# Black mirror



## Charles_Rombo (Dec 12, 2017)

Someone here also waiting for the season 4 ?

=)


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## takotakumi (Dec 13, 2017)

yyeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh sooooooooooooooooon

Am I wrong or is it premiering later than last year this time?
I remember having watched all of it prior to christmas last year and this time
it's closer to new years


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## Lorcan Ward (Dec 13, 2017)

I can't wait!

Yeah it aired back in October last year.


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## Charles_Rombo (Dec 13, 2017)

The release date in announced for the 29 of december =)

Which isyour favorite episode so far?


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## takotakumi (Dec 13, 2017)

Charles_Rombo said:


> The release date in announced for the 29 of december =)
> 
> Which isyour favorite episode so far?


For me probably the one of the bees, but I enjoy almost all of them.
Some that come to mind are Shut Up and dance, San Junipero, nosedive, and the very first episode of the series (Pig).

The only ones I did not enjoy were ep2 and 3 from s02 (the girl being chased and recorded on phones+comedian bear).


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## Lorcan Ward (Dec 13, 2017)

My favourite episode as a whole is "Hated in the Nation". Really good story, acting, twist etc. I love how Black Mirror exaggerates and parodies technology and social media but at times its what is going on in the real world. Scary!

"The Entire History of You" is a really good episode and definitely the first Black Mirror episode I'd show someone who was knew to the show. 

"Shut up and Dance" is a close second. I hope there is something as horrific in the new season.

Episodes I didn't like is "White Bear" and "Be Right Back". The good thing about this show is you can skip episodes like this.


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## mongey (Dec 13, 2017)

I'm looking forward to it 

shut and dance was probably the heaviest one. that ending 

liked them all apart from play test .thought that one was very ordinary.


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## Charles_Rombo (Dec 14, 2017)

mongey said:


> I'm looking forward to it
> 
> shut and dance was probably the heaviest one. that ending
> 
> liked them all apart from play test .thought that one was very ordinary.



Totally agree!

---
The christmas "short" movie, made me think a lot about "time" and how society uses it. But it´s not my favourite. I think I cannot decide hahaha


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## Steinmetzify (Dec 29, 2017)

1st one in to the new season. Digging it.


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## narad (Dec 30, 2017)

Just binge-watched the whole thing. First episode's by far the strongest and had me psyched, but also liked the fourth.


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## wankerness (Dec 30, 2017)

I finally went back and watched the 80% of this show I hadn't seen. I saw National Anthem years ago and don't remember much of anything other than the basic plotline and not being entertained. I saw White Christmas a year or so ago and remember being impressed but definitely not blown away (especially not by the Jon Hamm backstory half). I saw San Junipero just recently after reading hype for months, and as a result was slightly underwhelmed, but that's my fault for reading too much gushing.

S1:
Fifteen Million Merits: It's alright, I guess. It's a pretty hollow indictment of American Idol, et al, and it's paced terribly and I don't know what they were doing with crap like the jerky bike rider. It's kind of cool seeing Get Out man as the star. 5/10

The Entire History of You: Well done episode, but I didn't find it particularly interesting. It's just about an obsessive asshole thinking his wife is cheating and how a memory storing/recalling tech can make this even worse. Alright! The two leads are good. Whatever. 6/10

S2:
Be Right Back: Absolutely fantastic meditation on grief, but then throws in "Her" and "The Monkey's Paw" and does it all brilliantly. Hayley Atwell is the main character, Domnhall Gleeson is the dead husband, and everything with the tech is integrated perfectly. Absolutely fantastic. Until the horrible ending. 9/10

White Bear: DUMB. This is like something an asshole college student that was inspired by A Clockwork Orange would write trying to also throw in a blunt moral about how reality TV is bad. 3/10

The Waldo Moment: Watchable, fairly uninteresting conceptually, the ending is terrible again. If this hadn't come out BEFORE the whole Donald Trump thing I'd say it was way too on-the-nose and rate it lower, but I guess it had some prophecy going for it. The actress who plays the politician is good, but her character is kind of pointless. 4/10

