Spoilers, obviously! I just wanted to talk about it a little bit
I was surprised at the number of non- technology themed episodes.
100%
I mean I’m not complaining all episodes minus the one with the paparazzi’s kept me super hooked but this season seemed to be more about horror scenarios
Photography and videography are a kind of technology. It’s ubiquitous now, but still quite new.
The concept of recording every detail of your life in photorealistic quality (as opposed to, say, writing it down) is relatively new too. I thought this season did a good job of exploring the effect that sort of technology has on us. Do things get unearthed that should have stayed secret? When is searching for the truth at the expense of someone’s privacy justified? How would the Loch and Mazey Day stories differ if they were set in the 1500s?
I’m going to jump in while it’s empty here because I’ve only watched the first 2 episodes so far. It’s what season 5 wanted to be. Them trying new things with the format but in a way that makes sense. The first episode managed to talk about tech being used in a new interesting way and it even had the second (first successful) happy ending! It felt comparable to the Miley Cyrus episode but less Disney movie. It was fun while still feeling (mostly) grounded. The second episode was another second time for the series. It was strictly current tech, a story that could happen right now. It was also interesting as not a look at the terrifying implications of technology, but instead about terrifying people through the lens of technology. Also, double dig at Netflix?
I was pretty happy with this season, they do seem like they are playing around for a spin-off and I’m into it. Demon 79 was delightful. I guess my least favourite was Beyond the Sea, but for a really petty reason. A long term space voyage that requires two people to operate and they didn’t stick more than two people up there?! Contingency plans are good!
I really wanted to like Beyond the Sea, but I feel like most of the plot of that episode could have been avoided if they had just sent the replicas into space instead. I think I must have missed the part where they explained why they couldn’t do that or something…
They said something along the lines of “the real mission is to test the human spirit”, so if almost seems like the mission was an expirement to see if they could depend on the system for real crucial missions.
That’s the only logical explanation. Their reality has the ability to instantly transfer consciousness, build completely lifelike Android-clones, create artificial gravity. The only way the whole thing “works” is if it’s more a psychological expirement.
Oh no, that’s even more frustrating!
Demon 79 was my favorite. I feel like they really nailed the style of 70s horror movies, especially when she’s first driving to work and all the shots are panning from static cameras.
It really had me guessing if the demon was lying or not right up to the very end. It was brilliant to do it that way. Everyone expects a twist in Black Mirror and it didn’t twist.
That one specifically called itself red mirror at the start. Wonder if it’s a spin-off possibility with horror
That’s interesting. The last two episodes were way more horror than Black Mirror’s typical sci fi. A red mirror spin off would be cool.
I’m really disappointed with this season of Black Mirror. I probably over hyped it. My rankings are:
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Demon 79 (I fell asleep on this one…)
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Mazey Day
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Loch Henry
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Joan is Awful
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Beyond the Sea
Demon 79: I don’t have a lot to say, since I fell asleep on this one. The retail fantasies were pretty funny iirc. I never got to see the demon
Mazey Day: It was fine, but the whole werewolf thing bugged me. Seemed too “V/H/S” to me. I was really expecting there to be a pack of “rabbid” paparazzi, like comically rabbid.
Loch Henry: this was a great episode, but again didn’t feel like it belonged in Black Mirror. It could have been its own horror film. But I get if someone pitched a good idea and they couldn’t pass it up. Seems like streamberry was shoehorned in just to make it fit with BM.
Joan is Awful: probably the most faithful episode to the series. It’s good, I don’t have any issues with it, necessarily. Given the nature of it, nothing seems out of place.
Beyond the Sea: This is my favorite episode of the season despite the awful ending and corny hillbilly zealots. There was so much potential in this one, they could have ended it any other way and it would have been better. The ending was just pure shock factor and I have been racking my brain trying to think of a motive besides “If you won’t let me have your family, then you can’t have them either.” Which is just annoying to consider.
Hartnett could have left Paul out in space while he stole his replica and transferred himself into it, after which he would just stay inside his replica until he died in space. This feels so unnerving just thinking about it.
Hartnett could have been adopted into Paul’s family, and they could have coexisted like that until the mission ended, after which he would become the “cool uncle.” Of course, he would have had to change his ways, which would have been part of the growing to be better process.
Or Harnett and Paul could have come to an agreement between themselves and Paul’s wife to continue sharing Paul’s replica, and Hartnett would see to Paul’s wife’s emotional and physical needs, while Paul continues to be the rock in the family. This would be a kinda weird, but still happy ending. But black mirror isn’t a stranger to this kind of ending lol.
What do you guys think?
I think the Black Mirror-ness of Loch Henry is unusually hard to spot, but it is there, albeit not as relatable to the viewer.
Young, tech-savvy film school grads try to make a generic true crime documentary but get wrapped up in the horror themselves, despite the main crime happening decades ago.
Might be more relatable if we were all documentarians. Or maybe we aren’t watching enough true crime meta.
Demon79 is what you get if O. Henry wrote a 60s/70s thriller. It doesn’t fit Black Mirror at all beyond the “there’s a twist”.
