Black Mirror (UK)

[Totenkindly]

I've watched half of Black Mirror Season 7 at this point, including Common People, Bete Noire, and Eulogy.

I didn't watch Common People first, despite it running first.
Which was probably for the better, as it gets pretty frustratingly dark fast and might be too much to leap into.
It is the most familiar and deals with frustrations we've all likely had with certain elements of our modern world, yet also feels very predictable and sad -- not shocking, just depressing.

I like how Bete Noire mixes tech with what amounts to The Mandela Effect. I feel like the tech gets a little sloppy/unbelievable (science fantasy approach) and the ending is a little crazy -- it does tie into the episode but feels like it doesn't dig deep enough, although there are hints there that perhaps history can repeat itself and lead back to dark places. I do like how Maria's personality is very clearly established but overlooked to certain people's peril, and how abuse victimizes everyone, so people can be both abused and abuser, and there's sometimes not a clear line. I actually had a hard time watching most of this due to the growing "cringe" -- for me, one of the hardest things is being forced to empathize with a person who is blamed for things she didn't do, just knowing the shame and recrimination will be unavoidable and yet unfair.

I think Eulogy is perhaps the best entry so far into the ranks of "most poignant" Black Mirror episodes. It's both cathartic and heart-rending, tragic and yet revealing. Giamatti could do this role in his sleep (he is so great at playing unlikable characters who you yet feel sympathy for -- although I really knew he would be a star for his brief appearance as a bellhop in "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts) but it doesn't diminish his performance. I don't even know how to describe it, it's bigger than words, bigger than description, perhaps music can capture it to some degree and yet even that is not enough. (And I cannot help but think of Paul's catharsis from "Fionavar Tapestry book 1: The Summer Tree". There are ties there. I wonder if Booker or Road ever read Kay's book.) This is one I plan to rewatch.

 

[Totenkindly]

Further Black Mirror Season 7:

Plaything: Great performance by Peter Capaldi (pretty much a one-guy show), it had some fun elements (reminding me a lot of the antics from Lionhead's "Black & White" game). Was there much payoff? Unsure.

Hotel Reverie: This is a very frustrating episode. The first half was probably as unenjoyable as possible -- clumsy, stilted dialogue, a lot of techspeak worse than Star Trek jargon, and I am constantly reminded how a little bit of Awkwafina goes a long way... and then suddenly in mid-film you get a shift revolving around Emma Corrin's character and suddenly I'm in tears. So much of Issa Rae's performance feels stilted and doesn't mesh well with the rest of the story/setting, yet she nails the last line of the film and occasional lines throughout so... good for her, I guess? Long story short, I actually ended up crying multiple times during this episode but I didn't really feel good about it -- as much of it was Debussy and Corrin (and Harriet Walter, who was so decent in "Killing Eve" as Dasha) doing heavy-lifting, they earn the praise but the actual episode itself was kind of eh. All it makes me want to do is watch Season 1 of "Westworld" again.

...One episode left.

 

[SensEye]

I've watched the first two episodes so far.

Common People is kind of your usual Black Mirror schtick. Overall pretty good. I think these episodes lose a bit of their punch compared to earlier seasons as the viewer knows a dark turn is coming.

Bete Noire I would have the same criticisms as you basically. Just got a little too carried away with things. Also, my inner comic book guy kept getting triggered. Like I did not understand why when changing quantum realities - like switching to a reality where Bernie's Chicken is Barnie's Chicken - then the girl should have immediately switched to believing that too. There is no reason her particular incarnation in the first reality (the one who thinks it is Bernie's) would persist through all the other realities, but that is what happens. As for the traumatized girl who could not make her childhood trauma go away despite many alternate realities where she becomes a big success, here's a thought, change to a reality where you never had any childhood trauma in the first place. Duh.

Anyways, despite my complaints, very watchable episodes. They are still entertaining.

 

[Totenkindly]

I've watched the first two episodes so far.

Common People is kind of your usual Black Mirror schtick. Overall pretty good. I think these episodes lose a bit of their punch compared to earlier seasons as the viewer knows a dark turn is coming.

Bete Noire I would have the same criticisms as you basically. Just got a little too carried away with things. Also, my inner comic book guy kept getting triggered. Like I did not understand why when changing quantum realities - like switching to a reality where Bernie's Chicken is Barnie's Chicken - then the girl should have immediately switched to believing that too. There is no reason her particular incarnation in the first reality (the one who thinks it is Bernie's) would persist through all the other realities, but that is what happens. As for the traumatized girl who could not make her childhood trauma go away despite many alternate realities where she becomes a big success, here's a thought, change to a reality where you never had any childhood trauma in the first place. Duh.

Anyways, despite my complaints, very watchable episodes. They are still entertaining.

