Deeply disturbing. But an excellent chapter. Makes me wonder what awaits me next chapter.
as if the government would negotiate with terrorists.
The request from the terrorist- That the PM should fuck a pig is just unbelievable stupid. This episode is by far the worst shit I've seen on television at all.
PS: I want my wasted 45 minutes back
One of the best pilots ever. Those who critize it i'ts because you don't get the point of Black Mirror and you only focus on the pig issue and how disgusting it is but that's actually what makes it so unique. And I don't blame you, it's not a serie for everyone.
You spend the whole episode wondering what would you do if you were in that position or if you would watch it or no as a citizen. You should focuse more on the control and the power of social media nowadays and the damage they can create.
Fucking awesome, 'cause let's be clear, unfortunately, this is exactly what would happened from the point of view of the audience.
Utter garbage. Glad I didn't let it put me off the other episodes though.
Although the plot sounded interesting at first, this whole episode was a real disappointment. After hearing about this series, I expected it to be either amusing, smart or at least exciting. Instead it felt like watching some crappy faked reality show. Absolutely no story to it, it just goes plainly from A to B, no surprises, no action, no humor, no nothing. Just a waste of time. The terrorists demand was the only creative thing in this episode, and that alone.... doesn't go very far.
I may have gone too far on my interpretation, but this episode reminded me of the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School. Where they argue that our excess of reason (that for example leaded to the WW2) trapped us in the mass industry (and opinion) society we are in, and that art would be the escape from this society. And in here happened the contrary, of course that in the end enters in the debated "what is art?" Would it be or not? But the fact is that the man who forced the minister to practice an act of zoophile claimed it was art. And we can not denied that technology is a way of creating art, and it let me thinking: what the hell will be of the art and of our future?
All I can say is if I were in that situation there would be a dead fucking princess. I resign, fuck that shit.
Yeah don't watch this.
The rest of the show is good, but there is no justification to watch a guy be forced to fuck a pig.
this was a very disturbing start
It started off as well producted and intriguing, but lost me at it's lazy writing and illogical story. At almost every point, the characters (be it the main cast or the public) act the worst way possible, or have the most ridiculous decisions. Because I therefore can't relate to the resulting message it tries to tell, this episode is wasted time for me.
... but maybe it was good back then when it came out and it looks stupid now... like all other shows and movies that tried to predict the future now look silly.
while san junipero snatched my wig, this pilot episode is just one big what the fck and highly disturbing, i couldn't and wouldn't even finish it, bye
Huh, it improved his approval ratings. Maybe ol' Trump should try that -- though a pig with a pig doesn't get the same kind of reaction.
Well, didn't know what to expect, heard so much hype for this series, so tried the first episode...with family present. Well they liked it.
This was...something else. I did not really like it.
The media plus the generation of likes and comments imbeciles move the world!
hands down the worst episode on TV I have ever watched. Great idea, important message, but the writing is a disaster, utterly ridiculous
I found it very very fascinating.
Or I like to call it "David Cameron: A Prime Minister Story".
Not the best start for any show.It's sicker than it has to.6/10
And the point of all of this is ..... what ?
That we are a sick society that would actually watch something like this ? 'Cause I have no doubts that's what would happen. That social media are the downfall of good taste and decent discussion? That could already be seen even back when this aired. That the press is out for blood and nowadays are more interested in ratings and clicks than actual journalism? Yeah, stunner, who would have thought.
But the episode left it's motives rather unclear.
Not as shocking after the whole David Cameron thing, eh?
I'm writing this after seeing the first season, this was my least favorite episode. The plot was just too much for me, sickening really and that is basically the reason why. It might've been the reason behind this plot, to make people see how sick people can be watching a man have sex with a pig on tv but it was just too much for me.
Thought provoking. It made me consider what I would've done in the PM's position. There are some plot holes (DNA testing anyone?), but overall enjoyable and made me consider my own complicity when watching questionable videos/media online.
This is too much fiction for me. They had a good story to develop but the end was very poor.
