Online Series: Black Mirror: Season 6 (Netflix)

[chicagoskycam]

I liked the 1st episode, actually it was really well done and hilarious. Didn't care for the 2nd episode but I liked the 3rd with Aaron Paul.

,

Spoiler: 3rd Episode

I really thought at an moment David was dead and he would just assume his replica but no, guess he still needed him to fly the ship. You would think they could give him any replica just to get by. 2001 Space Odyssey vibes as well as the Manson murders back on earth. Why does everything look like the 60's?

 

[trojansoilers]

Had to take a break after the 3rd episode…if youve seen it you know what I mean.

Spoiler

I think that might’ve been the darkest ending of the series. It would’ve been bad enough if David had killed Cliff and took over his life, but they went way beyond that.

Btw, seems like forever since I’ve last seen Josh Hartnett in something. Did he take a break or something?

And I think by now whenever I see Aaron Paul in a show, I’m just going to assume something really bad is going to happen to him. Geez.

I’d rate the episodes:
Joan is Awful - 3.5/5
Loch Henry - 3/5
Beyond the Sea - 4/5
Mazey Day - 2/5
Demon 79 - 3.5/5, I think overall this was the best episode of the season but took half a point off cause it didn’t seem like a Black Mirror episode

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Really loved Joan is Awful. definitely vintage Black Mirror type of episode. Interesting premise without getting too abstract Good acting and funny meta celebrity appearances.

 

[PB37]

Overall, this season was really solid and I felt like they got back to the great Black Mirror style of what made it really engrossing while doing a much better job of adding the meta elements to their story telling from the later seasons that often made episodes fall flat. I've always felt the best Black Mirror episodes are when they take their time to get to the episode's hook that brings all the events together and this season I felt they nailed that.

favorite episode: Loch Henry.

favorite moment: the big reveal in Mazey Day.

least favorite episode: Demon ( still solid, but stepped too much away from being a Black Mirror episode )


This season gets 4 out of 5 stars from me

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Absolutely loving this season so far! Definitely has the dark and almost hopeless feel of the older seasons, which is great. In typical Black Mirror fashion the music selections have been excellent, in my opinion.

We finished episode 3 last night (Beyond the Sea). Wow wow wow, what an episode. The pacing of the longer entry was great, the build up was just in time. I loved the alternate 1969 setting as well.

Spoiler: Episode 3: Beyond the Sea ending

I definitely didn’t see that ending coming. I thought for sure that David was either going to kill the real Cliff and assume his life or kill the link and force them to be stuck there together. The ending they went with was much more powerful and striking…. Obviously.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Really loved Joan is Awful. definitely vintage Black Mirror type of episode. Interesting premise without getting too abstract Good acting and funny meta celebrity appearances.

Just finished that ep. Thought it was pretty decent and had that nice twist at the end. Like you said, felt vintage Black Mirror.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Overall, this season was really solid and I felt like they got back to the great Black Mirror style of what made it really engrossing while doing a much better job of adding the meta elements to their story telling from the later seasons that often made episodes fall flat. I've always felt the best Black Mirror episodes are when they take their time to get to the episode's hook that brings all the events together and this season I felt they nailed that.

favorite episode: Loch Henry.

favorite moment: the big reveal in Mazey Day.

least favorite episode: Demon ( still solid, but stepped too much away from being a Black Mirror episode )


This season gets 4 out of 5 stars from me

I'm surprised this was your favorite moment, it actually was my least favorite so far. (haven't watched Demon yet)

I actually didn't notice at first, as we haven't watched it yet, but Demon is actually listed as a "Red Mirror" episode which is a new distinction they're using to denote episodes that step away from the tradition tech-driven themes of typical Black Mirror episodes and lean more toward horror. The creator said they debated labeling Mazey Day a "Red Mirror" as well, but chose not to due to potential spoiling. (I think personally they probably just didn't want 2/5 episodes to be "Red").

 

[chicagoskycam]

Really liked episodes 1,3, and 5 for different reasons. 2 and 4 were not my cup of tea but it was nice to have some new content. The issue with Black Mirror is they always leave you wanting more, and it's so long between seasons.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Finished Episode 5 last night, really enjoyed it. I liked that they differentiated it with the "Red Mirror" label and was very fitting. Obviously a very different feel from a regular episode. I've been watching a lot of vintage horror movies lately, so this was a really fun one with some of the throwback camera angles and tropes.

Overall, I think this is a very strong season. Black Mirror is clearly back in their stride, in my opinion.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Watched the first two episodes. 7/10 and 5/10 respectfully. First one is a cool concept but it doesn’t have the tone of a black mirror episode. Second episode takes WAY too long to get where it’s going which was a lackluster payoff anyway

 

[RCGP2]

Why wouldn't they put the replicas in space instead of on earth? Seems backwards.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Why wouldn't they put the replicas in space instead of on earth? Seems backwards.

That would actually make a lot more sense but then there wouldn't be a story/plot

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Why wouldn't they put the replicas in space instead of on earth? Seems backwards.

That would actually make a lot more sense but then there wouldn't be a story/plot

I had a couple different thoughts on this and had some theories after reviewing the episode again.

