That's the cool thing about this show, none of the tech is inherently bad, I mean you can see why every piece of tech in the show could be introduced into the real world, the problem is people abuse the tech and make it ugly. When I think of the worst tech in the show, I think of the neck implant that lets you see your old memories over and over again. Me being who I am, a person who really hates looking back, it seemed like the worst tech ever, I always thought our memories were designed to be foggy and tied to our emotions because if you could remember things exactly as they happened then what's stopping a person from just plugging out of the real world and living entirely in the past? That's what that tech caused in the "entire history of you", the main character was so obsessed with shit that already happened, shit that he couldnt change in anyway that he destroyed everything around him. The upside to that tech though is no one will ever go to jail because they were misidentified and no one will escape punishment because the victim couldn't remember the details of their face and there's probably a whole bunch of good you can do with that tech but in the end, its tendency to completely alienate people from the present and keep them is the past outshines any good it could ever do.
Peter E I think the best way to implement that tech would be to have it unwatchable from the user and only replayed during a court case or something. I like the idea of solving crime with concrete evidence because some crimes have no evidence except the word of the victim. Basically it would only be used for evidence, and perhaps it would delete the footage of the previous week every week automatically so that no one could hack into your video recording to blackmail you? However you could save the week footage if you wanted but it would be unwatchable without some sort of authorization (just to prevent ppl from living in the past).
What about Men Against Fire? Making people look like monsters to the military so they'll kill them more efficiently seems pretty evil to me. Especially since the "roaches" didn't do anything bad; they just had a genetic predisposition to disease. Maybe I'm reading into this too much haha
@@avery8557 The core hardware isn't making people look like monsters, that's just the software the military uses. The tech itself is a form of augmented reality, which could be used for many good things like therapy, helping people with pseudocoma etc. The military chose to use the tech to alter actual human faces to look like monsters, that's just another example of tech being used the wrong way.
I really hate when people misinterpret The Entire History of You by saying the main character's obsession caused him to destroy everything around him. 1) it was already destroyed. We just followed his journey in finding out. 2) his partner destroyed it when she cheated and then tricked him into raising another man's baby. 3) his behavior is not caused by his obsession but her constant lying and gaslighting despite the truth staring them both right in their faces. (Note that even when shown definitive prove, she continues to lie and tries to delete the evidence) 100% of what happened could have been avoided had she owned up to her cheating right at the top of the episode.
"White Christmas" is one of the very best episodes - but what a terrible person Beth is, all the hell she had to do was tell the guy the baby wasn't his. Instead, she puts him through hell - totally her fault.
Yeah, and the guy could have called the dad. I mean he wrote, but had he confronted the dad earlier, before basing his whole world around the Idea of being the father, he could have corrected himself. But sure, the whole Idea is that shutting people off is a bad Idea. Think of the ending: we're social animals, shutting someone off from everyone is a short term death sentence, yet the character is meant to see this as a step up from prison.
+david charles (I know this is like...8 months later but whatever...) I always got the feeling she WAS planning on telling him. She clearly wanted out of the relationship one way or another by that point and before she blocked him, she said "we'll discuss this in the morning". She only blocked him when he really started freaking out and getting angry and, again, was probably planning to turn it off later but then he throws a vase against the wall and storms out. Plus we'd already seen he got a little...boisterous when he was drunk. And then with Joe essentially stalking her and her child for five years and what happened when he found out the truth...there was definitely a serious dark side to him. Don't get me wrong, Beth should have broken it off with Joe the moment things began going south for her and shouldn't have cheated on him in the first place but I don't think it's fair to just put the blame for what happened next solely on her for responding in a very understandable way once Joe actually started getting aggressive. For my money, Matt's the one who actually ended up suffering the most from that episode. I mean, at least we know that Cookie-Joe will get turned off (and his "original" did actively murder someone). Matt's clearly an extroverted people-person who's been cut off from all contact with people presumably for the rest of his life, primarily because he was indirectly involved in something he never even saw coming and was legitimately helpless to prevent. That is just cruel...
