March 10, 20187 yr Author 04. NOSEDIVE http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/6c55cd32-590e-421f-acc7-14ef7af31cba/ad01fc52-39ba-414f-942e-6d3ab455ab1a_560_420.jpg Average: 9.3 Highest: 11 (Jack) 10 (lewistgreen, ionderella, HarryEzra, Chez Wombat, lotitia, jafetsgfinns, Oliver, Botchia, Josh, Liam, Klaus) Lowest: 6 (LewisGT) In a world where people rate each other 1-5 stars for ever interaction that they have and this impacts their socioeconomic status, Lacie is obsessed in getting the best rating that she can. She needs a higher rating in order to move into a better house. She has been chosen by her popular childhood friend to be the maid of honour for her wedding and she finds this as a great opportunity to elevate her rating. However, on her way to the wedding, a number of problems mean that she sees a rapid reduction in her rating. This episode was many people's first look at the show since its vastly increased budget as it moved to Netflix from Channel 4. Therefore, the episode went all out to highlight this budget change, creating an entire world that was dependant on ratings and the episode featured a pastel aesthetic. Alongside USS Callister, this is the show at its most 'Hollywood' and its most glossy but that helps it with the weird world that has been created. I find the whole idea an absolute worst nightmare as I cba with social media as it is, nevermind having to fake your whole entire life just to have access to good things! I love the whole downward journey that Lacie goes on but downward in a way that actually helps and could improve her life! The whole episode is the perfect exaggeration of what life is currently like as, particularly with things like Instagram, we're all trying to display that we're all living a much better life than we currently are, purely to impress other people. When people talk about Black Mirror all being set in one universe, I think this is the episode that doesn't really fit with that as everything is clearly dependant on ratings, particularly your access to things so that doesn't fit in with all the other episodes. Parallels with real life: the episode mixes social media with things like Uber where you rate the drivers and the drivers rate you. There's also the app Peeple that rates individuals and initially you could be included even without signing up!!! China are also proposing a Social Credit System that is intended to assign a social credit rating to every citizen regarding their economic and social status. Scary indeed.
March 11, 20187 yr White Bear is a great episode but the other two are fantastic. I don’t really mind which would win out of USS and San!
March 11, 20187 yr white bear needs to win. the twist at the end had me gagged FOR DAYS. so horrifying on multiple levels
March 11, 20187 yr not getting this crazy love for USS Callister. It's great and all but I'm just not seeing what everyone else is. San Junipero is such a warm hopeful story, the complete opposite of White Bear. <3
March 11, 20187 yr Author 03. USS CALLISTER Average: 9.43 Highest: 11 (Joe, lotitia), 10 (bridgecow, Calum, HarryEzra, Chez Wombat, Dexton, Oliver, Iz, Severin, Klaus) Lowest: 6 (HausofTroye) Robert is a co-founder of a popular multiplayer online game and is bitter about the lack or recognition of his position from his co-workers. In his spare time, he plays inside a simulated TV show space adventure within the game, where digital clones of his co-workers live in. In this game, Robert is in charge and has all the power over these co-workers. I went into this episode with low expectations as something like Star Trek has really never appealed to me so I wasn't looking forward to a sort of 'spoof' on that, even if it was Black Mirror. However, thankfully the promotion hid the real story behind the episode which meant big surprises were in store and the episode became the strongest of Series 4. It allowed the show to try out the big glossy Hollywood feel previously seen in Nosedive and this really benefitted the story. I loved how you felt really sympathetic for Robert at the start of the episode only for him to quickly turn into possibly the biggest villain of Black Mirror! The lead of Nanette was really strong and the whole episode came together brilliantly. Parallels with real life: In terms of getting a digital identity of a person, Apple has made great strides in facial recognition and replication, specifically with the new iPhone X, and a Canadian startup called Lyrebird has created technology that can nearly replicate a person's voice if given enough samples to draw from.
March 11, 20187 yr Completely deserved top 3, shows both the lightest and the bleakest the show can be brilliantly. USS Callister was the clear highlight of season 4 as well and I think the only one from that season that will be remembered as a classic. Good to see Nosedive & Hated in the Nation top 5 as well, I always thought the former deserved more acclaim than it got, it was a brilliantly timely subject matter and the palette colours, soundtrack and narrative progression was gorgeous.
March 11, 20187 yr Ooh, sorry I didn't get a chance to vote in this. Excellent Top 3 though, I love both the final two to come but probably would be more here for a White Bear win! It's such a brilliantly cruel and dark twist at the end.
March 12, 20187 yr Correct top 2, I know SJ isn't necessarily the most representative episode of the show but it's one of the most brilliant hours of TV I've ever seen. White Bear was pretty much equally brilliant in different ways of course, so haunting and really stuck with me after watching it in so many ways, thinking about so many of the little things that made up the episode and made it the brilliance it was, with what is imo the best twist in any episode of Black Mirror. Yas at Nosedive being so high as well :wub: I loved the different tone it had to many episodes, it always puts me in mind of a really good American comedy film or something in the plot and execution, I love the pastel colours of the episode which were a realy nice touch for the feel of the episode. It is still in some ways typical Black Mirror as of course it is quite bleak and despairing although I suppose the ending is somewhat hopeful in Black Mirror terms as she finally gets away from the trappings of the rating system etc and has her freedom in a weird way :lol:
March 12, 20187 yr Completely deserved top 3, shows both the lightest and the bleakest the show can be brilliantly. USS Callister was the clear highlight of season 4 as well and I think the only one from that season that will be remembered as a classic. I totally agree with this, USS still feels like the most well written of the season and the tension build is so incredibly cinematic. Good to see Nosedive & Hated in the Nation top 5 as well, I always thought the former deserved more acclaim than it got, it was a brilliantly timely subject matter and the palette colours, soundtrack and narrative progression was gorgeous. I agree with this too, I feel Nosedive is often overshadowed by Emmy winning SJ, but Nosedive holds its own within season 3, it really is brilliantly done and BDH performs the role so so well.
