Madíson
Everything goes up by six
Netflix
Charlie Brooker's BLACK MIRROR
- Thread starter TurnerPrize
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ZenGiraffe
Who is SHE though?
Streamberry
GinAg (39)
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Episode 1 was GREAT.
big ron
Chief Super Moderator
Yeah I liked that one
Saltwater
Ex QOTB
Indie
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Watched the first two. Enjoyable so far.
I don't think the second one would get a replay in my house, but it was decent enough.
I don't think the second one would get a replay in my house, but it was decent enough.
Watched them all yesterday and thought it was great, seem to be a lot of people hating on episode 4 but I thought it was a lot of fun. I liked the angle of looking into different time periods and how historical/existing technology corrupts.
GinAg (39)
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I rewatched I Hate Joan last night. Honestly, so many moments. Selma really brought it and Annie was great fun too.
GinAg (39)
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Saltwater
Ex QOTB
Saltwater
Ex QOTB
I've watched the first 3 and while i enjoyed them a lot i thought they're also very very predictable
Episode 4 enters the chat.
Saltwater
Ex QOTB
Having seen this just now, i think in retrospect predictability is a virtue.
Indie
Adminisistrater
Watched episode 3 which was GREAT but honestly Season 2 would have told that story in about 25 minutes.
ZenGiraffe
Who is SHE though?
ZenGiraffe
Who is SHE though?
Episode 4 and 5 were a real step down from the first three, sadly.
Kate
mildly communist
I liked 4 and 5 best! Loved 1 too. 2 and 3 were a bit bloody depressing 
Indie
Adminisistrater
ZenGiraffe
Who is SHE though?
Pipo
COQUETTE :ribbon:
the first half of Episode 2 was unnecessary but omg at the buildup in the last half.
Jark
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I finished this and have lots of thoughts (spoilers obv):
Joan is Awful — a pretty average opener that in many ways reminded me of Nosedive from season 3. a very surface level commentary, I thought... the first twist I saw coming, the second (about "our" Joan also being a deepfake in the middle layer) was ridiculous and didn't serve any purpose. nobody in it felt like a real person at any moment, and even though that was made sense of by the above twist... it made it hard to care. Salma was having a ball and it was camp as tits, but lacking substance. I enjoyed the cutesy final scene though. 7/10
Loch Henry — a classic. the difference from Joan to This in terms of the character work and writing was night and day. Monica Dolan was unbelievable! WHAT A PERF. I spent a lot of it thinking the twist would be that the friend running the pub did it, so the actual twist with the snuff tapes was delicious. and the commentary in this one felt original. a total assassination of Netflix (and true crime devotees) in a smarter, much less on the nose way. 10/10, ripe for a rewatch.
Beyond the Sea — I saved this one for last thinking I wouldn't like it, which proved to be a great choice because it felt like a finale. another great episode. interesting how much time this series is spending in the past, Brooker seems bored by the present. especially enjoyed the way that it's not at all clear it's a story about toxic masculinity and body ownership until quite late on. killer performances all round. and well done for not locking Aaron Paul out of the airlock as signposted at the start. 10/10
Mazey Day — the worst ep of Black Mirror ever? absolutely nothing to say, barely engaging as a straightforward horror/genre flick, and that final scene where she lifts the camera was seen coming a literal mile away. it wasn't even stylish. what a snooze. 3/10
Demon79 — a bit of a curveball. not sure I understand the Red Mirror branding (if, as he's hinted, there are more Red Mirror stories to come) but brilliant writing, the slow cranking up of tension, the likelihood that she has actually just lost it. the romantic angle of the ending came a bit out of the blue, but I think they sold it. very stylish, obsessed with the camp as tits demon. 9/10
a pretty good series overall, I'd just have chopped ep 4 and maybe reordered the rest a bit.
what's interesting is that it was always about technology's impact on humanity, always nihilistic but with hints of optimism, but now he seems totally uninterested by technology. the main thrust now is his very bleak assessment of the human condition. all the optimism is gone. I guess reality has eaten fiction.
I want more!
Joan is Awful — a pretty average opener that in many ways reminded me of Nosedive from season 3. a very surface level commentary, I thought... the first twist I saw coming, the second (about "our" Joan also being a deepfake in the middle layer) was ridiculous and didn't serve any purpose. nobody in it felt like a real person at any moment, and even though that was made sense of by the above twist... it made it hard to care. Salma was having a ball and it was camp as tits, but lacking substance. I enjoyed the cutesy final scene though. 7/10
Loch Henry — a classic. the difference from Joan to This in terms of the character work and writing was night and day. Monica Dolan was unbelievable! WHAT A PERF. I spent a lot of it thinking the twist would be that the friend running the pub did it, so the actual twist with the snuff tapes was delicious. and the commentary in this one felt original. a total assassination of Netflix (and true crime devotees) in a smarter, much less on the nose way. 10/10, ripe for a rewatch.
