Summary: In flashbacks, Emily works at a university and is married to Sylvia with a child. Gays are starting to be frowned upon in society and Emily's boss is executed. Emily tries to escape with her family but she isn't allowed to leave. In the present, Emily is working at the colonies. A commander's wife arrives and Emily secretly kills her. Janine arrives. June is taken to the Boston Globe where she awaits her rescue. Nick visits and June tries to escape but decides not to.
The Good: The colonies were really well established in this episode. I have been mostly disappointed with Gilead's world building so far, but season 2 seems to be applying more attention to the setting in these first 2 episodes. The colonies were immediately established as brutal wastelands which were terrible to live in. The way they were portrayed seemed akin to a war bunker from a war film which did a tremendous job of setting the tone of how run down this location was. The hardest part about the colonies was to establish that they are worse than living in actual Gilead. I was worried that the show may not have been able to convey the horrors appropriately enough, but thankfully there was outstanding work done here to make the colonies feel like a terrifying place to be. Emily's storyline in the colonies is very strong. The arrival of a commander's wife was a great way to examine the state of mind of these women, or unwomen as they are called. By introducing the commander's wife who is unable to get any respect from the unwomen, the show immediately draws comparisons to a prison where the commander's wife plays the role of a soft and innocent person who is sure to be raped and victimized by the much more seasoned veterans. Only this time we aren't rooting for the innocent. The innocent in this case completely deserves what she has coming to her and it's very satisfying to see Emily get a small revenge against the wives for the small role they have played in letting the handmaids exist. The storytelling is outstanding and it's a great way to reintroduce us to Emily who will presumably play a much bigger role in this season. Speaking of Emily, I was glad to see her get some flashbacks to deepen our understanding of her. The flashbacks in the show have mostly been disappointing, forgettable and meaningless so far, so it meant a lot to get a proper story in a flashback which had some emotional heft to it. It was great to see who Emily was prior to the rise of Gilead and seeing her struggle with being a homosexual was fantastic. I especially liked her boss who also offered some great insight on how difficult it would be to be homosexual in this world and I thought the boss made a great impression before he was brutally murdered. Furthermore, the flashbacks went to the next level by having Emily be forced to leave her family in a heartbreaking scene which was made surprisingly powerful due to a great performance by Alexis Bledel (see: Best Moment). Speaking of great performances, Elisabeth Moss was outstanding in this episode. Her storyline saw June get taken to the Boston Globe where she explored and discovered that the place was a site of an execution. The story is solid but it achieved a new level of excellence due to smart filmmaking and Moss' stellar performance. We are never actually shown anything in the building, but Moss' facial expressions let us understand exactly what June is seeing and why it has unsettled her so much. The sequence was beautifully constructed and was able to hit hard because of that. Also June was watching Friends in this episode. Great choice of sitcom. I approve. The Bad: June and Nick are still a very problematic relationship. Nick is so bland and does practically nothing for me as a character, and he has very limited chemistry with June as well. I have no reason to care about him as a character and his motives still aren't entirely clear to me. I understand he wants to protect his child, but does he love June? Does he want to be with her or does he only want to help his child? I know nothing about this and that isn't good. Furthermore, I don't know June's feelings for Nick either. Does she care at all about him? He seems like just a means for her to have sex to let out her emotions, but I get the sense that the show wants us to buy more into their relationship that that. If it does, it has failed miserably in making me care. The Unknown: What exactly happened at the Boston Globe? Who died and why did they die? What does the rest of the world look like? Are all the other major buildings just ruined like this one? Will June get discovered before Nick gets her out or is she actually going to escape? What are Luke and Moira up to? Best Moment: Emily leaving her family was powerful and painful. This show has been masterful with when it chooses to have no dialogue and it has used silence to its best effect to evoke an emotional reaction. I think that this creative choice is the main reason that scenes like this one work so well. Character of the Episode: Emily. Conclusion: This was a great episode which got us reacquainted to Emily and we learned a lot about her. There was a lot of power to this episode and I think it did a lot of things right. The 2 main storylines had powerful moments and aside from the June/Nick relationship, I was satisfied with everything this offered. This is easily one of the show's better episodes. Score: 69
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Summary: In the past June has to deal with a nurse who is judgemental of her ability to take care of Hannah while working. Offred and the other handmaids are threatened with execution. Offred can't be punished due to her pregnancy but the other handmaids are tortured. Nick collects Offred from the medical centre and sneaks her away with intents to free her.
The Good: The execution (no pun intended) of the opening scene was mostly excellent. The cinematography, acting and sounds were practically perfect and the horrors of the fake execution were shown impressively which overcame the fact that they obviously wouldn't be killed. The rest of the episode is also filled with uncomfortable scenes which are used to evoke a proper reaction. After the previous episode's events there had to be some consequences and we see them all here. Offred's pregnancy getting announced was fittingly horrific in a classic Handmaid's Tale way with all of the handmaids trying to be thankful whilst undergoing torture. Furthermore, the brutality of the burning was also pretty difficult to watch and allowed us to empathize with Offred's guilt over what happened. Aunt Lydia was central to this episode and she remains a strong point for the show. Her scenes with Offred were outstanding and Ann Dowd beautifully conveyed Lydia's anger towards Offred's behaviour coupled with gratitude for her being with child. Their scenes together were really compelling and the reveal of Ofwyatt was really well done. I like that the people of Gilead do have an apparent answer to the handmaids acting up by practically jailing them if they misbehave. The ending was really good. The final scene with Offred finally escaping her life as a handmaid and embracing herself as June was powerful and felt earned after the rough events towards the end of season 1. More than that though, it promises that the show is going to change and evolve this season which is a promising sign of a possible quality increase which would be more than welcome. I enjoyed the flashbacks a fair amount. While I still think that these flashbacks aren't as interesting and satisfying as they should be, I did enjoy this episode's look at how people's beliefs slowly began to change which is what brought on Gilead's existence. June's discussion with that judgemental nurse was awkward and did a good job of hinting at the world change which would be coming soon. The Bad: The opening scene had some faults though. The hanging scene didn't have any tension to it at all since it was blatantly obvious that the handmaids wouldn't be killed since they are needed for population to reproduce, making them invaluable. I understand that it was used to instill fear in the handmaids, but couldn't at least one handmaid try using the fact that they are invaluable as leverage? Furthermore, the scene was ruined towards the end by an awful song which felt forced onto the scene. Silence would have made it much more affecting and the music only served to make it more heavy-handed. This show has done a lot of things right, but music is not one of those things as almost every song used so far has felt out of place. This show is also at risk for becoming too much of a torture porn. This episode had so many unpleasant moments and sometimes they felt like they existed just for the sake of it. Show me misery only if it serves a purpose or you will rive me away. I don't want to watch people in pain for no apparent reason without accomplishing anything, and the writers of the show need to account for that in the audience. The Unknown: I loved the use of a baseball stadium in this episode. It was a fascinating touch of world-building which makes me wonder what has happened to many of the locations in Gilead and how it is compared to the current world. Hopefully we get some actual answers about Gilead this season. Apparently Janine has gone to the colonies. Where are the colonies and will we see them this season? I presume Janine will be coming back to the show. Where has Nick taken Offred and how does he plan to get her out of Gilead eventually? Will the attempt work? Best Moment: Aunt Lydia and Offred's scenes alone were terrifying and were outstanding for both characters. Lydia was superb as she practically shut down every rebellious instinct in Offred by showing her the fate of another handmaid who acted out and refused to listen. The scene is important to the show as it reveals that there are stills takes here for Offred and that just because she is pregnant doesn't mean that she is untouchable or that her life will be any easier. Character of the Episode: Offred. Conclusion: This was a really solid season premiere. While it did have some flaws, it left a positive impression overall and got me excited to see more of the new season. Score: 66 Summary: Chandler gets drunk and fools around with Joey's sister but can't remember which one. Rachel looks for another new job and meets Mark who gets her a job at Bloomingdale's. Ross is suspicious of Mark and gets jealous. Phoebe hooks up with another guy who just moved into their apartment block.
The Good: The 2 main stories are really fun to watch. Chandler is fantastic as he fails to remember Joey's sister and he puts himself in hilarious predicament after hilarious predicament. It's very funny to watch and the payoff of Chandler getting punched feels earned and ends the story on a satisfying and comedic note. The jealousy storyline is excellent too and kickstarts the next big story for Ross and Rachel. Ross' reactions to Mark are fantastic and he plays the role so organically while creeping in tons of hilarious moments to add on to the story. Phoebe's story is fun for a C-story and has some funny moments even if there isn't really a huge laugh in there. The Bad: Joey is inconsistent here. I don't like how he is suddenly so protective of Phoebe to the point where he is offended when a guy cheats on her. Shouldn't he be the one person who doesn't care about that seeing how he always cheats? It's pretty poor. This also ties into his story with Chandler where he seems surprisingly offended about what Chandler did. Best Moment: Ross arguing with Monica about Rachel was fantastic and it had me laughing really hard with the "you grow up" line. Character of the Episode: Ross, though Chandler comes close. Conclusion: This was one of the funnier episodes this season but inconsistencies with characterization prevent it from being one of the show's best. Score: 76 Summary: Fitzjames talks with Blanky and decides that they have to leave the ships and walk. Fitzjames chooses to have a carnival before they leave. Crozier continues to recover from withdrawal. Goodsir realizes that their food is poisoning the crew and must be dealt with. Lady Silence cuts out her tongue to tame the Tuunbaq. Stanley kills himself during the carnival while Crozier makes a speech and burns down the carnival. Hickey saves the crew by cutting them a hole to escape.