March 12, 20187 yr Nosedive was the Black Mirror version of Bridesmaids. So funny, and so well done. Hoping for a White Bear win, even if San Junipero is good.
March 12, 20187 yr USS Callister is a bit too high for me, it was good but it wasn't better than the few that finished immediately before it. Glad to see Hated in the Nation finish well, the concept of that episode is perfect for me and sums up the horrible side of social media perfectly. The top 2 are both great, I'd happily see either win which is somewhat fortunate. San Junipero is my favourite simply because I enjoyed watching it so much and it just touched me in a way that television rarely does. White Bear however was my favourite WTF episode, I honestly had no idea what the hell was going on and did not see it coming at all - it was all incredibly disturbing up until the reveal and I'm still not sure whether I felt more disturbed before or after it was explained.
March 12, 20187 yr Author 02. WHITE BEAR Average: 9.5 Highest: 11 (ionderella, Calum, Chez Wombat, Botchia, Severin) 10 (bridgecow, Jack, lotitia, Dexton, dandy*, LewisGT, Iz, Liam Klaus) Lowest: 7 (lewistgreen, jafetsfiginns, Oliver) Victoria wakes up, not knowing who is s or where she is. Everyone around her appears to be controlled by something as they do not respond to her and are just looking at their phones. She finds other people unaffected by the control and they go to stop the 'White Bear' transmitter whilst other people are trying to kill them. However, all is not as it seems... I am SO happy that this managed to come Top 2 as it is also in my Top 2 episodes. I always think of this as the 'classic' Black Mirror episode and one that I would recommend to be the first episode that new viewers watch (as The National Anthem isn't the most accurate introduction!). I think this is because it really is the ultimate perceptions completely flipped on their head. I never saw the twist coming and I remember being like 'WHAT, what is going on???'. It puts you in this strange situation as you've been rooting for this person, only to find out they're a child murderer. However, the ending as it is repeated over and over makes you question is a form of torture fair?? There's a lot of questions of morality that surround the episode I feel. The whole family day trip out thing makes me think of ye olden times when watching a hanging was a big public event.
March 12, 20187 yr Author 01. SAN JUNIPERO http://www.oneman.gr/pop-code/t/print/article4431769.ece/BINARY/w620/neon10.jpg Average: 9.55 Highest: 11 (lewistgreen, jafetsfiginns, dandy*, Oliver, Iz) 10 (ionderella, bridgecow, Calum, Joe, lotitia, Botchia, HausofTroye) Lowest: 5 (lewisGT) In the beach resort town of San Junipero, Yorkie makes her first visit, attending the town's club that has an 80s theme. She is a shy woman and meets the more outgoing Kelly and they go back to Kelly's house. The next week, Yorkie returns to try and find Kelly but she is told to try a different time which she does and eventually finds Kelly in 2002. Kelly states she was avoiding Yorkie as she feared developing feelings for anyone. It is revealed that San Junipero is a simulated reality where the deceased can live permanently and the elderly can visit for 5 hours a week and they have a younger version of themselves. Yorkie has locked-in syndrome after she ran her car off road due to being rejected by her parents for coming out as a lesbian to them. She wants to be euthanised to live in San Junipero full time and needs to marry in order to do this. Kelly marries Yorkie in real life to authorise the euthanasia. Yorkie asks Kelly to stay full time but Kelly wants to die without being uploaded after her husband died the same way. She decides to be buried alongside her husband and daughter whilst having her mind uploaded to San Junipero. What a winner. It may not represent the type of show Black Mirror is (a happy ending WHAT?? how dare they) but it is such a beautiful and compelling story that you can't NOT fall in love with it. It is the only episode of the show so far to win two Emmy awards (Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Writing) which is a huge achievement! The episode dives you straight into this strange world as odd phrases and odd events make you question what is really going in what initially seems to be a straightforward club. You become enthralled in the story of Kelly and Yorkie which is set against a beautiful and nostalgic setting. It features one of my favourite uses of music in a TV show as the bold use of Heaven is a Place on Earth has such a strong impact after the emotional journey you've been on throughout the episode.
March 12, 20187 yr Author FULL RESULTS 01. San Junipero | 9.55 02. White Bear | 9.5 03. USS Callister | 9.43 04. Nosedive | 9.3 05. Hated in the Nation | 9.16 06. White Christmas | 9.03 07. Hang the DJ | 8.98 08. Shut Up and Dance | 8.8 09. Black Museum | 8.26 10. The Entire History of You | 8.2 11. Crocodile | 8.15 12. Fifteen Million Merits | 8 13. Playtest | 7.91 14. Be Right Back | 7.6 15. The National Anthem | 7.45 16. Arkangel | 6.63 17. Men Against Fire | 6.1 18. Metalhead | 5.98 19. The Waldo Moment | 5.45 I honestly kept thinking White Bear had won it whilst doing the other results so it was a surprise for me too in the end! I would have preferred White Bear to win as I very nearly gave it an 11 (which would have meant a DRAW for the top!!!) but San Junipero is also an absolutely amazing and beautiful and brilliant episode of television where I was left speechless and was hit by so many emotions throughout. There are so many stunning, thrilling and jaw-dropping episodes of TV in that list and it says it all when the Top 6 all have an average of over 6. and only ONE zero was given out of so many participants, surely a rate first?? Well done everyone! :D
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