British show. who has seen?

12/19/2013 6:10:59 AM

bttt

I just started watching this on netflix and it's pretty good. If you've ever liked twilight zone or outer limits, then this would definitely be up your alley.

It takes slight twists on how we use technology today and extrapolates them to bizarre scenarios of a possible not-so-distant future. There are 3 seasons, two of which are on Netflix, each with 3 episodes.

If you do start, I suggest watching S01E03 first and then the rest in order. The episodes are entirely unrelated, so it won't impact anything.

7/29/2015 2:00:27 PM

I definitely understand the desire to skip S01E01, albeit I think the commentary at the ending is brilliant and makes the entire episode worth it, but why skip the second episode? I admit it has some degrading events regarding women, but that is part of the point.

7/29/2015 3:31:01 PM

The third one I think show cases the use of technology and is appropriately fucked up to give a good, warm introduction.

The second one is tied for my favorite episode of the series and I suggested watching another one prior, so the viewer isn't assuming all will be of that caliber.

7/29/2015 4:17:28 PM

I watched the first episode and it made me feel like shit. It was difficult to watch. Is that not how the rest of the episodes are?

7/29/2015 7:18:54 PM

If you mean S01E01 ... that one is more difficult to watch than some of the others based on the concept.

But if you're talking about S01E03, then it is similar to the others in the fact that none of these episodes will ever leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

7/30/2015 9:36:35 AM

If you mean S01E01 ... that one is more difficult to watch than some of the others based on the concept.

But if you're talking about S01E03, then it is similar to the others in the fact that none of these episodes will ever leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

7/30/2015 9:36:35 AM

.

[Edited on July 30, 2015 at 9:37 AM. Reason : double post]

7/30/2015 9:37:00 AM

Quote :

"There are 3 seasons, two of which are on Netflix, each with 3 episodes. "

There are just 2 series with 3 episodes each and the Christmas special.

7/30/2015 5:40:05 PM

Just got around to watching the Christmas special. It wasn't previously available on Netflix. Damn, that ending was horrifying.

Also, I thought I saw this on TWW but I guess not -- Netflix is releasing 12 new episodes in the near future.

2/1/2016 10:58:11 AM

Yep, I also semi-recently watched the Christmas episode. They really know how to leave the viewer feeling completely obliterated.

2/2/2016 2:46:00 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-vAp9n8rQc

10/7/2016 2:29:22 PM

Really looking forward to this. There should always be a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits type show on tv.

10/7/2016 9:34:28 PM

Anyone care to rank episodes? Everyone thinks different.

1. The Entire History of You
2. White Bear
3. Be Right Back
4. The National Anthem
5. White Christmas
6. 15 Million Merits
7. The Waldo Moment

[Edited on October 8, 2016 at 5:03 PM. Reason : .]

10/8/2016 5:02:09 PM

I liked them all except The Waldo Moment. Maybe Be Right Back is my favorite.

10/8/2016 5:16:45 PM

1. White Christmas
2. White Bear
3. The Entire History of You
4. Be Right Back
5. 15 Million Merits
6. The National Anthem
7. The Waldo Moment

<spoilers?>

The Waldo Moment, while very relevant to today's media, comedians, and late night talk, just did not have as big of a payout as all the other episodes. You could see where they were going immediately, and the episode dragged on. I did not really like the episode. I rank The National Anthem lower for similar reasons. The build-up just takes so long with what is a very uncomfortable topic. That being said, its ending and the commentary on society are top notch.

I realize White Bear is probably the most polarizing of all the episodes. I really liked it because it tells a story which keeps you engaged. The reveal at the end is probably the most relevant to today based on mob mentality being kicked into overdrive on the internet. I rank White Christmas above it because, while they both follow a similar format, this episode just does everything better (with a different message).

Also, I loved how The Entire History of You is about how technology enables the main character's paranoia, but all of his fear are actually validated; yet the message is about how that technology is still bad/dangerous.

10/12/2016 11:59:37 AM

6 new episodes up on Netflix!


I've only watched the first one. It seems like it was kind of missing something that the other episodes have. Don't want to go into too much detail so that I can avoid spoilers, but I feel like every episode from the first two seasons + Christmas one had a very dark and kind of hopeless ending. Didn't get quite the same feeling from this one. I'm hoping the rest of this season has that familiar gut punch I got from the rest of the series.

10/22/2016 3:39:55 AM

Was excited to see these added last night, havent watched any yet, but might try to get a couple in before the game today.

^while most of the episodes have that sort of depressing gut punch, I'd argue that the both season openers from seasons one and two (national anthem and be right back), both kind of lack it as well. Maybe they just like to go a little softer on the openers.

