This might be the absolute best Black Mirror episode. I'm going to rewatch the Christmas episode so we will see but this one is just so masterful ... and I only just discovered that it's the only episode not written by Charlie Brooker. No, it's Jesse Armstrong instead who I then researched and realised he's behind some of my favourite British comedy, and now super successful with creating the show Sucession (which I really need to watch). And with this episode in his locker too, lead by the extraordinary Toby Kebbell (so fucking good he needs to be in more things), it seems he cannot do wrong because Goddamn this shit is remarkable.
Part of me doesn't want to think this because I like when Black Mirror goes allegorical (like in the brilliant season 6) but it just might be true that Black Mirror is at its peak when it goes simple.
So much of this episode could've seemed gimmicky but I think this mastered simplicity and an incredibly tight script makes it not only work but actually hits the 'genius' sweet spot - A zone so difficult to achieve.
Spoilers.
It gets more and more tense until a heartbreaking ending that might be the best representation of a breakup I've ever seen. It's just all so perfect - the close-ups of her face from his memory and wandering around the house seeing her everywhere. It's not only clearly written from a passionate and personal place but it's also the perfect ending to an episode about memories ... I mean, where are memories more prominent and emotional than in a breakup?
Review by PongpengVIP 2BlockedParent2016-11-06T14:46:39Z
In some way, this might be the best episode of the first season, and the most convincing expression so far of the show's thesis in how technology can amplify our worst impulses as a human being, or at least make us arrive at the inevitable faster. The tech is believable and only just slightly exaggerated from the present to give chills, the integration into everyday life is seamless, and the way it is used to advance a familiarly grueling story like distrust and paranoia in a relationship is just great. But again, one stumbling block, and the clearest example of why people often compare this show unfavorably to The Twilight Zone: the humans in that relationship. I feel the disturbing horror and discomfort of their disintegration, but never the keen sense of loss. I don't know whether it's the nuance in writing or the performances (but highly suspecting the former), but the way the couple is presented, I never get a handle of them as complex people, which is crucial for a story like this. The husband especially just becomes this rage, jealous, overbearing from the get-go; I don't expect characters to be sympathetic, but some empathy beyond what the situations are doing to them would be nice. So, still prefer "The National Anthem" out of the first season.