"How does it feel to be in a womans body?" Idk dude, just pick her yourself next round
It tries to tackle things like porn addiction, queerness, dysfunctional marriages and polyamorous relationships, but ultimately it just wraps things up too quickly and neatly. It even lacked the signature Black Mirror tragic twist. I feared that Danny's son would log on at some point and get virtually raped by Karl.
I was so took off guard in that first VR session haha! A bit if a slow burner for sure, but still an interesting story which comes with a lot of interesting questions. Wouldn't say it's one of my favourite Black Mirror episodes but the acting is fantastic and not overplayed, cinematography (as always) is incredible, and I really liked how the ending turned out.
7.5/10
So boring!
Miss the old times when BM was about blow your mind, unexpected plot twists, and great storytelling and NOT just a typical ideology propaganda.
So sad even this kind of show get raped for these agendas.
Boooooooring. Not a particularly interesting story, and soooo long to start (but yeah, as well delay it because there's not much to say). Not a Black Mirror episode. Where's the technology ? VR sex and a dishwasher that talks ? Seriously ? Where's the dystopia ?
The main thing is very focused on are they finding out they are gay through a VR fight game ? Even though everything points out to no, and that wouldn't be a BM subject anyway. So what could be a related BM subject would be porn addiction, maybe ? But it's not really treated this way anyway. So on top of a boring story, it's not really clear on what it's trying to say either, and whatever it's trying yo say, it's saying it very badly and confusingly.
The 2 minutes of video game style are not too bad, but that's out of the subject and the story, just to make it look like a BM episode.
Sure, the whole AR topic was already in previous episodes of the show, but this time it was something totally different – something new.
The idea that we are in a foreseeable future where we escape the reality and flee in virtual reality is not that far away, and let's be honest, it is partly already here.
Everyone who ever played SecondLife or any MMORPG most likely made the experience the actors are making in the show. Just in a different way, we chat with people and getting attracted to what they say and write and not to the real person behind. Who knows with how many Avatars and the person behind we have flirted not knowing that the person is of the same gender?
See... the thing is that you have the sensations so while there's no physical touch this is still cheating.
I personally don't know if it's possible to be in love with someone in VR but not IRL... well actually I guess you can since your brain is seeing a different person.
I don't know... who cares... episode was still interesting to me.
Me: Sup Black Mirror long time no see! Whatcha got for me today?
Black Mirror: Communication is paramount in a healthy and successful relationship, pornography addiction is real and can be as debilitating as any other addiction, and it's not gay if it's VR.
Me: Dope...
This episode captures and replays with incredible accuracy the feeling you have after you’ve cheated on your significant other. It sucks and this nailed it on the head.
All sexuality stuff aside, I think this is Black Mirror being very Black Mirror. Excellent season opener.
I was hooked to the episode. Sure, it was a bit crazy and messed up but something very likely to happen and well potrayed
That was a weird one but I enjoyed it. It’s a shame that so many people have such shallow attention spans that they can’t stand to let a story unwind itself, gotta have that I stand gratification. The little arrangement they make at the end. If it works for them, lol.
Oh, yay. The fluid sexuality episode. So hip. So trendy. Aside from that, there is a relatively interesting premise here, but it's executed poorly and many plot holes are left exposed and unaddressed. And as tired as I am with the whole fluid thing, I have even less tolerance for adultery, which sure seems to be part of the solution there at the end. The only reason why I don't rate the episode even lower is because I really like Falcon America and Abbie Mills.
Best episode out of the three and contrary to popular opinion here ,I did enjoy it although more subplots could have been exploited with the wives end of the story
Long linguistic opinion about other reviews:
I've got to say that this episode can be disappointing if you expect your typical BM (you know, dark twist and all). In German the word ist "enttäuschend" with literally means that you realize that you were fooled (by your own expectations or by someone else) and that you realized that. And this is what happened to most negative reviewers (as far as I read or scanned their comments): They expected something else and didn't get it. Instead they got what the not as tragic and dark side of BM that started to show up around season 3. I get the Enttäuschung and the anger (and anger about a TV show is a topic I don't even want to touch in VR so close to GoT's finale).
My own opinion about the actual episode:
I enjoyed this particular episode. I'm not sure about the ending, but [spoiler]the whole relationship chaos, the boring daily life suddenly spiced up, the dilemma,[/spoiler] it's all very real. And it's not flashy or twisty or morbid. Just realistic. And maybe, just maybe, that's why it's really scary. And hits close to home. Maybe too close for some.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the season!