10/22/2016 8:17:27 AM

^Admittly the social commentary was absolutely on point and the actual story was quality. I like to spread my Black Mirror episodes out over a few days so I can really take them in. The ending of the White Bear and the Christmas episode really has me thinking for a while.

10/22/2016 11:34:59 AM

Okay just watched second episode. A lot more of what I was expecting .

10/22/2016 5:32:56 PM

Just finished the first episode. I agree it was weak. It reminded me of The Waldo Moment. You knew where it was going right from the start, and I felt like the story wasn't strong enough for 30 minutes, let alone an hour. I felt like I was getting the quintessential Black Mirror message from minute 1, and I was just tired of being beat over the head by it by minute 10.

Still looking forward to the remaining episodes.

10/24/2016 11:47:11 PM

Oh man, San Junipero might be my favorite episode of television ever. The look, the soundtrack ... I don't even know if I could call that television. It felt like an amazing short film.

10/26/2016 11:09:23 AM

Is there a thing with British series only being 3 episodes long? I got really into this BBC show about WWI last night, stayed up till after 2 AM watching it, then got to the end of ep. 3 and was like "wtf, there's no more."

10/26/2016 1:27:20 PM

They usually make short series which have planned beginnings and endings. They do not have the terrible US culture where they absolutely must have X episodes per season, and they do not always have forced schedules (i.e. two half-series per year).

The Office UK was only two seasons with 6 episodes each.
The acclaimed 'Sherlock' is 3 seasons with 3 episodes each and 2 years between each season.
Peaky Blinders is 3 seasons of 6 episodes and 1+ year between each season.

This is actually closer to how Netflix is moving. I believe it gives them access to better resources and actors.

--

As per San Junipero, I liked it a lot. I am surprised by everyone online focusing on the superficial happy ending, though. There is definitely a bit of a darker message in the episode which clashes with that.

10/27/2016 11:10:57 AM

Quote :

"It felt like an amazing short film."

Yes! Just watched that episode last night and those were my thoughts exactly. The quality of this episode was incredible. Not quite as dark/tense as the two before it, but they did a fantastic job with it.

10/27/2016 2:20:49 PM

In general this wasn't my favorite season. I probably could have had 3 or 4 episodes rather than the 6. In general I see this season as more of a Twilight Zone, when the past seasons were more commentary on the dark path our latest marriage with create rather than the quirky. I did like this season had a very suspenseful feel to it, more so than the other ones. I found myself often wanting to scream at the characters in the television.


In order my favorites were:

Shut up and dance
Nosedive
Play Test
Hated in the Nation
San Junipero
Men against fire

Spoilers below but I'll put the episode title above it, so people know what to read and skip


Nosedive

I know some didn't like it but I thought it was really cool. Showed people's obsession with rating individuals and how that could not only make society further superficial and fake, but could also get sort of dark. I agree the ending was an obvious conclusion from the start, but that didn't mean the story wasn't good.


Playtest

While this one wasn't focused around technology and/or some futuristic version of our daily lives, it was a good reflection of the human condition. It was also suspenseful as fuck because you knew something bad was going to happen, especially since it was based around his fears, but we didn't know what or when. I also liked the connection between him needing to call his mom, the fact that he "called mom" at the end, and had he actually called his mom when his lady friend said, then he wouldn't have died. Good twist, IMO.


Shut up and Dance

This one was my favorite. For me the story was incredibly dark and the twist was strong. The entire time I kept asking myself why the kid would care so much if people saw him jack off and where he'd draw the line to say his actions were not as bad as what he was being forced to do. Once it turned out to be kiddie porn, from this innocent looking kid, it was very clear. Having the kid go through all of that just to still be publicly humiliated was pretty sick.


San Junipero

I was excited to see it only because I read in this thread that people were really blown away by it. I didn't get much from it at all. Nothing too revealing or informative about the human condition. I did like the 1980's vibe and the depiction of all the other eras, but that is it. If it weren't for the good visuals, I'd probably rate this one the last one.


Men against Fire

Sort of a bore. I did like how the government chose to handle people fighting others but that was it. The story was sort of 'eh'.


Hated in the Nation

Solid but could have been better. It was a great commentary on cyber bullying and a creative rouse the antagonist made to take action on those who are quick to bully others. I did not like the ending because I felt it added no value. I probably judged the last 3 minutes of that episode more harshly because it was the last 3 minutes of the season as well.

11/2/2016 10:37:00 AM

New ordering (favorite to least favorite). New in bold.

White Christmas
White Bear
Shut up and dance
Play Test
The Entire History of You
San Junipero
Be Right Back
15 Million Merits
Hated in the Nation
Men against fire
The National Anthem
The Waldo Moment
Nosedive

---

Nosedive
Bored after the first 10 minutes; you knew exactly where it was going. Easily the worst in the entire series for me. As this is a direct to Netflix series now, maybe all episodes don't need to be an hour. This could have been done better as a 15-30 minute short.

