# Black Mirror



## Steinmetzify (Oct 31, 2016)

Anyone watching this? It's a British anthology series about the darker side of tech, all fiction. Short series, 3 seasons and only 13 episodes on Netflix. 

This thing is a complete mind.....


----------



## endmysuffering (Oct 31, 2016)

Dude, this show gave crippling existential dread. I have been trying to cut off my time with all of my media devices then this show comes up and it makes want to do it even more.


----------



## Steinmetzify (Oct 31, 2016)

endmysuffering said:


> Dude, this show gave crippling existential dread. I have been trying to cut off my time with all of my media devices then this show comes up and it makes want to do it even more.





Agreed.....there's something really creepy about most of the ideas I've seen on it. My wife decided after about 5 episodes that she doesn't like it, for reasons she can't even really articulate other than "It completely mind....s me every damn episode and I don't like it".

I dig the turns but am glad it's a short series. I couldn't watch something like this every week all season long.


----------



## endmysuffering (Oct 31, 2016)

steinmetzify said:


> Agreed.....there's something really creepy about most of the ideas I've seen on it. My wife decided after about 5 episodes that she doesn't like it, for reasons she can't even really articulate other than "It completely mind....s me every damn episode and I don't like it".
> 
> I dig the turns but am glad it's a short series. I couldn't watch something like this every week all season long.



The first episode alone was so intense, I wanted to vomit myself at the thought.


----------



## glassmoon0fo (Oct 31, 2016)

Favorite series on the planet right now. Dude, the White Christmas episode made me delete my facebook account for a week lol


----------



## Steinmetzify (Oct 31, 2016)

3rd episode got me. Opened up a dialogue between my wife and I about whether we'd want to do it or not. 

The whole thing ended up so sad. What was the dude supposed to do? Ignore it when he knew something was wrong? Can't imagine how I'd feel...


----------



## wannabguitarist (Oct 31, 2016)

The third one was the roaches episode right? That one and the fourth really hit me in the gut.


----------



## TedEH (Oct 31, 2016)

I wanted to try this show out, but Netflix seems to be missing the first season of it. Makes no sense.


----------



## Steinmetzify (Oct 31, 2016)

1st two seasons were only 3 episodes and a special man. It's on there, I watched it last night.


----------



## TedEH (Oct 31, 2016)

^ I'm looking at the Canadian version of Netflix. The first episode it shows available is "White Christmas", which I don't think is actually the first episode.

Edit: Actually, it shows "Two seasons" but the first one only has that one episode. Only the third season looks like a full proper series.


----------



## Steinmetzify (Oct 31, 2016)

Ah my bad man. Didn't realize you weren't in the States. Even so, it's worth a watch. It's WEIRD.


----------



## zappatton2 (Oct 31, 2016)

Everybody seems to be kvetching about the third season not being as good, but I love it just as much. I love that it plays like the Twilight Zone, but grounded in the entirely plausible (though admittedly terrifying in a dystopic way).

I'm not much of a wired guy, have my home computer that I spend an average of I'd guess five hours a week on, don't have any of the other gadgets to keep me connected, so on the tech front I often feel like I'm on the outside looking in. This series often feels like it validates staying unplugged. Not that I'm actually that pessimistic about the future!!


----------



## russmuller (Nov 1, 2016)

I love this show. I haven't seen Season 3 yet, mostly because I've been bingeing on other stuff, but I've always been impressed with it.


----------



## Steinmetzify (Nov 1, 2016)

wannabguitarist said:


> The third one was the roaches episode right? That one and the fourth really hit me in the gut.



Roach one was the 5th episode of the 3rd season. 

The one that got me was The Entire History of You, the one about the memory thing that you could rewind and catch people doing shifty ..... 

Roach was brutal as well man, as was the one about the perfectionist's consciousness being taken out and copied to use to run her life to her satisfaction. Damn!

Starting to notice a pattern here...all the tech gets introduced and it's cool until it turns on you.


----------



## Fraz666 (Nov 2, 2016)

I love it.
Another similar British series that blew my mind is Utopia, but it's ended in 2014


----------



## Ralyks (Nov 3, 2016)

Started it on Netflix on a total whim. Didn't get far but definitely seems like something I;d enjoy. That said, the first 15 minutes of the first episode, I kept going "Wait... this is happening?... And they're totally serious?'


----------



## mongey (Nov 4, 2016)

Just watched the first 2 eps of season 1 and I think it's great.


----------



## Steinmetzify (Nov 5, 2016)

Finished it last night. What a mind..... Awesome show.


