Black Mirror Season 3

[Skel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDiYGjp5iFg

It returns on Oct 21st and I for one really look forward to it.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I predict the first episode to just be a compilation of everything from the last few months of the US election circuit.

 

[BrokenVisage]

2 more days! Holy crap I can't wait to see what they came up with. I doubt they do an election episode though since they already made an episode like that ('The Waldo Effect' or something) plus this is a British show.

 

[lxskllr]

I saw the first two seasons, and wasn't really thrilled with it. It wasn't bad, but not worth adding to my minimal tv rotation.

 

[Kaido]

I predict the first episode to just be a compilation of everything from the last few months of the US election circuit.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

I watched the first episode. It was pretty safe for the series, and I could guess the ending pretty early on. Still, well acted and directed. Hopefully there are some more crazy ones in the season.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Just realized I'll need Netflix to see this, they still offer a free month trial right?

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Just realized I'll need Netflix to see this, they still offer a free month trial right?

Indeed they do.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

I predict the first episode to just be a compilation of everything from the last few months of the US election circuit.

No way, they're all different. Plus, it's a British show.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Saw the first 3 episodes. Some spoilers I guess.

Nosedive was classic Black Mirror, they touch on the concepts of this episode in bits and pieces from other episodes but this one ties them together perfectly. I don't do Facebook or any "rating" app/site but I can totally see this type of world assimilating into reality, albeit not to that extent as a business measure, but we've already seen social networking ramifications from being shunned for saying/doing something against cultural norms.

Playtest I really wanted to like based on the synopsis, have not gotten into VR gaming yet because I'm waiting for a victor to emerge but I'm very much interested in the augmented reality type of thing this touched on. I didn't like how "deep" they took it though, and the Inception-style complex it came up with. The phone interference thing screwing his brain up I get and liked how they turned that into a "you should always answer your phone when Mom is calling" message, but there's no way what they showed us in the .4 seconds he was still fine is what he experienced as well during that time in his brain.

Shut Up and Dance was just wow, very powerful, suspenseful and very much something I can see playing out in a world of malware and cameras on laptops/smart TVs/cell phones. The entire time feeling bad for that kid thinking all he did was fap on video and should just dare them to release it and take the consequences, but at the end when you know really what was up that was pretty harsh and unexpected on my part, should've paid more attention to the clues. Then the troll faces at the end, wow, so there was no monetary interest on the hijackers part even though they might've been able to make it happen, it was all just a means to screw with those people and then bury their life anyway. Hard to believe the kid won out in that fight to the death though, but I'll let it slide.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Shut Up and Dance was my favorite. San Junipero was my least favorite, and it didn't feel very BMish, which is fine.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Shut Up and Dance was my favorite. San Junipero was my least favorite, and it didn't feel very BMish, which is fine.

I liked SUaD the most so far too, Nosedive was good but maybe appreciated more by someone into social media. Gonna try and watch San Junipero tonight, saw it has Mackenzie Davis in it from Halt and Catch Fire (whose character I hate) but it is cool seeing these familiar faces make cameos on the episodes. Shut Up and Dance had Bronn from GoT (I think that was him) and White Christmas had Jon Hamm which was not someone I expected to see in a British show but loved his role in it.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Yeah that was Bronn, heh. Davis did a pretty good job in the episode, but it didn't have the dark twist that I'd come to expect from the show. That said, it was way different, and I kind of like that for what it is.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Saw the San Junipero episode last night. *has spoilers* At first it was kinda hard to get into and I was bored for about 20-some minutes into it, definitely did not feel like a BM story. Once it became clear it was a simulation/virtual world then things got a lot more interesting, and the love story that came from it was pretty touching as well, at the end it's hard not to get a little choked up. The whole "consciousness in the cloud" thing is really thought provoking to me, the AMC show Humans and that movie Chappie kinda touch on it, though I personally feel consciousness can't be "uploaded" like that. I do have a few more logic questions about this world then with the pervious episodes but the fact that it's more of a light-hearted story without the dark twist helped take my mind off that. One thing that really stood out to me is in the music, whoever was in charge of it hit a fucking home run, especially at the end with "Heaven is a Place on Earth". I mean is there a more apt song to end with as it shows those robot arms basically controlling what is essentially a man-made afterlife? I don't know, I might actually look at living in a simulation forever like that as a hell, but if you're with the one you truly love it's an interesting paradox to consider.

 

[Zeze]

It was actually obvious to me from start that San Junipero would be a VR / simulation story simply due to it appearing on Black Mirror. Because of that it was quite boring to me too.

But the ending kind of got to me. It wasn't sad. But just kind of messed me up.

though I personally feel consciousness can't be "uploaded" like that.

Exactly. If I 'upload' myself. That's just duplicating my brain and all its data into somewhere else. Is that 'data' still me? Or just a copy running around?

 

[A Casual Fitz]

It's not really you. Anything else is just copied data. A computer existing in a VR world.

 

[Zeze]

It's not really you. Anything else is just copied data. A computer existing in a VR world.

This is an old scifi dilemma, but it's tripping my mind now again.

Then how does one ensure it's really you? How do you define scientifically or 'realistically' what 'you' (your soul, whatever) is?

 

[A Casual Fitz]

This is an old scifi dilemma, but it's tripping my mind now again.

Then how does one ensure it's really you? How do you define scientifically or 'realistically' what 'you' (your soul, whatever) is?

I don't think they can. Once your brain ceases to function, that's it.

 

[Zeze]

I don't think they can. Once your brain ceases to function, that's it.

Then what if you hook up everything else to your brain then?

Keep the brain alive in some sort of a jar/cell/pod + all kinds of I/O are connected to it. Have an artificial heart pump blood or none at all, just have the brain stimulated via electric current.

Are you still you? By this logic, you are.

Do you want to live in a VR forever like this? What's the point then? What diff does it make if you just died?

Trippy.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

I like to think it would be more like Futurama heads in a pickle jar.

 

[Imp]

Bryce Dallas Howard was promoting this on Conan. Looked it up... WErd. It's like a Twilight Zone show.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

It was actually obvious to me from start that San Junipero would be a VR / simulation story simply due to it appearing on Black Mirror. Because of that it was quite boring to me too.

But the ending kind of got to me. It wasn't sad. But just kind of messed me up.

I initially figured it was a time travel episode. Ultimately I thought the conceit of it was thought-provoking, and I found the love story very moving.

Exactly. If I 'upload' myself. That's just duplicating my brain and all its data into somewhere else. Is that 'data' still me? Or just a copy running around?

That was one of the key concepts in the Christmas episode - the idea of uploading one's consciousness and, essentially, enslaving it to make life easier. I still think about that episode from time to time - very cleverly conceived and thought-provoking IMO.

 

[Imp]

I really don't get the way they're promoting this show. Bryce Dallas Howard and Alice Eve are hitting the talk show circuit... but they're only in one episode, according to IMDB.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Right. One of the women from San Junipero was on another talk show. Bryce is the biggest star, so that makes sense.

Are you actually going to watch it, Imp? Or just talk about things you see about it, lol.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I really don't get the way they're promoting this show. Bryce Dallas Howard and Alice Eve are hitting the talk show circuit... but they're only in one episode, according to IMDB.

It's an anthology series, none of the lead actors/actresses are in multiple episodes. I did see the last 2 episodes this season just never posted about them yet, but Hated in the Nation was incredibly thrilling despite having some curious plot holes and being NSFL if you're afraid of bees.