Black Mirror

Amazing. Anyone watching it?

It's like a mix of Jam, The League of Gentlemen and Dead Set.

 

I loved the first episode but missed the second - my sister said it was shit but I don't trust her judgement! I must get round to watching it tonight.

Charlie Brooker always gets it spot on. I loved Dead Set, too.

 

I thought the first was ridiculous and the second was irritating. I'll watch the third but now have very low expectations.

 

Loved the first one, haven't watched the second (but have only heard negative comments up to now) and I don't even know what the final one is about.

 

The second one is basically the new Justin Timberlake movie (In Time).

 

I loved Dead Set. This is quite good, so long as you push aside that there will be some people salivating over how telling it is, and that it's revealing how idiotic people who like watching tv are (them excluded).

The second episode was more than a little ruined for me when Rupert Everett was supposed to be promoting it on BBC Breakfast. He started with a bit of a scathing rant about people being idiotically addicted to technology and how he favoured the real world (like his au natural reflection in an actual mirror), then gave away what happened to one of the key characters in what would otherwise have been an slightly interesting plot twist towards the end, which also made it obvious that x, y and z was going to have to happen for that character to reach that situation.

Thankfully, he wasn't in it much.

 

15 Million Merits was an alright episode... it was just saddening.

 

I haven't watched the first episode but the second was totally and utterly shite. No? It was just the most heavy-handed, unsubtle sledgehammer of a television program i've ever watched. I didn't know any of the characters names but for all intents and purposes they might as well just have all been called Charlie Brooker. I didn't get anything out of it that I couldn't have got from a slightly laboured point in one of his columns.

 

You weren't really supposed to know all the characters' names. You should totally watch the first episode though; the conclusion is such an "Oh yeah...!" moment.

 

Of course i'm not. Because in Charlie Brooker's AS level Media Studies brain that means that the characters are "worthless" and "part of the machine" and "that's the point". But Charlie, actually, really good television gets you invested in the characters one way or the other so you care about the outcome of whatever happens.

I don't see how he went from Dead Set to this. I'm thoroughly disappointed.

 

And what if you're not supposed to be invested in the characters? Not every writer scripts character-centric stories, nor are they supposed to.

 

Well they are supposed to. But they can get away with not doing it if the concept holds up...which here it doesn't. Sorry. I think it was shit.

Well actually i'm not sorry.

 

I enjoyed the first episode, but the second one wasn't as good. I'm looking forward to the third though. It has different writers too doesn't it?

 

Yeah, it's Jesse Armstrong, the guy who writes Peep Show.

 

I've only seen the second episode, and thought it was alright. The characters and the acting weren't especially great, but the 'world' that was built was quite interesting. It was hopelessly, relentlessly depressing though.

 

Judging by the trailer, the third episode looks crap.

 

But it does feature one of the women from Pulling (I really should know her name) which is promising.

 

I really enjoyed that. Pretty topical with Facebook Timeline being launched.

However, once again: relentlessly depressing.

 

Much better than last week's. I enjoyed it a lot.