The Good: The opening scene did a good job of establishing Fitzjames' motives for the carnival. The decision to leave the ships is logical and it's easy to understand why Fitzjames would choose to give the crew some time to celebrate before hard times await them. I liked that there was some follow-up from the underwater scene in episode 1. Collins isn't somebody we know well but I was happy to see that his character is still feeling unsettled after his short underwater trip. There is a clear theme of losing yourself in this episode with this storyline as well as Stanley's which was pretty tragic. Speaking of that, the climactic carnival scene definitely delivered. The happiness was certainly needed to relieve some tension and it set the scene perfectly for everything to go wrong. The immolation of Stanley was well done as it, along with Lady Silence's sudden arrival, cut off Crozier's optimistic return speech and interlaced the episode with dread and horror. The sudden aspect of Stanley's death was very eerie and the fire added a good source of tension which needed to be overcome. It was quite scary to see Hickey brutally kill a crew member to save the rest too. The acting is really good on this show. A lot of what happens only works because the performances do a superb job of conveying each character's emotions. The Bad: The characters in this show remain too shallow. So many of the crew members have no real character and that makes it extremely difficult for me to feel anything for them. Unfortunately this also includes Fitzjames who was presented as a central character, but hasn't done anything much of note since the first episode. As a central character for this episode, he desperately needed to get some depth like Crozier in the last episode, but we got practically nothing for him. The other crew members suffer from this too and that makes all of the side characters lack any impact. There were several character transformations in this episode which didn't feel earned. First was Collins' sudden reveal that he was depressed and scared. This may have made an impact if we saw him slowly get overcome with fear or something along those lines, but we haven't really seen him since episode 1. This "character development" feels so inorganic because of this and doesn't pack a punch at all. The same goes with Stanley. At the beginning of the episode he is calm and collected but he suddenly pulled a murder suicide by the end of the episode. Why? Was it because of the lead poisoning? Who knows. It's bad that such a major scene happened without any understanding of why the character did what he did. I also think that the show has done a poor job of conveying how desperate the situation is. There are far too many timeskips and not nearly enough time is being dedicated to showing how awful it must be to be trapped on these ships for so long. If the point is supposed to be that these men are going mad, then that process needs to be shown. Nobody just goes from zero to a hundred like that. I feel like this episode was bogged down by too many side characters giving unnecessarily long stories which add nothing of substance. Blanky's story about the first mate on his previous voyage is only there for thematic relevance which is not good for such a lengthy scene. A scene like that should have been used to characterize both Blanky and Fitzjames. Maybe we can learn about what drives Fitzjames? Or maybe how Blanky feels about having only one leg now? Unfortunately we get nothing like that. We get more scenes like this too with Collins and Jopson who tell dull stories to pass off as character development. In the slow middle episodes we need much more character than we are getting, and filler like these scenes is just inexcusable. The Unknown: Has Lady Silence tamed the Tuunbaq now? Why did she have to cut out her tongue? What does that signify? How injured is she from it? Best Moment: The immolation of Stanley was so shocking and sudden that it ended up easily being the best thing about this episode. The climax saved this from being a total dud. Character of the Episode: Stanley. Conclusion: This was disappointing. There hasn't been enough character development done and these slower middle episodes are being wasted by not developing characters. In a 10 episode series, we can't afford to have episodes like these. Score: 54 Summary: Bernard wakes up in the future, 2 weeks after the gala. Delos higher-ups have arrived. They discover a new sea which wasn't there before with tons of dead hosts. Back to the present, Bernard and Charlotte escape the gala. Bernard is losing brain fluid but manages to keep his identity as a host secret. Charlotte prepares to retrieve Peter Abernathy since Delos is interested in him. Dolores and Teddy continue murdering humans. William meets young Ford who tells him the game is for him now. Maeve picks up Sizemore who decides to help Maeve go to her daughter.
The Good: This was a very solid premiere. It wasn't bogged down by pointless mystery and confusion and was able to focus on the story instead. That's a big improvement on season 1, where the convoluted storytelling took away a lot of enjoyment from the show. Hopefully this season doesn't get confusing in future episodes and keeps this current format of several stories occurring simultaneously with different characters. I really hope that we don't get more flashforwards to Bernard after this episode. If all this is kept the same, this could definitely become a show I can get behind. I'll tackle the future scenes first. I really liked the focus on Delos stepping in to help settle the mass murder, after all it is in their best interests that the hosts don't spiral out of control. The new character Strand has intrigued me and I'm very excited to learn more about him and what his motives are. I just hope that his true motives aren't kept hidden like Ford's in the last season. The season is implying that it will look more into how hosts function, which is very welcome by me. I am a sucker for sci-fi robot stories and androids, so this excites me and hooks me with a tease of full answers about how these hosts function. The host murder scenes were pretty great and suitably brutal. They were as terrifying as they needed to be and did a great job of conveying the tables turned in favour of the hosts. Dolores' intense joy in killing and torturing the humans is great to watch and Evan Rachel Wood does a superb job. The one storyline which I thought worked more than any others was the Maeve story. She gets to connect with Sizemore and it works really well since these are 2 characters who have extremely clear motives and characters. They are easy to understand and that improves the show a lot. It's almost as if making everything a surprise actually isn't as good as simple storytelling. That's sarcasm. Anyways, their dynamic together is very good and they shared a lot of great dialogue and had some great humour. This storyline is easily the one I'm most invested in and I'm excited to see their relationship expand and to see where Maeve's motives take her. The Bad: Skipping the immediate aftermath and massacre after the gala was disappointing especially after the cliffhanger we got. It felt anticlimactic and I think it would have been more effective to put over the brutality of the hosts by showing the full massacre which occurred everywhere. Bernard's character is difficult to fully understand right now. He is likeable but his sudden apparent mind for peace is a little forced and takes things away from what he's doing. While he is the character I'm most interested to see in this season, his actual personality doesn't feel clearly defined which hurts my ability to sympathize with him and understand him. Hopefully this can be cleared up in the following episode. The death of the stable hand seemed to be written as an emotional moment which I really can't understand at all. The hosts just murdered people in cold blood and they have died hundreds of times, so what does it matter if he was killed? The tone felt awkward there and it felt like the show was trying too hard to be emotionally powerful. The William storyline didn't excite me in this episode which is disappointing. Initially it was pretty fun but now it looks like it's going to be exactly like the last season. Ford has a game for him to play and discover only this time it's meant for him. This is not new and it unfortunately seems like the writers don't know what to do with William's character now. I mentioned the show trying to be emotionally powerful earlier, and I feel that it still hasn't really learned from last season's inefficiencies. I want this show to develop its characters more, but it doesn't exactly seem to be interested in doing too much of that. This season unfortunately seems to be setting up for more twists and mysteries, despite that not being nearly as enjoyable as character development and powerful moments. The Unknown: Where is future Bernard in the park? What has he seen in the past before then? Apparently he killed everyone, so how did that happen? Did he actually do it? Where did the sea come from? Why was a tiger in it? There are lots of good questions raised here which do a great job of hooking us into the second season. How did Stubbs survive? What happened to him when he was captured? Will we ever see it? What is with Charlotte's safe zone? Who else knew about it? What are her motives and goals? Is she working for Delos or somebody else? Does she know Bernard's secret? Why are Delos getting DNA samples from guests? What are they planning to do with them? How will that come into play later? Bernard apparently is on the verge of terminal malfunction after he got shot in the head. What happens during terminal malfunction? How did he stop it from happening? Was it brain fluid being injected into him which fixed it? Why do Delos want Peter Abernathy and not somebody like Maeve? What is significant about him? Where is he anyways? I was ecstatic when Ford returned as the kid but was equally disappointed when he was sot by William. Is Ford really gone then? I hope not. What is the door he was talking about? What is Dolores going to show Teddy? What are the drone hosts? What are they for and what do they do? Best Moment: Not much stood out much, but I'll go with Dolores talking to Teddy about what she wants. It's good that the show has clarified what Dolores' motives are and what she wants to accomplish. Character of the Episode: I'll give this one to Maeve. Conclusion: This was a solid return for Westworld which fixed some of the shows problems but not all of them. I'm excited to see more of the season and hopefully it can provide something more compelling than season 1. Score: 62 Summary: Rachel decides to quit her job as a waitress and pursues something in fashion after Chandler encourages her. Phoebe helps Joey sell Christmas trees to help them fulfill their Christmas destiny. Ross accidentally breaks a little girl's leg and tries to sell cookies to help get her to space camp.
The Good: The Rachel storyline was good. It had some funny moments, especially the end where it reveals that Rachel's job has hardly even changed at all. Chandler's lines were very funny throughout and led to some good moments. I thought this storyline was handled well. Phoebe with the Christmas trees is fine for the odd laugh and it fits her character to try to help the Christmas trees. Ross' story with the little girl isn't great but it is inoffensive for a C-story and ultimately rides on David Schwimmer's charismatic performance to make some great laughs, turning it into the best story of the episode. The Bad: While Rachel's storyline is good, it really feels unfunny for the most part and lacks the humour to make it really good. Phoebe's story is a bit too silly to be particularly funny as well, meaning that the bulk of the episode relies on Ross' humour which is only able to make up for so much. Best Moment: Ross' interactions with the old woman as he tried to sell her cookies was excellent and had some great dialogue. Character of the Episode: Ross. Conclusion: This was a solid episode but it did nothing to really stand out. Overall it's a good watch but not one that you will remember much of. Score: 65 Summary: The friends play a game of football together for Thanksgivings. Monica and Ross reignite a past rivalry in football and get overly competitive. Joey and Chandler battle over the affections of a beautiful Dutch girl who watches them play.
The Good: This was a really good episode. It had a single overarching storyline which allowed all of the friends to chime in at perfect times with their signature humour while also exploring individual storylines. Monica and Ross were really good in their intense battle and I love being able to see more about their sibling life which hasn't been explored to its fullest potential in the show so far. This was really well done and their constant bickering led to many funny moments. Better yet was Joey and Chandler for once crossing paths over a girl and trying to win her over. Both guys were hilarious and it was really funny seeing them try to humiliate each other. The ending with her choosing nobody was predictable but still funny nonetheless. The Bad: The episode is really great and easy to watch but it is missing a spark to take it over the edge into greatness. Best Moment: Chandler humiliating Joey by asking him about where Dutch people are from. Great comedy. Character of the Episode: Ross. Conclusion: This was a really fun episode with some funny moments, but it ultimately feels pretty ordinary compared to the best Friends episode. However, that shouldn't take away from the fact that I really enjoyed this episode and the way the friends all interacted. Score: 75 Summary: Nish arrives at Black Museum and meets Rollo Haynes who owns it. He tells her the story of several criminal artifacts in the museum. Each of the stories involve Rollo offering technology to some people's lives which ultimately ruins their lives. Rollo takes Nish to his main attraction: a hologram of a criminal who died which is basically alive. He shocks it over and over so it suffers, and it has gotten to the point that the man is emotionally wrecked. Nish reveals herself to be his daughter and she kills Rollo and burns down Black Museum.