As a side comment, apparently the Barnies <-> Bernies thing wasn't the same for all viewers. Some saw Barnies -> Bernies, I saw Bernies -> Barnies. A nice little reflective mirror on the Mandela Effect I guess. I think the best part was the lead-up to the ending -- and the best dramatic moment was between Marian and Verity in the lunch area where both actually confess what they're feeling and thinking. That felt pretty real.

Lol... I wonder what happens if she flipped to a reality where no trauma existed. Which leads to two more interesting outcomes: (1) Maybe she ended up being a stark raving maniac anyway and there is no reality where she's okay because she's actually the one who is fubar regardless, or (2) conundrum when you create a reality where the quantum machine never existed, universe implodes. See, I think some of the story turns this could have taken would have been more interesting. IF they had built into Maria's darkness more, then maybe the final image would have also had more resonant disturbing ramifications as well. But yeah -- interestingly all of these possibilities for happiness, and yet nothing apparently makes certain people happy than punishing those who have wronged them. Is that the same for all people? Or just these ones in particular?

Common People totally seemed on-brand for the early days of Black Mirror, it just didn't seem surprising anymore. it sure did delve into frustrations we all have with companies bumping up tiers/costs and rising health insurance premiums.

 

[Totenkindly]

Watched the final episode, the sequel to USS Callister.

I think it was pretty much a spectacular episode aside from the last 5-10 minutes, which felt unsatisfying. How great the episode was until that point just left it feeling worse for me. It manages to tonally capture SO much humor -- it's so spot-on and consistent, tone-wise -- while still being able to veer into total seriousness, unlike some of the uneven episodes (like Hotel Reverie, where Issa Rae's dialogue didn't really mesh with the film she was inserted in).

Cristin Milioti is so spectacular in that she can differentiate herself between her original flesh body persona (Nanette) and the tested, tempered, hardened bad-ass she has had to become in Infinity (Nan). Just wow, seeing her act against herself.

And the episode just constantly is pulling out regular jokes (how Walton can't ever remember the coffee intern's name) but then other references that most people will recognize, including game Walton's (aka Walt's) life on the deserted planet. I laughed so hard through much of this episode. I feel like the screenplay just rolled right off the fingers as written, generating itself.

But then it really got nuanced when Nan goes into the Heart of Infinity. This was just a pretty rich encounter in so many ways, and at times I felt elated and amazed and later crushed. Kind of shows the strength of the writing to be able to be disappointed at certain choices made by certain characters.

First she goes in, and it's a simple thing -- reminiscent of the simple study at the end of Ready Player One with the original coder, but that felt more saccharine whereas this felt true. Nan is terrified of Daly, who has been trapped in the heart just creating an entire universe for what to him could feel like centuries, but at first it's kind of eye-opening because we see him before all the years of bitterness and exploitation turned him against Walton and also a victimizer of people who upset him. Is this who he might have stayed if not for Walton's influence? Is it possible there was something good, even innocent, in him all along? This feels so much like the undamaged, good version of Daly that we never knew.

And then there is the test for Nan, where she and the viewers think she is making a literal choice between her own interests and her friends, and we know how bad she wants to go back.... and she sacrifices her own interests and picks her friends, only to discover it's like a regular scifi test and there were more options all along. But Daly was testing her, and she chose wisely.

And then the sadness when we realize that whatever dark seeds led to Daly's becoming a resentful abuser still exist even in his younger, more innocent self. The flaw was in him all along, and all it takes is him giving into his impulses a bit and he would inevitably slide down into the moral abyss. But again, all of this is so ripped from Star Trek episodes, which Star Fleet is a reflection of.

But yeah, the ending here feels kind of dampened, not the elation that could be felt -- like the entire universe was open for exploration -- at the end of the original episode.

 

[SensEye]

I finished off watching Season 7 myself. My 2 cents on the rest of the episodes without giving anything away:

Hotel Reverie - Kind of average. Had a bit of the San Junipero feel to it but was far less entertaining. I noticed a nod to San Junipero in that the delivery address for the AI box thingy sent to the main character at the end used Junipero Drive as part of it.

Plaything - Not bad. A comment on the dangers/potential of AI I guess. I did not like the Soprano's style ending. IE> Did the Throng destroy humanity or give it a gift? Who knows as the credits start to roll. I know this is a not unheard of story technique (let the viewer decide) but I find it a cop out. If you are going to write a story, give it an ending. Leave interpretations for paintings.

Eulogy - this episode just didn't land for me, but that is probably due to my personal taste. I just didn't find the subject matter interesting.

USS Callister: Into Infinity - Probably the best episode of a somewhat disappointing season. Quite humorous at times and generally entertaining.