The Official Black Mirror Thread: Season 6 on Netflix Now

[oidreez]

Wow black museum

Doctor went way too hard lol

I see what you did there

 

[oidreez]

At the beginning of Arkangel when the doctors take the baby away after birth and the mom panics...is there supposed to be something integral to the story happening here?

I believe it's to let us the viewer kind of see the type of person the mother is right off the bat. Anybody could say "that's a typical mother reaction" but it was written like that for a specific reason

 

[hand2handking]

i think it was to show she never got over that fear she felt in that moment

 

[a-friend]

I know this **** is on replay in my Truck and at the Office right now.
Obssessed

 

[bware113]

Gotta say its nice to be apart of this thread again. I ignored all the trailers bc I didn't want any spoilers and then the season dropped. Needless to say I found out a couple things I didn't need to so I didn't open this thread until I was done.

That said, I just finished up on Monday, and I have to say I disagree most of the complaints about the episodes. I thought this season was pretty solid overall. Here's my current ranking for S4 episodes:

1. Black Museum
2. USS
3. Hang The DJ
4. Metalhead (Man this one was intense from start to finish.)
5. Arkangel
6. Crocodile

Will do a spoiler tagged review of each later to discuss the intricacies of each episode. Especially the use of 'Cookies' in three of the eps they were used.

 

[bware113]

What's wild is she wasn't even the driver. The gerbil angle was terrible though, they could've done better.

Spoiler

I thought it was perfect. As someone else mentioned, technology is usually tested on rodents, so it's completely plausible that the technology is not only applicable to humans but animals as well. So ANYTHING that may have cognitive memory can be used. That fact in turn shows why she would go through such lengths and in the end overlooked a 'minor' detail.

I just question how they jog the memory of it. But even still, methods were most likely developed just for that purpose if it was tested on rodents.

I thought Black Museum was gonna be on some Tales From the Hood **** and dude was going to reveal he was some sort of digital demon at the end

Bro, swear I kept thinking the same thing. Especially when he started sweating.

i think it was to show she never got over that fear she felt in that moment

Spoiler

Exactly. They do the same thing when she's a toddler and wanders off following a cat before they install the system. She's now 2/2 on ALMOST losing Sarah. The system I believe is to help curve that anxiety.

 

[Mark Antony]

That's the thing though, the humans memory had to be soothed and guided along. How you do that with a gerbil? I do know I'm over thinking it though.

 

[bware113]

I think the main issue is because we cant readily think of a method to do that without certain stimuli. But, as said before the memory device was most likely developed using lab rodents during the tuning process to ready for human trials, much like with physical sensation transmitter from tale 1 of Black Museum. If that's the case then one can assume a set of rules or steps can be taken to jog rodent memory. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but some rodent brains and the human brain are very much alike.

As a minimum requirement, mice used in experiments must be of the same purebred species. Another reason rodents are used as models in medical testing is that their genetic, biological and behavior characteristics closely resemble those of humans, and many symptoms of human conditions can be replicated in mice and rats.Nov 16, 2010

I thought it was in black and white because it's a dog's world.

This is a pretty good deduction.

 

[tokes99]

I think the main issue is because we cant readily think of a method to do that without certain stimuli. But, as said before the memory device was most likely developed using lab rodents during the tuning process to ready for human trials, much like with physical sensation transmitter from tale 1 of Black Museum. If that's the case then one can assume a set of rules or steps can be taken to jog rodent memory. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but some rodent brains and the human brain are very much alike.

if you have to go through this much guesswork, could it really have been a good story? sometimes having to fill in the some of the blanks is cool & granted anything sci-fi prolly takes a lil bit of willing suspension of disbelief...but the more i think about that episode the less any of it makes sense...

Spoiler

in world where such a technology could exist who thinks they're just going to be able to murk MULTIPLE PEOPLE and get away with it? maybe the 1st one, which it still didn't makes sense to kill dude, but at least she wasn't aware of the tech then, but after seeing there is this tech that can visually pull & recreate memories from people's heads she offs 3 MORE people...had that episode begun with her behind the wheel and wanting to ditch the body, at least the precedent that she was a selfish psycho, who already caught a body, might have been set rather than what took place, her killing a dude for something she didn't even do? she could said told him to leave her out of it, said she was white-girl wasted passed out in the back seat, or even just waited for dude to get out of his feelings; nah, nah he gotsta die, #snitchesgetdead i guess she had a code...

went back a watched most of the prior seasons, and it's not even close...this season is definitely the least enjoyable to watch for me, every ep has like a fundamentally flawed motivation that instantly put me out...