The Good: Like "White Christmas", this episode had 3 different stories which came together at the end. Episodes like this work very well and are always very enjoyable. The format just works very well and hits very hard with each story. The first story had some really great moments. I love the idea of the headset which was accidentally discovered while attempts were made to find something else. It added some realism and made the headset feel like a plausible idea. The way the headset slowly took over Dawson and transformed him until he flew completely off the rails was genuinely scary and intense to watch. It was a horrific way to show that by advancing through technology, we may unlock different things we really don't want, like a desire to feel pain. This storyline was filled with brutal and uncomfortable moments, so it definitely got its point across and affected us in the way it wanted to. The second story was another scary idea. It was a good examination of how too much familiarity ends up working against us in relationships, which is an original idea to explore. It was sad seeing Jack and Carrie slowly fall apart and lose their love for each other due to the awkward situation the shared consciousness put them in. The sequence with Carrie being trapped inside the monkey with no form of communication was terrifying and very sad, once more accomplishing the goal of demonstrating how these technologies aren't helping humanity in the slightest and instead are just torturing humans. The "cookie rights" system was a fascinating idea too and it was a very logical reason to not allow Rollo to remove or kill Carrie. These 2 stories accomplished something bigger though. They were intense horror shows, but they needed to be in order to establish resentment to the character of Rollo. He is a despicable and sadistic man with no regards to humanity as he genuinely doesn't care about what negative effects his creations have had on those who tested them. It slowly builds up unease and resentment towards Rollo which is what makes the climactic final story so impressively cathartic. The final story was another brutally sad experience as we learn that Rollo sentenced somebody who was possibly innocent to a life of eternal torture, cementing our hate for him even further. It's by far his most despicable act and makes us really understand why Black Museum is a successful location as it hones in onto those with similarly sadistic minds. This story makes us lose any possible sympathy we may have for Rollo and makes us detest him completely, creating a desire for comeuppance. And comeuppance is what we get. There is a decent twist that Nish is actually Clayton's daughter which is somewhat predictable, but that doesn't really matter because it is satisfying. It allows us to see this awful man get his comeuppance and gives us a sense of satisfaction and justice for all of the awful deeds he has done. In a way this is also a bit of an ironic look at the show as a whole, as the writer Charlie Brooker always creates stories where he tortures his main characters. Perhaps this episode was meant to be a look at how he views himself or thinks that other people view him which makes it an even more fascinating idea. While on the topic of the show being self-aware, I loved the little parody which made fun of how the show always seems to have a "but" which turns everything around on the main characters and tortures them. It was a nice bit of levity in an otherwise dark and bitter episode. The Bad: This episode does feel way more miserable than it should be. There should always be a greater purpose to show so much pain and I feel that this episode's reason wasn't good enough to justify it. Even after the episode I still felt far too uncomfortable and unhappy with what I watched. The show went a bit too far with how miserable the fates of the characters were and that made the episode so uncomfortable that I no longer enjoyed it at times. The stories also felt like greater ideas for the plot of an episode that were just simplified and shoved into this episode. Each of the stories didn't really have emotional resonance since they were shallow and had weak characters. On their own the would feel like episodes which only had torture porn to offer us and that is a really immature take on dark content like this. The first story in particular is hurt by this. When you think about it, the entire first story had no purpose. We only really did need the second story to start hating Rollo, but instead we spent way too much time showing the disgustingness of that first story. Because it feels pointless, the problems with far too much misery stands out a lot more on that storyline. I thought the final twist was unnecessary and stupid. It made no sense that Nish would let her mom share consciousness with her. It was just established that the shared consciousness tech was stupid and had little benefit, so it makes Nish seem like an idiot for deciding to do it with her mom. Furthermore, how did she get her mom's consciousness if she had killed herself? It doesn't make sense and creates a plot hole. This becomes an egregious error when you realize that it adds nothing to the story. It would have been the same without that final twist, making me wish that it just wasn't there. The Unknown: What happened to Carrie afterwards? What does Nish plan to do with her? Will he be saved or will she finally get deleted and be at peace? Also, how did Jack let Carrie become a part of Black Museum? There were tons of easter eggs to other episodes in the museum. Does this officially link all the storylines together or were they only easter eggs? Will Nish let her mom go now that she has avenged Rollo? Was she only there so she could witness his violent death or is there a further purpose to it? Best Moment: The violent suffering of Rollo was great and served as a powerful catharsis to end the episode. Character of the Episode: Rollo. He was a great villain. Conclusion: This episode had an excellent overarching storyline, but the individual storylines were flawed and resulted in far too much misery to be much good on their own. In the end that leaves us with a good but not great episode. Season 4 as a whole was a big step down from previous seasons. I did still enjoy it, but the writing in all episodes (except Hang the DJ) was notably poor and I had a lot of issues with almost every episode. I still enjoyed the season as a whole and there were plenty of powerful moments, but I feel like the show didn't ever really threaten to reach the quality of previous seasons. Score: 68 Summary: Bella, Clarke and Tony go to a warehouse looking for something. They find a "dog" which kills Tony and Clarke and then chases Bella who tries to get away. Using her wits, Bella is able to kill the dog but she has trackers thrown into her which will send more dogs her way. She kills herself.
The Good: This is the most unique episode so far and it's not only because of the black and white filter. The episode is very simplistic, short and mostly dialogue-free making it an experience which feels extremely different from what we are used to. Since the show has reused some ideas in a few episodes, it's good to see them continuing to be creative. While season 3 felt pretty familiar at times, season 4 has so far done a great job providing new and different content even if the quality isn't quite as good as before (see: The Bad). The black and white filter was really good. This episode was gruesome and dreary and that filter added a lot of that feel. The brutal deaths of Clarke and Tony were less gory in this state, but they felt more powerful and brutal. The colouring certainly gave the deaths a more eerie feeling. The rest of the episode was also certainly benefitted by the colour palette. With the world feeling so empty and abandoned, the episode needed to give off a dull and creepy atmosphere which the filter appropriately added. There were very few characters in this episode, with only 1 surviving more than 10 minutes. That gave the episode a tough task of making us care about a shallow character and a robot enough to outlast an entire episode. Thankfully the episode did a great job of giving us basic characterization. We were able to attach ourselves to Bella on some level mostly due to some stellar acting and well-timed emotional outbursts. The other half was creating a viable antagonist and I think they did an outstanding job. The robot "dogs" were horrifyingly real, creepy and downright vicious. The idea of their existence felt plausible, especially seeing how much humanity has wished for autonomous beings and the episode used the dog as a villain to explore the fear of having our own creations cause our own destruction. I really liked that the show gave us an idea of how the "dogs" worked. There were a ton of nice camera shots which showed us the vision of a dog, allowing us to understand how they worked. The episode also did a stellar job of introducing the many abilities the dogs had including the guns, ability to work electronics and the trackers. I really liked that they had a lot of depth to them and seeing Bella attempt to combat these many abilities was very enjoyable and tense. This could have been a great idea for a horror thriller considering how scary and complex the dogs were. I liked the ending until the final few seconds (see: The Bad). Bella overcoming the dog was awesome and exciting to behold. But the moment of triumph was too brief as the dog had injected her with numerous trackers which ended up making escape impossible. Her decision to kill herself was bleak but also fascinating. There are so many theories I can make for why she did it. Perhaps she realized there was no point in living in a world with dogs since it's only a matter of time before they take over. The Bad: There did feel like a notable lack of substance though. The world was woefully underdeveloped and I wish I could have known more about the current state of humanity so I could understand the stakes a little better. I spent a lot of the episode coming up with questions and it was disappointing to get answers for none of them. Instead all we got was a compact horror story. The emotional investment was low on this episode too. There weren't any shockingly powerful moments and there wasn't anything to properly care about. This episode was essentially just non-stop fear for 38 minutes with no other purpose. While I think it worked to some degree to make us fear our own technology, I wish it had decided to be more than it ended up being. The final reveal of the teddy bears was bad. It's impossible to buy that these 3 people risked and lost their lives to get a dying child a teddy bear. Bad storytelling. The Unknown: What were the dogs created for initially? Did they watch over the warehouses as guards? Or perhaps they were meant to be actual household dogs which did odd jobs before they went rogue. How did the dogs go rogue? What flaw in the design caused them all to destroy humanity? Were they hacked, similarly to the bees from "Hated in the Nation"? Where are the humans now? How many are still alive? How do they survive from the dogs? Are they able to fight back at all? Where do the dogs stay? There are clearly a lot of them, so the question is where do they go? And what are their motives now that they are rogue? Best Moment: Bella killing the dog was a great moment of satisfaction, even if it was brief. It also called back nicely tot he other 2 deaths which were also caused by a close range gunshot. Character of the Episode: Bella. Conclusion: This was a solid and easy to enjoy episode but it felt shallow which hurts its score. It's still a good episode though and certainly one of the most unique episodes in the show. Score: 63 Summary: Joey tells Chandler about what he saw and Chandler has to confront Janice about where her true feelings are. Monica and Rachel watch over Ben for the day and Monica accidentally bumps his head on the beam. Phoebe has to go to the dentist but is scared because every time she goes to the dentist, somebody she knows dies.
The Good: Chandler breaking up with Janice is a sad moment which has a fair amount of emotion to it. There are some genuine laughs to the storyline and while Chandler does go overboard towards the end, it is somewhat funny. The conclusion to Monica's storyline is very good and got a good laugh out of me. Phoebe's dilemma is some good harmless fluff. The Bad: Chandler is totally idiotic in this episode by the end. At first the break up is really great and handled nicely, but suddenly Chandler acts inhumanly attached to Janice in an attempt to get maximum laughs out of the scene, but all it serves to do is feel cartoonish and unrealistic, sapping the emotional resonance of the scene. Monica bumping Ben's head isn't as funny as the writers think it is and it really just feels like no big deal at all. I get that it's the point of the joke, but seeing that the jokes weren't funny, it then becomes a problem. The poking device is an unfunny and dumb idea. I can't buy that it stretched out as far as the writers want us to think it did. Best Moment: The discussion about the homosapiens was a classic Friends conversation in an otherwise unfunny episode. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This was one of the weakest episodes of the show so far which had very little of importance, and what was important was executed poorly. Score: 54 Summary: Crozier is staying in The Terror and drinking his problems away, which frustrates Fitzjames who wants a proper captain. Goodsir discovers that there has been lead poisoning which is the reason for all the sickness. Crozier speaks with Lady Silence and wants a way to kill the Tuunbaq but she refuses to comply. Crozier gets frustrated and Lady Silence explodes at him. Crozier alienates his crew and sends Blanky on the deck. The Tuunbaq attacks and Blanky is nearly killed but the crew manage to wound the Tuunbaq. Crozier accepts his drinking problem after Blanky has his leg amputated and chooses to be a good leader, leaving Fitzjames in charge while he recovers.
The Good: This episode revolved heavily around Crozier and put him through a short but very good character arc. We start the episode with Crozier in a very rough situation. We had gotten hints of his alcoholism in the last episode but it has completely consumed him by this episode. We have learned a lot about Crozier and we understand that his biggest demons come from his past and before we get to the biggest conflict in the show, we need to see him overcome his own demons. The alcohol addiction provides that conflict and it symbolizes Crozier's lack of ability to overcome himself. Eve when he is doing a captain's duty (which is very rare for him) by interrogating Lady Silence, she chooses to attack him personally, reminding him once more about how awful his life is. And his first response? He sends away one of his friends and decides once more to rest up and have a drink. It's powerful to see Crozier as such a mess and with the crew's chances of survival decreasing, it creates an incentive for us to want Crozier to return to being the man who he was 3 episodes ago. Furthermore, the episode uses this incentive to help get us to care about Fitzjames, who has been a background character for the most part. With him driving for Crozier to be the man he is supposed to be, even going as far as to quote the late Franklin about his insufficiencies, it makes us root for him which is a very important step to get us to like his character. More certainly needs to be done with Fitzjames, but this is a very good start. The resolution of Crozier's arc was very well done. I really like the idea to have a character arc occupy a complete episode, especially in the middle of the season. The middle chapters in a book are often the most boring, and that can translate to television as well. This show did an excellent job making this middle episode feel important and enjoyable by having a complete character arc cover a single episode. The best part though is how the resolution didn't feel rushed at all. Instead the episode used a separate plot point, the Tuunbaq, and combined it with Crozier's arc to provide him a reason to turn away from alcohol. It was the Tuunbaq causing Blanky to be amputated which awoke Crozier at last. He realized that this could have been prevented if he had been smarter, and as such learns from his mistakes and gives a fantastic speech at the end of the episode highlighting his change in character, demonstrating how he has finally shaken off his demons. With Fitzjames in charge, it gives Crozier valuable time to get back in shape so he can potentially be back to the respectable captain we saw in the first episode. There were other great developments in this episode. As I mentioned before, there was a separate storyline revolving the Tuunbaq in this episode which was expertly laced into the Crozier storyline to make both blend together as a cohesive unit. The best scene combining both was the interrogation of Lady Silence. We learned a lot of great information about the Tuunbaq here, planting many possibilities in our minds which is very interesting. I had initially thought that Lady Silence would be a sort of villain for the show, but the thought that she also seems to be scared of the Tuunbaq is an interesting one and makes me believe that it may be going rogue by attacking the men. It opens up a lot of interesting possibilities and creates a great hook for us as we head into the back half of the season. Hickey continues to be a fascinating question mark in the show. This episode demonstrated that he is very good at manipulating people and taking opportunities whenever he gets them. Could he be primed to become a villainous character now? We have already established some hostilities between him and Crozier, and now that we are seeing some typically villainous traits from him it feels likely that he will become a villain. I was very happy that the show included lead poisoning and used that to answer the sickness instead of something supernatural. I'm very happy that the show is making an effort to be historically accurate. Having done some research, I learned that the message left by Lt. Gore and the early death of Franklin were also historically accurate which impressed me. I love seeing shows put in effort to get the little things right, as they almost always result in an increase of quality. The Bad: There wasn't anything bad about this episode in a story perspective. However, I wills ay that the show is missing something. It hasn't emotionally engaged me yet. The writing has been fantastic and it has been a joy seeing the story unfold in front of us, but I'm yet to truly care about the characters or where the story goes. I'm only intrigued or interested. It's because of this that I don't feel comfortable rating this show too high, since I don't get the same level of enjoyment from this as I would from something like "Black Mirror". I understand that it is difficult to get emotional engagement from a ten episode show, but that doesn't excuse it for not being present in the episode. The Unknown: Does Lady Silence speak English? Her outburst was spurred by things which Crozier said in English, so did she actually understand him? What are the Tuunbaq's current allegiances? Does it serve Lady Silence or is it actually acting on its own? Is it getting revenge for the death of its previous owner? What are the extents of the Tuunbaq's injuries? Does it have any way to heal itself? Best Moment: The one scene I haven't talked about so far is the Tuunbaq attack. That's because I want to discuss it here. This show has shown total mastery of horror scenes. Franklin's terrifying death 2 episodes ago was stellar, yet this was somehow even better. The dark lighting, the fearsome presence of the Tuunbaq which is rarely seen, and the reaction we see from Blanky really sell the terror of this sequence as the Tuunbaq hunts down more men. It's survival horror at its absolute best. Character of the Episode: Crozier for having a great character arc in this episode. Conclusion: This show continues to deliver a great story with excellent elements of horror. However there is that emotional engagement missing which prevents this from being great television at the levels of some of the best TV shows out there. Don't get me wrong, this show is still great, especially for a miniseries, but I don't think it's quite on that amazing level I see potential for. Score: 65 Summary: Amy and Frank meet up on a dating system but they can only date for 12 hours and the system will find their perfect match after several relationships. They click immediately and can't stop thinking about each other, even during other relationships. They are matched together again and are happy but they have a break-up. After several other empty relationships, they meet up and choose to leave the world together. They succeed and they are revealed to be a simulation. In real life, the real Frank and Amy meet and are the apparent best pairing.
