Black Mirror Season 4 is out on Netflix

Watching the first episode right now. Holy fuck!

Who knew Steve Bannon was a decent actor?

I thought that was Matt Damn the whole time.

Matt Damon*

I thought this show was diverse before it became a MUST. Now almost EVERY couple must be mixed race.

SPOILER. I wasn’t crazy about the episode when the woman kills not only the nicest Indian insurance adjuster her handsome husband AND baby.

That wasn’t Matt Damon!? Wtf

HOLY SHIT!

Season Four is superb...

Of course, "USS Callister" is the big budget awards bait... and it was totally spectacular.

But, for me, "Hang The DJ" was the best of the six.

There will undoubtedly be comparisons to the (rightly lauded) "San Junipero", but I thought "Hang The DJ" was very powerful and profound in its own way...

All were very good, but "Hang The DJ" really made a mark on me. Ditto "USS Callister".

Excellent series, excellent season.

It was an okay season that ended with a real turd. USS Callister was my favourite one and every single nerd who argued with me here on DL over Discovery and Orville this past year should watch it. But I have to say, the technology is starting to look samey at this point so I hope they freshen it up a bit next season.

Shirtless men feature in the fourth episode but there's no gay content, if anyone's interested. Billy Magnussen looks amazing.

Oh, and if you notice mixed relationships and then bitch about them online, you just might be a deplorable.

Nobody has a comment about Jodie Foster directing, "Arkangel"? I quite like the ambiguous endings.

I just finished the insurance adjuster one.... this season is really good so far. There are a few things I'd criticize but it would be too much of a spoiler and they aren't that important. I wish they would do more than 6 per year. It is very dark and fucked up as usual.

Please just tell me that no one fucks a pig.

Black Mirror: Jodie Foster Wants To Work With Netflix ‘Forever’

R11 No one fucks a pig.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I thought "Arkangel" (directed by Jodie Foster) and "Crocodile" (w/ the insurance adjuster) were big disappointments. And "Metalhead" was really tedious.

Really enjoyed "Hang the DJ," though, and thought the actors had great chemistry. I'm saving "USS Callister" and "Black Museum" for tonight.

R13 I also thought Arkangel was nothing special. You knew what was going to happen when the kid got older as soon as that device got implanted into her. The only shock for me came when she discovered her mother put the pregnancy termination pill into her smoothie. And the child acting was just atrocious; Jodie should've terrorized those kids into better acting, given the casting was so shit.

Crocodile also went as expected but at least managed to evoke paranoid feelings in me (all those bodies I buried in the woods better stay buried!), and Metalhead just feels so inevitable with the rise of A.I. that it made me nervous and depressed.

No episode of any season comes even close to San Junipero for me. That one was simply genius and felt like a proper movie. The lack of bleakness helped a lot as well.

The best Black Mirror episodes are bleak IMO.

"White Christmas", "Shut Up and Dance", "The Entire History Of You"

It all gets a bit much when you're binging it, though. And people have already started making fun of all the doom and gloom all the time in this show.

[SPOILERS]

These are my random incoherent thoughts. If you don't like opinions don't read but it's probably best you don't read them anyway.

USS Callister- I wish they would have addressed more of who we are on the internet versus reality. More illustrations on how the 'nice guy' may still hold deeply seeded misogyny. Or that society's view of a leadership means unequivocal command- "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." They attempted to highlight this by having the new girl rally the troops, but we never see the guy receive his consequences for poor leadership [the ending is repercussions for being an ass hole, not for being a poor boss (Although you could argue that the Christmas update being his downfall is just that.)]

Arkangel- I did like that they showed a little of child psychology and that we need fear to survive in our lives. But I would have liked it further addressed that the mother needed her privacy but did not respect her daughters. I also would have liked it more if we saw the mother adjusting to her changing daughter rather than pretending as if she didn't know what was going on. Just one scene where she attempts to be the "cool mom" by showing her daughter how to use a condom on a banana would be hilarious. I would also like it if they addressed if being an overbearing parent is a form of abuse. They hint at the boyfriends troubles at home but I thought it was odd that there was never a "we are both victims" moment. I did like how the daughter turned her mother's safety into a weapon, but I agree the ending was predictable.

Crocodile- Was more shock value than anything. I'm not sure how they would have gotten a clear picture from the hamster though. While I understand them spending time on the insurance lady so that our heartbreaks at her fate, I would have liked it if we get to see the killer woman in her ordinary life as well. The only time we are introduced to her is as a killer from beginning to end, would have loved to see her as a mother, the very thing she was defending.

Hang the DJ- Interesting concept. I would have loved for the twist to be not a simulation. I would have liked it if they didn't settle for "love is magic" felt a bit too Disney-esque. I did like the message that questioning a relationship dooms it. However, I am not sure about the idea of staying in an unhappy relationship so you can learn more about yourself. I did like how in the real world their faces weren't as picture-perfect as in the sim, that was a great touch.

Metalhead- I didn't like this one. It felt like one of those shorts submitted to a film contest- all concept, no depth. We don't know why anything is the way in this world, or the characters' relationship to one another, but that's the point. We aren't supposed to know or care because the episode wants to capture the fear of being hunted. And that's my problem with it. Black Mirror has always been concepts with depths, characters and their relationship within the world they live in. The emotion that's captured is palpable because it's similar to what we experience but changed (evolved?) with the technology. I agree that a story doesn't need these things but I wish it didn't feel so disjointed from other Black Mirror episodes. It's not a bad piece it just wasn't my taste.

