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| Black Mirror Season 6 |
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 17th June 2023, 11:02 AM
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#21
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 Mansonette
Joined: 7 March 2006
Posts: 35,316 User: 54 
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Yes that's exactly how I felt - I could totally see the social commentary side and think it is spot on with people's obsession around true crime as though it's a tv show and the using the horror of a real life situation to gain plaudits and awards etc. But nothing really on tech - I'm with you, I don't think they can count the links to streaming platforms as tech. Maybe they feel we've already got a place where the tech is horrifying enough that they don't need to do anything further(!) but I feel that they so easily could have done with this one - like they totally could have used it to turn it into a tech based theme attraction to get the visitors back and then had the reveal that it was the parents linked in to the modern day happenings by it genuinely starting to reappear with modern day tourists
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17th June 2023, 11:14 AM
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#22
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 Jacob Alan~
Joined: 12 March 2015
Posts: 4,983 User: 21,664
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QUOTE(dandy* @ Jun 17 2023, 12:02 PM)  Yes that's exactly how I felt - I could totally see the social commentary side and think it is spot on with people's obsession around true crime as though it's a tv show and the using the horror of a real life situation to gain plaudits and awards etc. But nothing really on tech - I'm with you, I don't think they can count the links to streaming platforms as tech. Maybe they feel we've already got a place where the tech is horrifying enough that they don't need to do anything further(!) but I feel that they so easily could have done with this one - like they totally could have used it to turn it into a tech based theme attraction to get the visitors back and then had the reveal that it was the parents linked in to the modern day happenings by it genuinely starting to reappear with modern day tourists Tbh yeah, tech is getting pretty horrifying and perhaps the way streaming services work is bad enough, though I hope they wouldn't be talking about turning the death of a film maker of a documentary into a drama straight after the release of said documentary in real life. Maybe the industry is that awful though? Holograms/ avatars in the basement as an 'attraction' could have been absolutely horrifying and could've worked really well but maybe that would've been too much to cram in. |
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26th June 2023, 04:17 PM
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#23
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 I'm a paragon so don't perceive me
Joined: 3 February 2011
Posts: 37,421 User: 12,929           |
sorta kinda was drifting through these aimlessly, decent stuff but nothing really outstanding but they finished really strongly with Demon 79. I don't mind the supernatural stuff creeping its way in at all, because oh my god the social commentary was FINALLY. GODDAMN. ON POINT. with this one. In a way it hasn't been since USS Callister I don't think.
So I instantly noticed the similarities to Death Note (very good show to remind me of of course), and my instinct was that Brooker was trying to make a Death Note, in that the supernatural push to kill inspires discussions about the nature of killing, but one where you don't have a psychopath as the main character and instead someone ordinary. And therefore, an 'if you were forced to kill someone, who would you kill' discussion and it's really cool that towards the end the protagonist starts to go about her task in a more systemic fashion where initally she was lead towards punishing individual crimes. It's really well placed in its time period too, the casual racism springing out of every corridor, the backdrop of a broken country and politicians lining up to 'fix it', the Cold War terror.. And overall it was a really fun watch, great chemistry between the two leads bouncing off each other and their interactions with this world plus great musical inserts that got better as the episode went on.That bit with the Tory MP saying 'you know what I really am' was so on-the-nose I had to laugh but also TRUE. It didn't take itself too seriously and it was better for it. the rest of these in approximately the order I'd rank them Beyond The Sea... Aaron Paul is great. There's a good moral dilemma here and I think they threaded the needle well on making all the things necessary for the plot to happen happen. Very well telegraphed episode and gutsy in going for the harsh nature of space, being so far out and so lonely that the breaking of the thing designed to combat that makes once successful men break, you need human companionship. Good episode, I thought it'd be my favourite before Demon 79, not a perfect BM episode but it's a fine new take on the dark side of space exploration. Loch Henry... I enjoyed the commentary on holiday destinations suffering due to outside circumstances. And the spoilered commentary above which I completely agree with. Most forgettable episode of the season though. Mazey Day... good to see something set nostalgically in the mid-00s, first time I've seen that, did beat you a bit over the head with it with around 10 'did you know it's the mid-00s' in the first 10 minutes. Okay commentary on overuse of cameras and lack of privacy but the plot moved along with far too many contrivances really and the twist was just a little dumb. Joan Is Awful... I'm so sick of meta commentary on Black Mirror. It started with a good concept, 'you sign away rights to these corporations' (that I'm reasonably certain wouldn't actually hold up in a court of law in the way they presented it but w/e) but squandered it with a very unrealistic execution - the biggest problem for this episode is the central problem with current generative AI, the 'procedurally generated' content they produce just would never be popular in the way depicted and while I guess this episode was made before ChatGPT took off it just fails to meaningfully critique that which is a bit of a central failing. And just ended up being a way for Annie and Selma to f*** about really. Michael Cera's bit was the best thing about this because it knew how stupid it all sounded. an improvement upon Season 5 and if they're doing the Red Mirror thing to give themselves a bit more original writing room then sure, whatever, go for it. I thought the show was done finishing season 5, finishing this one felt good. |
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26th June 2023, 06:16 PM
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#24
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The owls are not what they seem
Pronouns: He/him
Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,132 User: 9,232
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I finished this last night as well, it definitely felt like the least 'Black Mirror' season yet, and honestly, I'm OK with that (well if the Red Mirror episodes are anything to go by then mixed feelings but we'll get to that x). Black Mirror is a social commentary as much as it is about technology and it can still make intelligent points without relying on technology, many of which just don't have the same impact because a lot of Black Mirror concepts of early days are on their way to becoming actual reality now!
