I’m really disappointed with this season of Black Mirror. I probably over hyped it. My rankings are:
Demon 79 (I fell asleep on this one…)
Mazey Day
Loch Henry
Joan is Awful
Beyond the Sea
Demon 79: I don’t have a lot to say, since I fell asleep on this one. The retail fantasies were pretty funny iirc. I never got to see the demon
Mazey Day: It was fine, but the whole werewolf thing bugged me. Seemed too “V/H/S” to me. I was really expecting there to be a pack of “rabbid” paparazzi, like comically rabbid.
Loch Henry: this was a great episode, but again didn’t feel like it belonged in Black Mirror. It could have been its own horror film. But I get if someone pitched a good idea and they couldn’t pass it up. Seems like streamberry was shoehorned in just to make it fit with BM.
Joan is Awful: probably the most faithful episode to the series. It’s good, I don’t have any issues with it, necessarily. Given the nature of it, nothing seems out of place.
Beyond the Sea: This is my favorite episode of the season despite the awful ending and corny hillbilly zealots. There was so much potential in this one, they could have ended it any other way and it would have been better. The ending was just pure shock factor and I have been racking my brain trying to think of a motive besides “If you won’t let me have your family, then you can’t have them either.” Which is just annoying to consider.
Hartnett could have left Paul out in space while he stole his replica and transferred himself into it, after which he would just stay inside his replica until he died in space. This feels so unnerving just thinking about it…
Hartnett could have been adopted into Paul’s family, and they could have coexisted like that until the mission ended, after which he would become the “cool uncle.” Of course, he would have had to change his ways, which would have been part of the growing to be better process.
Or Harnett and Paul could have come to an agreement between themselves and Paul’s wife to continue sharing Paul’s replica, and Hartnett would see to Paul’s wife’s emotional and physical needs, while Paul continues to be the rock in the family. This would be a kinda weird, but still happy ending. But black mirror isn’t a stranger to this kind of ending lol.
That episode kept me guessing the entire time, because I did want a more cliche ending (kept waiting for Paul to wake up dead). I like the direction it went, Hartnett was tortured and had to watch unspeakable things and lost all that he cared about, that he would become infatuated with the first warm-blooded woman he got close to was not unrealistic at all, if anything he could have been more obsessed. When Paul was mad he threw all that he had in the guy’s face, destroyed Hartnett even more. I did not expect the ending but the surprise made it better. The story felt like old pulp sci fi.
The only thing I struggled with in that one was how uninvolved NASA or whatever was with their astronauts and the replicas, like there’s no way they’d be left alone to do whatever the way they were.
The NASA side is what bothered me. I really enjoyed the rest of the episode.
When David’s family was killed… why wasn’t there any real response from NASA? Bring him home, change personnel? Anything? You have this ship being maintained for 6(?) years by only 2 people, and one has had a massively horrible event impact his life and he’s just supposed to keep trucking away for years. The only human interaction is seeing his partner once a week or if an emergency happens?
I don’t even remember if there was an attempt to justify it, but considering the lack of response, the rest of the episode feels like a natural playout of events.
This leads me to question if they have the technology to beam their consciousness back home, and they have fitness equipment, could they not also have entertainment beamed to their spacecraft? I get not having human contact is tough, but… They could be bingeing Joan is Awful on streamberry
Demon79 is what you get if O. Henry wrote a 60s/70s thriller. It doesn’t fit Black Mirror at all beyond the “there’s a twist”.
That said, I loved it. Give it a rewatch but go in as you would for Insudious, The Conjuring or any other creature feature. It shifts the expectations and helps a lot.
Same on the disappointment. I liked Joan is Awful, Beyond the Sea, and Demon 79. Loch Henry and Mazey Say didn’t really do much for me. I wouldn’t say any of it was bad, but it feels like the series is reaching its end. Maybe that’s the reason for the Red Mirror branding on Demon 79?
I think the Black Mirror-ness of Loch Henry is unusually hard to spot, but it is there, albeit not as relatable to the viewer.
Young, tech-savvy film school grads try to make a generic true crime documentary but get wrapped up in the horror themselves, despite the main crime happening decades ago.
Might be more relatable if we were all documentarians. Or maybe we aren’t watching enough true crime meta.