Black Museum- Everyone said this was the darkest episode but I guess I'm desensitized. I did think it was strange that she was willing to put her father to rest but not her mother or the teddy bear. Anyway the curator was a tough sell because they had to show him as very unsympathetic and not complicit. Which they did by making him money hungry, which I kinda hated because it's such a cliche. I wasn't sure if they wanted us to cheer for the daughter because I kept thinking "What if it doesn't stop here?" We just had an episode where a woman killed to keep her secrets how far will this woman go in the name of her version of justice?

Overall- I wish they had really gone deeper into the complexities of humanity and social interaction. What compels us to reach out and download a dating app? What drives our need to survive even beyond death? What is love and is there such a thing as wrong love? There were a lot of interesting questions they could have brought up, but they just glossed over them which was weird because they never did that in previous seasons. Still, an enjoyable watch but these episodes will have to be placed in my least favorite.

One thing I absolutely loved was that they addressed the legality of all these things. Almost every episode of the previous seasons I would remark "That can't be legal." so to finally have that said by the characters was a sigh of relief.

This is the first time in a long time I have enjoyed something Jodie has directed. My only beef with the episode is the actress playing the 15 year old daughter looked 35.

I liked most episodes but there was no wow! Factor. Even the Star Trek spoof one didn’t excite me.Jesse Plemons is a great actor but I kept thinking he’s too fat to be Captain Kirk especially in a video game version of the show.

Nothing could make my skin crawl and my blood freeze more than the "Men Against Fire" episode. That one stayed with me for a very, very long time.

I thought Rosemarie DeWitt was excellent in "Arkangel."

"Hang the DJ" also was very good.

Jesse Plemons not only looks like Matt Damon, but was shocked at how much he sounds like him too. I guess this was the first thing I've seen him where he's not doing an accent. The internet calls him Meth Damon.

That was the once beautiful Nicholas Campbell as grand daddy Steve Bannon in Arkangel. Time and booze is a bitch.

And the Gamer691! Jesse Pinkman!

Technology Bitch!!!!

R23, There is no way that NC is 65- he looks like he's 80.

I'm not sure if I like the inclusion of Americans (being American myself), I think Seasons 3 and 4 are suffering because of it.

Jesse Plemons also played the psycho Nazi who imprisoned Jesse on Breaking Bad. They called him "Meth Damon" back then.

I agree the show really just glossed over the social psychology and stuck to the techie side more than usual.

[quote]I would also like it if they addressed if being an overbearing parent is a form of abuse.

This is a very interesting point that rarely (if ever) gets brought up - and they had a chance to do it in the exact way you said r17...and your other points are good too. I still liked this season so far (still have two left) - but it could've been improved.

Also, the "15 year old" truly did look 20-30.

R6 SPOILER ALERT

All that murder and the killer missed the rodent. I can't believe she missed the hamster. That did her in.......

To those that complain that the show is diverse.....it is and it isn't. There are a lot of black people and interracial relationships BUT virtually no Hispanics, East Asians or Gays. More gays and that would be step in the right direction.

Arkangel was a perfect vehicle for Jodie Foster in that it portrayed the helicopter, overbearing psychologically abusive mother as a victim of society's (men's) ills merely trying to protect her precious daughter. I hated this episode from the very beginning.

I didn't see it as having to do with men... I saw it as related to the chip technology that is put in dogs and cats & could easily be expanded to humans (and already is, indirectly, though car GPS or phone GPS - albeit far less comprehensive). Also, it really touched on the whole precious snowflake thing - like how much bubble wrap are kids covered in these days & how are they supposed to cope with the world when they grow up? E.g., the pixelation of her own grandfather having a heart attack

I wished ArkAngel had gone more into the kid being unable to handle life without the mother filtering and protecting her.

Loved hang the DJ.

How did the other kids know she had the chip?

They never made it clear. She probably couldn't see things that other people could see & people knew how it worked before it was banned.

Re: the hamster. Animals do not perceive figures, colors and shapes the way a human eye and brain does. That was lazy writing, I think.

[quote]Black Museum- Everyone said this was the darkest episode but I guess I'm desensitized. I did think it was strange that she was willing to put her father to rest but not her mother or the teddy bear.

They talk about the tech available during the episode. This takes place after San Junipero. They also remarked that the human consciousness can now be uploaded into androids as well. The woman in the teddy bear and her mom can be easily pulled out of the bear/her mind and placed into something else or even into the same world as San Junipero.

[quote]We just had an episode where a woman killed to keep her secrets how far will this woman go in the name of her version of justice?

The point of the title of "Crocodile" was that the woman cries "crocodile" tears. Anytime Mia was crying (and they made sure they focused on her tears) it was fake. She was a serial killer. Nishi on the other hand clearly had an objective that will probably end with the destruction of the museum. I did think it spoke volumes about her that when she left she took the teddy bear with her. She wasn't going to let the woman inside of it die. She wasn't who she was after.

[quote]How did the other kids know she had the chip?

The mom had the safety feature on so the kid was pretty open about when she couldn't see things.

[quote]Re: the hamster. Animals do not perceive figures, colors and shapes the way a human eye and brain does. That was lazy writing, I think.

This is true R33. Hamsters can see but not very far at all. Unless she spoke or said something he shouldn't have been able to identify her (since their hearing is just fine.)

