I'm looking for a "fun" episode. "Hotel Reverie" seems a good candidate.
Spoilers Black Mirror - Season 7
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
We watched the first new ep last night. It was heartbreaking. O'Dowd and Jones were phenomenal.
I watched the whole season, USS McCallister Into Infinity and Eulogy are the real stand outs. The weakest is probably Playthings, but it's mostly a really great Peter Capaldi performance and it's worth it just for that. Overall it's the best season in years.
So Hotel Reverie is all kinds of wonderful but I could never really shake the realisation that it's just every Star Trek holodeck gone wrong episode mixed with TNG's The Inner Light with a dash of Brooker's own San Junipero for good measure. Still the highlight of the first three episodes.
Finished the entire season last night. I dont see how it could be an insult to us.Just watched the USS Callister sequel. Shouldn't we have a thread about how this is ABSOLUTELY INSULTING TO ALL THE POOR STAR TREK FANS like the other time?
Just kidding. When the previous Callister episode came out, some people here complained that it was a blatant attack on the Star Trek fandom.Finished the entire season last night. I dont see how it could be an insult to us.
Watched the first four episodes and I'm loving everything about the season.
Common People
I thought this episode was going to lean more towards how the company monetized human minds to create subconscious ads to drive consumerism, but instead we got a variation of "Shut Up and Dance" (and a touch of "The National Anthem") demonstrating crowdsourcing blackmail as an economic archetype, mixed with the self-deprecation of "Joan is Awful" towards streaming models but applied to human existence. The result was a heartbreaking tale of a young couple who slowly side down to preyed-up misery that destroyed the dreams and their very livelihood, which, honestly, feels like a not-so-gentle (but much-needed) critique of capitalism itself. I honestly expected one final twist that revealed how Rivermind caused Amanda's brain tumor but I'm glad the episode restrained itself on that idea because the idea of companies heartlessly taking advantage of those in need is much more powerful without such a twist.
Bête Noire
I have to say that I was pleased to see that I correctly guessed the nature of this episode: Verity manipulated the very fabric of reality as means to torment her high school tormentor(s). Predicting that twist didn't lessen the joy of this episode but instead heightened it. I loved The Shining undercurrent of Verity gaslighting Maria via apparent Mandela effects before the truth finally came out. I also loved the last final twist when Maria reflexively murdered Verity...and quickly became corrupted by the very thing that had been tormenting her for the last five days. A rare happy ending for Black Mirror, if a devious one. My only disappointment about this episode was the lack of a chocolate-filled elevator opening up into a lobby in slow motion.
Hotel Reverie
My favorite episode of the four, a mean feat considering how much I also loved "Bête Noire." I'm always a big fan of a person jumping instead of a medium, whether it's a sidewalk chalk drawing or a TV series or a film, so naturally I would love the idea of a trying to remake a classic film where the only change is the lead actor "neatly" inserted within the actual trappings of the film. Even though the plot was an expected one, I loved watching Brandy slowly falling in love with Claire/Dorothy in an Inception-type of existence, paralleling Claire/Dorothy's progress towards self-awareness and learning about the real-life Dorothy. Despite knowing it was inevitable, I was still crushed when their...reverie...was suddenly all wiped away when the film production finally reversed the Chekov coffee spill. I fully expected a tragic ending, even after Dorothy seemingly regained her memories of their past love, so I was pleasantly surprised when we got a second Black Mirror happy ending in as just as many episodes.
Plaything
I knew this wouldn't be a straight "Bandersnatch" sequel but it was still cool to see Colin Ritman return to help set up another trippy computer programming adventure. While far more straightforward than "Bandersnatch," I loved seeing the Lemming-esque Throngs develop and thrive under Cameron's nurture, even after tragedy happens upon them because of Lump (of course that guy's name is Lump). Even though I never questioned the veracity of Cameron's claims about the Throgs, I enjoyed how the episode left the door open just wide enough to suggest that Cameron was just crazy until the final moments of revelation. I'm glad the episode left the Throng's message open-ended and I hope we never get a continuation of this story. And like "Bandersnach" with Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, I loved seeing the Magic Carpet visual reference since it was my favorite PC game of the 90s.
Common People
I thought this episode was going to lean more towards how the company monetized human minds to create subconscious ads to drive consumerism, but instead we got a variation of "Shut Up and Dance" (and a touch of "The National Anthem") demonstrating crowdsourcing blackmail as an economic archetype, mixed with the self-deprecation of "Joan is Awful" towards streaming models but applied to human existence. The result was a heartbreaking tale of a young couple who slowly side down to preyed-up misery that destroyed the dreams and their very livelihood, which, honestly, feels like a not-so-gentle (but much-needed) critique of capitalism itself. I honestly expected one final twist that revealed how Rivermind caused Amanda's brain tumor but I'm glad the episode restrained itself on that idea because the idea of companies heartlessly taking advantage of those in need is much more powerful without such a twist.
