Black
Mirror 10/10
Its so
hard to describe this series other than saying that it is one of the
best series I've ever seen. Kiyoshi mentioned it to me a long while
back and I just got around to watching. It is so strange, creative,
and original. The creator of the series Charlie Brooker has said
regarding the series “each episode has a different cast, a
different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about
the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes'
time if we're clumsy.” The first season has three episodes where
neither are connected. It has been compared to The Twilight Zone and
I can see that. I'll recap each of the three episodes and there will
be some spoilers from this series that's been out for years. Ya
babies.
The
National Anthem
This
was the first episode and all I knew about it was that a pig was
involved. Oh, how a pig was involved! A princess named Susannah was
kidnapped and held hostage. The video is played for the Prime
Minister played by Rory Kinnear and his staff stop it part way
through and he is like “What do they want?” Well, the hostage
takers will kill her unless he fucks a pig live on national TV. They
send teams to look for the killers and even hire a porn star to fuck
the pig and digitally add his face on it. His wife doesn't want him
doing this shit either. The kidnappers find out and send the
Princess' finger and a flash drive to them letting them know that
they know. I won't say what happens in the rest of this episode but
it will make you feel terrible for watching things you know you
shouldn't watch.
This
episode made me think one thing would happen, then think they
couldn't possibly do it, and when it did I felt bad because I kinda
wanted it to but didn't at the same time. In forty something minutes
this show managed to say a whole lot about society and the way we
watch terrible things online which I am very guilty of. Kinnear's
acting was amazing in this and I believed every emotion he displayed
from anger, horror, disgust, and regret. And his poor wife. Jeez...
Fifteen
Million Merits
The
second episode had me guessing where things were going the entire
time. This guy named Bing played by Daniel Kaluuya lives in this
weird world where everything is automated. Everything he does is paid
for with what are called merits. You use these to buy food, use
water, skip ads on your TV wall, and purchase items. The way you earn
them is by riding this bicycle and constantly being pumped with
information and watching commercials for this show like American Idol
that will save you from boredom. Everyone has avatars like a Wii game
that socializes for them. Bing has fifteen million merits from the
death of his brother. One day he falls for this girl Abi played by
Jessica Brown Findlay and he uses all of his merits to get her a
ticket onto the show to perform and somehow makes things worse depending on your dreams.
This
episode fucked me up. Yeah, the last episode did too but this one did
for other reasons. This made me realize how attached we are to
technology and how it guides us and makes us feel important. Bing
questions why they are powering something they can't even see or use
to earn merits t buy more things they don't need. Its an endless
cycle until you are dead and someone else replaces you. I feel that
way about a lot of things in life that many find important (expensive
items, wealth, power) and this episode pushed it to the extreme.
Great acting by everyone involved.
The
Entire History Of You
When
this episode started and about ten minutes through I started to think
that it would be the weakest in this season. Mostly because I had
just been mind fucked watching these back to back so I was like
“Okay, what do you got for me?!” Patience was needed but as it
picked up I was on board. Toby Kebbell plays a guy named Liam Foxwell
that wonders about his wife's sexual history with a guy. She tells
him that it was for a week. Then a month. It was years ago. Stop
asking about it. Well, in this crazy ass reality everything you have
seen is recorded and you can play it on screens nearby for everyone
to witness through your eyes. Yes. So fucked.
If you
tell a story the reaction of everyone is to say “Show us” the way
today people ask “Did you record it/take a picture?” When Liam
and his wife get home he can not stop asking questions about his
wife's past with this guy and stays up getting drunk until he heads
to his house and drunkenly attacks him. Of course its all recorded.
Of course he finds out things he didn't really want to know and it
gets way worse when he get home and confront his wife. I was sitting
on my bed saying “No! Oh, no. Don't ask her that. Don't show him
that! Dude, just don't!”
I
can't pick a favorite episode from this season because they were all
so different from one another but enjoyable in their own way. If you
get a chance to check this show out you really owe it to yourself if
you're a fan of sci-fi, drama, or just like questioning your life
choices.
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