Crocodile was relentless and the best one so far. Arkangel was boring and predictable.

How I would rank the episodes this season

1 Hang the DJ

One of the few happy endings we get depending on your point of view

2 USS Calister

Too many plot conveniences mar what is an otherwise great episode. Actors are incredible and the dark humor is done really well. Definitely the best looking episode of the season.

3 Black Museum

Would have been my favorite except the first story doesn't really integrate with the main plot (I think that deserved its own episode, it was that good.) If your sense of humor is extremely dark, you will absolutely love this.

4. Arkangel

I enjoyed the episode but didn't really care much about the ambiguous ending. The daughter looked too old. Still solid.

5. Metalheads

Very basic and straightforward but filmed in such a way that you never feel like the heroine is safe. I also liked her resourcefullness. The black and white cinematography helped too.

6. Crocodile

Pretty disappointing episode. Too fantastical even by Black Mirror standards. The ending was bad as well and hardly made any sense. Still, great performance by the lead actress and some uncomfortably tense moments.

I was going to post my complaint about the hamster at r10 but I thought people would say I was being too picky & that the show already has plenty of other unbelievable things. Neuroscience (as we currently understand it) and nanotechnology wouldn't support the existence of a chip like that... so I just went along with the hamster thing. You can't extract anything from the visual cortex either...not in any way that could be translated for another person to see. You can see the visual cortex work in different ways on fMRI scans during different tasks - but that kind of chip wouldn't ever exist in humans. It would be easier to implant a little camera in your hairline or something, but that wouldn't be able to block your vision in such a perfect way (tied to cortisol levels, which also rise and fall through the day, unrelated to stress... but alas... I just went with it).

Oh I just mixed up the killer-mom-architect episode with the episode about the mom with the daughter who had the chip , but you get what I mean.

Re: Crocodile: the animal you're referring to is a Guinea Pig, not a hamster! !!

I watched this on my radio and had a good laugh.

Did anyone else notice Kirsten Dunst’s cameo in episode 1? I thought it was a someone that looks similar but I rewound and googled, it’s KiKi!

Also about E1 even though one was dark and the other is a comedy Galaxy Quest did it better.

"Black Mirror Season 4 Is At Its Best Finding Hope In Otherwise Bleak Scenarios"

I think this article gets to the core of what I was trying to say earlier. I don't mind the bleakness at all, but I do need that shiny twist or even just an intimation of hope. And no, the guinea pig did not provide that for me. Neither did the robot dog episode.

Also, why does everyone keep mentioning the ambiguity at the end of the Arkangel episode? What's ambiguous about her daughter running away from home? Or are we supposed to think the mother might be dead or something?

Just starting with the new season. USS Callister. Wow! Totally geeking out about who I recognize from other projects (Jesse Plemons - Other People, Jimmy Simpson - It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Westworld, Michaela Coel - Chewing Gum and The Aliens, Billy Magnussen - American Crime Story and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt).

I think no other show can fuck with your brain (liking the protagonist and then *bam* he's a real jerk or creep). I mean I should expect it by now, but the show still tricks me.

I think someone should put a stop to the whiny fanfraus who want more episodes like San Junipero and Hang the DJ - Black Mirror has always been about exploring the darker aspects of technology in human lives and it should remain that way. San Junipero was an anomaly in the third series (but, really, when you think about it, the "happy ever after" ending really is rather fucking bleak: eternity in a coastal resort that could get switched off if the company goes bust?) and Hang the DJ is also pretty bleak as well - you all assume they're going to be happily in love for the rest of time based on...what, exactly?

For me, I found Arkangel unnerving at times. The idea that you can chip your child so you can find them with GPS isn't exactly a new one, but the idea of turning on a perception filter? Or that you can hack into their viewpoint and see what they're doing? That's a bit grim. But the one episode that I found remarkable was Metalhead. Simple reason - ninety-five percent of the time it's one character fighting a CGI robot and because it's all shot in black and white, it's left ambiguous just *how* injured she actually is and thus we're forced to rely on her whimpers and limping. As for the comment about how annoying it was to not "explore" the world more to see why it's the way it is...why should they? Some of the best things happen when you allow your mind to wander. Has there been a war? Has there been a viral outbreak? Have the robot dogs slaughtered everyone? It's also helped by the fact that it's one of the shortest episodes - had it been the usual run-time, the episode would have dragged on. But it's not. It clips along at a fair, decent pace and Maxine Peake was fucking brilliant (as usual).

USS Callister was brutal. I'm already seeing reviews on it where science fiction fans either love it or hate it and those who hate it are, no surprise, men. Yes, the science is iffy (but hey, it's a space-opera episode in a science-fiction series. Shut your fucking hole, you armchair scientists!) but the story is clever. My particular snort-inducing moment was the realisation that the crew were as anatomically correct as a Ken doll and the most emphatically-expressed desire wasn't for a long hard screw, but for a female character to enjoy having a shit (who also had a killer line about her skin colour being ever-so-slightly-racist). Was Daly a monster? Yes *and* no. I've known many male sci-fi fans who write fan fiction and roleplay in Star Trek and it's amazing how much these men vent their frustrations with the modern world via their chosen fandom. There's a classic story of someone creating a Star Trek RP board where homosexuality doesn't exist ("thanks to the marvels of the Eugenics Wars"). If anything, Daly is what fanfic authors call a Gary-Stu, male version of a Mary-Sue, aka the Perfect Girl, who can do anything, who always gets what she wants, who saves the day, etc. If anything, I would have liked to see USS Callister focus more on that.

