Black Mirror @ Netflix

[RossMAN]

I still haven't seen S2E2 and S2E3 yet, are they any good?

 

[OutHouse]

I really enjoyed episode 1 & 2. Just started 3

 

[slayer202]

Try the third one. It's a bit more intimate in the setting and i thought it worked quite a bit better than the first two; I actually did not really like the second episode much at all as I recall.

KT

right again, the third episode was a lot better :thumbsup:

 

[lxskllr]

I watched the first season, and thought it was kinda meh. Not a bad show by any stretch, but it didn't keep me interested enough to worry about it anymore.

 

[soulcougher73]

I enjoyed S1E3 and S2E1 the most I think.

 

[Skel]

Spoiler

Well that's what I mean. They allude to it, but don't ever say it directly or even indirectly. You have to infer it from (1) the wife's reactions, and (2) the fact that they're holding a random Princess hostage. Therefore, he cheated on his wife with the Princess. But the whole show was like that...everything felt too distant. The points of: not cheating on your wife, how social media can ruin your life in an instant, obtaining the world's largest audience as an artist, etc. Nothing was really the focus of the show other than time passing & events happening with no real consequence.

It just kind of felt like a waste of my time at the end.

Spoiler

I got the impression that the wife wanted nothing to do with him because he fucked a pig regardless of why. I also understood the Princess to not only be royalty (Brits love their monarchy) but was very popular. The popularity was the reason, I got anyways, on why the Artist took her as the hostage. No one else could have provoked the response the Princess would have gotten. I was a bit lost on why he went through with it as it's a bit much to ask of anyone to fuck a pig, even to save someone's life.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I saw all but the Christmas special episode now, very interesting stories.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Watched this, and think it's pretty overrated. First episode was very bleh. I didn't feel like any of the other episodes were that interesting either. Like the one with the husband/wife with the neural memory implant or whatever. They act like that will bring some profound change, but shit like that scenario happens already, so it's not like the memory implants actually changed anything.

It's weird, the show is decently well done and a lot of it sounds interesting but somehow ends up being less than the sum of its parts. They're taking interesting ideas but then they're basically hyper exaggerating things which actually makes it less interesting as they're taking the nuance and subtlety out of those situations. Reminds me of the movie Crash, where they just beat you over the head and their point isn't nearly as profound as they act like it is. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing but all of their stories ended up falling almost completely flat.

I see a lot of people raving about the reality TV show episode and I thought that one was pretty terrible too, although in many ways I'd say it was probably the best episode just for the middle part with the relationship. But that just highlighted how their premise really didn't matter as that aspect transcended the premise (and again, stuff like that happens already).

Actually this show reminds me a shitload of all the people bemoaning Facebook for how it's actually making us more distant and all the other gibberish that's been said about it. Basically people are focusing on the most blatantly obvious things and then making points that have been said about pretty much every new technology. Ultimately, things really don't change simply because people really ultimately are the same.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Just saw the Christmas special episode... holy shit, 3 mind-fucks in one. Gotta love fuckin' John Hamm bringing some USA to the show too, finally someone I can naturally understand. The first part was really interesting, then the time-lapse stuff was almost scary, like being in digital hell.

 

[RossMAN]

Note to self, I still haven't seen the final 2 episodes.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Note to self, I still haven't seen the final 2 episodes.

The 2nd to last one isn't all that good, the concept is intriguing but the episode itself is meh, although the ending is as close to Twilight Zone as you can get. The final episode is just so out there and great, really it's 3 episodes in one but some of the things that happen might make you think what "hell" could be without even dying when technology gets advanced to a certain point.

 

[zerocool84]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but I just watched the first episode with the Prime Minister and this was dumb. The concept was in no way believable. I can understand what the writer or director whatever was wanting to get at with this episode about being glued to our screens but not once did I get engaged because it was zero percent chance believable that anyone, like a terrorist or "artist" would want something like this done and that anyone in power of a country would go through with this.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but I just watched the first episode with the Prime Minister and this was dumb. The concept was in no way believable. I can understand what the writer or director whatever was wanting to get at with this episode about being glued to our screens but not once did I get engaged because it was zero percent chance believable that anyone, like a terrorist or "artist" would want something like this done and that anyone in power of a country would go through with this.

I actually thought the premise was interesting (i.e. a public figure having to do something personally humiliating in order to save someone's life), just their version of it was kinda shit and the end was especially a total fucking letdown. "An artist did it as a joke" and they lucked into the princess being some gutter drunk in order to try and make it seem more feasible was just more insulting.