The Good: This was a much better episode of the show. This episode told a lovely story which I instantly got involved in, I got invested in the characters and had emotional investment with the story which was being told. This episode's concept was absolutely brilliant. While the others this season have been pretty good, they do seem somewhat familiar when compared to previous episodes. However this episode felt entirely original, only having similarities with "San Junipero" which is certainly not a bad episode to be similar to. The concept is wonderful and seems like an examination of a futuristic Tinder of sorts which is another genius idea. I really enjoyed the one line about how difficult it must be to work out relationships on your own without the system as it demonstrated how a technology like this could become so appealing. Relationships are tough, and wouldn't it be nice to have a system which does everything for you? Well now that I've established that the concept is great, how are the characters? Well they are easily the most compelling this season (with the exception of Daly), and are very easy to like and root for. My investment in these characters was what made this episode so powerful and memorable for sure. Most of that is because of the outstanding chemistry between these 2 which was on show from the moment they met. If I didn't care about these 2 getting together in the end, this episode wouldn't have worked well at all. A lot of this episode actually doesn't feature the 2 main characters together at all. Instead it shows them in other, less successful relationships for a lengthy portion while they longed to get together. It was really good to see and I loved how both of them were put in equally terrible situations where they just longed to be with each other instead. Frank ended up with a girl who he actually loathed and was forced to put up with for a while. Amy was put with a physically attractive guy and had great sex, but the relationship had no depth to it and lacked any form of intimacy. It's easy to see why both were unhappy and the writing, colouring and cinematography was phenomenal and did well to portray the depth of their unhappiness in a very human way. On top of that, there was a ton of humour here with the various ticks of the other guy and girl which added a nice lightheartedness to the episode. The rest of the episode was really well done too. Eventually they both reconnected and continued to develop their relationship in a lovely way until Frank chooses to check the expiry date and ruins the relationship. The break-up was very sad and it's really easy to understand both sides when they got upset. The follow-up was much better though. I loved that they didn't hold a grudge against each other for what happened and instead tried to move on with their life. But what came next was incredibly lonely and depressing for the both of them as they both found more empty and meaningless relationships while they craved each other. There were some really powerful scenes here, such as the montage of Amy sitting in her room as time passes and she goes from one relationship after the other, and also the scene of Frank having sex with a girl as they both just reminisced about past relationships instead of feeling anything for each other at all. This led up to the climax where Amy and Frank immediately decide to meet with each other again and instantly kiss and embrace. They decide to rebel and leave the world they are stuck in together. This scene worked incredibly well. After everything we saw them go through, it was so satisfying to see them together again. It's such a simple and easy story, but it goes to show that with outstanding writing and a meaningful purpose, anything can become great. The decision to rebel and the realization that the world is all a simulation is so cathartic and beautifully brings the story together, making it a very successful climax which leaves no loose ends or feelings of disappointment. Let's discuss the twist though, which is MUCH better than last episode's. The realization that everything was a simulation was really satisfying and led to one of the best endings of the show so far. I love these happy endings which we seem to be getting now, and the meeting between the real Amy and Frank was a great way to end the episode. But the twist also worked as an effective way to solve the many inconsistencies with the world-building and how inefficient it seemed to be. I was ready to complain about the world-building and how weak it was, but in the end that ended up becoming a positive. With the world taking a backseat to the central relationship, I didn't think about it often and that meant that the final twist genuinely surprised me because I didn't even see it coming. And on top of that, they even subtly included some foreshadowing when Amy and Frank teased being in a simulation which I had chalked up as an easter egg to "San Junipero", but that clearly wasn't the case. I love the actual concept of the simulation too. This entire existence was a simulated version of both characters and put them in situations to test if they were perfect for each other. It essentially means that all of the bad relationships were just a test to see if Frank and Amy would keep thinking about each other while they were apart, and since they ended up rebelling and escaping together despite the system, they passed the test and the simulation suggests that they would certainly work out as a couple. The Bad: The initial boyfriend and girlfriend were a little over the top, but it's not a big problem since they were revealed to be AIs anyways. The Unknown: How does the simulation actually work? Are there just a bunch of AIs or are these actually other simulations going on at the same time? Is it a different world for each couple that is being simulated or is it the same one? What happens if the match is a failure? Best Moment: There were a lot of really good scenes, but the stand-out was definitely the reunion of Amy and Frank at the end of the episode. Character of the Episode: Tough to choose so I'll go with both Amy and Frank since they are better together than they are apart. Yeah I'm cheating, but it's my review so deal with it. Conclusion: This was easily the best episode of the season which was lighthearted, well-written and very easy to enjoy. This episode worked on pretty much every level and left me with no complaints even with its simplistic storyline. Score: 73 Summary: Monica orders a new bed from the Mattress King which is owned by Janice's soon-to-be ex-husband. They send the wrong one and when Joey goes to return it he sees Janice kissing her husband. Joey is also teaching an acting class and attempts to screw one of his students out of an audition he is also going for. Rachel tries to get Ross and her father to be friends and they struggle to tolerate each other.
The Good: The Janice twist at the end was very good and Joey's reaction to it was certainly funny. It progressed the plot in an interesting way. I enjoyed the overall Mattress King plot too and Monica's bed led to some really great moments for Chandler too, especially the ending. The other 2 storylines provided some harmless fun. Joey teaching acting class was good for some small laughs and Joey's final "performance" after losing the audition was easily the highlight. Ross and Rachel's story was very good and it felt realistic that Ross and Rachel's father just can't get along and there were a ton of funny jokes in the storyline. The Bad: The ending to Ross' story was very clichéd though with the 2 guys connecting over their disagreements about Rachel. The episode also lacks some really memorable humour to send it over the top and is really just a good episode and nothing more. Best Moment: The dinner scene with the interactions between Ross and Dr. Green was hilarious. Character of the Episode: Chandler. Conclusion: This was a good if unspectacular episode. Score: 69 Summary: Mia and her boyfriend Rob accidentally kill a man and cover it up together. 15 years later, Rob tries to reveal what they did so he can have a clear conscience but Mia doesn't agree and kill him. A woman named Shazia is investigating a car accident with a device which allows her to see memories. The investigation takes her to Mia and she learns of what Mia did. Mia kills her and proceeds to kill her family to avoid leaving witnesses. However she leaves the guinea pig alive and its memories expose Mia's crimes.
The Good: First and foremost, I have to stress how beautiful this episode was. The cinematography was wonderful in this episode and it's easily the prettiest Black Mirror episode so far with a lot of creative shots which improve on the scenes a lot. I really liked the first scene. Mia and Rob' kill was pretty brutal and genuinely chilling, and I think it set the tone nicely for the episode which only got darker from there. Better yet though was Mia and Rob's conversation 15 years later. Mia looks completely different and is obviously changed, but Rob looks exactly the same and the only accomplishment he seems to have made is quitting alcohol. It's an excellent way to emphasize why Mia wouldn't be bothered by their past killing because she has moved on with her life and done bigger things. Rob hasn't and as such he is haunted by his past which is quite similar to his present. Their conversation is very good and is probably my favourite part of the episode honestly. Mia killing Rob was sudden, but I understood why she did it and that's the most important part for sure and is key in making me buy into Mia's mindset for the rest of the episode. That brings me to the next point. Mia is the antagonist in this episode and I think it's really enjoyable to watch her do whatever she can to cover her tracks. Though not all of her kills have a massive impact, they are still brutal and difficult to watch, and it makes Mia's ultimate conviction at the end feel very deserved as she wipes out an entire family. Shazia's short story was effective too and I thought the concept of the memory device is pretty neat, as the concepts on this show always are. It was nice to get introduced to it before she confronts Mia because it allowed us to really understand the situation as Mia and Shazia talked. We want Shazia to survive but we also don't want Mia's secret to come out, so it ends up becoming really tense television as they start talking and Shazia eventually discovers the truth. The Bad: This episode had a cool concept and some good moments but it's also the most flawed episode this season. The biggest flaw for me is the fact that this episode really had no purpose. Ask yourself this: what was the point of this episode? I asked myself this for all other Black Mirror episodes and I could come up with an answer immediately, but with this episode I just couldn't come up with anything. The episode didn't have any kind of point it wanted to explore. It was just a dark episode with people getting murdered just for the sake of it. This show has been depressing before and it has worked, but that is only because those depressing episodes had a larger purpose. Since this episode has no purpose, it feels like pointless misery and that's never something you want in television. If you are making your audience feel like crap, you have to have a reason in doing so. The main reason why the episode seems to have no point is because of the weak exploration of technology. The technology wasn't really explored at all and very little about this episode actually focused on the affects that technology has on our humanity. That's okay though if the episode had a powerful story to tell with memorable characters. But it didn't. The characters were basic, not that likeable and their character arcs weren't that memorable. "USS Callister" did a much better job with its characters. The plot had a lot of issues as well. For one, the middle of the episode really drags and doesn't amount to much. We are given tons of time to learn about how the technology works, but it has literally no payoff and there are even plot holes created by it (more on that in a second). Furthermore, it's very obvious that Mia and Shazia are on course to run into each other, so it feels like a huge waste of time until they finally do meet. But now about the technology. This becomes a problem because the ending of this episode features what I think is the show's worst twist. First we are treated to the unpleasant killing of a baby but we learn that the baby is actually blind as the shock reveal that she didn't need to kill the baby. But there are so many flaws here. For one, we have established that to see somebody's memories they have to think about them. But babies have bad memories and how would you possibly communicate with a baby to think about what they have seen beforehand? There shouldn't be any conceivable way to access the baby's memories anyways, so that makes the murder feel even more unnecessary. But worse than that is the second twist that the guinea pig witnessed the whole thing. If you thought the communicating with a baby thing was bad, this is even worse! For one, guinea pigs have terrible memories which is a biological fact, and of course how on Earth could we communicate to a guinea pig? It's terrible writing and feels tacked on just for a shocking ending. I was disappointed in the use of the "car won't start" cliché. I mean, how often is it that cars just happen to not start when you need it to? It's a stupid coincidence which is just there for more drama. The Unknown: Sadly there isn't much to discuss here because the episode is pretty shallow. I only have one question, and that is why is the episode called "Crocodile"? Is it because the main character is similar to a crocodile or am I missing something here? Best Moment: Probably Mia and Rob talking after 15 years and showing how far they have come as characters. It was very well written. Character of the Episode: Mia. Conclusion: This episode had potential but there was shallow exploration and a weak ending leaving this as one of the weaker episodes. Season 4 has been rather disappointing so far, so here's to hoping that the next few episodes can be of a higher quality. Score: 60 Summary: Marie gives birth to baby Sara and is overprotective. She loses Sara by accident once and installs a device called Arkangel which allows her to watch everything that Sara sees and also filters things which stress out Sara. As Sara grows up, the filters start doing more harm than good so Marie stops using the Arkangel. When Sara becomes a teenager she starts doing rebellious teenager things with her boyfriend Trick. Marie isn't sure where Sara is at one point and returns to the Arkangel to find her. She discovers all of Sara's activities and starts interfering with her life. Sara eventually discovers this and turns on her mother, beating her unconscious and breaking the Arkangel. Sara leaves home.