And I think someone ought to put a stop to people calling anyone with a different opinion a "whiny fanfrau". We all want different things from our shows and your preferences have as much weight as mine.

[quote]Black Mirror has always been about exploring the darker aspects of technology in human lives and it should remain that way.

In your opinion. I think San Junipero was refreshing precisely because it broke with this - by now - stale formula.

Yeah, it's so "stale", R46, that it's received pretty much near universal acclaim? Haven't you got something to go post over at the rancid cunt-pit at Jezebel?

[quote]I think San Junipero was refreshing precisely because it broke with this - by now - stale formula.

Agree. It was also the most narratively complete episode, with a strong beginning, middle and end.

The bleak episodes *can* be great... when they have an ending that matches the promise of the premise. Quite a few episodes have started off really strong and then completely fizzled out or limped to a lame conclusion, as though Brooker didn't know where to take his great idea or how to end its story. "Arkangel" is a prime example of this, IMO.

Or maybe Brooker - who has said this when asked about it - prefers ambiguity? It's a very American thing, having a start, middle and finish. You don't need everything wrapped up in a pretty bow when the books closed (how boring a world that would be).

[quote]Or maybe Brooker - who has said this when asked about it - prefers ambiguity?

Sure, definitely possible. But, for me, ambiguity is better as an exception rather than the rule in a series like this.

It's great to leave the occasional episode open-ended, but when it happens repeatedly it starts to look like an easy cheat: "I don't know how to draw this story to a close, so I'll just leave it without a proper conclusion."

It depends on how you see it and what the episode, or episodes are about. Do you think the purpose of Arkangel was to show the kid's entire life from birth to death or was it about breaking free from her helicopter parenting mom? Or was it to prove mom right for spying on her child and end with the message that the daughter is off worse without her mother spying on her?

Sometimes when people declare that an episode has an open end with no satisfactory ending they don't get what the intent of the episode was. Is USS Callister open ended, because we don't know for certain the crew's fate at the end just flying off into the open wide digital outer space?

Hang The DJ (love the reveal at the end why the episode is called that way) suprised me, because it made me realize that I couldn't remember the last time I was rooting that much for a straight couple to make it.

I know I've seen Charlie Brooker somewhere, maybe on British TV shows? I looked him up on IMDb and he's never been an actor, always a writer. So either he looks like somebody (a comedian) or he had a sideline doing comic bits on TV, maybe Have I Got News for You?

"That's Gillian from Marketing." A very funny mashup of "Star Trek", "Silicon Valley," and "Starship Troopers."

I'm not a Star Wars or Star Trek fan, but I absolutely loved the series premiere. That censor filter in Arkangel was exactly like the block feature in White Christmas. I only got 2 episodes in so far.

[quote]I think someone should put a stop to the whiny fanfraus who want more episodes like San Junipero and Hang the DJ - Black Mirror has always been about exploring the darker aspects of technology in human lives and it should remain that way.

The series creator himself said he wanted to do a few more episodes like San Junipero.

It's like arguing with Vincent van Gogh that since you didn't like his paintings beyond Starry Night that he should simply keep doing different variations of it over and over again.

What the series is or isn't about is Booker's call. You like it or you don't. San Junipero and Hang the DJ may not have had bleak endings depending on how you interpret them, (there's still a small change the couple in Hang the DJ may not make it) but they still deal with the repercussions of technology.

Hang the DJ was my favorite, probably because it was lighter, less bleak, not filmed in darkness. Black Mirror suffers from its focus on technology so that in the end, everything points to technology as the cause. Twilight Zone was great because it could tackle any subject without boundaries.

I would like to see more anthology series. It's nice to see the story ending in one hour. I know they tried to make a reboot of Twilight Zone years back that bombed as people were comparing it to the original.

[quote]I would like to see more anthology series.

Have you tried Hulu's Dimension 404?

R58 I thought the only real good episodes of Dimension 404 were Polybius and Impulse. I'd still watch it if there was another season.

Kiki Dunst is engaged to Meth Damon??!!

Watched the whole fourth season and it was all in all pretty great. Not sure which I like best, USS Callister, Black Museum, or Hang The DJ. The other three are great, too.

[quote] Kiki Dunst is engaged to Meth Damon??!!

Abd reportedly pregnant by him.

I thought Owen Teague was Austin Butler with his hair dyed black for the entire Arkangel episode.

R62 Must be True Love(tm). I have no other explanation for this, especially after having looked at her exes.

They fell in love while making Fargo, Season 2. She left dreamy Garrett Hedlund for him. Maybe he treats her better cuz he sure is not in the same league as Hedlund.

He just needs to lose a few ponds like 50.

The Hulu show needs to be more adult it’s practically G rated.

R64 Oh, wait, that's the same Hedlund who was butching it up to eleven with his voice at the Golden Globes nominations ceremony? Christ, that guy is trying [italic]way[/italic] too hard. I can see why she'd get bored with a narcissist. And after that Hang the DJ episode, I shouldn't really judge pairings by their looks, anyway.

Plemons wasn't bad looking when he made Breaking Bad and that was over 5 years ago. The added weight ages him, he is actually younger than her (6 years?) but he looks older with the Dad bod.

I wouldn’t call it a dadbod. He is just fat.

