Klaus

12. FIFTEEN MILLION MERITS

Average: 8.00

Highest: 10 (ionderella, Dexton, Botchia, )

Lowest: 3 (jafetsfigins)

In an enclosed world with video screens for walls, people earn their living by riding stationary bikes to generate power in exchange for merits. Bing has inherited millions of merits and spends 15m on Abi so that she can enter a talent show as he has nothing else to spend them on. The judges feel she is better placed on a porn show, causing anger from Bing...

First of all, can we appreciate that this episode is co-written by Konnie Huq!! (also starring newly Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya) Unfortunately, the episode doesn't seem as far out as it possibly should appear as our lives become dominated by technology and we become more enclosed in by it. I guess there's another comment on society as well as people due the most mundane things just to get by. There's obviously the comment on reliance on talent shows/aspiring to be an overnight star too! It is one of the more dystopian episodes of Black Mirror as a regimented regime is in place.

Reboots is exactly what the show is about, heck each WEEK the show reboots itself with an entire new world/time. The only major differences (that we know) between the changes being made now and the changes made between Series 4/5 is the drop in episode number and the change in composer. In Series 5, we got a new Doctor, companion, TARDIS (inside and out), logo, executive producers etc

If the show didn’t reboot itself, there’s no way it would be reaching its 37th series!

I actually really like that new logo and the image is really great! The Moffatt era one is my fave of the three since 2005 but this is probably better than RTD :kink:

I'm less keen on this though:

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as I don't like it being referred to as 'Who', and it makes it look like like some random historical drama

-x-

As an aside, Murray Gold, the composer since 2005 has revealed he will not be working on the new series :o

13. PLAYTEST

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Average: 7.91

Highest: 10 (Dexton, Oliver, Liam), 9 (Calum, lotitia,jafetsfiginns, HausofTroye)

Lowest: 6.5 (Dandy*) 6 (Josh)

Cooper is travelling around the word and needs some extra cash and so accepts a one time job offer from a video game company so that he can return to America. He is there to test new technology that uses augmented reality to alter his senses...

I feel like this is an episode with lots of potential but for some reason that I can't fully put my finger on, it didn't pay off as much as it should have done. I do like how it is Black Mirror does the traditional haunted house story and that it is sort of similar to those flu test jobs but, again, with technology? I thought the ending was shocking too and really dark once it was all explained but it seemed to happen a bit too fast and sudden, particularly with the double twist as the rug gets pulled from under your feet twice? I don't think there was a great a pay-off as there should have been. Still it helped explore a very real developing technology with a scary element as we were immersed in a world with events that very much did not happen as we believed they did..

Parallels with real life: virtual reality is ofc a very real thing, although there's no implants...yet

14. BE RIGHT BACK

Average: 7.6

Highest: 10 (Calum), 9.5 (Dexton)

Lowest: 6 (ionderella, Oliver, Iz)

Martha's boyfriend is killed in a car accident. After discovering she is pregnant, she tries A.I. that imitates him by using all of his past online communications and social media profiles as well as uploading photos and videos. This A.I. initially exists over the phone but then is transformed into a body.

Be Right Back is quite... not mundane but more gentle/low-key than other Black Mirror episodes. It largely focuses on Martha and the A.I. and of course the concept of grief. It was a really effective episode in that way as grief effects us all and you are always left unsure of how to deal with it. This episode explored what feels like a real concept, and something that could happen any moment now, but would it be good for us??

Parallels with real life: the Luka chatbot (inspired by this episode), the Eterni.me, Crystal and the BINA48 are all A.I. that intend to preserve people in a virtual A.I. existence.

omg peep the next page for more results

Not started watching it yet but still hyped for it! Plans for the storylines were changed due to the Trump administration as they wanted to reflect that in this season and so the season is following on from the female President storyline from Season 6 as she now becomes President.

The show will never beat its best of Season 1/2 but it still produces some really strong and gripping highlights for me and it always delivers them just as you start to question whether to carry on.