The Good: This felt much more like a Black Mirror episode as it examined themes and explored the effects of humans improperly using technology and how it does more harm than good. This was more focused on being its own creative storyline and didn't try to imitate anything else and I welcome the return to unconventional storytelling. The concept of the Arkangel is fantastic and allows a lot of opportunities for exploration of how this technology could affect the upbringing of these kids and how such intense helicopter parenting could do more harm than good. There are some really good scenes here and the concept adds a lot of stuff to this. The early half of the episode was particularly affecting for me because the idea initially felt ingenious, before I quickly realized how much harm the Arkangel could do. Watching the Arkangel used with the young Sara was really fascinating and created some exciting possibilities for the story to go towards. For one, I loved the exploration of how the filter drove Sara to want to see more violent things and ultimately be pretty unaffected by the horrors because she just wanted to know what they were like. I love the detail that the Arkangel ended up shaping Sara to become a more violent and careless person because she spent so much of her early life being curious to discover what the world is all about without all those filters. I especially love the little touch that Sara became friends with the dog which scared her as a child. Marie's character was really good. From the first scene it established her overprotectiveness of her daughter and how much she wants to shelter her. There were numerous nice touches of this overprotectiveness like the protein shakes, Marie taking Sara to the park in a stroller and more. This makes it more believable for her to go back to the Arkangel to find out where Sara was, and also makes it more believable that Marie would interfere with all of Sara's life to "take care of her". It was easy to understand why Marie made these stupid decisions and that's very important for this episode to work. The tragic ending to the episode was fairly powerful and logical too. It had to go in the direction that Marie ultimately ruins her relationship with her daughter and I think it was decently powerful after getting to see their relationship. I also love the final touch of Sara deciding to get into a car with a stranger to end the episode, which is the exact thing that Marie wouldn't want her to do as an overprotective mother. The Bad: The episode is way too predictable in its second half though. It goes in the exact direction you would expect and hammers the "helicopter parenting is bad" point in way too hard. While there was nothing offensive from this, it was very disappointing and failed to hit as hard as all of the best Black Mirror episodes. The examination of how the Arkangel would affect the upbringing of kids wasn't explored enough. The best scenes in the episode focused on that in the first half, but unfortunately it abruptly stopped examining that and had very little payoff later in the episode. I found that aspect of the episode to be the most fascinating and I would have much rather preferred to get insight on that instead of on helicopter parenting. Sara nearly killing her mother with the Arkangel certainly didn't feel earned. I can buy that Sara is very mad at her mom, but I really can't buy that she nearly killed her and left with no second thought. If that was trying to make a point on how Sara became violent because of her sheltered upbringing (and I think it was), there wasn't nearly enough focus put on that to make it feel like the reason for her behaviour. This hole makes the climax far less powerful than it should have been. The Unknown: Where does Sara go now? Would she have fixed her relationship with her mother if she had stayed? What will the stranger in the truck do to her? Could this have been averted if Marie had talked to Sara instead of making her decisions for her? Was the Arkangel a good concept at all? It seems to have positives but does a lot of harm. Is there potential in the idea with a few tweaks to it, or is it just a really bad idea in general? Did the Arkangel actually end up getting banned? Best Moment: I'll pick the moment where Sara started to draw violent pictures and even stab herself with a pencil to try to see some blood. It was truly horrifying and examined what could happen if you try to protect your kids too much from reality. Character of the Episode: Marie. Conclusion: This was a good episode and was better than the previous 2, but it felt like a missed opportunity. There was emotion here but not enough, there was thematic exploration here but not enough. This was a great concept but the execution as off and so we only have a good episode instead of another great episode. Score: 66 Summary: Daly is a co-founder of Callister Inc., which created a video game system called Infinity. Daly is a geeky co-boss who is overshadowed by everyone around him. When he gets home, he plays on a Space Fleet mod on his Infinity where he has clones of his co-workers in the world where he gets to abuse them. He gets the copy of new girl Nanette, but she refuses to submit to Daly. Together, the crew form a plan to escape from Daly's grasp and when an update happens to the game, they are able to escape. Daly is trapped in the system after the new update.
The Good: The style of this episode was unique and fun. I'm not a Star Trek fan, but I'm sure there were tons of nods from the whole "Space Fleet" concept which was used here. I really loved the style of the space fleet world and the opening scene with the VHS effect was really neat. The special effects and cinematography certainly stood out in this episode. Daly was a really good character. He was a very good concept for a central character. He initially comes off as just an awkward geek character who has a big heart but isn't really accepted by the people around him. This is a pretty dull stereotype, but what makes him stand out is his Space Fleet character Captain Daly, who is a sadistic monster who extracts revenge from his co-workers by creating copies of them and controlling them inside of his game world. It's a horrifying twist which completely changes our perspective on Daly after about 20 minutes. It's a great change and immediately makes the episode much more interesting. I liked that we got to experience Daly's cruelty through the eyes of Nanette who becomes our new protagonist after 20 minutes. It's a cool twist and it's the change of focus which changes our opinions on Daly. Without a different protagonist to root for, Daly may have ended up being similar to somebody like Kenny who we could still possibly root for. By showing us Daly in a very negative light from the people around him, it makes him all the more creepy and unsettling, ensuring that we root for Nanette instead which makes the climax much better. I loved Nanette's initial failed escape. At first I was uncertain because it had seemed like she immediately found a way to escape despite everyone else saying there was no escape. But it didn't work and instead served as a way to demonstrate Daly's commanding power and how hopeless the crew's situation really was. This was essential to make the eventual escape so much more satisfying. Walton's story and character arc was very interesting too. I liked the brief examination of his relationship with Daly and his character came full circle by the end when he gave his life to help out the crew. His horror story about Daly where he tortured his son was quite terrifying and helped give Walton's character more motives and was another scene which continued to portray Daly in a negative light. I like that this episode expanded on the tech from "White Christmas" with these clones which reminded me off the cookies. The reveal that the clones were actual people in a way with memories and feelings was a genuine surprise and it was just as effective in garnering my sympathy as Greta from "White Christmas". The Aaron Paul cameo at the end was funny and awesome. I also thought that the sci-fi parody aspect was pretty funny too at times and I'm sure that huge sci-fi fans really enjoyed this aspect of the episode. The Bad: I was disappointed by the parody aspect though. Much like the weaker episodes of "Friends", it felt like the parody took away from what made this show so great to begin with. I enjoy its realistic take on technology, the powerful symbolism and unpredictable storytelling which always ensures to hit with genuine emotion. This episode completely missed out on that by becoming a conventional sci-fi flick with tension and basic straightforward storytelling which is much harder to get emotionally attached with due to its simplistic nature. The episode is also overly long, and with such a simple story it really feels its length. In a lot of ways this is pretty much the same issue I had with "Hated in the Nation", and I sincerely hope that the show isn't going to be heading in this direction more frequently. The technology concept was odd as well. I wasn't happy with the idea that DNA could lead to the clones remembering their past lives. It makes no sense that the DNA could retain memories and with the realism removed from this episode's technology, the episode fails to unsettle me with the thought that this could potentially happen in the real world. The writing in the episode was pretty unsatisfying towards the end as well and it really took away from the ending of the episode. First of all, why would the update make a vortex in Daly's offline mod? How did the characters even know what it was? It was pretty convenient and dumb and only served to make a cool climactic storyline. Also, why didn't Daly just exit game when they were charging the vortex? That would make the ship stop moving and Daly would regain control over everything. Furthermore, can't he just use his god powers to stop them from escaping? We needed a better explanation for why he couldn't deal with these flaws. The ending with Daly dying was dumb. Why did he die? How did he get stuck? I have no idea and that's a problem. It felt like he just died because there needed to be a happy ending. The Unknown: What world is open to the clones now? What will they find there? Is it possible for anyone to save Daly? Did he deserve this fate for what he did, or were his actions totally justified? What will happen to present Nanette? Will she get apprehended for a potential role in Daly's death due to her connections with the pizza guy? Best Moment: Nanette being introduced to Daly's world was really good and when he actually arrived it became rather unsettling. It was pretty enjoyable. There weren't many stand out moments from this episode. Character of the Episode: Daly. Conclusion: This was a fun and enjoyable episode, but it was deeply flawed and failed to capture most of what makes Black Mirror great. I had a good time watching this and there were some great aspects here, but I still feel rather disappointed because this could have been so much more. Score: 65 Summary: The Tuunbaq keeps killing men and nothing is being done. Crozier drinks in his cabin to wash away his sorrows. Flashbacks show Crozier getting rejected by Sophia. Back in the present, Hickey leads an expedition to capture Lady Silence who he believes is controlling the supernatural bear. Crozier punishes him with 30 lashes for disrespect and not following orders.
