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justin
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justin

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[British] Where is the BLACK MIRROR topic

It is on US Netflix, well, all but the christmas special.

What is black mirror? A modern high production values 21st century twilight zone emphasising some nightmarish future scenarios if we take the phone / digital social / selfie stick culture to some scary logical conclusions.

Is there a black mirror topic somewhere or does nobody know about this series, which would be surprising as netflix is onto it and puts it in the top recommended section.

If you saw all of them, order them by your preferences?

for me it was

National Anthem
Entire History of You
Be Right Back / Fifteen Million Credits
Waldo Moment
White Bear

Having not seen the xmas special I suspect from reviews that will slot in at #1

I didn't really like White Bear because I could not suspend disbelief in the punishment system they had setup. It had a good twist, and was dark enough but seemed an unlikely possible future

bmetelsky
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I haven't heard of this until now. You've peaked my curiosity, and I have netflix, so I'll probable check it out this week.

justin
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All I can suggest is if you find the first episode too dark & rich, and within the first 10 minutes you will either be fascinated or appalled, you pick a different one to watch. They can be watched in any order. You might have to work up to the first one.

Icarus
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I had not heard of this but after looking around and seeing its a Charlie Brooker created show Ill be giving it a try. I like his "Wipe" series and have been meaning to watch Dead Set so Ill give this a go for sure. Hes quirky.

justin
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justin

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Quirky is not the word for this series.

I look forward to the reactions from you guys. No open spoilers in the topic please!

Octavean
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Same here,...

I have not heard of it before this but have now added it to my list.

Thanks,....

TheBionic
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Never heard of it either, sounds like it is right up my alley. Thanks for the heads up. It has to get in line behind Justified though (watching season 1 on Amazon Prime), and Game of Thrones is about to start!

SixOfNine
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Watched the first episode last night based on your enthusiasm and loved it. The Prime Minister's portfolio expanded in a dramatic fashion.

Edit: For others in the thread, "National Anthem" is the first episode, and I can see why it would be a favorite. They do a much smarter job weaving in today's technology, particularly social media in this episode, than the silly deus ex machina crap that the obligatory tech whiz comes up with in American shows like CSI, Arrow, Criminal Minds,etc.

Jehu
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I watched Black Mirror a few months ago. While I enjoyed the social commentary, I found many of the situations to be too unrealistically forced, where there was clearly an end in mind for which a lead-in was stitched together, resulting in several lackluster moments. Yes it's billed as quasi-sci-fi but still...

For example: Really there is ABSOLUTELY NO way to get around fucking that pig! For a commentary on technology/social media, technology falls inexplicably flat for recourse. However the larger theme of public shaming facilitated on a global stage through "viral" media was well done.

It's certainly an interesting series worth watching.

justin
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I think when you have a format like that, a self-contained drama, 50 minutes long with no connection to anything prior or after, I'm not sure how you can contain a complete idea without it seeming too neat. He papers over the cracks very well. In a couple of the others I was thinking oh that's too convenient (for the plot) but actually not in National Anthem. I'm not sure how the situation could have been avoided, it was after all, orchestrated by someone who knew the public and the media very well (not Brooker, the guy whose shoes you see at the end).

Anyway even Dr Who needs 4 or 6 episodes to do something.

And the trend is even more to multi hour marathons where something from season 1 turns up in season 5 to shake things up.

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Watched National Anthem and found it very enjoyable. Great cast, Ive seen Rory Kinnear and Lindsay Duncan in other things and thought they were great in their parts. Fits my definition of quirky but then I watch alot of Brit TV so nothing really surprises me as far as story lines go. Still though,that it showed on Channel 4 blows my mind! Thats not something the American audience could even remotely handle. Ill be watching more of this for sure.

justin
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the acting is mostly top notch and a different cast each episode.

The next one has an actress from downton abbey in it. Unfortunately she is also an actress from the fappening

unusually consistent acclaim from imdb votes, it is interesting the the younger the voter the higher the vote, perhaps they get more of the new media / phone references than "45+" do.