There are a few things that point to a potential answer:

- When approached by a fan David says that "The human experience, the survival of the human body, of life, is central to the mission". This would indicate that part of their mission is to understand how to maintain the human body in an unconscious state while transmitting the consciousness, and to help understand how the human body would react in space over the long term.

- The weekly physical is another example that could show they're researching how the human body would respond to being in space for such an extended time.

- Cliff says to his wife at one point "It's a two-man ship, it relies on both of us". I would imagine that they would find it more likely that there would be an issue with the link rather than with the human. So if the links were up there and the connection got severed the ship would be useless, and we know the US government would not want to leave their precious technology floating idly through space. For example, if the cult had come to David's house and killed his human body or if they died for any other reason, then the entire mission would have been kaput. Even with the catastrophes that occurred in the episode the mission can continue, which I'm sure is the main concern of the government.

 

[RCGP2]

I had a couple different thoughts on this and had some theories after reviewing the episode again.

There are a few things that point to a potential answer:

- When approached by a fan David says that "The human experience, the survival of the human body, of life, is central to the mission". This would indicate that part of their mission is to understand how to maintain the human body in an unconscious state while transmitting the consciousness, and to help understand how the human body would react in space over the long term.

- The weekly physical is another example that could show they're researching how the human body would respond to being in space for such an extended time.

- Cliff says to his wife at one point "It's a two-man ship, it relies on both of us". I would imagine that they would find it more likely that there would be an issue with the link rather than with the human. So if the links were up there and the connection got severed the ship would be useless, and we know the US government would not want to leave their precious technology floating idly through space. For example, if the cult had come to David's house and killed his human body or if they died for any other reason, then the entire mission would have been kaput. Even with the catastrophes that occurred in the episode the mission can continue, which I'm sure is the main concern of the government.

Sure there could be reasons, but they should have given one in the episode, could have been a 2 min explanation... ie the ship eventually would go out of range for 4 months when it reached it's destination.

If they did it the other way around, they could save costs on things like life support, have a whole team of astronauts taking shifts being up in space in the replicas. Like how they use drones now instead of manned flights for a lot of things.

I know I'm nitpicking, because it's not really the point of the episode, but it seemed lazy to not give a reason. It's like in Armageddon how they trained drillers to be astronauts instead of the other way around.

 

[chicagoskycam]

Why wouldn't they put the replicas in space instead of on earth? Seems backwards.

Uh... wow.. great point. Maybe they have some reliability issues...

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Sure there could be reasons, but they should have given one in the episode, could have been a 2 min explanation... ie the ship eventually would go out of range for 4 months when it reached it's destination.

If they did it the other way around, they could save costs on things like life support, have a whole team of astronauts taking shifts being up in space in the replicas. Like how they use drones now instead of manned flights for a lot of things.

I know I'm nitpicking, because it's not really the point of the episode, but it seemed lazy to not give a reason. It's like in Armageddon how they trained drillers to be astronauts instead of the other way around.

I was okay with them not explaining it down to a T. I often feel like the writers are talking down to the audience when they go out of their way to have to explain every little thing.

To me, it makes much more sense to have the humans man the ship. I never even viewed this as a "plot hole". If the connection becomes severed and the replicas are the ones on the ship then the entire mission is automatically a failure and waste of resources.


Edit to add: Also, they had been in the ship for like 2 years and Cliff remarked still having trouble with his grip when in his replica. Having a team of scientists "piloting" replicas in space that don't have complete control over their motor skills would not be safe or productive.

 

[Tawnos]

Only two episodes of this season were any kind of interesting. Joan Is Awful and Beyond the Sea. The show just isn’t any good when it isn’t addressing some kind of tech issue or implication. At least Loch Henry had a little commentary about media. Pretty disappointing season.

If you’re like me though and watch this show for the tech stuff, watch 1 and 3 and skip the rest. The Red Mirror thing is bullshit. If you’re going to make a different show, make it a different show.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Only two episodes of this season were any kind of interesting. Joan Is Awful and Beyond the Sea. The show just isn’t any good when it isn’t addressing some kind of tech issue or implication. At least Loch Henry had a little commentary about media. Pretty disappointing season.

If you’re like me though and watch this show for the tech stuff, watch 1 and 3 and skip the rest. The Red Mirror thing is bullshit. If you’re going to make a different show, make it a different show.

It’s missing the sci-fi tech focus in many episodes or missing the proper tone in the others. When I was watching I’d find myself wishing I was watching something from the earlier seasons. Something is off and it’s hard to put my finger on it.

I will say though I had ZERO problem with the

Spoiler: Spoiler

Werewolf

coming out of nowhere. Could’ve just been the weed covering up for now stupid it was

 

[JianYang]

It’s missing the sci-fi tech focus in many episodes or missing the proper tone in the others. When I was watching I’d find myself wishing I was watching something from the earlier seasons. Something is off and it’s hard to put my finger on it.

I will say though I had ZERO problem with the

Spoiler: Spoiler

Werewolf

coming out of nowhere. Could’ve just been the weed covering up for now stupid it was

Yeah, this season felt the least "back mirrorish".

Previous seasons of black mirror focused on the perils of technology. But this season, there was less of that, and when you did see it, it felt like a recycled idea from a previous episode.

This season had more of a horror vibe.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this season as much. It was a mixed bag of good, and bad with the demon one being my favourite.