S3:
Nosedive: I didn't dislike it, exactly, but this is basically the exact same moral as the Meowmeowbeanz episode of Community, only it manages to say LESS with over twice the running time, and it's vastly less funny and ambitious to boot!! It has some good scenes and I like the central performance. Watch the Community episode instead. It does manage to be fairly terrifying to a non-social media person like myself, though. 6/10

Playtest: There's some fun haunted house stuff in here for sure, but the series of endings wears out its welcome very quickly. 6/10

Shut Up and Dance: This is alright if viewed purely as pulp, it's again


Spoiler



so childishly nihilistic with its "TWIST ENDING"(He's a pedophile!!) that I found it


eye-rolling. It's more than watchable, mainly due to Bronn. The lead actor is suitably obnoxious, unfortunately that means we have to put up with him for the whole thing. 5/10

Men Against Fire: VERY, VERY heavy-handed and forced metaphor, but the execution is good. There was one really great jump scare. I liked that the roaches looked just like Buffy vampires. 6/10

Hated in the Nation: This has almost nothing to say other than "SJW Twitter pigpiles are bad!!" but it works very well if you just ignore the shallowness and watch it as a thriller. The two leads are great (the always reliable Kelly Macdonald and the Waif from GOT). As a police thriller with a somewhat outrageous concept, it's quite good. Satisfying ending. 8/10

Season 4:
USS Callister (Captain Jesse Plemons): This is also a near-masterpiece. It's incredibly exciting and has a great dramatic arc and if not for the meaningless classification as a TV episode (it's longer than many movies), I'd put it on my top movies of the year list. It doesn't have the depth of the best of the older episodes, but it doesn't matter, it's aiming for excitement and is often quite funny. SO GOOD. 9/10


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## wankerness (Dec 31, 2017)

Arkangel (Parental Spying Episode): Dull as dishwater, ending is obvious immediately, but probably the funniest part is how impractical the tech is as presented. Literally everything dangerous that comes close to them turns into a mass of pixels and the sound goes away? How is a kid going to survive any encounter with anything actually dangerous? They at least cover up the "how is a kid going to ID the perp if they get assaulted" thing by showing that the parent can see the unfiltered version, but man, this is the stupidest idea ever and would just lead to the kid getting killed by anything that came close to them. Good luck crossing the street. The acting is good, it's just so damn predictable and miserable. 4/10

Crocodile (hit and run episode): Terrible. The SECOND you see that previously pointless character coming into the episode asking people to upload their memories of seeing an accident you know what's going to happen, and when they have


Spoiler



the main character really obviously witness someone getting hit by a bus or whatever right in the middle of her committing a crime it's even more awful.


And it just keeps going and going!!! There's NO reason for the plot to keep going as far as it does - it adds NOTHING and there's not even a payoff. It's pure sadism of the most boring variety. The main character is not interesting in any way, shape or form. This episode should have been 20 minutes, it would have been far better, if equally pointless, and could have had the exact same plot arc with far less of the worthless additional plot details.

They really like callbacks to the song from 15 million credits, huh? I know it was in another episode as well. This one has the wraithgirls, too. It plays like bad fan fiction so I guess that adds to the effect. This dethrones White Bear for worst episode. Hell, right now I feel like it's one of the worst episodes of ANYTHING I've ever seen. 1/10


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## wankerness (Dec 31, 2017)

Hang the DJ (Tinder Society) - Loved it, the leads are great, it's a really engaging romance with the weird backdrop that at first seems like it might just be some kind of rendezvous for singles in a regular-ish society, but then keeps revealing more and more layers of weirdness and menace (the dome as an early-ish one). It's a bit breezy, but it's OK! It's much more satisfying dramatically than the comparable San Junipero as it doesn't have huge character inconsistencies, but it doesn't hit as hard either. 9/10

Metalhead (Black and white)- Solid Terminator-style woman vs robot story. It's tense, it's engaging, and best of all, it's not too long! I liked that the menace was a future version of those creepy-ass four legged robots I've been creeped out by on Youtube for years now. They're a good apocalypse-deliverer. F those things. 7/10

Black Museum (Anthology about consciousness capturing) - This is pretty good, the back two stories/overarching plot tie together well, it's a bit more "fun" again. It's nothing great, but it's good. The first segment was a bit pointless, but kind of a fun grand guignol thing ala all those great 70s horror anthologies. 7/10


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## purplebelt155 (Jan 4, 2018)

"How young where they? "

Made me sick when I heard it. I really liked that episode. The whole time I felt bad for the little turd then the ending made me hate him. 

