I don't get the hate on this one. Sure, you could argue it doesn't "fit the Black Mirror theme", but this is actually one of the better episodes this season imo. It highlights the very dark part of our human nature, how easily corruptible we can be under the right circumstances and that's always fun to watch unfold.
I just loved the whole series. Every episode was different and amazing. The actors also were amazing. Also different genres, but every time with a 'weirdness' angle. This show, together with Inside No. 9 are my favourites.
Imagine being a writer for a moment, one people love and praise, but being trapped in a box that the people who love your work create. Imagine in the beginning you thriving in that box, people loving you more and more, but eventually you've explored everything in the box. Now suddenly people drag you down, "why is he telling stories outside the box?" This is why season 6 took 4 years, because none of these episodes were bad, but because 3 of the 5 weren't inside the box all this hate gets written. Time to move on people, something is indeed better than nothing, and the more you complain about the theme, the closer you get to black mirror straight out ending and red mirror taking it's place, because all good writers eventually learn how to silence the haters and write with their heart, not with a gun to their head.
I absolutely get the criticism that this episode (like most episodes of season 6) don't really fit into the previous Black Mirror narrative.
And yet, I loved this one and hope to see Anjana Vasan bashing more people to death in future movies.
Definitely overhyped in the press, I honestly forgot I was watching Black Mirror.
This has been the worst season of the show.
That was a great episode, but not a good black mirror episode
As I came to understand with some time, Black mirror is directly talking about media, specifically TV and its derivatives, and our relation with it. In this season, we explore the VHS tech, the Long distance call as avatars, the streaming services, and our exploration of the stars related to this media, To finally end talking about the alienation, the maddening behavior, the inflammation of speeches that comes with this media, this magic mirror we have at home.
Having also a take on genres and exploring the technology that surrounds us since the sixties, the writer and creator also pays homage to British entertainment television while making commentaries on the repercussion these things have in our own story. The woman that gets the protagonist of her life taken from her, the man that loses father, mother and girlfriend to achieve success. The astronaut who loses his family due to gesture of humanity, or the actress who is exposed to the supernatural just for being in the wrong place to record a series.
Finally we have the point of view of a woman cast aside by her reality, treat as less than human by her social circle, and who finds in the tv and the things they show, a comfort.
It’s no coincidence that when this supernatural force materializes, it shows itself as something from Tv, and uses the Tv as a mirror to see itself for the first time.
With its powers, in a snap of s finger, the demon played small edits and cuts from future occurrences, possibilities,
I will not spoil the end here, but I believe you got the point now.
This is still black mirror, it’s still talking about tech and their implications in people’s life’s, but ultimately is providing good stories, condensed movies with plots that entertain.
Loved this season.
If you’re thrown off by this episode and the obvious fact that it doesn’t align with the Black Mirror mentality, Google “Red Mirror” and read what Charlie Brooker has to say.
This was a solid episode with great performances. You’re allowed to appreciate the story regardless of the box it’s apparently supposed to fit in.
I'm really not too keen on this new supernatural angle (yes I do mean angle), it's bizarre considering every other season has been about technology
"Ughh. Tell you what. You get comfy. I'll go have a wash down there first."
Starts out as a genuine horror with an intriguing premise. Creepy score, well-made lighting, good atmosphere... then we're introduced to the demon and it takes more of a comedic turn. I just couldn't stand the demon and his annoying unfunny comedy at first. I'd go insane too constantly hearing that. I was about to call quits but then the more it went on the more I started liking it. It took more of a psychological turn and the two characters create an interesting chemistry. Anjana Vasan's performance and character was my favorite part, she's really good. The detective character was cool and the kills were brutal. Some great song choices throughout and interesting camera tricks with the demon.
When the episode ended it took me back to the "Black Mirror" menu and that was the biggest twist, kinda forgot for a moment this was Black Mirror. Felt more like an episode of something like Cabinet of Curiosities.
LOL (laughing at myself at the end of this episode). OK, this is NOT Black Mirror, but it's a great episode inspired by Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes." Such a creative derivation from that song—I'm amazed at some people's ability to write so creatively from just a few lines of lyrics—that I have to give it a decent rating.
Good episode, but no sci-fi or tech, just fantasy. Second fantasy episode in a row. Not what Black Mirror is supposed to be.
A good episode, enjoyed it quite a bit and great music but I feel like it's missing Black Mirror vibes.
Great episode! At first, I kept on watching it from the straight-up angle of what is being shown and told: Meets a demon, gets a quest, tries to stop the apocalypse. But as the story goes on, I increasingly got a feeling like "Yeah, she seems a bit like a maniac talking to herself like that". And the deeper she went down that alley and became even confident in her "mission", the more unsure I got about the meaning of "apocalypse". Her final victim was just as good as that. And she couldn't stop it.
