14 December 2016 03:56 (seven years ago) link
I think I may have already said so up thread lol.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Wednesday, 14 December 2016 03:57 (seven years ago) link