RockCake
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White Bear is actually my favorite, then History, 15 Million, Anthem, Be Right Back, and couldn't get through Waldo (the only one I didn't like.)
I also haven't seen the Christmas one.

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said by justin:

the acting is mostly top notch and a different cast each episode.

And I just now see Jon Hamm is in the Christmas episode. Interesting! Might watch that one next.

DanG1974
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I originally watched this series in 2013 and watched the Christmas Special this past December.

Here's how I rank them:

The Entire History of You
Be Right Back
The National Anthem
Christmas Special
White Bear
Fifteen Million Merits
The Waldo Moment

justin
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The Waldo moment not getting much love.

I think it doesn't succeed because it tried to do too much. And that slick political operative from Washington wasn't too convincing either. Fifteen million credits second last? really? oh dear. Maybe I hate The Voice and those clone shows more than you do!

El Quintron
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I enjoyed the Five Million Merits episode, the acting is really top notch. I'm also pretty amazed at the scenarios the protagonists have to face and the social commentary is fairly intelligent.

That being said the narrative could use some work, they're so busy putting forth a great concept that the narrative delivery can fall short. It's a small issue though, seeing as these are one-shots anyway.

justin
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justin

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In several episodes I spend the first 20 minutes thinking WTF. then it clicks. At the end I feel like I'd like to watch it again. Perhaps that is by design. I don't know.

El Quintron
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said by justin:

In several episodes I spend the first 20 minutes thinking WTF. then it clicks. At the end I feel like I'd like to watch it again. Perhaps that is by design. I don't know.

I'm really interested in the series as well, it's creepy as hell too, I love that about it. Both the Merits and the Pig episode left me with a serious feeling of despair.

EQ

justin
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Entire History of You was despair as well
Be Right Back was more bitter sweet, and surprisingly, written before Her came out (I think).

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said by justin:

Be Right Back was more bitter sweet, and surprisingly, written before Her came out (I think).

I did a couple of searches on IMDB for this, it appears they were both released (Her and Be Right Back) in 2013, so there's no way one could've influenced the other.

SixOfNine
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Best Twitter reaction to Trump's announcement today that he is running for President:

"Okay, Season 2 of Black Mirror went a bit too far."


Rook008
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I spent the last two nights watching season 1, then the Christmas episode, then season 2. And although it was pretty good, it's not even close to being as good as The Twilight Zone was.

Anyway, I'd list them like this:
White Bear
The Entire History Of You
Be Right Back

The rest of them.

TheBionic
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I caught season 1 over the weekend and really enjoyed all of them.

urbanriot
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said by justin:

It is on US Netflix, well, all but the christmas special.

So I watched the first episode based on your suggestion as I hadn't heard of it before and I have to say, I really didn't enjoy it. It was uncomfortable.

Initially it was the crying woman's crying that felt like nails on a chalk board but then the subject matter... that... bothered me. While I could suspend my disbelief and get past the idea that this scenario is impossible in real life, the subject itself was troublesome.

Are the rest of the episodes like this or are they entirely different? Less offensive to consider?

justin
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the rest are less uncomfortable.

urbanriot
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said by justin:

the rest are less uncomfortable.

haha 'less uncomfortable'! I pressed forward and watched the second episode... kind of depressing that.

Since my sample set is based on only two episodes I might be off on the mark but so far this seems to be a show that exaggerates social commentary into science fiction. I'm not sure that, so far, I'd compare it to Twilight Zone or something like Outer Limits as those were more sci-fi than 'look at your life and society around you'.

I'm going to keep watching, see where this goes.

stupidmonkey
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Just finished watching Black Mirror. Would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys watching intelligent well written topical Science Fiction.

Quite a change from the crap (with some exceptions) that passes for Science Fiction on American TV.

TheBionic
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said by stupidmonkey:

Just finished watching Black Mirror. Would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys watching intelligent well written topical Science Fiction.

Quite a change from the crap (with some exceptions) that passes for Science Fiction on American TV.

Agreed, I thought every episode was really good. I even liked Waldo.

Icarus
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1 recommendation

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Netflix to make original episodes of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror