Charlie Brooker Black Mirror

[Bob The Skutter]

HappyDayRiot wrote:

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She put 'Ash' up in the attic, the same place his mother had put all the photos of his father and brother up in the attic when they died.

I did really like this one though I'd agree that it maybe went a bit too far with the concept in bringing a robot doll avatar to life. The rest doesn't seem like something that's quite so far away or impossible.

Oh, I got that, I meant the whole "Be more like him, jump, plead, fight, etc." the screams when he does only to cut to 6 years later with him there. Guess it makes sense in the light that it resolves the story quickly but it felt a little weird.

[ITL]

The robot section may have dragged on a tad too long, but apart from that I really liked it. I was expecting a twist, so in a way I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't one. Ash being put away in the attic was a nice callback to the conversations earlier on, as well as showing that whatsherface (?) was still messed up about the whole thing.

[Belbo]

Whoah! After the slow but sensitive (and beautifully acted) start last week Charlie really went for the throat this time - I thought that was even better than 15 Million Merits.

Not so much Passing Through Gethsemane as Endlessly Climbing Golgotha ...... that was one hell of a convincing Jeremy Kyle impersonation from the Irish guy too.

Hopefully someone will send Karla Homolka a copy, just in case she thinks we've forgotten her.

[Guy Gardener]

I was thinking... Joss Whedon is going to sue.

Joss was still complaining about Dollhouse on Robot Chicken LAST NIGHT.

Although?

Was she the only attraction?

And it would have been nice to know how much a ticket on this ride cost?

[Starkers]

You do have to wonder at the logic of building a theme park around one individual. I wondered whether she had a life sentence or not? I imagined he was counting the days off her sentence which suggests it is finite. You do have to wonder at the logic of punishing someone who can't remember who they are, although its obviously about mob rule by this point.

I dunno, maybe I just wasn't in the mood because I didn't overly enjoy it. Frankly by the end I felt like Charlie Brooker had walked up behind me and hit me over the head with a sledgehammer. I think there was the kernel of a decent idea here, but I thought the direction lacked something, I’m sure it was supposed to feel creepy and threatening but I just never felt it, but then maybe that was the point and we were supposed to realise it was all being staged. Certainly when the reveal happened I wasn’t the least bit surprised, and actually at this point the show got somewhat more interesting, although then it got silly again.

And let's be honest, given that people have candlelight vigils outside of US prisons for murderers being executed, you'd have thought there would have been protests of some kind in this situation, irrespective of what she's done the entire population aren't going to go along with that.

Last week's wasn't perfect but it was more subtle, and actually creepier. Next week’s looks like it should be awful, which probably means it’ll be the best of the three…

[TheGodBen]

I thought it was good, but went a bit overboard at the end. It wasn't so much a cautionary tale about technology, more a dramatic interpretation of Daily Mail Island.

[Guy Gardener]

Technology turned us into monsters who torture a girl every day and laugh about it.

Dehumanizing.

Was it a life sentence?

[Starkers]

TheGodBen wrote:

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I thought it was good, but went a bit overboard at the end. It wasn't so much a cautionary tale about technology, more a dramatic interpretation of Daily Mail Island.

Yeah, you could have almost taken technology out of the equation and the story would have worked.

[Starkers]

And lo, another story where you could remove the technology...

Seriously that wasn't bad, it was just...well not much of anything really. I just sat there thinking "What is Brooker's point?" I may have detested The History of us last year, but at least there was an idea behind it.

And, oh look it's another Brooker Mary Sue, the angry man who's successful and oh it's so horrible to be him. Seriously does Brooker want us to feel sorry for him? And the short hand for the candidates was frankly offensive, I'm surprised Monroe didn't wear a smoking jacket and the Labour woman wasn't on an old bike and wearing a flat cap.

One redeeming moment was Monroe's throw away line "It built these roads..." which almost made the rest worthwhile...almost.

Oh and then the CIA turned up...and then Waldo took over the world...er??

Seriously I think if there's a 3rd series Konnie Huq should write it given she was involved in writing the best episode of the six by far...

[TheGodBen]

I just found Waldo to be obnoxious and unfunny, and I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. It's a timely story considering it aired on the same night that a populist anti-politics comedian won 25% of the vote in the Italian election, but like Starkers, I don't know what the episode was trying to say. I guess the message is that the world sucks and any attempt to change it will still suck. Which is kinda the underlying theme of Black Mirror, I suppose.

[Guy Gardener]

I thought it was asking "Who is Waldo?" and then the answer to t hat question was "anyone" which is the thought behind the comic book but the not he movie V for Vendetta. Totally Frankenstien's creature though, the monster escaped and rampaged.

In all, I think this was handled better in the movie SimOne.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258153/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[HappyDayRiot]

I echo the sentiments about Waldo, it didn't grab me at all and lacked pretty well everything the other five episodes have done so well. There was just so little point to it and the end was hopelessly exaggerated. CB also didn't avoid making one of the rants in this one sound like any other than his own voice which took me out of the story....well, that and 4oD's constant buffering.

Does anyone remember when 4oD was good?

[TedShatner10]

The abrubt, leftfield Blade Runner-esque police state ending was a bit shite really. The other two Black Mirror episodes were farfetched but more creepy and thought provoking.

Count me in on the Waldo episode being one of the weakest instalments so-far, though it has some redeemable aspects to it like real life immitating Waldo and to me it partially comes across as a commentary on angry internet bitching 'n moaning.

[Bob The Skutter]

Just got caught up. I'd say in White Bear the idea was mob rule and the fact people will watch some horrible things when detached from them by screens. And with The Waldo Moment I think it's more about how good ideas and messages can be hijacked when people are listening to those in power and the media.

Think about all the stuff the Murdoch press pushes that basically just benefits him and his rich and powerful friends, yet the average Joe laps it up because it's in the Sun.

As for Waldo being obnoxious and unfunny, well isn't that any and all of Leigh Francis' characters, including the bear character that pulled fake interviews on celebs? He is still popular though.

[Starkers]

White bear was painfully obvious though. see, we're as bad as she is, do you see, in fact we're worse! But it was still loads better than Waldo...waldo wouldn't have been out of place in the 1st season of Torchwood...although it would have dragged the general quality down.

Hopefully if there's a 3rd series Brooker won't write them all...