The Good: Crozier was great in this episode. He has essentially become the new series lead now that Franklin is gone and he has been given really good character depth. We understand his sorrows all too well from being rejected, but thankfully there is much more to him. He doesn't know how to command the crew with Franklin gone, so he instead just ensures everyone follows his orders and then proceeds to give no real orders. Instead it's Hickey who takes action with a rogue expedition, which is exactly what Crozier was attempting to do in the previous episode. Crozier is becoming self-absorbed and lost and as a result he has lost his intelligent edge which he had over Franklin. Now he is just another captain, and without Franklin's ability to communicate with the crew, it seems likely that he will be facing mutiny soon. Hickey was very good here too. It makes sense for him to want to act out, after all tons of men have been lost to the Tuunbaq and he doesn't want to be one of those men. In his eyes he has done the right thing, and it is interesting to wonder how many other crew members think he is in the right here. They of course don't want to be picked off either, and as such I can certainly see them wanting to do something about this monster, especially with rumours going around about its supernatural nature. The titular punishment was a good scene in the episode which continues the strong storytelling. Crozier viciously ordering the punishment to continue was brutal and was a fitting explosion of that depressed anger he has been trying to drink away. The crew members' disgust at the beating was effective to start driving a wedge between them and the captain, and I think it was conveyed appropriately. It was an uncomfortable watch, but we needed to see it to understand why Hickey and the rest of crew would have some conflict with Crozier. The horror continues to amp up in this episode. The first half of the episode was tense and scary with the Tuunbaq lurking around and getting kills. The sequence with Crozier and Evans trekking the ice was a stand-out and so was the scene of Hickey finding the dead body torn in half standing on the ship. I really liked that final scene between Goodsir and Lady Silence. It's nice to see a decent human on the ship in Goodsir and he is very easy to like and root for. It was nice to end the episode on a positive note with Goodsir trying to make peace with Lady Silence. The Bad: Nothing really. The Unknown: What is Jane's role in the story going to be? We were given a lengthy scene of her wanting to help Franklin's expedition, and that surely couldn't have been for nothing. I believe she will do something important in the story, but it's just a question of what. Where are the crew's allegiances currently at? Hickey found some tobacco in his hammock, so clearly he has some friends amongst the crew. There is also a question of if Hickey is at odds with Crozier now, but I'm extremely confident that he will be. Adam Nagaitis did a great job of portraying Hickey's anger after the lashings and I'm sure that it will have to lead somewhere. What is with the black teeth and spoiled food? Does is have something to do with the sickness from the first episode? Best Moment: The lashings were the most brutal part of the episode so I'll go with that scene. Character of the Episode: Crozier. Conclusion: This was another solid episode to continue the story. The writing on this show has been very good so far, and it looks like it may end up being an excellent miniseries. Score: 62 Summary: Karin and Blue work together on a murder case when somebody who was getting a lot of social media hate was murdered. They discover it happening multiple times and learn that somebody is killing them because they are unpopular on social media with a hashtag. The most popular person to receive the hashtag in a day dies. There are ADIs, which are artificial bees which are being hijacked and controlled to do the killings. The mastermind is discovered to be Garrett Scholes who leaves a trail for the detectives to find. When the detectives think they have won, it unleashes a mass murder of everyone who used the hashtag.
The Good: The mystery thriller is always entertaining to watch and I think it's smart that the show used an exciting plot line to make the longest episode so far feel a little bit shorter and tense. It was a fun case to watch unfold and I got a decent amount of enjoyment out of it, as with all mysteries. The idea of the artificial bees and the death hashtag is brilliant and is another innovative, impressive and surprising concept from Black Mirror. I'm impressed that the show continues to spout out genius concepts for episodes so consistently, with the last 3 episodes being creative highlights in concept. The bees were logical on one hand, but quickly became terrifying when taken over, not only as spy tools but also as murdering weapons. Even scarier though was the DeathTo hashtag which allowed the people to vote on whoever they wanted to die. The episode had a very tense and horrific nature to it as well. The bees were certainly a cool concept, but they were turned absolutely terrifying by the episode's end when they became killing devices. The sequence when Karina and Blue were attempting to protect Clara in the house as bees swarmed the place was horrific and traumatizing and it was absolutely brutal seeing the bees all desperately try to get into the bathroom where one viciously kills Clara. What's even more unsettling is the way the bees just stop and act completely normal after Clara dies, almost as if nothing had happened. It's creepy and terrifying, and once more became unsettling in the episode's climax. This episode had a great look at social media and how cruel people can be. The idea that social media shouldn't be used as a way for us to say what we want without consequences is good and I liked the moments in the episode which focused on that topic, like learning about Garret's book and seeing the effects that all the social media hate was having on Clara. The Bad: This episode had a good concept but in execution it was really dull and uninspired. This was essentially just a generic and boring cop drama with minimal originality and twists which make us question the story. We have victim characters who are introduced to die and provide the leads a big clue, and we even have the cliché of good guys thinking they won before everything goes bad. Add in the evil government spying on people and this episode really feels like it lacks in originality. Seeing that all other Black Mirror episodes were more interesting (yes even Waldo), this ends up being really disappointing. This episode lacked the ambition I had expected it to have. The characters were very weak too. The 2 leads were as dull as they could be and I had no reason whatsoever to care about them or their storyline. I can't even tell you who they are or what their motives are. That's much worse than the impressively written characters in the previous episodes. Furthermore, the side characters are also very lame. Shaun serves no purpose in the story except for being the one who gets everyone killed, and even that moment lacks impact because it's hard to buy into him being thick-headed enough to press the button anyways. The villain isn't good either. He's 2-dimensional and we have no idea why he decided to do this and lacks motivation completely. The villain from "The National Anthem" who had 30 seconds of screen time was more developed than this guy. The ending didn't do anything for me either. The main climax lacked the emotional resonance it needed because we weren't shown the actual onslaught of bees. Usually I would be happy to be spared of the misery and death, but in this case I feel like we needed to see more than we did for there to be an appropriately powerful climax, especially considering that I didn't care about the fates of all main characters. The actual ending scene was dumb too. I didn't at all care about Blue getting revenge on Garrett and to make things worse we don't even know what she did to him. I usually do like vague endings, but in an episode where I don't know the motivations of any character, this kind of vague ending is horribly unsatisfying and just feels like a total waste of time. That's where the episode's length really works against it too. At an hour and a half in length, there needed to be a satisfying conclusion for the episode to feel like it was worth a watch but there unfortunately wasn't. I had plenty of nitpicks too. The whole time they were protecting Clara, I was practically screaming at them to cover her face with a mask and give her earplugs or something like that. These are cops, surely they would be smart enough to realize that if they block the entry points into the head, Clara can't die. Another nitpick is Nick sending the hashtag out o Garret. Why wouldn't he ask somebody about doing that before he did it? And why on Earth did he do that on a personal account of his? It's idiotic. Furthermore, Garret's entire plan revolved around this idiot sending that hashtag so he could make his mistake which is really dumb. Who would leave a critical aspect of their plan to the chance of somebody doing something stupid? I also think this episode did a weak job of raising intriguing moral questions. I certainly don't think we should be killed for our roles in social media, and it feels like a stupid question to ask because the answer is far too obvious. The Unknown: What happens to Garret and everybody else at the end? Will Shaun be blamed for what happened? Will the people ever find out the truth? What happens to the ADIs and Granular now? Will they be shut down? Did everybody deserve to die for what happened? I certainly don't think so. Best Moment: The bees attacking the safe house when Karin, Blue and Clara were in it was terrifying and tense television. Character of the Episode: Karin. Conclusion: This was a solid and enjoyable episode but nothing more than that. This episode was unoriginal in everything except concept, meaning that it totally lacked the ambition and brave approach which has so often made Black Mirror compelling. A disappointing end to the season. As a whole, I thought this was another really good season. While I don't think it hit the highs of previous episodes as frequently, it was certainly very enjoyable and I don't think any episode was actually bad. With the exception of "Hated in the Nation", every episode delivered on my expectations and continued this show's streak of powerful and creative ideas to focus on. Score: 58 Summary: Stripe works for the army, who protect villagers by killing roaches, which are basically like zombies. He has an implant called a mass. After Stripe kills 2 roaches and is hit by a strange device which disables his mass. Stripe realizes that the roaches are people too and that the mass makes him think that they are something else. The leader of the army, Arquette, imprisons Stripe and explains that the mass wipes memories and replaces them and that Stripe agreed to have it implanted in him. Arquette gives Stripe no choice and forces him to reset his mass and forget everything he learned.
The Good: This was another remarkably powerful episode which delivered more compelling television. The early parts of the episode came off as a basic military action episode and were easy to get engaged with and fairly fun. The technology was very cool and smartly conveyed to introduce us to the concept of the mass, which was another creative and realistic innovation of technology. The early parts of the episode also did a wonderful job of introducing the roaches as zombie-like enemies that needed to be purged. There was a really great sequence of the soldiers exploring the house while we got some subtle exposition from Medina which I really enjoyed. The big twist about the roaches being real humans was executed brilliantly. While I unfortunately did see it coming (see: The Bad), I thought that the foreshadowing was superb and the execution of the twist was wonderfully shocking and powerful. The fact that the reveal was aided by a sequence of Rai gleefully mowing down humans while anticipating her reward made for genuinely unsettling television and it was easy to understand why Stripe would knock her out to stop the mindless bloodshed. The video game-esque shots of Rai killing were really clever too and nicely symbolized how killing the roaches is almost like a game for those under the influence of the mass. The best parts of the episode were unquestionably in Stripe's confinement cell though. Here we get to see Arquette again, who had initially seemed to be a sort of therapist for those who felt something from killing roaches. But now we learn that he is essentially a higher power in the military who controls the masses and sees nothing wrong with what the military is attempting to do. The episode succeeds here by adding a ton of layers on top of the predictable twist that roaches are humans. While that thought is terrifying enough on its own, the terror is ratcheted up with a ton of other additional information and thoughts. We learn that not only is Arquette and the military fine with the extermination of the roaches, but so are all of the other villagers who apparently just really don't want some genetic disorders. It's horrifying to think that all of these people are just innocents being killed off because of disorders which somebody decreed shouldn't exist in this world. The most horrific part of the episode comes from the mind of Stripe though. Malachi Kirby did a superb job in this episode and by that final scene I was really sympathizing with his awful situation. It traumatizes him to know that innocents are being killed, but then it just keeps getting worse. We learn in a more surprising twist that Stripe himself agreed to the terms of the mass to exterminate the people with disorders, essentially proving that there are no people who actually seem to think this is wrong. Then we are taken on a trip to experience Stripe's nightmare as we realize that he's practically sold his life at this point. Arquette has total control over him and makes him lose sight and then experience the torturous pain of killing an innocent civilian with threats to ensure that he suffers from this until the end of time. It's horrific, immoral and painful to watch and really emphasizes the unsettling life which we may find ourselves in if military technology is used immaturely. The ending scene was powerful too and showed that Stripe has also lost the life he had before. We see the girl in his dreams appear inside of a beautiful bungalow which is what Stripe sees, but in reality all he is coming home to at the end is a rotten old house with nobody real to comfort him. It's a sad and disturbing final image to conclude the episode. I appreciate that this episode got creative. Some episodes in the past 2 seasons have treaded familiar territory, but this one felt entirely original with its take on military technology and the future it may pave for us. The original feel to this makes it one of my favourite episodes this season for sure. The Bad: The roaches twist was very easy to predict. The zombie reveal was given very quickly, and as this show has become known for its painful twists, it took no real effort to think of the idea that the roaches may have been real people, especially with the amount of hints we were given. I could understand somebody else not being able to see through this twist, but as I predicted it with ease, that took away from the episode a little bit. All the villagers wanting the roaches dead feels a little too insane. There needed to be more people like Heidekker who would think of this execution as inhumane. Surely somebody would have drawn comparisons to the Holocaust or any other big genocide which negatively impacted humanity. The Unknown: Did Stripe even have a wife or is this woman just conjured from thin air? Or perhaps has she left after Stripe signed with the military? What convinced Stripe to sign up anyways? He seemed like a bit of a careless fool in the video and it seems like he only joined because he had nothing better to do. It would certainly have been interesting to learn more about him. Is it right to protect the roaches or did they deserve to be killed off like that? Would it be for the better to prevent genetic disorders in the future? Could there be another more humane way way to prevent these disorders? Best Moment: Every moment between Stripe and Arquette at the end was superb. The scene had me gripped and provided one hell of a catharsis. Character of the Episode: Stripe. Conclusion: This was another excellent episode which continued the show's brilliant explorations into technology and how deadly of a weapon it can be. Score: 73 Summary: In the present, Janice asks the friends if they ever fooled around with each other. A flashback shows a time when Phoebe was still living with Monica. Phoebe has moved out but is afraid to tell Monica. Ross is in the process of discovering that Carol is a lesbian. Chandler needs to select a new roommate and meets Joey. Rachel is in town and is nervous about marrying Barry.