Play Test
Loved it. Played off our general and subconscious fears, even when they are as small as calling our loved ones. Oh, and I love a good ironic ending .

Shut up and Dance
This was also my favorite of the new season. Whereas most of the other episodes tried to pander to a new Netflix audience and water everything down, this one still had that classic Black Mirror :pop:.

San Junipero
Just a generally well put together episode. I liked the subtle narrative here as opposed to everything being spelled out for you, notably with her leaving her glasses behind at the end. (The glasses were the most real thing about her even though she didn't need them, and she discards them on the shore immediately after her death.)

Men against fire
I agree; it was boring. This could have been amazing... great message, flat execution. Him having to make a choice reminded me of 15 Million Merits except all of the consequences in MAF were completely spelled out, and the choice at the end left little impact on me. I had just assumed the wife/gf was not a real person, so I was more surprised that I was supposed to have thought that in the first place.

Hated in the Nation
Procedural buddy-cop show. Seen it a million times before. I liked the twist, but this one heavily pandered to the audience in a way that was painful. The old Black Mirror would have ended shortly after them finding the list of all people who used the hashtag and asking why it was there; cut to the sad music and show the bees converging on the guy cop, teacher, and other specific people with phones; make it clear through inference that the people using the hashtag were the real targets. Just stop spelling everything out and trying to give the audience full closure...

Oh, and the whole courtroom drama, fake suicide, and tracking down the bad guy were completely pointless. Cut 15 minutes from the episode and make it stronger.

11/2/2016 2:03:53 PM

Shut Up and Dance was incredible, I'm glad you guys found it to be your favs of the season too. This is the type of thing that really got me hooked on Black Mirror -- a sort of "what would I do in this situation?" type feeling.

Kind of the same feeling for Play Test but that seemed more like a horror movie. Still pleased with the dark ending though.

Really liked San Junipero but for a completely different reason. It was just a really well made story. Kinda tragic and depressing, but kinda happy too.

The other ones were a little meh, especially the ending to Hated in the Nation when she tracks down the guy to get her revenge. I agree with you CapnObvious, they should have just cut it out early after they discovered the list.

11/2/2016 2:49:33 PM

Just watched Nosedive, first time I've seen anything Black Mirror so I have nothing to compare it to. But I liked it. Obvious yes, but most people can connect to that feeling of living in a fake society and what "popularity points," whether digital or metaphorical, can mean at school, work, in your neighborhood, or even interacting with strangers.

5/13/2017 2:30:21 PM

My favorite has to be Shut up and Dance. Such a dark concept.

5/13/2017 10:01:07 PM

I don't get the praise for San Junipero.

***SPOILERS***

I did like that it took a lot longer to figure out what was going on, but eventually it was completely spelled out. There was zero tension, other than the scripted sexual tension which came through as incredibly awkward (as it should, first-time encounter like that is realistically awkward, but I didn't feel like the characters were really that drawn to each other).

Everything after the reveal was weak. The one emotional moment, where Kelly was talking about her family, was completely thrown out the window (kind of literally). She goes from saying "my 3 dates with you are less important than my 40 years of marriage" to "eh, fuck it, I'll stick around with you."

5/15/2017 12:10:39 AM

^ Agreed. Not a huge fan.

5/15/2017 10:31:05 AM

One of the first things we see in Hate the Nation is a news report. It says people are pissed at this reporter, people are pissed at the Chancellor, and by the way the fake bees are back.

If anyone didn't guess right at that moment that the bees were going to kill people, then they weren't listening.

5/16/2017 4:58:29 PM

Had to go to page 5. Yikes. Not a good sign for this season.

1/5/2018 11:41:41 AM

I’ve watched the first 3 eps of the new season. I enjoyed the first one, 2 & 3 I thought were just ok

1/5/2018 11:57:02 AM

Gonna start watching tonight. I'm really excited about the episode directed by Jodie Foster. Thankfully, I don't require every episode to be SOOOOO DARK with a crazy twist bro to enjoy it.

1/5/2018 12:05:02 PM

I watched two out of order and was thrown off by the upbeat endings. Turns out I just hit the odd two out. I'll probably finish them this weekend.

1/5/2018 12:06:13 PM

Very solid season. None of the episodes were super awesome like White Bear, but at the same time none were meh like The Waldo Moment. I was surprised by the amount of happy endings though. Normally I like to take a few hours to really come back to normal after how some of these are but not so much this season. I think Crocodile was the only one that really gave me that kind of response. That episode was classic Black Mirror fucked upedness.

1/5/2018 1:57:21 PM

you didn't think black museum was fucked up?