----------



## Emperor Guillotine (Nov 5, 2016)

I originally watched the first two seasons back in 2013. (The first season is older than that though. I believe the first season came out in 2011.) When I got word last month of Netflix purchasing the series and bringing it back with a new season of six episodes, I was excited to check it out. No more trawling through various online sites to watch episodes of the British series.

In short, I was thoroughly disappointed with the new season. It started out strong with the first episode, which genuinely scared me and annoyed me (because you could honestly see the events happening in our world). But by the end of the six episodes, I felt like the new season had fallen flat on its face. The new writers/creators took the focus off the darker social effects of technology and just began throwing in thin, poorly sketched plots and sci-fi clichés at every turn. It is stuff that I felt like I had already seen before. You can pretty much guess what is going to happen in each scene/episode; whereas, if you compare Season 3 to the first two seasons, well, you couldn't really guess what was going to happen in the first two seasons.

Season 1, Episode 2 was a hit in the feels. A lot of my buddies and I all agree that it is probably our favorite episode because of how the events played out. Even years later, it still sticks clearly in my mind.

For anyone who is new to the series or wanting to check it out, let me save you some time. Here are the good episodes: 
S1:E2
S1:E3
S2:E1
White Christmas special
S3:E1
S3:E4


----------



## Rachmaninoff (Nov 5, 2016)

I'm watching this. Just watched 1st and 2nd seasons. Next is "White Christmas", then the new season.

Great stuff.


----------



## MFB (Nov 7, 2016)

Accidentally watched S3:E1 instead of S1:E1, and man, I was so god damn uncomfortable during the whole thing.

Just, the premise of someone's entire life coming down to a rating system, and the patronizing aspect of some of them. Ugh, just all of it made me crawl.


----------



## TedEH (Nov 7, 2016)

Given that I can only get to some later episodes, is it worth watching anyway? Does season 3 make sense on its own?


----------



## crankyrayhanky (Nov 7, 2016)

I always thought I would like this....I'll give it a shot!


----------



## StevenC (Nov 7, 2016)

Yep! Watched this when it originally aired, haven't seen the new episodes. Be Right Back is such a good episode.


----------



## Steinmetzify (Nov 7, 2016)

TedEH said:


> Given that I can only get to some later episodes, is it worth watching anyway? Does season 3 make sense on its own?



Yeah, they're all one offs, dude. None of them are interconnected by anything but music, although I'll echo what was said above regarding the 3rd season being the weakest one, although there were a couple good episodes.


----------



## Emperor Guillotine (Nov 7, 2016)

MFB said:


> Accidentally watched S3:E1 instead of S1:E1, and man, I was so god damn uncomfortable during the whole thing.
> 
> Just, the premise of someone's entire life coming down to a rating system, and the patronizing aspect of some of them. Ugh, just all of it made me crawl.


Same here. That was the point. 

In the portrayed reality, humans are kept under control by that rating system. They coerced to be cordial to each other and pretend to be perfectly happy in order to function about their daily lives. And then some humans become the "top influencers" and devote their lives to climbing as high as they can in the rating system - even abusing the system.

The sad part is that the rating system from that episode is entirely plausible, and I could possibly see it in the near future for humans with how our lives and society revolve around social media nowadays.



TedEH said:


> Given that I can only get to some later episodes, is it worth watching anyway? Does season 3 make sense on its own?


All episodes are available on Netflix or on sites like Couchtuner.


----------



## TedEH (Nov 8, 2016)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> All episodes are available on Netflix or on sites like Couchtuner.



Again, I'll reiterate that I'm in Canada, which means they're not all on Netflix. Also, I generally avoid piracy/less-than-legit media just on principle. More than that, ISPs have been following this new law lately that's been allowing companies (look up "Canipre") to go after people who pirate stuff, sending notices, bullying people into paying to "settle", and threatening further legal actions- a whole bunch of nonsense I don't want to deal with, so I'm avoiding consuming any media via less-than-legit means for that reason as well.

I know several people who have paid out $200+ per shot because they got these threatening letters, and were afraid of whatever might happen if they just ignore it.


----------



## MFB (Nov 13, 2016)

Biggest disappointment for me with BM has been the incredibly meager amount of episodes per 'season.' I mean jesus, 3 episodes at 45 mins each constitutes a season? Fvcking hell it does. I'd ditch them having such big name actors in it if it meant getting more content.

I also can't help but feel like theres a huge drop in quality between seasons 1 and 2. The last episode of season 1 is utterly heartbreaking, but so far everything I've watched in season 2 has just been like "OK, I see where this is going immediately, so now I just have to stomach it."