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Carrie has left her job in the White House and moved back to D.C. to live with her sister Maggie. She takes on the Keane administration to secure the release of the 200 members of the intelligence community who were arrested under President Keane's orders the previous season.

always a sucker for the BBC horrors/thrillers like this and so watched the first two episodes so far! There's a lot of residents hiding secrets with moody looks given if anyone is trying to uncover them (aka the lead character) but there's enough there to leave me with intrigue so far!

There's been some brilliant atmosphere scenes and it will be interesting to see where it all leads up to.

A new six part BBC drama airing Fridays at 9pm or all episodes on iPlayer now!

In 1994, a toddler disappeared from a small Welsh village, never to be seen again. 23 years later, in London, the mother of rising cello star Matilda Gray commits suicide, without apparent reason. Among her possessions, Matilda discovers tantalising evidence, linking her mother to the Welsh girl's disappearance all those years ago. And so grief stricken Matilda travels to Wales, determined to find out who she really is, even if it means unraveling her own identity. In the process, she uncovers long buried secrets in this remote community - including one secret more bizarre, terrifying and dangerous than anything she could have imagined: Dark otherworldly forces are gathering - they have been waiting many years for Matilda to return. If every life is a story, then for most of us, it's our parents who write the opening chapters. They record and remember our early childhoods as we cannot, acting as trusted witnesses to our lives. But what if you discovered that your parent had lied to you? That almost everything they'd said about their own history, and yours, was untrue? Part supernatural thriller, part psychological horror, Requiem takes its inspiration from the psychological horror films of the late 1960s and '70s - Rosemary's Baby, Don't Look Now, and The Innocents, avoiding easy answers, and instead playing on uncertainty and ambiguity. It's also a rumination on the nature of memory, identity, and loss, hinging on a universal truth: that when a parent dies, a part of you dies with them.

a Darius remix *.*

bring back the Darius forum!!!

At least three of us have taste *.*

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15. THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

Average: 7.45

Highest: 10 (Severin) 9 (Iz)

Lowest: 6 (BridgeCow. Calum, LewisGT, Klaus) 5.5 (dandy*)

Princess Susannah has been kidnapped and her kidnappers only have one demand, for the Prime Minister to f*** a pig live on TV...

I'm not sure if there has ever been a bolder start to a TV series than this, an episode focusing on a Prime Minister f***ing a pig. Well, it was bold in the innocent days of 2011... It is a statement episode, and one that could have well turned off plenty of viewers and yet it is also quite separate from all the other episodes that were to follow. If you were to give a person one episode that 'defined' what Black Mirror was, this would be at the bottom of the pile. It was still an episode that showed some interesting aspects, through the political dynamics as well as the reaction of the public. I think the ending is also very devious as the Princess is released 30 minutes before the sex act yet no one notices as everyone is too busy watching someone f*** a pig.

Parallels with real life: this ones obvious as in September 2015, allegations arose that David Cameron, as part of his Bullingdon Club initiation, put his willy inside of the mouth of a dead big.

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oh ffs, how long can you drag out being a butler to a royal?? When will he disappear???

not that im watching but im just sick of the leech :lol:

I too am currently rewatching for the first time, I actually now have a greater appreciation for Knock Knock (possibly helped by watching with the binaural thing on)! The ending is still weak but I enjoyed the rest of it!

The Return of Doctor Mysterio was still a bit all over the place and uneventful.

16. ARKANGEL

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Average: 6.63

Highest: 8 (lewistgreen, ionderella, Jack, Botchia, Josh, Severin)

Lowest: 5 (HausofTroye, Klaus), 4 (Joe, Iz)

After her daughter goes missing for a few hours, a single mother has her daughter implanted with Arkangel, an implanted chip technology that allows a parent to track and monitor their children and pixelate images that would cause the child distress. As the daughter grows up, Arkangel becomes a dangerous hindrance and so the mother switches it off. However, she becomes tempted to turn it on again as the child becomes a teenager, leading to serious consequences...