 

[hand2handking]

is this show still british or is it netflix writers now?

 

[tokes99]

the creator is definitely british & still has some level of creative control over it, but the individual episodes may be written and/or directed other individuals who may (not) be british...i believe it is still made to air 1st in britain tho

 

[bware113]

if you have to go through this much guesswork, could it really have been a good story? sometimes having to fill in the some of the blanks is cool & granted anything sci-fi prolly takes a lil bit of willing suspension of disbelief...but the more i think about that episode the less any of it makes sense...

Spoiler

in world where such a technology could exist who thinks they're just going to be able to murk MULTIPLE PEOPLE and get away with it? maybe the 1st one, which it still didn't makes sense to kill dude, but at least she wasn't aware of the tech then, but after seeing there is this tech that can visually pull & recreate memories from people's heads she offs 3 MORE people...had that episode begun with her behind the wheel and wanting to ditch the body, at least the precedent that she was a selfish psycho, who already caught a body, might have been set rather than what took place, her killing a dude for something she didn't even do? she could said told him to leave her out of it, said she was white-girl wasted passed out in the back seat, or even just waited for dude to get out of his feelings; nah, nah he gotsta die, #snitchesgetdead i guess she had a code...

No, I don't with the reasoning and data supporting it. How is it guesswork? Just because they don't explicitly say how its done doesn't make it not plausible. Rodent brains carry a large similarity to human brains AND we already know they use rodents for testing and trials for many products. This shouldn't be different, no? There is enough peripheral info on a basic & intermediate level, to assume this a plausible scenario for technology application.

I thought this episode was solid. Just the worst of the season. I also think it's better than a couple episodes from BM past.

Spoiler

1. I think she was aware of the tech, but by killing him while they are alone it means nothing comes back to her. Atleast that's her hope.
NOTE: Many say find disbelief in how she killed her ex. Which I also think is plausible in how they showed it to happen.

2. If you start the episode with her clearly being a psycho, doesn't it lose meaning? The episode's main purpose was to show a previous mistake she went along with and helped with, although begrudgingly. She moves on to establish a very good life for herself only to have that previous event rear its head because her ex had been 'enlightened' and found his way. If he gets indicted in anyway, she goes with him for aiding. Even if he doesn't give her up, he's basically turning himself in and they are most definitely going to use 'memory recaller' on a suspect to see the events that took place. If you had help doing wrong, everyone is going with you in this reality. There's no way around that.

3. She cant say she's passed out, with the 'memory recaller' tech present. She'd have to have Jedi level mind skills to change her memory of something.

Yeah, the show is British, but allows for others to have creative control over individual episodes.

 

[tokes99]

No, I don't with the reasoning and data supporting it. How is it guesswork? Just because they don't explicitly say how its done doesn't make it not plausible. Rodent brains carry a large similarity to human brains AND we already know they use rodents for testing and trials for many products. This shouldn't be different, no? There is enough peripheral info on a basic & intermediate level, to assume this a plausible scenario for technology application.

I thought this episode was solid. Just the worst of the season. I also think it's better than a couple episodes from BM past.

Spoiler

1. I think she was aware of the tech, but by killing him while they are alone it means nothing comes back to her. Atleast that's her hope.
NOTE: Many say find disbelief in how she killed her ex. Which I also think is plausible in how they showed it to happen.

2. If you start the episode with her clearly being a psycho, doesn't it lose meaning? The episode's main purpose was to show a previous mistake she went along with and helped with, although begrudgingly. She moves on to establish a very good life for herself only to have that previous event rear its head because her ex had been 'enlightened' and found his way. If he gets indicted in anyway, she goes with him for aiding. Even if he doesn't give her up, he's basically turning himself in and they are most definitely going to use 'memory recaller' on a suspect to see the events that took place. If you had help doing wrong, everyone is going with you in this reality. There's no way around that.

3. She cant say she's passed out, with the 'memory recaller' tech present. She'd have to have Jedi level mind skills to change her memory of something.