Plemons keeps getting hired for A list projects (look at the IMDb)which surprises me because he sure doesn't seem that talented.

Jesse's a "go to" guy if you want to cast a "Flyover Deplorable Who's Potentially Psychotic."

(Still need to check hi out in that Molly Shannon movie).

I love that Molly Shannon movie but Jessie plays a fat gay guy who no problem getting dates who aren’t chubby chaser.

That Molly Shannon movie and Fargo (and now Black Mirror) are the only things I've seen him in. He seems competent enough but he's not a revelation or anything.

In Breaking Bad you want to get a gun and kill him yourself.

See, I can't even recall watching him in Breaking Bad.

I imagine Kirsten waking up one day and saying "WTF? Where did fat-assed Matt Damon go? Was it all just a dream?"

Is Kirsten Dunst a drug (heroin) addict? She was awfully thin when she did Spiderman.

Is Kirsten Dunst STILL a drug (heroin) addict?

Jesse is the one who coldheartedly killed Jesse’s girlfriend. He was skinny then.

First noticed Jesse on Friday Night Lights where I knew right away the kid had talent. He seemed to get better looking as he got older since he was a fairly unattractive teen. He never was handsome but he seems to have hit the wall again looks wise.

Plemons has been in films by Paul T Anderson, Scorsese, Scott Cooper (twice) - so he definitely has the eye of a bunch of trendy directors.

Does Plemons have actual facial pock mark scars or was this for the episode?

I saw them too. Can’t remember if it was in the video game scenes but if it did probably thery are his in real life.

Oh he had them in the game, just had a crapton of makeup on.

They need to make an episode where they can make your pets live as long as you want and then some, A. I. style so you can cry your eyes out. Perhaps they'll be the pre-cursors to the Metalhead dogs.

Just got through metalhead.... my least favorite by far. What was even the point of that? They only get 6 episodes and they wasted one doing a bad Terminator knock off, without any actual plot.

"Aye, aye, Nanette"? Any showtune-loving DL'er would have seen that coming.

Plemons' pock marks are real. I thought he was cute on FNL, but has aged weirdly, he's only 28 or 29 but looks over 40.

He needs to spiff up in public a bit if he wants to break out of the mobster/thug/schlubby roles he keeps getting. He's talented but seems to be typecast due to the weight problem (it's not just a female issue for actors) and the fact he presents like he's going to work at a Texas truck stop everyplace he goes, including premieres. Dunst is such a high fashion darling you wonder why she hasn't influenced even a little bit.

I don't think Plemons has to worry about work. He's not a leading man, he's a character actor. His look is the typical working class white guy who drinks beer and voted for Trump.

I guess someone needs to play the Philip Seymour Hoffman roles.

Spoilers? Probably.

Right from the beginning, Jodie Foster never knew how to direct young actors. That kid from that piano prodigy movie was horrible. (On the other hand, Harry Connick never looked hotter before or since. So thanks, Jodie!)

Rosemarie DeWitt has gained weight in a weird way. There was an aerial shot of her from behind; her hips were really, really disproportionately wide.

The DNA transferring doohickey from the Callister episode was one of the items in the Black Museum. It still had the lollipop on it.

The best young actor in Friday Night Lights was not Plemons, but the one who played Matt Saracen. WHET that guy?

Statisticians must be getting a chuckle out of the 99.8 percent figure in Hang the DJ. It turns out it's not a success rate across couples matched, which is what the company had everyone believe, and is how one would interpret it by default anyway. Rather, it's a success rate across multiple simulations for a single couple.

r36 The pain sensation technology developed in the first story was how they figured out how to simulate death by electrocution in the main plot. The museum keeper said so. You're right; the second story is better integrated into the main plot. But because all the stories were integrated into a neat bundle, this episode was for me the best.

The pain addict doctor is hot. I recognize him as Rob Delaney's friend in Catastrophe. Apparently, he's also Muriel's swimmer crush.

Metalhead is completely out of place, and would have been in any other season. Shooting it in black and white just emphasized that. The attempted heart tug at the end is lame and unearned.

[quote]There was an aerial shot of her from behind; her hips were really, really disproportionately wide.

I think that was padding, added by the wardrobe department to emphasize that the character was getting older.

That was also one of my beefs with the episode -- DeWitt looks the exactly same throughout the 15-or-so-year span over which the episode is meant to take place. Same hairstyle, same clothes, looks the same age, etc., so I figured the added hips were the show's way of saying, "Hey, she's getting older and putting on some weight." But only on her hips.

Finally watched "USS Callister" and "Black Museum," and agree with others that those were the strongest of the season. The three mini stories in the latter would have each made good standalone episodes, too.

The AV Club gave the last episode the worst score of the season and I agree with that completely. If nothing else, it dragged like hell.

DeWitt not ageing at all while a 30-year-old played her 15-year-old daughter made me laugh out loud. So many bad choices on Jodie's part. And wasn't she a child actor once herself? So what's her excuse for seemingly being unable to direct kids properly?

[quote]So what's her excuse for seemingly being unable to direct kids properly?

I imagine she thought she wouldn't do the same mistakes her directors did to her or something like that.

I love Black Museum, Hodge as devious museum owner and in his sinister hospital profession was a delight for me.

The first story with the pain doctor also ties in with the the other episodes through the news reports of the murder and the guy getting caught.