If you watch the episodes again after knowing the plots they come across totally different. I think it's masterful work. 


Except episode 2 and 3 of season 4. They were stupid. They felt like "TOOT! TOOT! Here comes plot twist express! "


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## wankerness (Jan 5, 2018)

I read someone's interpretation that Shut Up and Dance is about questioning views on that kind of horrible punishment, as if you knew the final revelation from the start, many audiences would have a totally different view of the events of the episode. Like, how it is now, it makes most audiences question why all of a sudden when you find out that one extra detail that everything you were feeling for the person suddenly should go away, as likely just about anyone watching the episode would feel bad for that kid. I guess that does seem likely as that's one of the main things going on in White Bear as well. Reading that did make me appreciate the episode a bit more. I still don't like it.


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## purplebelt155 (Jan 5, 2018)

The way they challenge our personal beliefs is fantastic. E1s4 is another perfect example. The antagonist, didn't do anything wrong to real people. It was made clear that the people in the game were just code sequences. Yet he is the only one who received a permanent consequence. The entire episode your on the side of the characters in the game and support the captain's abandonment in space. But really, your just supporting the code. It's like causing someone to go brain dead for intentionally killing Mario when he plays Nintendo.


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2018)

I love Black Mirror. Episodes I don't care for and all, but overall one of the best series out there and the messaging is on point. I think the new season was good, but none of the episodes made a 'favorite' cut. I watch 'Be Right Back,' 'Shut up and Dance,' 'Nosedive,' and, of course, 'San Junipero' every now and then. 
I'm mixed on how I feel about all the call backs in this season and linking it to one universe. I can see the positives, but feel like that's trying to make it more of a cohesive whole, which isn't horrible, but I prefer the takes on probable dystopias individually. I think 'Black Museum' had some concepts that were better than others and could have been good enough episodes on their own. 


Spoiler



Maybe I just disliked the museum owner enough that I was too eager for him to get killed off!


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2018)

wankerness said:


> Arkangel (Parental Spying Episode)


I don't like saying it, but there is a degree of relating to this episode as a parent. I see how my parents are with my daughters at times and could see the chance that, if it was an option and they had the choice, they would do this. It's not a far cry. I know a number of parents that buy the WiFi connected crib cams and then don't seem to turn them off when a kid is rightfully beyond having any need for that kind of surveillance. 
I think the bigger question is about where we draw the line and seeing kids get used to an insanely invasive technology. So while there are practical elements that can be harder to suspend disbelief for, when kids grow up with social media and the ability to live stream or record any dumb thing they're doing, at a certain point, once accepted as a presence, is an implanted recording/transmitting device to the eye all that different from your kid having their phone in front of their face and streaming anything without thought?


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## purplebelt155 (Jan 5, 2018)

Those are pretty good points. I got 4 kids and thought "yeah I'd probably like to know where they are via GPS at all times". It's easy for me to say I'd remove the option as they got older but I doubt it'd be easy. Also if my girls are doing coke and boning 18 year olds at 15 I'd wanna know. 

The censorship part I never connected with. Like the dog getting blurred out. Kinda over the top for me.


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2018)

purplebelt155 said:


> The censorship part I never connected with. Like the dog getting blurred out. Kinda over the top for me.


That said, as a parent you're going to be familiar with that kind of weirdly pushy version of acceptance that people have. Like when something becomes an option you're the bad guy for not wanting to take it. It's a slippery slope deal, but I thought one of the best aspects of that episode was kind of like, "you care about your kid? Why don't you just have this option, you don't have to use it." Which, of course, leads to everyone using the worst options and feeling totally okay with it. Comparing that to the reality of cell phones and social media, doesn't even take that long.