Post Scriptum:
I don't think the "[spoiler]gay[/spoiler] stuff" (to quote other reviewers was the real point of the episode. It's about [spoiler]relationships[/spoilers].
Have you considered... that playing video-games with your friends... is kinda gay? Checkmate, gamers.
WHAT was that ending, though??? Literally homophobic
Super cringe! This show is effed up.
Well I didnt think any episode would be worse than Metalhead, but this succeeded with flying colors.
Lord was this overcooked. Okay we get it mate, get a divorce and watch gay porn. Hopefully the season goes up from here.
This could have been so much better. But instead of exploring deep and complicated emotions and the conflicts that arise from those, we got slapped with a yawny iteration of the good old "I get it, people think, role play is hot" with a little lot of "yeah, gotta spice things up in order to be able to fulfil your marital duties after a decade of family life, because family is what really matters #amirite" plus the annoying notion of "well as long as there are no REAL feelings involved…".
I mean, I had a faint glimmer of hope when there was a possibility of someone else (wife, son) putting on the headset and exploring whatever turn the episode would have taken from there, but alas…
Jeez. It's bad sad bad.
I want the old, dystopian Black Mirror back.
It seems like every three year, director Owen Harris returns to one more Charlie Brooker script so he can add to his "Love in the Time of Black Mirror" entries. This one might not be as good or fully fleshed out as "Be Right Back" or "San Junipero", but it's still gratifyingly character-focused, in no hurry to rush into cynicism, and full of gentle nuances as in his previous works. The degree of difficulty may be even higher, as its complex issues and story threads require a tricky balancing act and really depend on the outcome, where so many things can go wrong in the process. But the full characterization and autonomy granted to all characters here make the conclusion it arrives at all the more beautiful. Genuine, generous curiosity in the fluidity of human experience is already apparent in Harris' first two outings, but it's even more pronounced and profound here, especially regarding sexuality and love. Would love to read a longer piece from those who know more about these topics than me, but I love that this story is throughout about the flexibility of sexuality and monogamy/polygamy, then arrives at a conclusion that acknowleges the complex fluidity of both, while placing autonomy, consent, compromise, and equally shared happiness above all.
In my opinion, the technology in this episode serves no purpose to the plot. We could have a better story without the "virtual reality" part and it would make a subpar drama/love story that you watch while you wash dishes.
should be called Fucking Vipers... X. Just "play" with someone else.
Remember when Black Mirror was so dark you felt as if your soul was ripped out of your body at the end of the episode? I do. Maybe I was less experienced back then (doubtful seeing the things I've seen... "my eyes... my eyes are bleeding") but you can't call this even the lightest shade of dark anymore.
In fact... This episode was Rainbow Mirror?
I don't see what was so dark and gloomy about this. So guys do porn and porn is bad and they like to play games with other guys and be all like "no homo bro" sitting on their cough like pathetic little wimps while the ladies in marriage train said guys to do their bidding and get them pregnant and make a fuss about not being able to succeed in bed right after what must have been a very expensive dinner only to eventually admit that they're fucking around in real life.
A fun fact btw I didn't realise until the scene after even though my viewing compagnion (of the female kind) told me when she took of her ring. See, I just thought she was taking of her ring to go to bed or something but nah...
So the moral of the story is?
Right now I feel like my soul is being pressed down in my groin. What the hell was that?
Fellas is it gay if it’s in a video game?
This might be one of the weakest Black Mirror episodes ever. Usually a Black Mirror makes you want to think and to contemplate about what you just saw, but this was just... nothing.
Actually the topic might have been very interesting and they should have shown more about how this new technology (which will have its mot important use in porn, of course) will affect human society. But instead they chose to tell the lamest and tamest story possible within this premise. What a waste of potential.
I enjoyed the episode, but it would have been nice if they changed game characters, so Danny would play as Roxette at some point.