Yeah, the show is British, but allows for others to have creative control over individual episodes.

i don't as much have an issue with the tech and how it's applied (though i don't think our peripheral vision could have the fidelity to work as shown in the episode), it is a bit corny but fine, like i said one kinda has to kind of go in willing to believe the world, my problem with this season is i don't find the people believable in the world they've created...outside of arkangel & hang the dj, the main characters don't seem to make decisions congruent with the motivations of the worlds they are supposedly in...

Spoiler

1. nah, she isn't, i think the insurance woman tells her it is a new thing, and also tells her that it is mandatory...her making that decision seem way too abrupt...

2. i don't really see how, not saying she had to be literally psychotic (i used psycho somewhat hyperbolically, though all her actions subsequently do fit that description regardless of it being a somewhat logical in terms of protecting her lifestyle), changing that circumstance alone at least would kinda 'justify' why she would think dude had to go, but maybe it change the meaning...to me, it would at least be consistent, regular people do not just become murderers, much to talk of committing multiple murders. off the strength of something that basically wasn't her fault...she may have gotten some penalty for aiding but she would definitely be sent up for murder...

3. again i'm pretty sure, she wasn't aware of the tech, but i could see a flip of this episode where he feels guilty and takes responsibility and they use the recaller thing on him and turns out she was the driver...the stakes just didn't seem that high to turn a person into a mass murderer...

 

[bware113]

Spoiler

1. Ah, yes you are dead right. But doesn't that little tid bit kind of justify the rest of her action. Kills 1 guy, thinks she covered it pretty well...which she did. Lady shows up asking about a completely unrelated thing, using the recaller and BOOM she knows about the murder. So do you just let her live and hope she says nothing?

2. It think it does. Only because the grand scheme of why she's going though so much to cover up may get lost IMO. It's important to...

A. show the original accident first and her regret and disapproval of what was happening
&
B. her new very successful and happy life

....both of those images shape who she is. She's not a cold killer at heart at all, she's just willing to anything to keep her happy life.

3. Again you are right as she didn't know at that point. His entire plan of action was to confront the widower of the man he killed, whom he already researched, and come clean to wipe away the sin of his life. The backlash of it is the widower most likely telling, wanting Justice and she(the antagonist/protagonist) still has a very real chance of getting caught in his wind. He was the driver, it was all on him. But, she helped and that is enough to bring her in with the recaller.

If you think about White Bear, it shows some similarity there. Assuming Victoria didn't want to kill the little girl and was forced by her S/O to film (News report said that was her take during the 'Big Reveal', she still had to endure a criminally unfair punishment because of being involved.

She isn't a mass murder at heart. It's not her thing at all. You can tell in each of those killings it was breaking her. I pretty sure she cried DURING each. She's not cold. She's doing what she thought she had to to maintain.

 

[Master Zik]

the creator is definitely british & still has some level of creative control over it, but the individual episodes may be written and/or directed other individuals who may (not) be british...i believe it is still made to air 1st in britain tho

From what I've been reading, during s3 is when they/the creator became more open to all types of writers scripting an episode. Also when they started casting more American actors.

 

[tokes99]

Spoiler

1. Ah, yes you are dead right. But doesn't that little tid bit kind of justify the rest of her action. Kills 1 guy, thinks she covered it pretty well...which she did. Lady shows up asking about a completely unrelated thing, using the recaller and BOOM she knows about the murder. So do you just let her live and hope she says nothing?

2. It think it does. Only because the grand scheme of why she's going though so much to cover up may get lost IMO. It's important to...

A. show the original accident first and her regret and disapproval of what was happening
&
B. her new very successful and happy life

....both of those images shape who she is. She's not a cold killer at heart at all, she's just willing to anything to keep her happy life.

3. Again you are right as she didn't know at that point. His entire plan of action was to confront the widower of the man he killed, whom he already researched, and come clean to wipe away the sin of his life. The backlash of it is the widower most likely telling, wanting Justice and she(the antagonist/protagonist) still has a very real chance of getting caught in his wind. He was the driver, it was all on him. But, she helped and that is enough to bring her in with the recaller.

If you think about White Bear, it shows some similarity there. Assuming Victoria didn't want to kill the little girl and was forced by her S/O to film (News report said that was her take during the 'Big Reveal', she still had to endure a criminally unfair punishment because of being involved.

She isn't a mass murder at heart. It's not her thing at all. You can tell in each of those killings it was breaking her. I pretty sure she cried DURING each. She's not cold. She's doing what she thought she had to to maintain.

the white bear thing is a really good point...