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## purplebelt155 (Jan 5, 2018)

Yes. If you don't want to buy or add the extra option of protection for your kids, you're instantly the bad guy. 

You're always the bad guy as a parent. Lol.


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## Charles_Rombo (Jan 5, 2018)

And this is why black mirror is so cool → It leads to discussion + ideas + conclusions (sometimes)


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## Charles_Rombo (Jan 5, 2018)

I still have to end the 4th season. I´ve only watched first and second episodes. I am trying to watch just once a week =)


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## Guitarmiester (Jan 17, 2018)

wankerness said:


> Crocodile (hit and run episode): Terrible. The SECOND you see that previously pointless character coming into the episode asking people to upload their memories of seeing an accident you know what's going to happen, and when they have
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...



I'm surprised to see someone else finally have the same thoughts that I did regarding this episode. Crocodile was hyped up by a few people I know. When I finally watched it the other day I was left wondering what the hype was about. Sure, the ending was good but the episode was way too long. Even within the first ten minutes or so I found the scenery to be more interesting than anything else that was going on. That remained my thought process throughout the majority of the episode, too. 

I watched season 4 in a random order and glad I didn't save crocodile for last. The salt would have been real.


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## C_Henderson (Jan 19, 2018)

Guitarmiester said:


> I'm surprised to see someone else finally have the same thoughts that I did regarding this episode. Crocodile was hyped up by a few people I know. When I finally watched it the other day I was left wondering what the hype was about. Sure, the ending was good but the episode was way too long. Even within the first ten minutes or so I found the scenery to be more interesting than anything else that was going on. That remained my thought process throughout the majority of the episode, too.
> 
> I watched season 4 in a random order and glad I didn't save crocodile for last. The salt would have been real.



You two are not the only ones. Crocodile is IMO among the worst episodes by a huge margin, along with The Waldo Moment, Playtest and Black Museum. Not offensively bad for sure, but terribly pointless and bland.

Luckily appart from Crocodile and Black Museum I found season 4 to be pretty good overall. USS Callister and Hang the DJ are simply fantastic.


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## wankerness (Jan 19, 2018)

I sure didn't think the ending to Crocodile was good. I thought it was the worst part. I also disagree that it wasn't offensively bad. Those other three episodes you mention are not great, but they're all vastly better, especially Black Museum. Here is my fuller version of that post. I originally made it on a TV review site where a bunch of people were like "that ending is not technologically feasible


Spoiler



cause guinea pigs can't retain memories


 cause I read it in a scientific journal! It totally took me out of the episode!!"

"This is by far the worst episode of this show yet. This was one of the most infuriating watches I’ve had recently. I HATED this episode, flat-out, by any metric. There’s NO reason for this episode to be remotely close to as long as it is. It has no real plot development, all it does it just keep adding more plot details blindly until it digs itself into a hole and then throws out the


Spoiler



guinea pig twist,


 which seems like it was decided after the rest of the episode had been filmed and the writer was informed they had to come up with an ending in the next 10 seconds or they were fired. Like, most obviously, the whole first section could have been removed with no detriment to the story. Was this supposed to show she was an innocent at some point and that bad guy set her off


Spoiler



on the path towards becoming a mass murderer?


 Or was it just padding? Either way, it should have gone.

And the episode so completely fails to sell any sort of anguish on the part of this horrible woman that instead of it being any kind of interesting character study


Spoiler



about a woman who keeps digging herself in past her own breaking point, we instead get the tale of a dull aryan psycho murdering a non-white family with blunt instruments, and she would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that darn guinea pig!!!



I can’t believe people are saying they were taken out of the episode by the twist because it was technologically unfeasible. There are far, far more egregious reasons for why that twist is terrible. Adding the 100% pointless detail that


Spoiler



the baby was blind?


 Fuck you, episode. Just fuck you.

Worst. Episode. Ever. /comicbookguy"

So yeah, I really, really hated this episode. One of the worst episodes of TV I've ever seen.


Spoiler



And I don't even like babies!