----------



## StevenC (Nov 15, 2016)

MFB said:


> Biggest disappointment for me with BM has been the incredibly meager amount of episodes per 'season.' I mean jesus, 3 episodes at 45 mins each constitutes a season? Fvcking hell it does. I'd ditch them having such big name actors in it if it meant getting more content.



Welcome to UK television. Britta sums it up well:


----------



## MFB (Nov 15, 2016)

Thinking back on it, I did have the same qualm with Luther, although Peep Show ran longer I believe? 

Friggin' Brits, of all the shows you let go on forever and it had to be Doctor Who?!


----------



## feraledge (Nov 15, 2016)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> Same here. That was the point.
> 
> In the portrayed reality, humans are kept under control by that rating system. They coerced to be cordial to each other and pretend to be perfectly happy in order to function about their daily lives. And then some humans become the "top influencers" and devote their lives to climbing as high as they can in the rating system - even abusing the system.
> 
> The sad part is that the rating system from that episode is entirely plausible, and I could possibly see it in the near future for humans with how our lives and society revolve around social media nowadays.



They're actually discussing this happening in China. So many people coming into "the market" without any major credit system and this is the backup. What is scary about BM is how dangerously close all of this is. 
China "social credit" system on BBC

Unquestionably my favorite show, possibly ever. 
If you're looking for more along these lines, the new Alexander Weinstein collection of short stories, _Children of the New World_, is right there with it: 
https://www.amazon.com/Children-New-World-Alexander-Weinstein/dp/1250098998


----------



## Steinmetzify (Nov 15, 2016)

feraledge said:


> *They're actually discussing this happening in China. So many people coming into "the market" without any major credit system and this is the backup. What is scary about BM is how dangerously close all of this is.
> *China "social credit" system on BBC



Holy ....ing ..... Are you kidding me?!


----------



## feraledge (Nov 15, 2016)

steinmetzify said:


> Holy ....ing ..... Are you kidding me?!



The future is not a good place.


----------



## Faldoe (Nov 25, 2016)

feraledge said:


> They're actually discussing this happening in China. So many people coming into "the market" without any major credit system and this is the backup. What is scary about BM is how dangerously close all of this is.
> China "social credit" system on BBC
> 
> Unquestionably my favorite show, possibly ever.
> ...



Yeah, it's not dystopian in a very far in the future sense. 

The whole series is great. S3 E1 was really hard to watch. Lead actress is really cute though.


----------



## TedEH (Nov 28, 2016)

Finally got around to watching some of this. They really push the whole "technology is bad" thing a bit, but super entertaining otherwise.


----------



## extendedsolo (Nov 28, 2016)

TedEH said:


> Finally got around to watching some of this. They really push the whole "technology is bad" thing a bit, but super entertaining otherwise.



I don't think they have pushed the "technology is bad" so much as "here's where technology can go wrong and sometimes terribly wrong." Quite a few themes from modern society are touched on here and not really explored, but interesting none the less.

I liked most of them, and obviously some more than others. 

I haven't seen many people mention it but I liked San Junipero the best. It at least had a happyish ending, even if they acknowledged the potential pitfalls of such a reality. Other standouts were The Entire History of you, White Bear, Be Right Back. 

I really enjoy watching the twilight zone, and this is right up the same alley.


----------



## MFB (Nov 28, 2016)

White Bear was a cool concept, but something about it just dragged on for me. Can't put my finger on it, and it irks the hell out of me since it's so close to being a full length movie on it's own.


----------



## TedEH (Nov 28, 2016)

Yeah, I get that's what they were going for- I just mean that there are certain scenes or shots that are clearly an over-exaggeration of the theme. It works perfectly well for the sake of the narrative, and I appreciate it as much, as long as you don't think of it as being too strong a commentary on the current direction technology is heading.

Like there are several shots where you can tell it was framed intentionally to show how everyone is glued to their phones- the statement being made by the shot is clearly that this is an unnatural and detrimental way to be social. It works great in the context of the show. It's a bit heavy-handed as a comment on how people actually use their phones though. The narrative doesn't need to deep-dive into any realistic implications of phone use, it can just say "using phones this much is bad" and leave it at that. If you frame is as a "made you think" moment though, I think the statement falls a bit flat. 

I don't think it takes away from enjoying the show though.


----------



## mongey (Jan 11, 2017)

Had a break from it 

just watched S3 ep1 . was good . scary and poignant 


gonna force my wife, who is a chronic Instagramer , to watch it 

I have liked them all so far. some more than others , but they all have been worth watching


----------



## mongey (Jan 16, 2017)

just watched shut up and dance

well, that was messed up


----------