I'm not totally sure about the ending and why it makes her feel at peace, really. I like to imagine she's rather gone mad and now lives on with her made-up Boney M. friend in eternal oblivion (aka. her head --> in a mental institution, maybe) instead of enduring any more of the racism... and even worse things that are about to come with the new parliament.
If anyone has a different or deeper take on that, I'd be happy to hear it! :heart:
PS. Yeah, it's been a more supernatural season. If you don't like it, that's fine, but stop hate-spamming. You can still like the show for what it offers, even if it's not what you expected.
Ah, the apocalypse of 79! I remember it well. I remember Paapa in Men, too, already a (handsome) menace to women. Anjana is great in this and I loved Boney M.
A decent way to end the season, nothing special compared to some other episodes but wasn't as weak as episode 4 at least
Three out of five episodes of this season don't fit into the narrative of the series. Should we expect a turn to paranormal horror for this series? It is a good episode, it just isn't Black Mirror. Most of all, it doesn't leave you with anything at the end. There is no message, no afterthought.
Even more than the second ep, this one feels like something from supernatural horror anthology (it wouldn't be out of place as an ep from Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities) than Black Mirror. But Brooker's brand of dark humor fits well within that genre (the kitchen's awkward scrambling fight between hammer and knife after second murder among the highlights), keeping things fun and off-kilter in a good way until the end.
I would've voted for Michael Smart :type_1_2:♂:joy:
So, finally I made it through those five boring, partly too long, episodes.
Another episode that doesn't fit in the "Black Mirror" series. Not even remotely anything to do with tech or dystopia. The "immigrant hate" angle went nowhere. Was there any hidden meaning / point to the story, or was it just a meaningless story?
BLACK MIRROR JUST GOT ESOTERIC!!
I would argue over half of this latest season explores the supernatural from demons to folklore and (black) magic, which the show has never explored before from my memory (this binge has made me want to rewatch a lot of the episodes though). In fact, the first and second seasons are almost the antithesis of this sort of thing where it would centre around politics or would only blame humans for things like greed, envy or lust barely realising at the time that these are labelled as deadly sins in the Bible for a reason. I'm willing to bet that Charlie Brooker has had a mindset shift about the world since 2011 - as have I and so many others.
This final episode certainly rids any subtlety that may have been had with exploring demonic possession but this honestly makes it the most hilarious Black Mirror has ever been - I laughed countless times at Paapa Essiedu's perfect performance.
It's already proven (from reviews I've read in the last two days) that much of the audience are reminiscing over the days where the show would only talk about technology but I personally loved the direction it's gone in for undoubtedly its best season since s3. Joan is Awful and especially Mazey Day were mid but both still had a super likeable element to them. The other three episodes, including this one, were fucking killer!
Charlie Brooker said "let's try live action South Park for 2023" and I'm all here for it.
Bravo.
What kind of person write crap like this? There's a lot wrong with this episode and I'm not even talking about the new route of Black Mirror, I mean the childish plot, the pro migrant message and then showing a migrant committing murders therefore reinforcing the discourse, the exaggeration of racism in the UK one of the most inclusive countries in the world, every character is full of stereotypes and canned behavior, really bad writing!. Netflix is becoming trash by the second.
Season 6 was all over the place. Apart from the first episode, the Netflix execs seem to have interfered with every other episode to either sprinkle their usual woke bile into the writing or employ writers who know nothing about Black Mirror's core themes. :joy:
I don't need to read the other comments to know that most of them will be saying things like, "Worst episode ever", "Even worse than the last one" and from those who are confused about what the show is meant to be about, "This is not Black Mirror".
The title of the show sums up the core theme of the series and mostly it sticks to that however this episode was different as far as I can tell. I'm not sure how her story is direct reflection on anything about the human condition. There wasn't really that element where I said, what would I do in this situation or that I felt I could see how her situation was highlighting something about us that is morally questionable.
I didn't hate any of these episodes but I don't think the series really hit the heights of earlier seasons. If this was the first season of the show I don't think it would get enough views to get a second series. That said, they were all better than Ep 1 series 1 and the first season did have the episodes that I personally found the most interesting. A series like this should be allowed to have an off season but as people are so confused about what the theme of Black Mirror is, Charlie Brooker should probably have given this season a sub heading to let people know that it would have some superficial, thematic differences. Most if not all the episodes was set in periods back in time so just making it "Black Mirror 1950's" type thing (if they had all been in the 50's) might have been enough.
Books featured in this episode:
Entertaining but not very interesting. And definitely not Black Mirror style.
loved this episode. lots of fun. and Anjana Vasan is both brilliant and beautiful.
At least they're honest that it's not Black Mirror anymore. It's been turning more and more into Tales from the Crypt, and here they fully embraced it.
Episode 2 was not Black Mirror, but normal.