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## Guitarmiester (Jan 19, 2018)

Their _"twist"_ (baby and guinea pig) isn't what I was focused on for the ending. Her breaking point and acceptance of her new ways was extremely exaggerated. For me, the ending was her making her way to the bathroom. Everything else, including the baby and guinea pig, were merely filler. Maybe it's because the episode was so drawn out, the only bit of tension of uneasiness was her journey through the house.

That and the scenery was about all I could take away from the episode.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 20, 2018)

I really enjoyed this season. The show has become a bit of a victim of its own success in that you can start anticipating the twists well in advance and pick every episode apart if you want but you just have to take it for what it is. 



Spoiler



USS Callister was a great opener. It felt like this episode was wrote in mind for people that were watching it for the first time. I had a friend over watching with me who had never watched it before. 

Arkangel was my least favourite, the idea could have been better executed with a darker ending.

Crocodile was an enjoyable watch but the last 15 mins are so could have been better. Like Arkangel the whole story could have been better executed. 

Hang the DJ was probably my favourite. I've used online dating for years and met my gf through it so really enjoyed the idea of this one. They could have done something really dark but that would have been too predictable so having a positive episode with a happy ending was a nice surprise. 

Metalhead was a mix of Mad Max, Terminator, Screamers, The Road and a ton of other post apocalyptic dystopian films along with some some old black & white horrors. A simple story and unoriginal but I still really enjoyed it. Horribly bleak with a vague backstory and welcome typical Black Mirror ending. The purpose of the mission is a little confusing and the director hasn't said too much about it so you are really left to your own imagination. Originally there was supposed to be a scene of someone controlling the dogs but that was scrapped. 

I really enjoyed this one and how they mixed multiple stories together. Arkangel or Crocodile could have been fit in here like that. The fan service in Black Museum was well done and sure to keep the endless debate about a timeline going until next season. A little too much spoon feeding though which was odd considering the last episode was so vague and received a lot of criticism for.


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## wankerness (Jan 20, 2018)

I'm kind of perplexed by how much people are dumping on Black Museum. It's not GREAT, but I liked the second and third segments of it and found the overarching story amusing. The doctor thing sucks, though, I'll give it that. But compared to the aforementioned Waldo episode (or IMO White Bear or especially Crocodile) it's f'in Citizen Kane.

What would a "darker ending" look like with Arkangel???


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## mongey (Jan 20, 2018)

I know I’m in the minority but I found Waldo moment to be pretty interesting given the current state of things in the US. it basically happened. 

It’s got things about it that could be don better but I still think it’s decetn.


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## wankerness (Jan 20, 2018)

mongey said:


> I know I’m in the minority but I found Waldo moment to be pretty interesting given the current state of things in the US. it basically happened.
> 
> It’s got things about it that could be don better but I still think it’s decetn.



Well, it happened in the UK before us!

I was amused by the "anyone who gets x number of votes gets to appear on stage" thing since I'd already heard about the same thing happening with "Lord Buckethead," which made me laugh and laugh. They had him on John Oliver's show afterwards.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...mo-and-mr-fish-finger-a-very-british-election

Anyway, the episode was just dreary and predictable. Like, at first, it's kind of interesting, but it just becomes obvious and predictable, until the insane ending, which isn't a twist or anything, it's just a really blunt and silly hammering home of the idea that kind of undermines the whole thing.


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## fps (Jan 21, 2018)

I've tried a few episodes of this show now. I don't find it all that compelling, because the human element seems to be fundamentally missing, at which point it's quite difficult to consider it a commentary on much.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 21, 2018)

wankerness said:


> I'm kind of perplexed by how much people are dumping on Black Museum. It's not GREAT, but I liked the second and third segments of it and found the overarching story amusing. The doctor thing sucks, though, I'll give it that. But compared to the aforementioned Waldo episode (or IMO White Bear or especially Crocodile) it's f'in Citizen Kane.
> 
> What would a "darker ending" look like with Arkangel???