Beyond the Sea — I saved this one for last thinking I wouldn't like it, which proved to be a great choice because it felt like a finale. another great episode. interesting how much time this series is spending in the past, Brooker seems bored by the present. especially enjoyed the way that it's not at all clear it's a story about toxic masculinity and body ownership until quite late on. killer performances all round. and well done for not locking Aaron Paul out of the airlock as signposted at the start. 10/10
Mazey Day — the worst ep of Black Mirror ever? absolutely nothing to say, barely engaging as a straightforward horror/genre flick, and that final scene where she lifts the camera was seen coming a literal mile away. it wasn't even stylish. what a snooze. 3/10
Demon79 — a bit of a curveball. not sure I understand the Red Mirror branding (if, as he's hinted, there are more Red Mirror stories to come) but brilliant writing, the slow cranking up of tension, the likelihood that she has actually just lost it. the romantic angle of the ending came a bit out of the blue, but I think they sold it. very stylish, obsessed with the camp as tits demon. 9/10
a pretty good series overall, I'd just have chopped ep 4 and maybe reordered the rest a bit.
what's interesting is that it was always about technology's impact on humanity, always nihilistic but with hints of optimism, but now he seems totally uninterested by technology. the main thrust now is his very bleak assessment of the human condition. all the optimism is gone. I guess reality has eaten fiction.
I want more!
Saltwater
Ex QOTB
Yes i felt i struggled to see the technology association in this installment, for the most part we wondered with mr bay why do we think these stories didn't premiere as some separate side project.
big ron
Chief Super Moderator
We wrapped this up last week, I agree that the tech element has dropped off but I still think it was a great selection of stories. A lot more digging at the media than tech which I think is very fitting for our current times.
Got to disagree with @Jark on Mazey Day, I thought it was a great episode. I only twigged where it was going when I saw the goats in the room and while the final scene was a bit obvious it was more of a full stop to the underlying message.
I don't know if I felt any of these were standout but then I don't feel like any were weak either, where as usually I have 1 in a series that I hate.
Got to disagree with @Jark on Mazey Day, I thought it was a great episode. I only twigged where it was going when I saw the goats in the room and while the final scene was a bit obvious it was more of a full stop to the underlying message.
I don't know if I felt any of these were standout but then I don't feel like any were weak either, where as usually I have 1 in a series that I hate.
cwej
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Joan Is Awful - a really strong start. Loved the commentary and the humour (Salma Hayek in particular sending herself up was brilliant) and I agree with Jark that it was reminiscent of Nosedive for some reason, even though it's very different. I think it was the tone. 8/10
Loch Henry - I loved this. Really worked for me and the tenseness as things built to the climax was brilliant. Maybe I'm dumb but I didn't see the twist coming at all until seconds before it came out. The last 5 minutes were seriously biting about the whole industry. 9/10
Beyond The Sea - a little bit overlong, but it played out as a Greek/Shakespearian tragedy in a 1960s world that has sci-fi elements and I just thought that was all really interesting. There were a couple of other ways I thought it might go in the end, but the one it went for was probably the darkest - and strongest comment on toxic masculinity and the need to treat women and children as possessions. Aaron Paul's performance is probably the best of the season for me. He really nailed it. 9/10
Mazey Day - I certainly didn't hate this as much as IMDB voters did (5.1!) but it is slightly weaker than the other episodes so far. It benefitted from being the first ever episode to go down the supernatural element so I never saw the twist coming at all, because I just would never have imagined that would be where Brooker would take it, based on his other episodes. I loved it once the shit hit the fan and thought they did the horror elements well. 7/10
Demon 79 - for me this was the weakest story, but the performances of Anjana Vasan and Paapa Essiedu were my next favourites after Aaron Paul's, which really elevated the episode for me and redeemed it. 7/10
From what it looks like the Red Mirror is an indication that it's going to be a supernatural/horror episode, rather than a 'technology goes wrong' episode. Brooker said they made 'Red Mirror' credits for Mazey Day too but elected to go with the traditional Black Mirror so as not to give away the twist.
Overall, a decent season I thought! Certainly better than Season 5 for me.
Loch Henry - I loved this. Really worked for me and the tenseness as things built to the climax was brilliant. Maybe I'm dumb but I didn't see the twist coming at all until seconds before it came out. The last 5 minutes were seriously biting about the whole industry. 9/10
Beyond The Sea - a little bit overlong, but it played out as a Greek/Shakespearian tragedy in a 1960s world that has sci-fi elements and I just thought that was all really interesting. There were a couple of other ways I thought it might go in the end, but the one it went for was probably the darkest - and strongest comment on toxic masculinity and the need to treat women and children as possessions. Aaron Paul's performance is probably the best of the season for me. He really nailed it. 9/10
Mazey Day - I certainly didn't hate this as much as IMDB voters did (5.1!) but it is slightly weaker than the other episodes so far. It benefitted from being the first ever episode to go down the supernatural element so I never saw the twist coming at all, because I just would never have imagined that would be where Brooker would take it, based on his other episodes. I loved it once the shit hit the fan and thought they did the horror elements well. 7/10
Demon 79 - for me this was the weakest story, but the performances of Anjana Vasan and Paapa Essiedu were my next favourites after Aaron Paul's, which really elevated the episode for me and redeemed it. 7/10
From what it looks like the Red Mirror is an indication that it's going to be a supernatural/horror episode, rather than a 'technology goes wrong' episode. Brooker said they made 'Red Mirror' credits for Mazey Day too but elected to go with the traditional Black Mirror so as not to give away the twist.
Overall, a decent season I thought! Certainly better than Season 5 for me.