I didn't like this episode very much. They definitely took things too far and I think this was a very bad first episode because it doesn't at all represent the rest of the show. Thankfully I had heard very good things about it so I kept watching and the rest is a million times better.
Outlandish episode especially for a pilot. I like that the premise rests on a real life event, the so-called Piggate of David Cameron, which is a rumor of him getting intimate with a dead pig. The tense is well made. The way the reveal is done is also surprisingly nice. There's a few noticeable plot hole but nothing too distracting.
My only complain about this episode is the message it's trying to come across: a rather tired cliche of government surrendering to the demands of social media. It overestimates the so-called "power of social media". The dynamics as the story goes on is interesting - there is constant ping pongs between the government and the people (social media), the play between the media and the government, and the government getting live feedback through a soldier camera during the raid.
However the notion that government can submit to social media is a tired cliche that have been proven wrong for quite some time after Arab Spring. As we can see from Russia, China, Indonesia, Philippine, heck even USA, government always has the most deployable resource to influence information in social media. From political influencers and bots, to memes. I don't think the "slow, bureaucratic government" trope still fits well in this information age. As we adjust to the speed of information, so does the government.
So while the technical aspect is nice, the message is a tired cliche, which strikes me as the weakest.
sorry but I don't get it, I don't get how I could move and watch the second episode after this..
I don't get why people hate this episode. Maybe they hate to see the truth about themselves?
Anyway, that was depressing, but it had to be.
This is a great pilot! I see tons of bad reviews on this episode, but I think most people are missing out on the main point. The end of the episode mentions that this situation is a work of art and I would agree with it. That's not saying it wouldn't be a very twisted and demented work of one, though. This act of terrorism is obviously extreme, but the first point of it is it places the government in "virgin territory" which they mention at the beginning of the episode in response to what the plan was to do. The second point is this act was made as a statement over the power of social media based off how the terrorist ended the scenario. This episode does a great job at placing yourself into the minister's shoes. Even from the citizen's view, I questioned if I would watch or not as disgusting the act is. I personally would like to believe I wouldn't because I'd rather be watching more Black Mirror.
Why on earth did they start with this story? The other 2 episodes this season are far better (less disturbing, more realistic, more interesting, and more relevant to today). Were they trying to get people to stop watching before the show even got going?
that was stupid. i don't see the hype on this show but hopefully the rest will be better. and that was some weak ass prime minister.
Still struggling to decide if it's a brilliant satire, or an appearance of one that masks empty nihilism. Brilliantly crafted in its world-building and society reaction though.
Vulgar, cheap TV. The whole episode is badly written and absolutely meaningless.
One of the boldest beginnings of a show ever.
With its first shocking episode Black Mirror makes a bold mission statement, and writer Charlie Brooker is not effing around. This disturbing parable for the then-nascent Twitter Age only had its cultural relevance amplified in the following years by the real world parallel of rumors of a modern-day British PM participating in a hazing ritual in his school days that involved an eerily similar act as depicted in this piece. Since it was a British production, the performances by the cast are all awesome. (I especially liked the subplot with the female journalist angling for a scoop.) The story's fatal flaw, however, is that the government position of not negotiating with terrorists is never explored. It's not considered. It's not dismissed. It's not even mentioned. This could be a function of cultural differences (it's an unspoken reality that governments outside of the US will pay ransoms for hostages), but the fact that it doesn't come up at all is a glaring omission that took me out of the story. Looking back from 2023: As a cultural artifact of great import I'd give this episode an "8," but as a piece of entertainment the plot gap makes it hard to go beyond a "6."
8/10
Great
But wrong n
Very disturbing
but so realistic on how
Fickle Society is.
and the length humans
as a hole will go to
Too have and to hold
on to a bit of power.
(Just look how quickly
Opinions changed,
No the didn't, then yes
they thought they did,
then they couldn't even
Watch. Such a reflection
of
Society today).
Right it only gets better
from here on out.