The Good: This was a superb episode. A great concept and an incredible execution makes this one of the best episodes of the show yet. All 6 friends were given moments to shine and they were really hilarious. There were great callbacks to things which we from the future would understand and they were expertly placed without ever being forced. The major storylines were fantastic plots too. Chandler picking Joey as his roommate was really fun, and I love how Joey wasn't even Chandler's first option and that they ended up connecting afterwards. Ross discovering Carol's sexuality was done really well and had tons of funny moments and teases which we all understood, especially with mentions of Susan. Phoebe, Rachel and Monica were excellent in their roles too and had some really smart storylines to fill out the time. This is a rare episode where it feels like there is no side story and that every storyline is equally important. It allows the episode to really fly by and for us to get even more hooked. There were so many fantastic comedy sequences too. Chandler and Rachel in the bar was fantastic comedy, especially from Chandler as always. Ross and Phoebe on the pool table was the most I've ever laughed seeing 2 characters hook up, and I like how it led to them stopping before anything happened. And of course Joey thinking Monica wants sex was hilarious and was easily the show's best visual gag since Ross talking dirty. Better than this though was how smartly written the episode was. The characters all behaved completely in character and there were lovely callbacks to previous things we knew about these characters, like Chandler and Joey's love for Baywatch and Monica having a crush on Joey when he moved in. Lastly, I loved the little cameo from Mr. Heckles. The Bad: Nothing really. Best Moment: We really are spoiled for choice. I'll go with the pool table scene in the end but so many other scenes delivered. Character of the Episode: Chandler. Conclusion: A really stellar episode, which had brilliant writing, story and comedy. This is pretty much a perfect package for an episode of comedy. Brilliant stuff. Score: 88 Summary: Crozier suggests sending 8 men 800 miles to HBC for help to Franklin who is appalled and refuses. He tells Crozier that he doesn't really like him at all. An outpost is created in the ice to hunt down the Tuunbaq. Franklin goes to visit and while he is there the camp is attack. everyone is killed, including Franklin. The Inuit woman, Lady Silence is let free and she begins to learn how to control the Tuunbaq. Hickey and Gibson come into conflict when Gibson claims to Irving that he was innocent and Hickey just sort of attacked him.
The Good: I like that we got some more development on Franklin in this episode. He has been very arrogant but mostly likeable before and we really needed to learn more about why he was making the choices he did. Here we get to see why he believes in faith so much. We learn that nobody really believes in him, and so he is forced to believe in himself with hopes that he can prove everyone wrong. Of course having his wife tell him all of this to inflate his ego doesn't help at all. This built up nicely for Franklin's scenes with Crozier. Crozier continues to be logically sound as he requests getting some help from HBC, but Franklin is too stubborn to listen and doesn't want to be labelled as a failure. He still arrogantly believes he can succeed, and in his arrogance he completely alienates Crozier and continues making enemies. It was a great scene and was one which really made us sympathize for Crozier who only wants to make it out of this alive. Naturally with this being a survival horror, there needs to be some surprising deaths and we got a really surprising one here as Franklin dies in the bear attack. The scene was terrifically shot (see: Best Moment), and was completely unexpected as Franklin has been a pivotal member of the crew so far. The burial of Franklin was a really good scene, and I thought it was a nice touch to have him buried to his own words he was going to say for Lieutenant Gore's death. Also, the visual of Franklin's leg in the coffin was quite unsettling and suitably grim. I enjoyed the Hickey and Gibson storyline too. Hickey has been likeably strong-willed so far and I did enjoy this little conflict. Gibson was logical in why he betrayed Hickey and I understood why Hickey would have felt the need to confront Gibson about his choice. The Bad: Nothing really bad about this. I thought this was quite consistent in its quality, though the show does seem content with what it is and isn't really attempting to leave more of an impact than its limited nature allows. I suppose it is still much better than aiming high and falling flat. I certainly am enjoying the show for what it is though. The Unknown: What is the significance of those chiseled charms? Will we see more of them in the future? What was Lady Silence requesting to get from her father? What was the circle she drew earlier? Does it have something to do with her controlling the Tuunbaq? The Tuunbaq gave her the seal at the end. Does that mean that the deaths of the men were from Lady Silence's orders? Best Moment: Franklin's death was visually stunning. It perfectly captured the panic of a sudden, horrific death and the total chaos and disorder it would have put into Franklin's head. The connection the scene creates with the viewer is splendid and it was a real testament to Ciaran Hinds acting, the sound design and the cinematography that the scene boasts. Character of the Episode: Franklin. He left a great impression on this episode. Conclusion: This was another solid episode which contained one of the best constructed death scenes I have seen in a television show which focuses on the horrors of death. Score: 64 Summary: Yorkie is making visits to San Junipero, a sort of heaven for those who want to stay there after death. She meets Kelly and they fall in love. Yorkie reveals that she became a quadriplegic and is going to be dying soon. She is getting married to a random guy so she can choose to be in San Junipero forever. Kelly chooses to marry her instead. Yorkie wants Kelly to choose to stay in San Junipero after she dies, but Kelly doesn't want to because her husband and daughter both didn't get to experience the world. After an argument, Kelly ultimately decides to stay in San Junipero and the 2 remain together forever.
The Good: This was a very different episode for Black Mirror and the new approach with new themes and different storytelling served to create one of the very best hours of the show so far. The setting of the episode was a small thing which was done completely right. The colouring of all the scenes was excellent and the setting did a great job of establishing the tones of all of the scenes, from the creepy aura of the Quagmire to the loving beauty of the beaches. This ended up becoming a really atmospheric episode and it only added to the experience. The world itself is really interesting and I was always trying to figure out what time period it was from. I love how the reveal that San Junipero is a sort of heaven was given to us slowly so that it could be pieced together. It was really great and it also allowed me more time to process the characters' stories and what they were doing in San Junipero. The concept of this sort of heaven which is accessible by humanity is really interesting and I liked this unique exploration of technology. The characters were outstanding though. Both Kelly and Yorkie felt relatively fleshed out, had motivations and had background to provide insight on why they were that way. I love seeing such detailed characters in an episode like this and it definitely made me care a ton about their fates in this episode. The relationship they had was great as well, and while I don't think it's as good as it could have been, it was enough to get me to buy into their bond, especially when you take into account that these 2 are essentially just 2 really lonely old woman who are looking for their place in the world before they die. Kelly's character story is excellent. Her backstory is suitably tragic when we learn that her husband left her in the world after 49 years and it's easy to sympathize with her and understand the void that he has left behind, as well as the feeling that she doesn't want to be left behind again so she is scared to love. But somehow, the show digs deeper to really pull at our heart-strings as we learn that she had a daughter who died before her time. This adds even more layers to Kelly and makes her unease in choosing to stay in San Junipero so much more understanding. After all, her daughter didn't get to enjoy the luxury so why should she? It's painful, it's real and it's understandable, giving Kelly's character a truckload of depth which really impressed me and made me feel, as the show does all to well with episodes like this. Yorkie's story was another tearjerker though. Her tragic life was very sad and it was awful to learn about her quadriplegia, but that also made it understandable why she would want to keep going back to San Junipero and stay there. Her life was robbed from her in the real world, but here she gets to enjoy moving around and doing what she pleases. The reveal that she was dying and seemed to be on borrowed time was also heartbreaking, but it led to a much happier moment as Kelly and Yorkie got officially married, providing a rare glimmer of hope in this show. That hope would thankfully stay though. After their fight, it seemed destined for both ladies to live separately forever in a pained existence, just as miserable as other episodes of the show. But thankfully that wasn't the case and instead we actually got a happy ending where both women got to live out their lives together forever. In an episode with no real twists and turns, this happy ending actually ended up becoming one of the show's biggest twists. It was powerful, genuinely unexpected and satisfying as we finally got to see some characters living happily without any kind of misery or pain thrown at them. It's a wonderful change of tone and makes this episode really stand out and feel special. Not to mention, it's wonderful to feel happiness after an episode of Black Mirror for a change. The Bad: I wish that Yorkie's joy at being able to move again was played out a little bit better. We really got no reaction from her, but I feel that it would have been much more powerful and affecting to have some scenes showing Yorkie's joy in San Junipero. The Unknown: What would you choose? San Junipero or passing over peacefully? Which is the better option? Can you ever leave San Junipero if you die there? What is passing over? What happens to those who do? Is there another world out there? Will Kelly and Yorkie remain happy forever in San Junipero? Will Kelly be satisfied with her life or will she still feel the guilt she felt earlier about staying in San Junipero while her family passed over? Did Kelly make the right choice or should she have honoured her old family by passing over? Best Moment: The happy ending was powerful and for once this show managed to make me feel complete happiness. That's really impressive and I hope this show continues to demonstrate an ability to provide a wide variety of emotions. Character of the Episode: Kelly was better than Yorkie in my opinion. Conclusion: A stellar episode, and one which isn't afraid to do something different. Black Mirror has always been a bold and powerful show, and this episode exemplifies both of those aspects in wonderful fashion. Easily one of the show's finest hours. Score: 80 Summary: Kenny is a kind teenager working at a fast food restaurant. He is hacked and a video I recorded of him masturbating to porn. The hackers give him orders which lead to him meeting Hector, another man in a similar situation and they don't want the videos leaked. The 2 are forced to rob a bank against their will. Kenny is forced to fight another man to the death. However, the hackers release the videos anyways. Kenny is revealed to be a pedophile.