Episode 4 was "Surprise, it's fantasy".
This one is full on fantasy from the start.
One could hope for a final episode that brings all the past stuff together in an unforeseen theme or link, sadly it is the last episode. And probably the last Black Mirror ever.
I'm into this kind of stuff, but that's not what I expect from it. I mean, you can't just use the name of a franchise to put whatever unrelated else you want into it. It looks like the inspiration is gone.
And once you know it's a Tales from the Crypt like, it becomes way more predictable too.
The Demon's (is it a spoiler ? I don't think so, it's in the title after all, and by then we already had a werewolf) first interaction is a lie, so the rest could be the same (both visions, apocalypse and the first victim's crime). And since she was already hallucinating killing people, one can already predict the potential future victims.
Bit of a twist as killers do not count though. I guess the ending was the most interesting of the 3 options.
Note to self: I didn't actually watch this but I want this show off my feed
Been a long time since I heard "Bright Eyes", awesome music in this episode.
If you want to listen to it again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a502RejLz8s
This episode was the highlight of the season for me. The characters, the vibe, the music.
the greatest love story ever told. I loved this episode so much, it's probably my favorite black mirror episode and I genuinely don't understand why it's so badly rated on here. I absolutely did not see the end coming and it made my little goth heart so happy 11/10, would go hang out in oblivion with a hot demon again
Another episode out of left field. The bait-and-swich of most of this season was equal parts disappointment, frustration and annoyance. If I go to a restaurant, I expect to be served food. The food might be different every time I go, but it's still food; the place doesn't suddenly start to offer financial services instead. Someone should have explained this concept to the writers here.
So killing the 3 people would have prevented a nuclear war? If there was a connection of any sort. It would have made a great ep.
All this complaining about “the narrative”.
Well, it’s about time to expand the narrative, and this episode is filled with black humour. It shows devotion to its TV ancestors, and does it in such a fun way, using all the right ways to pay a tribute.
Personally, I went mad for the Sapphire & Steel appearance since it’s one of my favourite series ever.
Splendid use of the cast, especially the main characters.
Loved it.
One of the worst episodes of black mirror I've seen yet.
Good grief, a "Dead Zone"-ripoff as a Black Mirror episode.
How have the mighty fallen.....
At least it was this season's last episode.
what an unlikely love story! totally caught me off guard & absolutely brilliant. I loved the humor & the 70s throwback theme - great change of pace w all the dark overtones.
Even tho this doesn’t “fit” the Black Mirror Universe, I do see the vision! Could this be the prequel for the whole BMU? And the ending was great!
Do yourself a favor and watch this show.
Looks like he wipes his arse with his house. A proper old school episode, very dark and funny. Added bonus is some of the biggest hits from 79 incl Boney M, Madness and The Specials. The demon is even the dancing guy from Boney M. Rah Rah Rasputin, lover of the Russian king.
great episode...nice vintage gore and setting.
not really "Black mirror" worthy though...
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. But still, what does this have to do with the theme of Black Mirror, which is people's mishandling of technology?
This sure was a fun episode, actually this and Joan is aweful are the only two I really enjoyed. But I'd still prefer to see things like this one seperated into a stand-alone Red Mirror show, instead of being episodes of Black Mirror.
Without Anjana Vasan, this would have been fairly bad, almost funny with the Boney M based demon . But Vasan made it so much better
I'm about to binge watch whatever else she has done to see if this is a one off or is is awesome
This episode, while not very Black Mirror, is my favorite of this season. Although there is no technology in it, I think it captures a lot of current (yet ancient) problems and my increasingly frequent thoughts. It would be better if only people (the main problem) died at the end. But evolution is a fucked up thing, so maybe it's better this way. More Red Mirror, please, before we all fucking burn.
Unfortunately, I didn't really vibe with this one and season 6 ends on a bit of a whimper at least for me. I might be in the minority on that, but I just found this to mostly be a slog with a lack of interesting themes/commentary. It did have a pretty good blend of genres and was very well executed on a technical level, but I just didn't find anything to personally latch onto with the story and didn't find it all that enjoyable.
4.5/10 -- Below Average
Might be the worst episode of Black Mirror. Even if you seperate it from the show, it's just bad on its own.
I think this season of black mirror tried to introduce a future spinoff
Hated all season 6 except for this episode.
Not "Black Mirror"-ish at all. The best thing about this episode is the music and the ending.
In the end, I was still thinking that the demon might be the imagination of the female protagonist, but it turned out not to be. Well, the demon's business ability is really poor, no wonder he couldn't get into the formal organization... Overall, I feel that the first story is a bit interesting.
Shout by Soraia SilvaBlockedParentSpoilers2023-06-21T21:37:14Z
If the demon said "One killing a day on the next three days", I don't get how the demon was expecting to finish the job after Nida had killed 2 men on the second day.