1/5/2018 2:12:03 PM

Rating:

USS Callister
Really like it. Anti-"nice guy" message. Essentially the return of cookies!

Hang the DJ
Also a good episode. But cookies for a third time (second in this season)? Let's not overuse this.

Metalhead
Just alright. Felt more like a B-rate indy film than a Black Mirror episode. Ending reveal felt a bit out of place, trying to force a message they otherwise didn't build for.

Crocodile
Eh. Interesting technology, but character progression here just felt out-of-place. Predictable ending.

Black Museum
Really, cookies for a third/fourth time in one season? And a generic bad guy? The reason I like White Christmas, White Bear, and Shut Up and Dance are that you are made to feel for the "bad" characters. This episode just retreads common themes from episodes which did them much better.

Arkangel
An earlier version of the technology from "The Entire History of You". It didn't bother me as much at the time, but in retrospect, there is just way too many rehashed ideas this season. The bigger issue is that this episode didn't really know what it wanted to be. Earlier themes in the episode (desensitization) just get dropped later. Just no focus.

1/5/2018 2:59:06 PM

Quote :

"you didn't think black museum was fucked up?"

Yes it was, but the concept of a consciousness being trapped has been done enough already in Black Mirror. The first time they had something on it in the Christmas episode was extremely fucked up, but after seeing it again it didn't seem as bad. I would have preferred a whole episode on just the doctor and the pain receiver story. Most of the episode was just fan service call backs to earlier episodes.

1/5/2018 3:43:47 PM

The doctor subplut in Black Museum was so close to being good. Then it took a turn with the "and he suddenly loved pain" bit. Could have just made him a death addict but had to make it a somewhat of a "lightening struck the machine and it malfunctioned" type turn rather than the inherent risk of the technology.

It was the near misses at killed me on this season.

Something as simple as the "dogs" having a docking station in the mansion to show their simple origin would have been a nice touch. I think I was just expecting too much from the quick turnaround.

Jimmi Simpson steals every scene.

1/9/2018 12:35:08 AM

1. USS Callister - Fun episode with great acting. McPoyle stole the show. It was my wife's favorite too.

2. Hang the DJ - It was the first episode to confront online dating so that's something. Tried to capture that San Junipero feeling but fell short. They tried too hard to make the ending twisty. Sometimes keeping it simple is OK. Too many cookies!

3. Metalhead - Minimalist Terminator. The direction and special effects were great. Nothing special but it was entertaining. It's the episode were the tech isn't far off from what is already here. I like that.

4. Black Museum - LOL, that episode was batshit. I couldn't stop laughing at "Monkey needs a hug". 3 subpar stories in one episode. I didn't hate it, kinda liked how nuts it was. I don't give a shit about the meta stuff going on. I'm over meta.

5. Arkangel - The acting and dialogue hurt this episode big time. It was too predictable as well. Meh.

6. Crocodile - My new least favorite episode of Black Mirror. What the fuck? It was not believable that an a 80 pound mouse woman would go on a rampage or that she could kill that guy. Also, how the fuck are you going to get memories from a hamster? I don't think their brain has the capacity for memory. Total waste of beautiful scenery. At least now I might want to go to Iceland. Awful.

All in all, I think this should be the last season. Unless they can spinoff and do fun episodes like USS Callister, it's time to hang it up.

1/13/2018 11:08:15 AM

black museum felt very much like a tales from the crypt episode

1/13/2018 12:04:19 PM

^^I want more because its great to have a series based on the same tech where you just go through all the scenarios with different characters each episode. dont have to worry about cliffhangers and slow pace but each episode watches like a standalone movie

its great because if they are bad then you only wasted 1 hour until someone comes along and does it the right way.

you can literally do anything with this show on any given episode and i love that. will be extremely disappointed if it goes because i feel like its unique and i'd have nowhere else to turn.

1/13/2018 7:00:06 PM

I'm two episodes into Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams on Amazon. I don't think it's going to be a suitable Black Mirror replacement. The second episode felt damn near amateurish. Guess I'm gonna keep watching though.

1/14/2018 4:46:20 PM

^ they spent too much money on big name actors instead of graphics or writing

1/14/2018 10:49:50 PM

Anyone watch Bandersnatch yet?

12/28/2018 2:54:03 PM

Yes

It doesnt seem like as much choice as I expected, but I suppose that's inline with the theme in the story about only having an appearance of choice? Most choices pretty quickly take you back but I havent started over from the first choice yet to see 8f it makes much difference.

12/28/2018 10:17:27 PM

We went through it tonight and got two different endings. Supposedly there are five

Crazy concept, definitely some holes, but this is some cool shit for rewatch value

12/28/2018 11:14:46 PM