Quality-wise, it was definitely an improvement on the damp squib that was S5, but still a bit uneven to say the least. I think it has definitely peaked, but still varied and interesting enough to be good TV, my overall ranking: 01; Demon 79 02; Loch Henry 03; Beyond the Sea 04; Joan is Awful -big gap- 05; Mazey Day If Demon 79 was indicative of Red Mirror, then I'm really on board. I agree with the Death Note comparison, it also put me in the mind of Good Omens and Dennis Potter BBC Play for Today films which I'm really into. The commentary as Iz stated was really strong, the characters really well portrayed and outside of a slight overegging of the 1979 references especially musically, I was really engaged throughout. would've been delightfully twisted for the apocalypse never to have happened and for it all to have been in her head, as reflective of her downgrading mental state in the face of discrimination and loneliness she is facing, but it says a lot of how likable the lead characters were that the more positive ending worked well too, also I can now associate something else with Bright Eyes outside of rabbits in peril yay x Loch Henry is really underrated for me, I was thinking how little it appeared to be like a Black Mirror episode, but then that ending came and it all made sense. Utterly brutal and quite a classic Black Mirror bit of sharp satire. Beyond the Sea was a tad too long I must confess and simultaneously quite rushed for the climax, but very impressive outside of that. Great performances from the two leads and attention to detail and aesthetic of the time period, and a great focus on the emotional impact of the technology and the gut punch of an ending which is really what the show does best. I'd like more like Demon 79 and less like Mazey Day if Red Mirror is staying. That was pretty awful, the writing, dialogue, and characters were utterly paper thin and its quick running time doesn't give you any time to flesh it out and it makes its message seem ridiculously simple (Paparazzi not considering the mental health of celebrities bad...and?) and the twist was just utterly ludicrous and almost made me laugh out loud, it was very clearly written around it and was probably going for an Inside No. 9 vibe, but it completely missed that the well-constructed story and intrigue told before the twist is what makes that so effective. This made no sense outside of a cheap 'gotcha' moment. |
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26th June 2023, 06:28 PM
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#25
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Mansonette
Joined: 7 March 2006
Posts: 35,316 User: 54
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I would struggle to rank these but I agree with Chez that 4 of these were fine and Mazey Day was significantly worse than the others. I too almost laughed out loud at that moment and didn't care one bit whether any of the characters survived or not.
I quite like the concept of the series changing to black/red/any other colour mirror to be able to tackle different styles of show. I enjoyed both Joan is Awful and Beyond the Sea but neither trod any new ground really so maybe they really have just run out of good new ideas for that format - I'd rather they just stick to one 'Black' episode per series if that's all they have to say about tech at that point in time. |
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16th August 2023, 03:29 PM
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#26
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 4 November 2013
Posts: 30,552 User: 20,053
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Finally finished watching S6 yesterday and here's how I would rank them:
1) Loch Henry - very gripping and unnerving throughout 2) Demon 79 - a little silly in places but had me hooked throughout the episode 3) Beyond The Sea - this was the most similar to the previous series with the quirky concept and was pretty good if a little drawn out 4) Joan Is Awful - I found this a bit too gimmicky and reliant on the cast, the concept was good though 5) Mazey Day - this was alright until the monster part where it became laughably bad and I lost all interest This post has been edited by Dobbo: 16th August 2023, 03:29 PM |
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10th December 2023, 08:25 AM
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#27
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New Entry
Joined: 6 December 2023
Posts: 20 User: 173,576
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Very interesting and unusual
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