I had no idea the depth and breadth of Easter eggs/winks/links throughout the series. Breakdown of them all at link below. I caught some of them as I watched, but completely missed many, many others.

Enjoy!

Hamster < Guinea pig < Rabbit (< Hare)

Never fucking forget it.

The prolbem I had with Black Museum is nobody is that big of an asshole.

It was truly horrific but the best one was Crocodile and Andrea Riseborough was excellent. I liked Black Museum though it got too convoluted. Metalhead was simple though very effective. The Arkangel and Hang the DJ were the weak episodes for me.

A good season but nothing came close to the brilliance of Bryce Dallas Howard in Nosedive (probably helped it was directed by Joe Wright) and San Junipero.

I actually liked the ending of Arkangel. My boyfriend pointed out that the daughter's running away at the end connects with her running away at the beginning, which is what prompted the mother to get the chip. The mother mistakenly thought the chip would shield her daughter from harm but in the end it just shielded her from real life, screwing her up in the process.

I've seen all episodes except Black Museum. I liked them all except Metalhead, which was visually interesting but left too many questions unanswered. Hang the DJ was absolutely brilliant. Did not see that ending coming at all.

Is Jesse Plemons related to Philip Seymour Hoffman somehow? He looks so much like him, especially with the glasses.

[quote]Jesse is the one who coldheartedly killed Jesse’s girlfriend.

Hogwash.

Yeah, I agree r98- liked them all except Metalhead.

I am surprised AV club rated Black Museum so low. I just read their critique and I get their points, but the episode wasn't that bad unless you were looking for things to pick apart. Yes, it was obvious that the curator was a "bad guy" and the thing behind the curtain would be something pretty bad. It was a bit parody-ish with the doctor who had some massive S & M fetish after experiencing death through that pain / emotion transfer device.

I get that the show has become a bit repetitive...and I agree there. It's too often "neuro-tech" as they describe it... most of which takes a huge leap of faith to believe would ever exist, if you know about neuroscience (kind of like physicists watching star trek - knowing you can't really move faster than light without effects on time & so on). But you can suspend your disbelief enough... until they keep repeating the same things over and over (thought transfer, storing consciousness, etc... enough of that already)

Hey, everyone, this month, Amazon is releasing an anthology series like Black Mirror called Electric Dreams,, mostly stories written by Philip Dick, whose works inspired Blade Runner, Minority Report, etc

This will be interesting to see how it compares to Black Mirror.

R102 Thanks for reminding me! I wanted to create a thread about it months ago but forgot. Let's discuss it there.

Some people have only recently discovered the meaning of the title...

[quote]am i the only one who didnt know black mirror was called black mirror because when you look at your phone or computer screen after it's turned off you see your reflection on the black screen...it's a black mirror..

And, r104, she has apparently been posting her thoughtful hot takes of the new season here.

I thought the end of Metalheads was hilarious. It was basically a post-apocalyptic quest for a must-have toy (for Christmas).

I was distracted at the end of Metalheads but I thought it was one of those teddy bears with someone’s soul inside.

R107 I thought that too. Sometimes Black Mirror episodes have connections.

[quote]Sometimes Black Mirror episodes have connections.

That's an understatement! Please see R94 for a comprehensive list of connections.

Overall, a big falling off from the first three series. And Douglas Hodge's attempt at an American accent was a big fail.

Will they ever add gay characters? They don't mind lesbians, but god forbid they'll portray gay men!

Yeah. Why don’t they give us a great episode like they gave the lesbians?

Did anyone else notice the props in Crocodile from 15 Million Merits from Season 1? The song they kept playing and the porn movie, Wraith Girls and the comic book, 15 Million Merits, the Indian husband was reading?

Yes 4 seasons in and no major gay storyline bums me out. We'll probably get a trans story first.

In Callister, what was the ultimate fate of Walton?

R94 thanks

R115 Deletion of consciousness aka brain death.

[quote] I've known many male sci-fi fans who write fan fiction and roleplay in Star Trek

"Many" is the word that freaked me out here.

Thanks R94-- great link. Much appreciated.

I had picked up on the 15M Merits graphic novel, but not much else.

They should do an episode where an adult transes and they're able to go back and make all their memories be of themselves as their new sex-- sort of like that book that Maura gets in Transparent that turns her into a girl in all her childhood photos.

[quote]Did anyone else notice the props in Crocodile from 15 Million Merits from Season 1? The song they kept playing and the porn movie, Wraith Girls and the comic book, 15 Million Merits, the Indian husband was reading?

I read a theory that the character in Crocodile (Ellen Degenerate, as some have taken to call her) is the woman who designed the place where the bikers are "trapped" in 15 Million Merits, as she is said to have built a new kind of affordable community housing. So while she enjoys her great wide windows, the poor are trapped in her design.

[quote]Jesse is the one who coldheartedly killed Jesse’s girlfriend.

[quote]Hogwash. Jesse did not kill his own girlfriend. Coldheartedly or otherwise.

I believe the poster meant that the character Todd (played by Jesse Plemons) killed the girlfriend of Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul).

So the actor Jesse killed the character Jesse's girlfriend.

Whew!

R99, I'm glad you mentioned the similarity between Plemons and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I saw both the Matt Damon resemblance as well as the Philip Seymour Hoffman, but I believe the later is stronger... I think he's a talented actor--similar to Hoffman in that you can see (as the Black Mirror character) his longing for recognition and respect--as well as his attraction for the new hire.... He's subtle in his acting--like PSH. I think he'll go far--if given the chance!