As humans we are quick to shrug off certain dangers and situations, until they are fully realized. They pushed the envelope exercising a crazy and disturbing scenario... and managed to make it somewhat realistic and believable. It is a tight spot being in the general public and the prime minster's shoes. The most impactful scene was when the broadcast was about to air, seeing smiling faces of the bar patrons change to faces of disgust once it becomes a reality - it is truly humbling. One of the saddest moments happens during the credits, when the PM's wife is disgusted by him even after he did something that was "the right thing to do"... or was it just political opportunism?
Gross. Should have let her die, I don’t give a fuck. No need to put the pig through that, no need to ruin this man and those around him permanently because of it either.
Very relevant, especially to Filipinos. We're missing out the more important issues at hand because we're too amused watching scandals and pointing out errors. We participate to non-constructive discourses online, only fueling the conversation with more irrelevant arguments to the point that we forget what really is the point of us arguing at all.
Shocking. And not only the pig. Mankind.
Just wow.Expected something dark,got the best
So let it be known the story told in this episode is odd & a bit twisted, & being honest early into the episode I thought to myself that i just really didn't kno if I could get into what seemed to be to far fetched syfy with this twisted vibe on political views and such and might just be to weird for me to really get into it and almost just gave up on it to watch something more familiar to me by just catching up on the latest Ray Donovan episode i had missed instead. I am so so happy I didn't because I would have been selling myself short because this is an amazing Show. I am 100% in love with this show, I have only watched up to episode 1 of Season 3 but I would be lying if I didn't say i enjoyed every single episode so far. So let me say this episode 1 was absolutely my least liked episode so far but even with that said, after watching the first episode I knew I was 100% hooked for Black Mirror. If for whatever reason your not convinced after watching episode 1 that this show is worth your time, watch the next episode or skip to the next one after that even cuz Every episode seems to tell a different story each time. I will stop my ranting.
Just know this show is defiantly worth the watch and i totally recommend anyone who likes tv shows in general should give it a watch.
I heard so many good things about Black Mirror that I said to myself that after all these years, I have to check this out. Wow, this episode was so unbelievably bad. Don't understand why people praise this show.
Why his wife do not give support to him?
The rest of the episode is an insteresting introduction to a new serie but this part didn't make sense at all; what did she think that could happen?
Well, then. My first real Black Mirror episode. I can see where the popularity lies. From what I can tell, this isn't the most popular episode of the show, nor something that reflects what the rest of the show is about, but I had no issues with it. There is some seriously thought-provoking elements in this episode that might take a deeper thinker to fully realize. The more I think about it, the more this felt like a game of chess with one side getting more and more cornered, losing their wiggle room. At that point, you gotta ask what you would do - from a personal, professional, and political perspective.
The demand itself is mostly where everyone begins to complain, as it isn't what you typically see from ransoms in media. As this is the foundation of the episode, I do understand where you're coming from, but look at it from a realistic perspective. We have trolls that do things for laughs and political extremists that do other things to humiliate others. This was pretty political, and it was expertly crafted in a way that dare I say it, was as rational as possible in that scenario.
What in the name of everything holy is happening!!! I can't proceed with the episode, I had to stop it and post this comment... I can't ****** believe any sick mind imagine this!
I don't know if I will be able to continue the episode or not! The show is great really but the idea is really really hurt... the amount of humiliation is overwhelming
So messed up, I felt quite sick. However, I’ve heard that this show is amazing so I’ll keep watching, but I think this was going a bit too far just to get shock value.
Or I like to call it "David Cameron: A Prime Minister Story".
Yeah, he should have resigned then there's no more PM that need to do the thing.
Very modern twilight zone ish eerie show.. Wish there were more episodes
Shout by JadedGothBlockedParent2018-04-13T08:25:39Z
This episode has made my hate for social media stronger, and for people who have become unempathetic and have been desensitized to other people's feelings, misery, and problems.
I can't believe there are sickos - men, women, and bloody children - who would waste hours of their lives watching an unfortunate person humiliate themself for someone else's well-being.
I understand those who hated the episode, but I understood the point of it more and like what the writers are trying to tell us via this anthology. it is genuinely frightening yet thought-provoking.