This had a really strong premise I feel but, again, I don't feel it was realised to its full potential. It just ends up meandering along and you don't feel sympathy for either the mother or the daughter at the end. I thought they could have done more with the 'blocking images' aspect but it just ended up being the reason why it was turned off and also to give extra shock value for that ending. Something like the child not doing anything to save her granddad because she couldn't see what was going on would have added some serious implications that the episode needed. It kind of became a story that has been seen countless times before (with an overprotective mother whose daughter gets angry at her) with some sprinkles of technology added that doesn't give enough to the story to warrant it being told again.

Parallels with real life: in the ever-expanding social media world, you can see exactly where your family/friends are with apps like Find My Friends and Snapchat.

17. MEN AGAINST FIRE

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Average: 6.10

Highest: 11 (Dexton), 9 (ionderella, Botchia)

Lowest: 4 (Oliver, HausofTroye, Klaus), 3.5 (dandy*)

Stripe is a soldier involved in an organisation that hunts and exterminates mutants known as roaches. Every soldier has a neural implant that enhances the processing of their senses and provides instant data via augmented reality. In one incident, Stripe kills two roaches and earns praise for his performance but he starts to see things differently as his implant starts to glitch...

Men Against Fire is another episode often highlighted as one of the show's weaker points and so it is no surprise to see it near the bottom of these results. I think one of its problems is that, due to the subject matter, it can come off a bit preachy and also quite obvious? It doesn't end up going anywhere particularly exciting beyond the unsettling nature of what is really going on. It does portray a good message but one that has been told many times before I feel.

Parallels with real life: the title comes from a book that states that over 70% of soldiers in WWII did not fire their rifles, even when under immediate threat and those who did fire, aimed above their enemy's head. Technology is particularly expanding for military contexts and research at Standford is exploring face-swapping technology (while Snapchat already does so).

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me during that ‘what has happened in the outside world’ segment, pretending to know what they were on about:

yet they still gave more reaction than last year’s BBUK housemates when they heard the general election results

Also the cynical me feels they were told to keep James because he’s the producers wet dream in what they keep looking for in the diary room ie irritating

18. METALHEAD

Average: 5.98

Highest: 10 (Lotitia), 8 (lewistgreen, Calum, HarryEzra, Iz)

Lowest: 2 (Oliver), 1 (HausofTroye)

a robot dog chases a woman in black and white

Again, Metalhead doesn't really explore the implications of the technology in great detail which is probably why you've decided it should be at the bottom of the pile. I think it looks visually impressive with the black and white and simplicity evoking the traditional horrors, and the ruthlessness of the dog is pretty chilling but that's all there really is to say? There were some quite tense moments but, at the same time, I didn't really care that much because it was just a dog chasing a woman. The final shot was also pretty poor as it could have ended on a really strong statement if they had been trying to get something like medication imo but it ended up saying 'things are this shit now that people have to risk their lives for a teddy bear'. Why are things shit, who knows?? I didn't really care and the episode didn't really stay with me at all.

Parallels with real life: early days for the Season 4 episodes but the dogs were inspired by robotics products like 'BigDog from Boston Dynamics'

19. THE WALDO MOMENT

Average: 5.45

Highest: 9 (Liam), 8.5 (Dexton)

Lowest: 3 (Jack, LewisGT), 0 (jafetsgfinns)

Jamie is a failed comedian and the voice actor/digital puppeteer of a cartoon bear named Waldo. Waldo comically interviews politicians and other authority figures in an insulting manner. The producer decides to make Waldo enter the election for MP to get attention but it all spirals out of control...

In last place, is The Waldo Moment! It should come as no suprise as it has always generally been considered the 'least best' and Charlie Brooker himself has spoken of his regret of the episode in later years as he states that he didn't 'nail' the episode as he didn't get the stakes right. That is really where it went wrong, it was a good idea but it doesn't really feel very 'Black Mirror' and doesn't go anywhere particularly exciting.

Parallels with real life: The episode was written with Boris Johnson in mind, as wel as Jon Gnarr (mayor of Reykjavik). After the episode's broadcast a candidate dressed as a penguin beat the Lib Dems in the 2012 Scottish local elections. It has also came to further prominence as it has been compared to the successful presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Apple's new 'animojis' have also been compared to Waldo.