8/10
last night i fucked a polar bear
You can say all you want but as Charlie Brooker himself said, the ending is not ALL happy if you think about it: It was supposed to be a win-win situation for all parties but it wasnt really that because at the end, Karl was trapped in a loop of waiting for Danny every year (and I think they both lied about not feeling anything when they kissed IRL) and Danny choosed to mantain his family dynamic just to get a hall pass with Karl on his birthday and allow her wife to have a one night stand the same day. The only way to worsen the situation was if Theo falled in love with one of her new lovers. So, in true Black Mirror fashion, is a sad ending with a light tone to it... As an overall, is a strange subject of matter to portrait in this BM Universe, given that is almost a recycled story with elements of other episodes but you have to admit that has all the elements of twists and surprises that you would not have guessed by looking at the trailer or reading the main plot.
I like the bi-ish, poly-ish #representation for my own sake, but it could've gone much darker. The two guy friends thing felt a bit too safe, it would have been much darker had he met a character in there that real-life player turned out to be 12-13 years old. Or if they wanted to experience more, and much more intensely, so they would've have gone for animal-like characters or child characters (I'm thinking "the last of us" or "beyond: two souls", leading to the whole thing becoming grey-zone pedophilia. That would've been more exciting that going for a biscurious approach IMO. Or having it lead into a proper discussion on how the bodies of these hentai/cartoon/video game women ruins his relationship to a real woman (his wife) due to expectation and addiction or SOMETHING. It felt a bit flat to me. But at least it was cute.
I can't believe Brooker took the premise "Two closeted queers having sex in VR" and managed to make a boring episode with an unsatisfying ending around it. So much more could be explored in that hour. So much more provoking stuff could be in it. Someone really needs to stop the presses.
Please, I surely hope that the other two episodes in this season isn't as bland and mind numbing as this one. If so, they should consider shortening season six.
It's so easy to spot all the homophobes.
I LOVE IT :smiling_face_with_3_hearts: IT WAS MY FANTASY :see_no_evil::see_no_evil::see_no_evil:
When I saw São Paulo I screamed :heart:
Interesting episode, the ending was not what I'd expect from a Black Mirror episode though.
better than I remember, such an amazing take on gamers.
I loved this episode so much
another useless episode, For real like they are out of ideas
Felt like a jumbled mess covering too many topics at once inadequately without the signature Black Mirror dreadful dystopian grunge you've come to expect from most of the rest of the series.
Also how the fuck you going to do a weird bromance VR sex thing and make the analog for it a fake Street Fighter instead of something like an MMO. Criminal.
60 minutes of "no homo bro".
A strange and awkward concept, but I can totally see this happening - the future where sexuality isn't confined to labels.
Anthony Mackie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Beharie were all great. Without spoiling anything, but I think the episode should've ended in the car.
It was something new in terms of the themes it tried to tackle: discovering a ney side of your sexuality and how it fits within a current relationship, polyamorous relationships... and all with the online/VR perspective.
But it felt coward and lacking charisma everywhere.
I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't shocked, I wasn't even excited for it to end, it was just plain. Where was the dark filter to the story that Black Mirror had?
Despite the stretched out & a bit repetitive short story.... This was good enough. I like the ending for the wife. But I think the husband should try with real woman tho.. At least once :sweat_smile:
I feel like this story could have been told in half the time. Not the strongest BM episode, but not the weakest either.
Theo's facial expressions really made me anxious.
Well, it has at least some plot about sexuality.
Review by IHateBadMovies.comVIP 8BlockedParent2019-06-20T12:11:25Z— updated 2019-06-24T00:35:37Z
The reviews on this episode are depressing.
"It was too political" says the people that try to bring politics into everything
"It wasn't sci-fi enough" says the people that watching it on that level
"There weren't enough twists" says the people who watch this show on a superficial level.
"It was brokeback mountain for tv" said the homophobic people
"They've covered some of this stuff before" says the people that think that every story has to not resemble any other story in any way.
"They wrapped it up too quickly" says the people who value the destination more than the journey (shoot me now)
I don't know what more people want from this series. The series is meant to discuss the human condition in our quickly-changing world. It is meant to provoke thought and conversation and make us think about where we are going and the challenges we will face. In that regard it very much reminded me of San Junipero - probably my favorite episode of the entire series. While not being as uplifting as that episode (which is irrelevant as I don't watch media to be uplifted) it was actually interesting that the leads in the show had actually found what seemed to be a balance where they could co-exist.
There were so many layers and things to think about - I can't believe that others didn't see it the same way. While so many of their episodes are cautionary tales I thought this did a fantastic job portraying the complexities that we are now starting to do deal with in our relationships.
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