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    #51
    That was the one where we were supposed to believe that a small woman could effortlessly move the dead body of a grown man by herself.

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      #52
      Originally posted by Femme Folle View Post
      That was the one where we were supposed to believe that a small woman could effortlessly move the dead body of a grown man by herself.
      Totally agree and the "twist" ending was laughable and not in a good way.

      The only thing that episode had going for it, IMHO, was that Iceland and Reykjavik provided a stunning background.

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        #53
        Going back to last season, here's an update on China's implementation of Nosedive.

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          #54
          Originally posted by Reginald Christ
          *SPOILERS*

          I thought it was quite a tense episode for the most part with a Hitchcockian undercurrent - part of me was secretly hoping the murderer would get away with it in spite of the mounting suspicions. But it pissed it away in the last third with an increasingly ludicrous body count, a daft twist and a complete damp firework of an ending. The episode looked beautiful - John Hillcoat is an excellent director - but it's among the weakest of the series.

          Oh, and Andrea Riseborough was superb.
          Yep, agree, she was fantastic and, to be honest, even a bad episode of "Black Mirror" is better than 99% of stuff on TV.

          The very nature of an anthology series is that it'll be a bit hit and miss (see also the excellent "Inside No. 9").

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            #55
            I actually thought this season was the most even so far as far as quality goes. There weren't any duffers as far as I'm concerned, though some hit harder than others.

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              #56
              Originally posted by Femme Folle View Post
              That was the one where we were supposed to believe that a small woman could effortlessly move the dead body of a grown man by herself.
              She's strong.

              That was a really good one, I thought. Filmed in Iceland, apparently. I thought the ending was as good as any.


              I agree that Archangel felt like something was missing, but was still very strong.

              I didn't like USS Callister as much as everyone else. It was very reminiscent of The Twilight Zone with the kid who could do anything and trapped his family. And they never explained how he could recreate people with all their memories and personality just from DNA. Maybe he used that same program from that previous episode where a woman recreated her dead husband by mining all of his online presence.
              Last edited by Hot Pepsi; 08-01-2018, 14:00.

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                #57
                The 'Star Trek' episode was all kinds of excellent. The only other one I've watched of the new series is Metalhead which was gripping but considerably less interesting than most others. Think I'll go with FF's recommendation and try Black Museum next.

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                  #58
                  That was a really good one, I thought. Filmed in Iceland, apparently.
                  I thought as much. I couldn't figure out if it was some future Anglophone Iceland or filming Iceland for (presumably) Scotland.

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                    #59
                    Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                    I thought as much. I couldn't figure out if it was some future Anglophone Iceland or filming Iceland for (presumably) Scotland.
                    Either/or, I think.

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                      #60
                      Originally posted by Artificial Hipster View Post
                      The 'Star Trek' episode was all kinds of excellent. The only other one I've watched of the new series is Metalhead which was gripping but considerably less interesting than most others. Think I'll go with FF's recommendation and try Black Museum next.
                      Black Museum is a bit better (for the purposes of spotting Easter eggs, mostly), though, if you've seen all the rest.

                      Hang The DJ was my favorite of the lot, followed closely by U.S.S. Callister.

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                        #61
                        Maybe we could have seen the mother become progressively unhinged
                        I mean, we did.

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                          #62
                          She, according to the show (I realise the description of emergency conception is wrong), secretly aborts her child's foetus. That's pretty damn unhinged.

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                            #63
                            It wasn't just that her mom was monitoring her, but that she was being protected from any remotely unpleasant experience. That was the more damaging part, I think.

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                              #64
                              Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                              It wasn't just that her mom was monitoring her, but that she was being protected from any remotely unpleasant experience. That was the more damaging part, I think.
                              That bit got dropped relatively early on, and only came back at the climax. I wonder if they felt it was too much like the White Christmas ending to emphasise that angle.

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                                #65
                                I can't remember the plot of White Christmas, but perhaps you're right.

                                On the other hand, it seemed like during the time when her mom turned the thing off, the daughter recovered a bit from that overprotection. For example, she made friends with the scary dog.