Bête Noire
I have to say that I was pleased to see that I correctly guessed the nature of this episode: Verity manipulated the very fabric of reality as means to torment her high school tormentor(s). Predicting that twist didn't lessen the joy of this episode but instead heightened it. I loved The Shining undercurrent of Verity gaslighting Maria via apparent Mandela effects before the truth finally came out. I also loved the last final twist when Maria reflexively murdered Verity...and quickly became corrupted by the very thing that had been tormenting her for the last five days. A rare happy ending for Black Mirror, if a devious one. My only disappointment about this episode was the lack of a chocolate-filled elevator opening up into a lobby in slow motion.
Hotel Reverie
My favorite episode of the four, a mean feat considering how much I also loved "Bête Noire." I'm always a big fan of a person jumping instead of a medium, whether it's a sidewalk chalk drawing or a TV series or a film, so naturally I would love the idea of a trying to remake a classic film where the only change is the lead actor "neatly" inserted within the actual trappings of the film. Even though the plot was an expected one, I loved watching Brandy slowly falling in love with Claire/Dorothy in an Inception-type of existence, paralleling Claire/Dorothy's progress towards self-awareness and learning about the real-life Dorothy. Despite knowing it was inevitable, I was still crushed when their...reverie...was suddenly all wiped away when the film production finally reversed the Chekov coffee spill. I fully expected a tragic ending, even after Dorothy seemingly regained her memories of their past love, so I was pleasantly surprised when we got a second Black Mirror happy ending in as just as many episodes.
Plaything
I knew this wouldn't be a straight "Bandersnatch" sequel but it was still cool to see Colin Ritman return to help set up another trippy computer programming adventure. While far more straightforward than "Bandersnatch," I loved seeing the Lemming-esque Throngs develop and thrive under Cameron's nurture, even after tragedy happens upon them because of Lump (of course that guy's name is Lump). Even though I never questioned the veracity of Cameron's claims about the Throgs, I enjoyed how the episode left the door open just wide enough to suggest that Cameron was just crazy until the final moments of revelation. I'm glad the episode left the Throng's message open-ended and I hope we never get a continuation of this story. And like "Bandersnach" with Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, I loved seeing the Magic Carpet visual reference since it was my favorite PC game of the 90s.
We skipped ahead and watched the Callister sequel last night. Millotti is So Good. They did a nice job of recontextualizing parts of the first one. It's obvs set up for a 3rd and I think that'd be great!
The Star Trek thing was the background, Tron was the foreground stuff so Tron fans should be complaining more, but I guess there aren't that many Tron fans in the first place.Just kidding. When the previous Callister episode came out, some people here complained that it was a blatant attack on the Star Trek fandom.
Staying on topic: does anybody think Charlie Brooker really likes sticking coin like AI objects to temples every single season?
I've watched the first two and half of Hotel Reverie. I'm sort of 'meh' about Hotel Reverie but the first two were fantastic. Common People is the purest essence of Black Mirror- big corporations exploiting technology to bone us right in the cornhole. As soon as the lady mentioned it was a subscription service you could see exactly where it was going. Heartbreaking.
On/off topic but both my daughters aren't gaming as much anymore because of this crap. Every game, software, shopping and dining is getting added subscriptions. Fucking hate that!
We watched Plaything last night. What a wonderfully creepy ending! Capaldi was marvelous.
Just Finished season 7 and I gotta say overall it was a great season. Every episode was good.
I did notice one little easter egg in USS Callister: Into Infinity:
I did notice one little easter egg in USS Callister: Into Infinity:
When Walton first visits Daly in his garage he is looking at some Space Fleet Collectibles. In the background on a shelf is the Playmates Goddard Shuttle Craft from the 90s!
Finally had a chance to watch the last two episodes...and they were both well worth the wait.
Eulogy
Even though I figured pretty early on The Guide was a copy of Kelly's mind (but thankfully not Philip's daughter like I also suspected and dreaded), I greatly enjoyed watching Paul Giamatti tumbling down memory lane via virtual-reality recreations of photographs, right down to blurry unseen areas and scribbled out faces. Despite bracing myself for the inevitable dark twist, I was nonetheless crushed by the heartbreaking revelation that Carol had all along wanted to try and repair their relationship and Philip missed that opportunity simply because he went into a drunken stupor and overlooked her letter. Overlooked not just in that moment but also for the rest of her life. Were it not for the Eulogy contribution request, he could have continued living in blissful ignorance of that horrible, avoidable mistake. And yet, the most surprising part about this episode was how it allowed Philip to heal and accept that reality, dig out Carol's original composition that he had long since buried in a drawer, and provide that music as his lasting contribution to Carol's eulogy.
USS Callister Into Infinity
Robert Daly is dead. Again.
I loved this wild and crazy sequel. The main focus of the story was both Nan and Nanette navigating their new worlds in the wake of Daly's cruelty and the Callister's act of revenge, and I loved that the episode didn't leave either them in easy positions. I also loved how that episode didn't drag out the explanations and revelations for all of the characters involved, from Nanette coming forward to Walton about everything that happened involving Daly to the Callister crew quickly discovering the recreated Walton digital clone, all of it leading to the big surprise: Robert Daly exists as a digital clone.
