![]() ![]() Alex Lawther’s Kenny is blackmailed into following seemingly aimless directions after he is caught on camera masturbating to images on his computer, with the assumption that if Alex completes his instructions, his act will not be broadcasted to his friends and family. and you're in the right mindset to watch this episode- truthfully, I binged "Nosedive," "Playtest" and this one in a row and was clocked out from being beaten over the head by allegories. But after consideration, sometimes there’s nothing wrong with formula if it is done well. Upon first watch, I wasn’t a big fan of “Shut Up and Dance.” I thought it was too formulaic, and the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be. ![]() ![]() The ending of this episode is a lot like “The National Anthem,” where we expect one course of action to take place, only to have a slight diversion at the very end leave a bitter taste in our mouths. We see Hayley Atwell’s character struggle mightily with the balance of physical presence and actual humanity, and how our online selves are just that- they’re not the whole version of us, they’re just what is most likely the cleanest version of us. “Be Right Back” is brilliant in that is far more “big picture” than all other episodes that came before it. For the first time, we see some big-name actors (Domhnall Gleeson and Hayley Atwell) featured in a Black Mirror episode, as Ash and Martha, the latter of whom attempts to regenerate the former in an experimental recreation method. The first two seasons of Black Mirror go back and forth with episodes that are an in-your-face kind of allegorical, and episodes that make you take a few minutes and think on what you just saw. Now, what do teddy bears have to do with any of this? It only gets scarier when you learn that the dogs in question are based off the robotic dogs created by Boston Scientific that can pull a damn truck. The cat and mouse (dog and mouse?) game runs swiftly through the gorgeous countryside, with the human consistently trying (and in some ways, brilliantly succeeding) to outsmart the pursuing machine. For an episode with a premise as basic as it is, the intricacies of “Metalhead” shine through, from Maxine Peake’s excellent performance, to the horrifyingly real design of the dogs, whose weapons only scare the viewer even more as they get more and more sinister. The setup is simple: Bella (Maxine Peake) attempts to shake a killer robot “dog” that has tracked her. It’s shot entirely black and white, and despite having the shortest run time in the entire series (41 minutes), it manages to pack in as much intensity as any long-form Black Mirror episode. “Metalhead” exists in the same vein as The Terminator franchise, in that we’ve got humans running away from machines that are trying to kill them. The first one through the wall always gets bloody, though. Getting to compare endings with your friends is a lot of fun, and hopefully we get to see more “user-directed” projects in the future, perhaps even away from Black Mirror. Bad but in a different way,” because that’s not what their nature as humans favors. ![]() But when given the choice to guide a character, most ordinary people aren’t going to love options that are: “A. Black Mirror is a show that has its intense and overwhelming moments, forcing you to be uncomfortable as you watch ordinary people come to terms with the terrors of technology. I just can’t help but feeling pigeonholed by the choices laid out for me. The acting is great, with Fionn Whitehead and Will Poulter (who I still can’t get over being British) leading the charge, and the story is creative enough, as an amateur game designer struggles to get his idea off the ground after being hired by a video game company. I just wish it were a little more fine tuned. The “choose your own adventure” narrative is genius. Like, why doesn’t Owen Teague’s character Trick call the police on Marie when she confronts him about sleeping with Sara, since the Arkangel program was deemed illegal in America? Why does Sara have to beat the shit out of Marie with the damn tablet instead of throwing it away? Have Marie and Sara never had the talk about individuality and helicopter parenting? It’s got some cool twists and some shocking moments, but overall, I see some wasted potential here with “Arkangel.”īlack Mirror ’s first “movie,” as it were, is extremely creative in its premise. But there are plenty of plot holes to distract me from their relationship. I can certainly understand where both parties are coming from here. Rosemary Dewitt’s performance as Marie is effectively and increasingly agitating, albeit heartbreaking, as she wrestles with being a helicopter parent to Sara (Brenna Harding). It had a cool concept, similar to what we see in “The Entire History of You,” but opts to focus more on the family aspect instead. This episode didn’t really go anywhere for me. ![]()
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