                                Those girls were really bad at lying to their mom. If you're going to tell your mom that you're at so-and-so's house when you really aren't, you have to at least get that kid in on the caper and give them some incentive to lie for you. Even I know that, and I never lied to my parents about where I was.

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                                  #66
                                  Enjoyed those.

                                  If I've one criticism of this series, it's its willingness to return to the 'electronic sentient copy of your consciousness' trope, first seen in White Christmas.

                                  USS Callister and Hang the DJ were the standouts for me. Crocodile was the only episode I was indifferent about.

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                                    #67
                                    I loved Callister, Black Museum and Metalhead. I liked Hang the DJ (thought the characters were meant to be that way - quite likeable and not extraordinary), but Arkangel was way too obvious in where it was going. Having said that, it was still very well made and acted. Haven't seen the Icelandic one yet as my family broke the house rules and watched it when I was out.

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                                      #68
                                      Agreed on Arkangel—it was a little too much in the here and now and its plot and message were rather simple. Also there was no way Sara was 15; she looked like someone at university.

                                      Crocodile was the weakest of the lot, I thought, but I still think you should watch it.

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                                        #69
                                        Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
                                        Enjoyed those.

                                        If I've one criticism of this series, it's its willingness to return to the 'electronic sentient copy of your consciousness' trope, first seen in White Christmas.

                                        USS Callister and Hang the DJ were the standouts for me. Crocodile was the only episode I was indifferent about.
                                        Yeah, I think it needs to get away from that, especially because that's way out in the future if it's ever going to happen at all. The one where she brings back her dead husband was the most intriguing of those, I thought.

                                        I liked all the new ones. Metalheads was the most unique one, I thought. It wasn't really exploring anything new about how technology will present problems, insofar as the robots will destroy us is now a pretty standard sci-fi trope/legitimate anxiety. Metalheads was like if you took that Christian Bale Terminator film or the third Matrix film and just boiled it down to the essence.

                                        Hang the DJ was really good, though I didn't entirely get the ending. Was that supposed to be them seeing each other for the first time when they meet for their first date after being matched by the machine?

                                        Arkangel was kinda obvious, but then maybe that's the point in some way, like "Why didn't you see this coming?" It's also, perhaps, the most "relevant." Not that we have the tech to do that, but "do you really want to protect your kids from all stress and fear" and "do you really want to know what they're up to all the time?" are questions that parents should and do wrestle with (or so I'm told.)

                                        The actress does look older than 15, but then so do many 15 year olds, and vice versa. There might also have been issues with finding an actual 15-year-old whose parents (or her) would be willing to pretend to shag that guy and bludgeon her mom. Just a thought.

                                        Alligator (why is it called Alligator?) didn't really move me much, but it looked amazing and was perfectly constructed.

                                        There's talk of a USS Callister spin-off series.

                                        Although its been done too much, Black Museum was, I think, the first thing I've ever seen, I think, about "downloading consciousness" where it's happened against the individual's will, so that was interesting, as was the "twist" at the end. It also features Dionne Warwick's "Always Something There to Remind Me." I knew Naked Eyes' version was a cover but I'd never heard the original before.

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                                          #70
                                          Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                          (why is it called Alligator?)
                                          The first comment on the avclub review of the episode offers:

                                          "The title, IMO, refers to the crocodile’s brain—all limbic system, no empathy, no emotion, only self preservation at all cost. She kills to protect her young and herself."

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                                            #71
                                            Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                            Hang the DJ was really good, though I didn't entirely get the ending. Was that supposed to be them seeing each other for the first time when they meet for their first date after being matched by the machine?
                                            Yeah, pretty much.

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                                              #72
                                              OK

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                                                #73
                                                I think, if this goes to season five, Brooker has to broaden his pallette. Most episodes up to now have been on the themes of digital copies of humans, surveillance and social media.

                                                Robots have barely been touched on at all. Or weird implications of quantum physics. Or DIY genetic manipulation. Time travel, even.

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                                                  #74
                                                  And almost Victorian moralism maybe has to be tempered as well. A show of comeuppance for the worst, for the most part.

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                                                    #75
                                                    I switched off the first one (Callister) halfway through because it was boring and the acting was piss poor.

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