Spoiler

still, there really isn’t a reason (at that point, anyway) for her to think her involvement would have to be known to the point she would have to decide to murk dude in that moment, placing further jeopardy on her life/freedom...she may not be one at heart, but to off that many people doesn’t seem proportional, and again in a world where such a tech is possible...who would think they could get away with even one murder, much less 4...

i also hate the idea that all these stories take place in the same universe

From what I've been reading, during s3 is when theyŷthe creator became more open to all types of writers scripting an episode. Also when they started casting more American actors.

i recently watched an interview the creator did with the bbc, it was #goodtalk

 

[bware113]

the white bear thing is a really good point...

Spoiler

still, there really isn’t a reason (at that point, anyway) for her to think her involvement would have to be known to the point she would have to decide to murk dude in that moment, placing further jeopardy on her life/freedom...she may not be one at heart, but to off that many people doesn’t seem proportional, and again in a world where such a tech is possible...who would think they could get away with even one murder, much less 4...

i also hate the idea that all these stories take place in the same universe

Spoiler

I do agree her initial decision to kill old boy was a bit hasty, it might not have made it back to her. MIGHT. But that was her way of 'cleaning up loose ends'. And as a good friend of mine Abraham once said, 'loose ends make my *** itch'....or something like that.

I'm not a big fan of everything being in the same universe either, but I do dig their connection and ability to build off one another. We've seen cookies like 3xs now. And in each we are made to feel a different way about them. And several different devices that upload full consciousness in one way or another.

 

[oidreez]

In response to the chick from crocodile: "oh boy here i go killing again"

 

[Master Zik]

Black Museum was good.

1st story was cool and interesting. Unique way for doctors to diagnose. The turn made sense, ending was a bit sick.

2nd story was crazy. Makes no sense why dude would do that. No thought put in to having someone's consciousness in your mind being a backseat driver. Then what it results is some cruel and unusual punishment. Could've downloaded her consciousness in to an Alexa or something.

3rd story was just plain sci-fi horror. Sadistic ppl just torturing a digital being. Tied in nicely with the girl the museum though. Would've liked it to be clear on who actually killed the reporter buy the story wasn't about that.

I liked the references and call backs to other eps. I know early on I wasn't sure if all the episodes existed in the same world. That Christmas day special does seem like an evolution of the rating ep but don't seem to link with other eps that didn't have that rating system at all. Them something like 15m demerits is just a comic book.

Metalhead was interesting. I liked the black and white. Story was all there. Felt like a good short story. Wasn't much else about it. Some typw of post apocalyptic world where these dogs kill humans on sight. Some humans have survived somewhere else. This lady and the 2 guys apparently go out on a run to where the dogs are to get supplies and I guess a teddy bear for her daughter and then in the end they all die.

 

[Master Zik]

Hang the DJ was good. @ a dating app algorithm running all those simulations to find your best match.

I would have liked to see the 2 times they just accepted what was happening.

The dude was a bit of a simp and caught a raw deal with who he was matched with afterwards.

Crocodile



Killed a ****ing (blind) baby though. Went too far (and I mean that story wise). **** just kept going. The hamster was a stretch but it couldn't have ended with her getting away with it.


Arkangel was ****ed up. I feel the kid was already scarred growing up with parental controlled vision.

The mom crazy. That **** went way far past the real world trackers. Seeing through their eyes? Damn that's messed up. No privacy.

The mom got what she deserved although the repeated blows to the head were a bit much.

 

[Master Zik]

USS Callister was great.

Its A Good Life meets Star Trek. Quite frankly, similar to how those ppl executed that digital prisoner run Black Museum its just an exercise in sadism. Plus given Daly's real life he deserved to let off some steam on some ppl who treated him like ****. He just ****ed up when he brought in the new girl.

Thing is he'll be found eventually. I doubt he'll die and then there's nothing stopping him from finding them or just recollecting the DNA, recreating a new bubble universe and completely shutting it off from the cloud.

 

[DadNboujee]

Just watched crocodile, I got two young kids. FDB.

 

[sooperhooper]

Why did she even need to go upstairs in crocodile? Could've just bounced after she offed the husband.

 

[tokes99]

Why did she even need to go upstairs in crocodile? Could've just bounced after she offed the husband.

the husband was upstairs, he went up to take a bath...and then she offed him in the tub

 

[Master Zik]

Yeah and that's when she thought the baby saw her