I really enjoyed the Doctor story, it was a nice change to see them fit multiple stories into one episode. It also felt like they were poking fun throughout the episode at the audience for craving such characters and stories. White Bear is the only episode I don't like, still haven't finished it since the main character constantly screaming was getting a bit much. 

In Arkangel I was expecting it to end with


Spoiler



the daughter triggering the block feature and breaking the controller so she's permanently like that.


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## wankerness (Jan 21, 2018)

Ah. Yeah, that does seem obvious now that you say it. I think I was afraid of that too, since it was established early on that the technology was banned.


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## Guitarmiester (Jan 26, 2018)

I watched out of order and so glad I kept the first episode for last. It was, by far, the best episode of the season. That was the black mirror I've been used to.


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## mongey (Jan 30, 2018)

finally got around to starting s4.

first episode was good as everyone says


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## wankerness (Jan 31, 2018)

Guitarmiester said:


> I watched out of order and so glad I kept the* first episode* for last. It was, by far, the best episode of the season. *That was the black mirror I've been used to.*



What black mirror have you been watching and where can I get some?


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## Guitarmiester (Feb 1, 2018)

wankerness said:


> What black mirror have you been watching and where can I get some?



Netflix and season 1-3. Watch for the storyline, not for the inevitable M. Knight Shamalamalama technology-based twists that will be heavily dissected for debate of realistic vs fantasy on the Internets. 

The first episode felt and watched like a story just like many episodes from previous seasons. Without revisiting episode recaps, the only other episode from season 4 that was memorable was Arkangel. That's not to say it was good or bad but merely that I remember the story. The rest? I remember a metal dog, scavengers and a downloaded hologram for torture but with a twist of then downloading more real life to transform to a hologram for more torture. Neat. 

Disclaimer: The above recollections may not be accurate by any means. Hence forgettable storylines being forgettable.


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## wankerness (Feb 2, 2018)

Guitarmiester said:


> Netflix and season 1-3. Watch for the storyline, not for the inevitable M. Knight Shamalamalama technology-based twists that will be heavily dissected for debate of realistic vs fantasy on the Internets.
> 
> The first episode felt and watched like a story just like many episodes from previous seasons. Without revisiting episode recaps, the only other episode from season 4 that was memorable was Arkangel. That's not to say it was good or bad but merely that I remember the story. The rest? I remember a metal dog, scavengers and a downloaded hologram for torture but with a twist of then downloading more real life to transform to a hologram for more torture. Neat.
> 
> Disclaimer: The above recollections may not be accurate by any means. Hence forgettable storylines being forgettable.



I was basically asking "what other Black Mirror episode is anything like this one?" since you said "now THIS episode is like the first three seasons, unlike all the other season 4 episodes!!" I've seen all of them and none of them are even close to that fun and silly and exciting. The first three seasons are almost nonstop misery apart from San Junipero and that rate people episode. It's a radical departure for the series. So, I was wondering if you'd been watching a different version of Black Mirror that I didn't know about  That episode was probably my favorite of the new season, it was really great.


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## Guitarmiester (Feb 5, 2018)

wankerness said:


> I was basically asking "what other Black Mirror episode is anything like this one?" since you said "now THIS episode is like the first three seasons, unlike all the other season 4 episodes!!" I've seen all of them and none of them are even close to that fun and silly and exciting. The first three seasons are almost nonstop misery apart from San Junipero and that rate people episode. It's a radical departure for the series. So, I was wondering if you'd been watching a different version of Black Mirror that I didn't know about  That episode was probably my favorite of the new season, it was really great.



I will say none of the previous episodes had the added "fun and silly" moments like this one, but I'm happy they didn't. This episode probably wouldn't stand out so well from the pack if other episodes had that same vibe going on. The first three seasons were soaked in misery. The creative storylines glued it all together, for me at least. The rest of season four had a lot of high tech wizardry going on that lacked any substance and depth story-wise to keep me all that interested. Hoping season five gets back on track.


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## RND (Mar 11, 2018)

Man, I just finished season 2 and I'm pretty hooked. It's hard not to read these spoilers!


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## Guitarmiester (Mar 11, 2018)

_Edit: Posted in wrong thread._


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