Overly Dramatic Panda I agree with you mostly. I feel that once she established herself away from him she could have contacted him or something. It would not have likely ended there but he would have known the truth.
that whole episode is like the snowball thing in which one small act ends up becoming such a big fucking mess (also that universe is so ?? like you can get blocked from your child and the police doesn't fix it?)
Playtest was the worst to me. Many twists, but not that much meaning. It was a bit shallow to my taste, when compared to the rest of the show. The other one I found kinda meh was white bear.
@@maximeteppe7627 I'm interested to know why you think there wasn't much meaning? I thought it was meaningful how his mom forgetting him due to illness turned out to be his greatest fear which caused him his death
the framing made me feel the reverse: his brained fried, making him hallucinate, rather than the opposite. since the tech fails. Black mirror is usually about a tech going horribly right (filling it's intended purpose very well and it has terrible consenquences, especially when meeting our fucked up behaviors. the Idea of the mother was cool but as someone who watched horror, this felt like an paetizer and I wish it had all gone further. Can the psychological experience be so intense that the character has PTSD from the game? Maybe he is now incapable of differenciating reality from the game? inception style. It's been done but is still effective. If the tech can find out our deepest fears, can it be used by commercial companies and political activists to manipulate people? Basically the ending erases all larger implication by telling us that it's just the immplant that failed.
I was quite proud of myself for calling the Kenny twist in Shut Up and Dance within the first few minutes of the episode (as soon as he interacted with the little girl, actually.)
White Christmas is definitely my favorite Black Mirror episode. I loved how elegantly all the stories connected and Jon Hamm was was amazing as Matt. I love that it features prominently in this video. Props to pointing out the foreshadowing about the snoring, by the way. Have to admit I didn't catch that. Oh, and as for the newest season: "Crocodile" is without a doubt my favorite episode of the bunch. Anyone else loved that one?
Stink Stinkel Very rarely have I heard any women, especially lesbian women, speak about the episode. Perhaps they like it because it has positive female characters and, in my sad gay opinion, good lesbian representation. It would only be justified for them to enjoy talking about it. God forbid they like things.
Well but I like to not know what the twist will be. I like to just sit back, get involved in the story, relate to the main character and then just all of the sudden get my mind blown. That's kind of the whole point
Black mirror is the twilight zone of our time( in a sense), it gives me the same feelings that some of the episodes of the twilight zone did. I love Black mirror, it's made me think about a lot of things about life and technology I probably would of never thought of before seeing it.
There are two episodes in season 4 that don't have twists; Crocodile and Metalhead. They are very engaging and well-made episodes, but they ended exactly how they looked like they would end from early on. Maybe I missed something, or maybe I'm just too used to expecting a twist ending.
Crocodile had two twists. At tje end of the episode, we found out that the baby was blind that she killed and that animals also have the option to have memories saved
I thought Metalhead had a twist. The whole time the I thought they broke into that factory for life saving medicine and in the end they were risking their lives for a teddy bear. It’s not a big one but it said a lot about humanity.
@@ItsLyndon although I still say that Crocodile had a little bit of a plot hole. They seemed to establish early on that the machine just entirely on its own didn't work to clearly output memories for a 3rd party operating the machine to see. There needed to be someone operating the box who could guide the person along thru what was being rehashed to get a truly clear view of the memory, there's an amount of give and take. I don't see any person being able to do that with hamster. But maybe i'm just being nitpicky.
Alright, I took this thinking into the first episode of season 4; I'm half way through the second and jeez you guys nailed that analysis! Had to come back and comment that this channel is amazing been here since 20k subs road to a million is looking pretty - sharing this video now because why wouldn't you. Keep up the videos!
*mild non-explicit spoiler ahead for season 4* I’m just so happy we got another San Junipero type episode this season. With a happy ending for the characters I was just so relieved 😊 The twist was just so horrible and sad.
I think this is the reason Man Against Fire is probably the episode I dislike the most, it's just too obvious, anyone could read right through those clues. I doubt anyone could ever, ever read through White Bear or White Christmas, some of my favorite eps of the show.
white bear I thought something was off because it was too one note, a survival story played too straight. White christmas I saw most reveals coming a few minutes before they are confirmed. Still a great episode.
ChubbyChecker182 grumpy and quite anxious with a melancholic temperament knob, from his own admission. That's why he got so much insight, and why Black Mirror is totally bingeable, and even soothing, if you're already melancholic.