[quote]Will they ever add gay characters? They don't mind lesbians, but god forbid they'll portray gay men!

Isn't this the way it always goes in sci-fi type stuff. Lesbians are a-okay! Gay men are a no.

I'm giving them one more chance. If they don't include gay men in the fifth season, I'll become convinced the showrunner has something against us personally.

r124, Dimension 404 had a gay main character in their Polybius episode. But nothing explicit (no kiss or making out). Just him having a crush on another guy.

Wasn’t Bryce Howard’s brother gay? He is played by a DL Fave and can’t think of his name right now.

DL fave James Norton. And there wasn't a single line that would have indicated he's gay, I think.

His character did say something that he would move in with his mates and that got the ball rolling for her having to look for a new apartment and she wanted to move into a place where she had to have a significantly higher popularity rating (or it would more affordable that way).

Jesse Plemons - Matt Damon

Jimmi Simpson - Christian Slater

But moving in with their mates is not exactly something gay men do regularly, is it? Or perhaps (gay) throuples are totally an established thing in the future? In any case, I think that's reaching a bit. I want a proper gay male character with kissing, at the least.

Notice how the woman got to experiment with a female partner in Hang the DJ, but we didn't see the same with the guy? Hate this subtle shit that's sorta queerbaiting but not really, and even then only for lesbians.

[quote]Notice how the woman got to experiment with a female partner in Hang the DJ,

Yep... I did see that. Was wondering what other people thought of it. Normaly I'm not the type to be like "wah - my people aren't represented..." because I find it to reminiscent of comments like "The Crown should have more trans women of color!" but it was interesting that they are so plentiful the lesbians and not with gay men. Sci fi tends to do this, though I think BSG had some one gay character outed much later, but plenty of pseudo-lesbianism, especially with the main cylon. Star Trek TNG almost had a gay episode but they made the race genderless and of course the actor playing the genderless alien who fell in love with Riker was female (could you imagine if it was male??) Enterprise tried to touch on HIV by using a "stigmatized virus that only people who partake in improper mind melds" get. T'pol contracted the virus. But Man on Man in sci fi is not so common. The geeky sci fi writers do love some girl on girl, though.

R132 I'm sorry but your The Crown comparison is ridiculous on its face and diminishes the rest of your argument. One is a period drama of still-remembered history that is valuable for and judged by - among other things - its historical accuracy, and the other a futuristic sci-fi anthology series. They can do whatever the hell they want in the latter and there's nobody stopping them but themselves.

Fuck, I knew some dumb partially-illiterate queen would think I was making an actual analogy and get all cunty about this. R133 - I wasn't making the comparison, nor was I making an argument . I was giving an example of what the whining about under-representation REMINDS ME of. Are you confused by that for some reason?

I am completely aware that one is a period drama which should have no trans people of color, but you know they will still bitch and moan about under-representation.

I will say this though. I don't really understand why people feel like they are owed representation in someone else's creative work either. I didn't get into it, but it is a very entitled mentality. That's an argument I will stand behind....nothing related to The Crown. Get over it. Gay people are 5% of the population and therefore should be in 5% of tv. The same goes for all minorities & hiring, school admissions, etc... You'll be represented relative to your existence in the population. Why should you get more? And really, you're not writing it so why should you get any?

It only became relevant to me because interesting to me because of how they through in the lesbian scene on "hang the DJ"

And again, I wasn't arguing anything - I was citing 3 other sci fi shows that also avoid gay issues, particularly male. Sci fi nerds (viewers and writers) are straight men who want to fantasize about women - not gay men. THAT was the only real point I was making, but apparently you lost it at the "comparison" to the lack of trans people on the crown & couldn't bother to read the rest.

Threw*

Christian even now is considered a pretty boy i like Jimmi but I wouldn’t say the same for him , r130.

Seth McFarlance's The Orville has a male Alien couple raising their child together (but in that case the species has rarely females and they are considered inferior).

When it comes to Sci Fi shows homosexuality is not explored very much or represented very often. The only hot and steamy guy on guy action and romance I can recall is on Doctor Who spin offs Torchwood and Class.

Sorry, Seth MacFarlane

Not being aware of his other work, I took forever to place the co-captain as Lyle the intern on Letterman.

FWIW, Amy didn't choose to experiment being gay. Coach did that for her. (Yeah, I think it matters.)

I was looking at Jimmi’s IMDb page and it looks like he won’t be on season 2 of Westworld. I haven’t seen the first one yet.

Metalhead was a massive adrenaline rush. You were basically in the episode with Maxine fleeing from the nearly indestructible canine-esque killing machines. And the fact that she got herself killed trying to get a new teddy bear for a dying child speaks volumes.

Also Nish taking the teddy bear with her after torching the museum and saving her mother's consciousness was touching.

Yes, gay male characters in mass media sci-fi are rare. The BSG spin-off that tanked (Caprica) had a gay character played by Sasha Roiz.

Here's a picture:

I just find this whole series to be dark, depressing, and a chore to sit through (in most instances) in a way I’ve never felt with “The Twilight Zone”.

There’s usually some dark comic relief in TZ episodes—whereas 99% of the time “Black Mirror” is just turgid and bleak and so self-aware and self-serious...

*not saying it’s badly made—I just don’t love it

BUMP

We're almost there...

Scary stuff.