The Good: Unlike most other episodes on the show, this episode is actually taking place in the present without any kind of fancy new technology. While other episodes have been devastating because of their human implications, this episode becomes devastating in a different way because it is conceivably something which could actually happen in our current world. It's a scary thought and it really aids the depressing nature of this episode and makes it one of the most painful episodes yet to get through, and that is saying something, especially since this episode followed the horrific "Playtest". The episode works very well because we immediately sympathize with Kenny in the beginning of the episode and it makes his journey gripping to watch since we really hope that he can find a way to avoid having his reputation ruined, no matter what the cost. It's also easier to sympathize because what he did doesn't seem at all like a big deal and it would be awful if he met a terrible fate because of something as simple as masturbating on camera. Alex Lawther also adds a really great performance, one of my favourites in the show so far, and it's his heart which really makes Kenny's character work. Of course there was the twist at the end which threw a wrench into things, but more on that in a bit. The tension in the episode was really good. While it was obvious that Kenny would make it on time, what was far more tense was later in the episode, when Kenny and Hector were working together. Their relationship made sense as both were good people who made mistakes and were thrown into an awful situation and had to work together. Of course Karen's arrival had to complicate things though and the entire time when Karen was in the car had me on the edge of the seat. This could have been the ideal time for a plot twist, so it had real stakes to it and I was very interested to see what came next. The Karen scene wasn't the only fantastic bit of tension though. The bank robbery scene was dripping with tension too. I thought that the horror that both characters felt was conveyed well and I sympathized with both as they forced themselves through the ordeal. It was tough to watch, but at least it was better than the videos being leaked for them. Then came the big ending which was stunning and so devastating. Of course we learn that the hackers just released the videos anyways. So not only do everyone have all these awful deeds torturing them for the rest of their lives, but they know that it was all pointless and accomplished absolutely nothing. It's a rough ending to the episode which essentially makes all the characters pay the ultimate price for their mistakes. The Kenny twist was by far the most stunning reveal though. I had felt so bad for this poor kid, and yet with the reveal that he was a pedophile, most of that suddenly changed. I didn't know how to feel anymore and the conclusion of the episode left me in total confusion, almost wanting it to not be true. I felt uncomfortable having sympathized with a pedophile character and I just couldn't believe it. But that's the genius of this episode. As humans, we often associate pedophiles as monsters in the public, but are they really? Here we see that Kenny is just a normal kid but he can't help himself and it's not like he actually did anything bad to children. Are we right to just judge people for being pedophiles or should we maybe try to get them some help instead and treat pedophilia like more of a mental illness? It's a fascinating concept and I'm glad that the episode explored it. The Bad: This episode treaded some familiar points though. The questions raised were very similar to the ones raised in "White Bear" and the whole justice system and final twist was also reminiscent of that episode. I'm fine with the ideas that the episode explored but they were hardly original and I want the show to keep reinventing its message and not settle for the same messages over and over again. This show is currently at risk for becoming exactly what I don't want it to become: a basic storyline with a surprise twist which exists purely for shock value. While this episode thankfully avoided that by raising some interesting questions, I'm definitely worried that the show may go down the road of empty shocks if they run out of creative ways to provide a powerful message. I hope that doesn't happen, but the episode quality isn't quite at the same level it was at for the first 2 seasons and that's not a great sign. The show is still awesome right now, but I'm getting a little nervous as this is the third episode in a row which was only great. The Unknown: Who were the hackers? What did they want? Just justice? How do they organize themselves to get control over so many people? Was that kid in the hotel one of the hackers by chance? What were the pictures for? Why did Kenny have to take a picture of Hector? Was the drone recording just for the entertainment of the hacker, or has Kenny's murder of the other man been released to the public too? I feel like I should be adding the thought-provoking questions the show raises in this section as well, so going forward I will be sure to do that. Were we right to sympathize with Kenny? Should we judge him for what he has done, or should we still sympathize with him? Surely he didn't deserve what he got. His life is basically over now. Is this justice system moral? Is this something we should enforce or shut down? Were the hackers the actual good guys of this story? All the other characters seemed to make pretty awful mistakes. Best Moment: The twist that Kenny was a pedophile made me feel so uncomfortable so it really has to be the best moment. Character of the Episode: Kenny. Conclusion: This was a really nicely written episode and was one of the most disturbing episodes thus far. Another powerful episode of Black Mirror, though season 3 is yet to come anywhere near the highs of the first 2 seasons. Score: 72 Summary: Cooper is travelling the world to avoid problems at home. His dad passed of Alzheimer's and he is afraid of talking to his mom. He meets Sonja and they hook up. Sonja recommends Cooper to go test a new game. He goes and experiences a horror game simulation in real life and goes through a nightmarish game. His phone wasn't turned off however and his mom calls him during the experience. This causes Cooper to die.
The Good: This was a very different episode of Black Mirror. Like "White Bear", I think this was more valuable as an experience than an episode of television, and it left me feeling really unsettled and horrified by its ending. Before the horror though, we are allowed to learn who our main character is. We learn a lot about Cooper, and we come to care about him as one of the better characters in the show. He has depth to his character, we like who he is and we can understand his problems and fears all too well. His relationship with Sonja is effective at letting us understand who he is and preparing us for the nightmare he will experience later in the episode. And now it's time to discuss the terrifying nightmare that Cooper was put through when testing the game. The idea of the game is hardly described to us and all we know is that it's going to be a new experience for Cooper. Of course we know that anything can happen, our minds have been trained to expect anything in a simulation and we have also been trained to expect twists in this show. But Cooper isn't aware in the way we are and he obviously believes that he is actually safe from any harm. Of course this is a signature set-up for any horror film, and leads to Cooper getting way more than he anticipated as he faces horror after horror which slowly breaks him down. So many horror films are fixated on jump scares but this is smarter than that and even makes fun of jump scares. Instead we are treated to the horror of having to face all of your worst fears one after the other, which has so much more entertainment and emotional value to it. It makes for some genuinely affecting television. The fears which are explored here are fantastic and have a lot of meaning because of what we know about Cooper. We see a casual fear like arachnophobia explored at first, but then things ratchet up as we see fears from Cooper's past explored like Josh Peters and memories of his dad's Alzheimer's, and then we climax as we see fears stemmed from anxiety and paranoia as we see Cooper's fears about how his mother is in a terrific scene which has a lot of power (see: Best Moment). The writing was sublime as usual. I was ready to complain about inconsistencies like Saito's English-speaking, but it turns out that the whole sequence was part of the game which essentially forgives every single inconsistency which just becomes foreshadowing. There were a couple things in this episode which I noticed which have been present in other episodes too but I haven't had a chance to explore them. For one, the show's transitions to sex are always hilarious. Every time it's a smooth transition which puts a smile on my face. Also, the show does a tremendous job with irony. The big example in this episode being the observations of Cooper's death being that he finally "called Mom". The Bad: This episode fell into the trap of too many twists which don't have much resonance to them. The twists were fairly predictable and unsurprising, and they didn't really offer any new depth to the story. The ending was too depressing. For this show to have a depressing and cruel ending, it needs to establish that the characters deserved their fates. This was done expertly in previous episodes like "White Bear" and "White Christmas" but it really wasn't done at all here. Cooper was a good guy and the only mistake he made was turning his cell phone on, and it led to his death. This show often makes me feel emotionally drained after an episode, but here I feel it was too far. At least give me a reason for putting me through this pain, but instead the only reasoning here is for shock value and the irony of "called mom". This also leads to my next point: the theme. This episode is missing a proper theme to examine. Other episodes have all focused on something in particular about technology and how it will impact our future, but this one is missing that. The examination is very weak in this episode and it's tough to center around an actual point being made. I suppose it's that we shouldn't get careless with testing technology. Or that we should turn our phones off. Either way it's unsatisfying and it doesn't do its job of neatly tying the episode together. Instead what we are left with is just a terrifying nightmare, and while that is still impactful to watch, it's nowhere near the level of quality that the show usually explores. The Unknown: Has this ever happened before where a playtest killed somebody? What consequences would be brought on by Cooper's death? Best Moment: Cooper finding his mother, only to see she has Alzheimer's was the perfect personification of how anxiety will create our worst fears. After all the scariest thing is always the unknown, and our greatest fears come from us imagining the worst possible outcome. This scene explored that in a tragic and heartbreaking way. I just wish the ending had perhaps gone in a more hopeful direction like the previous episode to make this scene even more powerful. Character of the Episode: Cooper. Conclusion: This was a terrific nightmarish episode that was well on its way to being one of the show's very best until the ending. Had we gotten a happier ending which had more thematic relevance, this would have been thought-provoking and cathartic in all the right ways. Instead the show opted for the edgier depressing ending and I feel that it diminished the quality of this episode by a lot. Hopefully the other episodes don't fall into a similar trap. Score: 68 Summary: After 8 months, two search parties are sent in the east and west to find if the ice has thawed. The east group finds nothing. The west group finds the ice hasn't thawed but encounter a strange creature which kills Lieutenant Gore. They accidentally shoot an Inuit man and take him back to the ship. Dr. Goodsir tries to save him but he dies. His daughter is with him and apparently she now has control over the Tuunbaq. Tensions build between Franklin and Cozier despite Franklin's efforts to rebuild their friendship.
The Good: Franklin and Cozier's relationship is deepening and it is pretty interesting so far. They are obviously not friends anymore, and it's interesting to learn more about them. Obviously there will be some conflict due to Franklin leading the crew into icy waters and getting trapped, but this episode makes it evident that it's just the nail on the coffin at this point. Seemingly the conflict started when Franklin's daughter Sophie rejected a proposal from Cozier at Franklin's behest, and has continued to reject them. This should lead to some interesting conflict between them, and I'm curious to see where Fitzjames will come into play and whose side he will take. I liked Hickey's brief introduction here as the homosexual member of the group who seems to take pride in his status thankfully. We don't know much about him yet, but he has certainly gained my interest and I want to learn more. I presume that he and Cozier will build some kind of friendship in the next couple of episodes. Goodsir's group had the best tense moment in the episode with the ice storm and bear attack. The concept of an ice storm is pretty scary in itself, but it was made worse with the presence of something hunting the group. The eventual moment where Gore is killed is pretty shocking too and lets us know that there is another threat to worry about. Furthermore, the thought that the beast may have tracked them back to the ships will surely add a lot of tension in the camp, and just the thought of being hunted may be enough to cause dissent amongst the crew. The reveal that the ice will grow and prevent the ships from any other movement gives us an idea that they are all on borrowed time. It's an effective way to escalate the tension and give the story more of a sense of purpose. The Bad: One of the biggest problems I have with the show is actually a really small thing, but it's really hurting my engagement in the show. It was a problem in the last episode too but I forgot to mention it. The cold. This story is meant to take place in freezing cold, so I should be feeling tense and uncomfortable by watching the crew be trapped in such cold. But I don't because the cold has been conveyed poorly. Why is it conveyed poorly? There is no cold breath ever. It's a small detail but it's one that is really annoying when you notice it and it really breaks my immersion in a lot of scenes. There are too many side characters in the story and they just feel expendable. The show seems to have a core 4-5 characters and everyone else just seems to exist to die. I hope we can get something more for these side characters, or at least get a select few side characters to get some characterization and development. At the moment it's hard to care about all of them. The ice storm scene isn't as tense as it should be because I don't care about the fates of any of the characters. I would be on the edge of my seat if these characters mattered, but since they are expendable, I really wasn't as into it as I probably should have been. The Unknown: There is tension between Hickey and Irvine. What will Irvine do to Hickey next? Clearly he isn't just going to leave him alone. What does the women mean by them disappearing? Death? Or something else entirely? The Inuit man was the same one that appeared to David in the last episode. How did he do that? Does he have some sort of power? Is it because his tongue is cut out? Does he have something to do with the sickness? Why did he want to die on the ice? What is the monster? Is it the Tuunbaq which the Inuits talked about? Do they somehow have control over it? The daughter apparently controls the Tuunbaq now, so how will that come into play? Best Moment: I'll go with Hickey winning over Crozier while talking with him and them becoming friends. Character of the Episode: Crozier. Conclusion: This was a solid continuation of the story, albeit a slower episode. The characters still need to be set-up more, and if I get to the point where I really care about them, this show could end up becoming really good by the end. As of now, this is a decent show, but one that really isn't threatening to be that memorable or powerful. Score: 58 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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