I never thought of Black Mirror as a 'twisty' show, that seems to me the least interesting part of the show. But as you've proved it's only a the hook as you did in this video essay to talk about larger themes and issues. Thanx as always, great video! Waldo 2019 (afterTrump's impeachment)
I saw a video by nitpix that detailed a lot of good criticisms of hated in the nation, and after watching this video I think there are a lot more good reasons why its one of the weaker episodes hidden in some of the points. Like the fact that there arent very many twists involving the characters in the story, and only the technology. Theres nothing world bending or society crushing, its just "The mean people get whats coming to them because robot bees." Its a hollow story that doesnt really say much about ourselves beyond "cyber-bullying = bad" and the characters are not that engaging or involved in the story, so much so that pretty much everyone under threat dies in the end to the disgruntlement of your main characters who didnt seem all that involved in the plot to begin with.
I'm kind of with you: it's more about the tech, but I feel like it did a good job with it. Society relies on the bees to sustain the planet: how much risk can we accept to better the world? Each time we rely on a tech, in our capitalist system, we are relying on companies and governments who can have ulterior motives. Most of the people using the hashtag were detached from consequence, but the show goes out of its way to show they aren't bad people. To me the weak one is playtest: the character is well established, but I feel the ending could have gone further on the personal failing angle, but they blew the possibility of the character getting dementia too early. It should have been the final twist instead of him dying.
Maxime Teppe I didnt like playtest very much either for the same reason, but it was at least entertaining and had interesting and engaging characters. What can you tell me about any of the characters in hated in the nation besides their physical attributes and job description? Probably not a lot, but a I bet you can tell me a lot more about the ones in playtest.
The issue with hated is that it has a much larger cast, because it's a large scale story. It could have been better with less characters. Scrap the guy that dies. The blond tech expert does. Reduce the number of victims, and try to get them to mean more. Give something to do to the main cop. Maybe scrap the government guy as well and combine him with the main girl? The result is: the tech expert has done somethings wrong by subscribing to the hashtag before finding out the meaning of it. The main cop was involved in mass surveillance. More tension between the two leads. It would remain a bit of a procedural cop show episode, but it might be more impactful. Another issue: if the characters had covered their heads, they would have survided long enough for another day to roll by and another vote to start, but none seems to think of countering the facial recognition by masking their face. Adress this, and the counter to it.
Im not arguing with you, all of those reasons are pretty good indicators of why its the worst one to me, even compared to playtest. Playtest at least stayed consistent in its own logic. I think the mask Idea would have actually made the story more entertaining and would have given more of a cat and mouse vibe compared to the boring hacking.
I'm not gonna argue objective quality, but hated in the nation was more entertaining to me personnally, and the theme felt more interesting. Playtest also broke my immersion by having to many and obvious twists. The waking over and over from a nightmare is appropriate to the context but feels cheap to me. What I like about the twists in black mirror is that with the exception of this one and white bear, the revelations emerge naturally from the events. Very often, the "twist" is that the character takes a decision we don't expect. I think this approach of more subtle subversions is wat gives its flavor to the show, and the "it's all a dream" thing robs the story of consequence. I worked in videogames and VR last year, so I may be more demanding when tackling those themes. USS Callister was a better executed VR-centric story, IMO.
The real beauty and twist is IMHO the moment you realize that most episodes are not just about a distant dystopian sci-fi future, but actually metaphors for the very same issues in our world today. The problems are not a risk of future tech, but existing problems of society and human flaws. Our own black mirror, showing us what is already wrong with us, wrapped into a futuristic costume.
This channel never fails to make amazing and thoughtful content!! The amount of effort and time you must put in to write each video's script and find the proper clips, wow. Thank you for what you do.
Nosedive is easily the best episode. It explores what the world is currently like today and the future we could be heading towards where people focus on numbers like subscriber counts, followers and likes rather than the qualities of the actual person.
I think we all falling the trap. We should not glorified humanity.Humanity is just the way it is. this show is not about corruption of the humanity, its just about humanity. It is about our faces behind masks its about the things that we are capable of doing to others when the circumstances are right or power is given.