Sorry if this is clueless, but I read somewhere that there is a visual pun at the end of San Junipero. I guess I missed it! What was it?

R148 I just did some sleuthing and found this:

[quote]In the episode's final shot, Yorkie and Kelly, dancing in eternal bliss at Tucker's in their reality, are also shown to be a small capsule being put into storage in a futuristic facility. The name of the company? TCKR. Well played, "Black Mirror." Well played.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw's such a good actress but doesn't seem to get much career traction. Maybe too many black Brits competing for roles in Hollywood.

R145, far too bleak and joyless. Twilight Zone often had some beacon of light to give hope, whether through religious or humanitarian appeals

How many black British actresses are currently trying to make it in Hollywood, anyway? I can genuinely think of no one but Gugu right now. Michaela Coel shows no intention of crossing over anytime soon even though she's insanely talented.

And as soon as I posted that, I immediately remembered Thandie Newton!

Ruth Negga

I love Gugu. I hope her career blows up.

Ruth Negga, Thandie Newton, Letitia Wright, Naomie Harris, Carmen Ejogo...

Thanks, I'm already banging my head against the wall with these names coming in. I *hated* Letitia Wright's chav accent in Black Museum but am really looking forward to seeing her in Black Panther.

Negga is Ethiopian-Irish but I'll take it as she has lived in London for more than a decade now.

Lorenzo of Tom&Lorenzo has discovered Black Mirror:

[quote]Truly, sincerely, unashamedly obsessed with @blackmirror on @netflix. Just watched “Nosedive” Bryce Dallas Howard is great in it and James Norton is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. I need more episodes NOW.

Of course, DL in its infinite wisdom and excellent taste already has its own shrine to James Norton. And I don't know if it was the haircut but be looked much younger than his normal self in that episode. I only realized it was him just last week when someone mentioned it in this thread.

Thandie Newton is 45 her newcomer days are long over. She is lucky to be walking around nude in Westworld.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw needs a better talent agent.

Except we specifically weren't talking about newcomers, but British black actresses trying to make it in Hollywood, regardless of age. So Thandie more than qualifies.

Honestly, why is Daniel Kaluuya getting so much praise for Get Out? That was a nothing role and he didn't do any more with it than he did with the Black Mirror episode he was in. If black Brit actresses are running into problems getting roles because there are too many of them, black Brit actors are worse. Selma was nothing but Brit actors.

One thing I love about Black Mirror is how it uses actors and actresses who are mostly unknown (to me, anyway). So when I watch "San Junipero", I see Yorkie and Kelly, not Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence.

Hilarious mention of Judy.

^ Sorry, that was for a different thread!

Watched this season. Overall it was a disappointment. There wasn't any episode that I thought was truly a Black Mirror knock-out.

I'd rank them as such.

Hang The DJ- The best episode, tackling how dating would look in the future was long overdue. The twist of it being simulation was obvious to me, but I was okay with that. I enjoyed the ride and thought it was a nice moment that it counted how often they escaped together. I did roll my eyes that we got a cliche girl-girl moment even though through 4 seasons of Black Mirror there are apparently NO gay or bisexual men in the future. Still though, doesn't touch my favorite Black Mirror episodes.

Black Museum- I liked the short story approach, a nice change of pace. The ending was a little too pat, and having her mom in her head seemed unnecessary, and going against the "this technology should not be used" vibe.

Arkangel- Nothing fantastic, but a well done episode of showing how technology would be used to abuse helicopter parenting. Should have had her actually kill her mother though.

USS McAllister- I wanted to love this episode, I did at first. But as it kept going I thought the writing really let it done so it ended up petering out for me. Too many nonsensical plot plot contrivances.

Metalhead- I liked that it didn't feel like any other episode of black mirror, they went experimental. But still, at the end of the episode I just thought "That was an interesting experiment" and moved on. No real emotional connection.

Crocodile- Awful. Really just a terrible episode.

I found that Amazon's Philip Dick's Electric Dreams was slightly better than season 4 of Black Mirror. It was not as bleak and dreary, more optimistic tone, color scheme was brighter.

Does anyone remember Flesh Gordon ? Almost a good bad movie. Tall blonde stud Jason Williams got naked and was groped by a male character who looked like Robin Hood who gave Flesh a soft core blow job for saving his life. This was the 2nd movie I saw with gay content (the First was Glass House) and the first VHS I bought. Cost 100 bucks back then that was a lot of money. The film was made by a porno company(the next film they did was a hardcore Alice in Wonderland) I hoped Flesh had some hard gay content that might be released one day but it never happened.

[bold]Charlie Brooker reveals Black Mirror season 5 has started filming[/bold]

[quote]“Season five, we are filming one [episode] at the moment,” he said. “We are about to start filming another one imminently. I’m writing the next one and then it gets a bit more foggy.”

[quote]Despite Brooker’s rate of progression and a teaser on Twitter saying the show would “be right back”, Netflix has not yet confirmed a return date for season five.

Season 3 was much better than 4.

Season 3 was mediocre. Season 4 was utter shit. Season 5 i don't even wanna think about. They already had finished ideas by S2, but then came Netflix dumping a shitload of money on whoever wrote a tv script in their life (remember those times? Seems so long ago) and the brand was forever dumbed down. The End.

I'm over jaded hipsters who talk down seasons 3 and 4. That shit is good and you know it.

^You obviously have never seen S1 and S2

^I have. I think 3 and 4 are as good as 1 and 2.