That said, I loved it. Give it a rewatch but go in as you would for Insudious, The Conjuring or any other creature feature. It shifts the expectations and helps a lot.
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That episode kept me guessing the entire time, because I did want a more cliche ending (kept waiting for Paul to wake up dead). I like the direction it went, Hartnett was tortured and had to watch unspeakable things and lost all that he cared about, that he would become infatuated with the first warm-blooded woman he got close to was not unrealistic at all, if anything he could have been more obsessed. When Paul was mad he threw all that he had in the guy’s face, destroyed Hartnett even more. I did not expect the ending but the surprise made it better. The story felt like old pulp sci fi.
The only thing I struggled with in that one was how uninvolved NASA or whatever was with their astronauts and the replicas, like there’s no way they’d be left alone to do whatever the way they were.
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The NASA side is what bothered me. I really enjoyed the rest of the episode.
When David’s family was killed… why wasn’t there any real response from NASA? Bring him home, change personnel? Anything? You have this ship being maintained for 6(?) years by only 2 people, and one has had a massively horrible event impact his life and he’s just supposed to keep trucking away for years. The only human interaction is seeing his partner once a week or if an emergency happens?
I don’t even remember if there was an attempt to justify it, but considering the lack of response, the rest of the episode feels like a natural playout of events.
This leads me to question if they have the technology to beam their consciousness back home, and they have fitness equipment, could they not also have entertainment beamed to their spacecraft? I get not having human contact is tough, but… They could be bingeing Joan is Awful on streamberry
Same on the disappointment. I liked Joan is Awful, Beyond the Sea, and Demon 79. Loch Henry and Mazey Say didn’t really do much for me. I wouldn’t say any of it was bad, but it feels like the series is reaching its end. Maybe that’s the reason for the Red Mirror branding on Demon 79?
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I liked Beyond the Sea but thought Aaron Paul detracted from a decent story. He wasn’t bad, but he does suffer from playing Aaron Paul in most things. Would have been a better little scifi short with no names in the two major roles. I mean Joan is Awful was right there. He could have been the ex boyfriend and himself.
I agree, I don’t think Black Mirror needs celebrities, other than 6x01l ofcourse.
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I love your username. George Costanza is the GOAT
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I also really enjoyed Mazey Day especially because it felt like my expectations were being subverted The reveal really surprised me.
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I didn’t even know there was a new season. There goes my night.
Short season, short night. If you’re a power-binger, you’re gonna need a backup show.
Any suggestions? I’m in need of a backup
Waaaaait there’s season 6?? Not gonna read this thread :P
I hated it. There was almost no actual sci fi, and I didn’t like any of the people. Did they have any good qualities about them? To me they were all just annoying, self obsessed, people I would not want to be around for even a minute.
Salma Hayek, was she payed per amount of times she could say disgusting things and talking about asses? Also what was the entire thing with how she was Salma Hayek so she can do what she wants? She is like a really bad actress. Where is the confidence coming from?
Also going to shit in a church? Why are these characters being so disgusting? Specially all the females were genuinely disgusting. Why? Is it empowering for females now to act like teenage men or something? I don’t get it.
In previous black mirror seasons, I felt that it had actual nice people. But this season I really felt like a bomb could go off and nobody would be missed.
I don’t really see how having bad people makes the show bad, especially in the context of Black Mirror. Some of the most beloved shows, especially Breaking Bad, are basically all characters who just seem to be awful (in their own ways). Also, which women in this season are disgusting? Even the Joan thing had a clear reason behind it and was intentionally supposed to be vulgar. I don’t think that’s much different from previous seasons.
Yeah I didn’t understand it was intentionally made to be like that until someone pointed it out. :)
I feel at the core of Black Mirror is subverting the viewers’ expectations and while initially it was very rooted in technology I’m cool with it straying beyond. And while Twilight Zone is probably its closest living relative (yes, there are others - outer limits, tales from the crypt, amazing stories, darkroom, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Gallery, etc) I don’t feel like the twisty ending is as much a part of the series as the ability to provoke the viewer to relate to the subject matter differently - subverting our own thoughts on something. Evocative and subversive. And if that is the tenet for Black Mirror I think this season is a success. Like those other series, staying on theme can run the well dry after some time. Also things become formulaic and stagnant. I’m cool with letting them flex. They’ve earned my goodwill for several more seasons before I complain.
I’ve only gotten through three episodes so far, but it’s doing pretty well so far.
Honestly, I think my favorite so far is Joan is Awful. Just the right level of sci-fi, and it’s the only one that I didn’t see the big twist coming way beforehand.
Loch Henry is good, but I always feel like the non-futuristic-technology episodes have their own club in the corner of my mind that just… feel almost out of place. Not saying they’re bad, but I definitely feel like they’re at a disadvantage for me.
Did not like this season at all. Everything feels like a deviation from the typical black mirror to supernatural. Loch Henry and beyond the sea was good but the end of beyond the sea had me disappointed.
I liked most of the season but except episode 1 they were very poor episodes in the Black Mirror context.
Not sure why they are doing this with Black Mirror. They were decent short stories but most of them had nothing to do with technology.
Where can I watch black mirror in the US? Are all the seasons in one place, or are they spread across different platforms?