I think Hang the DJ was also a pretty happy ending. The people leave the simulation, finding out that they're soulmates, and leave together. Also, there is a bit of hope in The Black Museum that the mother from the second story might get a new body that will allow her to express more than two emotions, and the mother from the framing device might get the same, or she might just be able to rest in peace.
According to creators of the show. The title "Black Mirror" comes from the literal black mirror on our phones and electronic devices. It is not a philosophical metaphor for the reflection of darkness of society as stated in the video.
There's nothing wrong with just letting the show do it's thing and not TRYING to spot twists. I always have way more fun just letting the show tell a story and take me along for the ride.
The twists in black mirror (at least the episodes" Shut up and dance", and "White Bear") make me feel guilty and stupid at the same time! To think the show fooled me into feeling sorry for a villain and root for them: Twice in the same season! Talk about unreliable narrator! Damn!
Why would you want to spot the twist? I mean, isn't that the whole point of a twist to be surprised? I wouldn't be happy with a twist, if I knew earlier it will happen, even if I came to this conclusion myself.
I actually figured out Shut Up and Dance based on his reaction to his sister taking his computer and how he talked to the little girl. I knew there had to be a twist so it couldn't be that simple.
I love how insightful you guys are!! Can we donate in crypto like Digibyte? It would be faster, cheaper, easier and more secure. You can just post your receive address at the bottom of your videos and we can donate to that.
So basically, you're saying "do not get involved", this is the purpose of the FILM EXPERIENCE, is to feel, see things in a different way, its to see a view of that character.
I wouldn't really call these missed things "clues"... lol. How are we to know why a character reacts a certain way? We may think its odd but it happens in tv a lot. Characters overreact or do strange things that they wouldnt normally do. It doesn't necessarily mean we should have seen it coming.
The "the baby was not his" twist in white christmas wa the most obvious twist in Black Mirror imo... You could understand that like 20 minutes before it is "revealed"...
I mean, for the record, San Junipero could still have a bad ending. There's that place Yorkie looks for Kelly in, with all the BDSM and whatnot going on. People trying to feel anything they can. It's still possible Yorkie and Kelly will become like them. Being together is better than being alone, but is it really enough for *eternity*? Can the human mind even handle being conscious that long? Probably not, hence the dark implication.
I watched this and then immediately went to watch S4E5 Metalhead, looking for the twist. Turns out, the twist this time was that there was no twist. Bamboozled again.
I still don't think I'll be able to guess the twist and I don't think I want to! No episode of tv has ever shocked me more than "White Bear", yikes. Bring on season 4!!
Once the evidence is out there, Brooker can't take it back and say, "what I meant to say is..." Communication is collaborative. Once the episode is out in the world, it's not only his anymore. If someone can point to evidence in the episode to support a theory and it helps them make meaning, what Brooker says now is irrelevant. But obviously, you're acquainted with Death of the Author and semiotics and so on. I know I'm preaching to the choir.
6:35 it's said in this video that in Entire History of You; it turned out the baby wasn't his. Did I happen to miss this somewhere? In fact, during the final confrontation, close to the beginning of it, the wife seems appalled when the husband asked if the baby was his. Later on she assures him that she used protection (although its possible this was a lie, since she never showed him the footage of the condom being put on.). My question is where do we find out the baby wasn't his?
KingofHearts i think it's implied, because from what i remember, when the guy (liam, right??) insisted on seeing the memory of her with the other dude to check if they used one, she tried to delete it. i feel like that implies that she was lying and the baby is likely to be the other guy's and not liam's.
It is only implied as we hear the playback from the encounter she was trying to delete, and there is clearly no condom. It's not exactly a DNA test, as that one encounter wasn't necessarily the one that caused the baby. Either way, their relationship wasn't happy and both she and the baby are gone from his life at the end of the episode.
He mentions they were struggling to get pregnant and were trying for a period of time but with no luck. It’s implied that she didn’t use a condom when she had sex with her ex. So we can infer that the baby isn’t his, because why else would the writers bring up them trying and failing to have a baby and her not using a condom with her ex? It’s clear that he had fertility issues and her ex didn’t, which is why she got pregnant.