What truly impressed me was how it managed to make Daly sympathetic...if only for a couple of scenes, before the inevitable happened and Daly's true dark nature came out as a result of Walton's abuse (much as it did in the real world). While the episode may have had predictable beats, from Nanette getting run over by a car while fleeing Walton to the Callister crew getting transferred along with Nan into Nanette's braindead body, I loved everything about this episode.
Before going into this episode, I had already saw talk about a third episode to complete the trilogy and I can definitely see that happening, but I'm also not in a hurry to get it. I much rather get my "Hated in a Nation" sequel first (I will never stop beating that drum until it actually happens!). My only disappointment in this episode was the lack of Michaela Coel (apparently a scheduling issue, alas) and Aaron Paul, who I kept hoping would pop up for another cameo, especially during the Invite All battle.
My final overview of the season:
Hotel Reverie
Eulogy
USS Callister: Into Infinity
Bête Noire
Plaything
Common People
I loved the whole season with just "Common People" falling a bit to the wayside if only because of the dark, twisted nature of it. Which should be par for the course for Black Mirror but this season was actually relatively upbeat one for the most part. Most of the bad guys got their just desserts and most of the good guys came out on top, if only in a twisted manner. I think someone should check in with Charlie Booker to see if he's doing okay.
...and now time to go back and rewatch the news chyron during Walton's arrest which was chockful of Easter eggs...
Edit: I just figured they were all going to be references to season but I was pleasantly surprised to see one for "Demon 79" and...holy shit, a brilliant reference to "The National Anthem" coming out of nowhere!
Eulogy
Even though I figured pretty early on The Guide was a copy of Kelly's mind (but thankfully not Philip's daughter like I also suspected and dreaded), I greatly enjoyed watching Paul Giamatti tumbling down memory lane via virtual-reality recreations of photographs, right down to blurry unseen areas and scribbled out faces. Despite bracing myself for the inevitable dark twist, I was nonetheless crushed by the heartbreaking revelation that Carol had all along wanted to try and repair their relationship and Philip missed that opportunity simply because he went into a drunken stupor and overlooked her letter. Overlooked not just in that moment but also for the rest of her life. Were it not for the Eulogy contribution request, he could have continued living in blissful ignorance of that horrible, avoidable mistake. And yet, the most surprising part about this episode was how it allowed Philip to heal and accept that reality, dig out Carol's original composition that he had long since buried in a drawer, and provide that music as his lasting contribution to Carol's eulogy.
USS Callister Into Infinity
Robert Daly is dead. Again.
I loved this wild and crazy sequel. The main focus of the story was both Nan and Nanette navigating their new worlds in the wake of Daly's cruelty and the Callister's act of revenge, and I loved that the episode didn't leave either them in easy positions. I also loved how that episode didn't drag out the explanations and revelations for all of the characters involved, from Nanette coming forward to Walton about everything that happened involving Daly to the Callister crew quickly discovering the recreated Walton digital clone, all of it leading to the big surprise: Robert Daly exists as a digital clone.
What truly impressed me was how it managed to make Daly sympathetic...if only for a couple of scenes, before the inevitable happened and Daly's true dark nature came out as a result of Walton's abuse (much as it did in the real world). While the episode may have had predictable beats, from Nanette getting run over by a car while fleeing Walton to the Callister crew getting transferred along with Nan into Nanette's braindead body, I loved everything about this episode.
Before going into this episode, I had already saw talk about a third episode to complete the trilogy and I can definitely see that happening, but I'm also not in a hurry to get it. I much rather get my "Hated in a Nation" sequel first (I will never stop beating that drum until it actually happens!). My only disappointment in this episode was the lack of Michaela Coel (apparently a scheduling issue, alas) and Aaron Paul, who I kept hoping would pop up for another cameo, especially during the Invite All battle.
My final overview of the season:
Hotel Reverie
Eulogy
USS Callister: Into Infinity
Bête Noire
Plaything
Common People
I loved the whole season with just "Common People" falling a bit to the wayside if only because of the dark, twisted nature of it. Which should be par for the course for Black Mirror but this season was actually relatively upbeat one for the most part. Most of the bad guys got their just desserts and most of the good guys came out on top, if only in a twisted manner. I think someone should check in with Charlie Booker to see if he's doing okay.
...and now time to go back and rewatch the news chyron during Walton's arrest which was chockful of Easter eggs...
Edit: I just figured they were all going to be references to season but I was pleasantly surprised to see one for "Demon 79" and...holy shit, a brilliant reference to "The National Anthem" coming out of nowhere!
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Eulogy made me cry. I thought of the people I don't have in my life anymore for what now feels like stupid reasons. Giamatti was amazing.
Bete Noire was nicely done for the most part. Mostly, I was impressed with the 2 lead actors.
The only ep we have left to watch is Hotel Reverie.
Bete Noire was nicely done for the most part. Mostly, I was impressed with the 2 lead actors.
The only ep we have left to watch is Hotel Reverie.