I’m really disappointed with this season of Black Mirror. I probably over hyped it. My rankings are:
Demon 79: I don’t have a lot to say, since I fell asleep on this one. The retail fantasies were pretty funny iirc. I never got to see the demon
Mazey Day: It was fine, but the whole werewolf thing bugged me. Seemed too “V/H/S” to me. I was really expecting there to be a pack of “rabbid” paparazzi, like comically rabbid.
Loch Henry: this was a great episode, but again didn’t feel like it belonged in Black Mirror. It could have been its own horror film. But I get if someone pitched a good idea and they couldn’t pass it up. Seems like streamberry was shoehorned in just to make it fit with BM.
Joan is Awful: probably the most faithful episode to the series. It’s good, I don’t have any issues with it, necessarily. Given the nature of it, nothing seems out of place.
Beyond the Sea: This is my favorite episode of the season despite the awful ending and corny hillbilly zealots. There was so much potential in this one, they could have ended it any other way and it would have been better. The ending was just pure shock factor and I have been racking my brain trying to think of a motive besides “If you won’t let me have your family, then you can’t have them either.” Which is just annoying to consider.
Hartnett could have left Paul out in space while he stole his replica and transferred himself into it, after which he would just stay inside his replica until he died in space. This feels so unnerving just thinking about it…
Hartnett could have been adopted into Paul’s family, and they could have coexisted like that until the mission ended, after which he would become the “cool uncle.” Of course, he would have had to change his ways, which would have been part of the growing to be better process.
Or Harnett and Paul could have come to an agreement between themselves and Paul’s wife to continue sharing Paul’s replica, and Hartnett would see to Paul’s wife’s emotional and physical needs, while Paul continues to be the rock in the family. This would be a kinda weird, but still happy ending. But black mirror isn’t a stranger to this kind of ending lol.
What do you guys think?
deleted by creator
That episode kept me guessing the entire time, because I did want a more cliche ending (kept waiting for Paul to wake up dead). I like the direction it went, Hartnett was tortured and had to watch unspeakable things and lost all that he cared about, that he would become infatuated with the first warm-blooded woman he got close to was not unrealistic at all, if anything he could have been more obsessed. When Paul was mad he threw all that he had in the guy’s face, destroyed Hartnett even more. I did not expect the ending but the surprise made it better. The story felt like old pulp sci fi.
The only thing I struggled with in that one was how uninvolved NASA or whatever was with their astronauts and the replicas, like there’s no way they’d be left alone to do whatever the way they were.
deleted by creator
The NASA side is what bothered me. I really enjoyed the rest of the episode.
When David’s family was killed… why wasn’t there any real response from NASA? Bring him home, change personnel? Anything? You have this ship being maintained for 6(?) years by only 2 people, and one has had a massively horrible event impact his life and he’s just supposed to keep trucking away for years. The only human interaction is seeing his partner once a week or if an emergency happens?
I don’t even remember if there was an attempt to justify it, but considering the lack of response, the rest of the episode feels like a natural playout of events.
This leads me to question if they have the technology to beam their consciousness back home, and they have fitness equipment, could they not also have entertainment beamed to their spacecraft? I get not having human contact is tough, but… They could be bingeing Joan is Awful on streamberry
Demon79 is what you get if O. Henry wrote a 60s/70s thriller. It doesn’t fit Black Mirror at all beyond the “there’s a twist”.
That said, I loved it. Give it a rewatch but go in as you would for Insudious, The Conjuring or any other creature feature. It shifts the expectations and helps a lot.
Same on the disappointment. I liked Joan is Awful, Beyond the Sea, and Demon 79. Loch Henry and Mazey Say didn’t really do much for me. I wouldn’t say any of it was bad, but it feels like the series is reaching its end. Maybe that’s the reason for the Red Mirror branding on Demon 79?
I think the Black Mirror-ness of Loch Henry is unusually hard to spot, but it is there, albeit not as relatable to the viewer.
Young, tech-savvy film school grads try to make a generic true crime documentary but get wrapped up in the horror themselves, despite the main crime happening decades ago.
Might be more relatable if we were all documentarians. Or maybe we aren’t watching enough true crime meta.