If you hated the premise, the other episodes don't tend to go so bizarre, so don't let that episode prevent you from watching others. I want to like the show, and I don't totally hate it (there was a lot of hype for it when it came out though which it did not live up to in my opinion), in fact in season...3, there were two episodes I genuinely liked. One was San Junipero, which was just well done (its also about the only non-pessimistic episode; up to that point at least haven't watched the newest season yet), and the other...forget the name (tailspin or something?) but its the one about social media status dictating your life. The rest of the stuff has been pretty meh for me but those at least actually finally got me to feel like the show had potential.

 

[pontifex]

Amazon's Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams is similar and pretty good too.

 

[Skel]

Amazon's Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams is similar and pretty good too.

I've found myself wanting to like that show but I just can't quite get there. They have bigger names starring in it, but I found all the episodes I've seen (the first 4) dragged out and honestly a bit boring. Could just be me though.

 

[pontifex]

I've found myself wanting to like that show but I just can't quite get there. They have bigger names starring in it, but I found all the episodes I've seen (the first 4) dragged out and honestly a bit boring. Could just be me though.

Not all the episodes are good. Some left me wondering WTF I just watched and had so many questions.

 

[Aikouka]

I sometimes tell people to skip the first episode just due to the content. It might turn off some people, but the rest of the episodes aren't nearly that bad. I finally finished the show last night, and in general, I liked the majority of season four. Metalhead felt like a lot more of a horror movie than most horror movies these days, but I was a little disappointed that at one point of good tension, it fell victim to the same cliche, 2000s horror trope: the loud noise at a point of horror.

 

[zinfamous]

I've found myself wanting to like that show but I just can't quite get there. They have bigger names starring in it, but I found all the episodes I've seen (the first 4) dragged out and honestly a bit boring. Could just be me though.

There is one episode that I liked, that wasn't thoroughly straightforward like the others, but other than high production values, this series just isn't as good as Black Mirror. If possible, I guess it suffers from being a bit dated because this stuff was written back in the 60s, but it also shows how brilliant and predictive P K Dick was. these stories are just a bit too straight--they don't have the interesting twists that you get in BM.

I think I need to watch the final episodes, but so far the only Electric Dream episode that I thought was solid was the one with the mother and girl migrating from the "outlands" to join the city, and the girl trying to "fit in" at highschool, as a "terrorist."

.....only problem with that one was how it ended,

Spoiler

because I don't think we needed every single moment-by-moment detail of how everything went down with her, as it was rather explicitly understood midway through her little journey.

 

[Skel]

There is one episode that I liked, that wasn't thoroughly straightforward like the others, but other than high production values, this serious just isn't as good as Black Mirror. If possible, I guess it suffers from being a bit dated because this stuff was written back in the 60s, but it also shows how brilliant and predictive P K Dick was. these stories are just a bit too straight--they don't have the interesting twists that you get in BM.

I think I need to watch the final episodes, but so far the only Electric Dream episode that I thought was solid was the one with the mother and girl migrating from the "outlands" to join the city, and the girl trying to "fit in" at highschool, as a "terrorist."

.....only problem with that one was how it ended,

Spoiler

because I don't think we needed every single moment-by-moment detail of how everything went down with her, as it was rather explicitly understood midway through her little journey.

I also think one of main differences between ED and BM (other than which side of the pelvis the problem is on) is BM isn't too far off from what is real. I only mean that a lot of BM episodes show a very dark version of would happen with a lot of tech we're heading towards. It makes you think about the direction we're going and if it's a good thing. ED seems to be more straight Sci-Fi, with twists thrown in. I think ED's biggest problem is people comparing it to BM.

 

[Kaido]

I watched the S1E1 back when it debuted, and while the storytelling was good, the first one was not for my personal tastes, so I didn't continue with the rest of the series.

One of my friends is a big fan & gave me a short list of ones to watch and recommended revisiting the show for some particular gems. I just watched the first one on the list, S4E1 - "USS Callister". BOY was that good! Probably the most enjoyable show I've seen since Trollhunter (the Norwegian live-action one, not the Netflix CGI cartoon). It was simple, straightforward, and clear - easy to follow, at least if you have a strong tech background. There were a lot of good elements that I liked about. One was the ying/yang of the main character, how you identify with him at first IRL & then in VR, but then you see his dark side & how he is kind of paying the evil done to him forward by being controlling.

The camera work was very professional. Great graphics. Best Star Trek-style show I've seen since Galaxy Quest (which is a masterpiece). It didn't feel recycled like a lot of the newer, actual Star Trek content out there. The tech stuff was simple but solid & reminded me a bit of Mr. Robot. Lots of great little references to things like the iCloud hack, VR gaming, the pressures of coding, working under a crappy boss, etc. Kept my attention the whole time. It wasn't super complex or deep, but I appreciated the clarity of the show & keeping to the idea & keeping the idea moving along. Definitely interested to check out the other ones on the list now!