Black Mirror -- Season 4

[Greg]

Apropros of nothing, Barnes and Noble paired a famous book to go with every episode of Black Mirror.

You can find the article here: Black Mirror Books

Who knew Barnes and Noble still existed?

[Drunk Monk]

Who knew Barnes and Noble still existed?

I did.  It's one of the few newsstands that still distribute KFTC.  

[Drunk Monk]

If memory serves me, some of the better ones, in descending order, were:

S3E2  Playtest

S3 done.  E1 & E4 I mentioned before.  E2 kinda freaked me out at first because I was watching it late at night, half asleep, and it started invading my dreams so I had to stop.  I came back for it when it wasn't so late, and predicted the ending more or less - it was very DePalma.  

E3 Shut up and Dance preyed upon that constant paranoia of the selfie camera on every freakin monitor now.  Stacy taped her camera over for a while after hearing some news report about surveillance (she almost never uses it) but only for a while. E5  Men against Fire totally surprised me about where it went - quite satisfying. E6 Hated in the Nation was kind of ridiculous in that dumb sci fi way, but it starred two of my fav supporting actors Benedict Wong & Kelly Macdonald, so that was cool.

Still enjoying this immensely.  Sure, it has it's flaws, but my standards for entertainment have been sullied by so many B films that I can let those go and just enjoy it for what it is.  On to S4.

[Drunk Monk]

2 Arkangel

So this pressed my parent button akin to Margrave’s attack of Nassar - a very sensitive spot for any of us breeders. But beyond that, I found it to be a predictable and mediocre episode. I was amused by the Easter egg in Sara’s room - a Tusk poster referencing an earlier Ep - s3e6 - made me ponder if all of Black Mirror happens in the same universe.

[Drunk Monk]

3 Crocodile  (this one haunts me)

A classically dark tale about digging deeper and deeper into a hole, a cold-blooded grisly hole, all for a tiny mcguffin which I saw coming.  Ironically I didn’t see any of the rest coming beforehand but the gift was such a random aside, it gave itself away. I remember a short story that was similar except the witness was a houseplant. Enjoyed the scenery in this one. Arkangel haunted me more than this but maybe that’s a parent thing. And I wouldn’t say it haunted me very much, maybe only because of recency effect. 

Just 3 more to go.

[Greg]

I gave the Olympics the night off (and the nightly news firehose of awful) and watched USS Callister. It was quite enjoyable. It did not go where I thought it was going to go. Even the Queen appeared interested. Don't know if we will watch anymore. Because the score is 1-1 with good and bad episodes.

[Drunk Monk]

Which was the other Ep you watched? If you want another enjoyable one, peep San Jacinto.

[Greg]

Very good.

I saw the Kristin Bell episode from last year where social media runs the world and your status is dependent on how many likes you possess.

[Drunk Monk]

You know what’s satisfying after watching a lot of Dick? A nice BM. S4e4 Hanf the Dj was okay. I thought I knew where it was going, then it came off track, but then sort of ended up where I thought it might. Cf says skip s4e5 but I won’t listen. Seen all the rest so why not see the final 2?

[cranefly]

Go for it.  I don't listen to myself half the time anymore.
Now I want to go back and watch the season 1 and 2 episodes I skipped -- if I can remember which they were.  You're becoming a much more complete being than me, DM.

[Drunk Monk]

I’m just a vidaddict. And that BM last night gave me weird sexual dreams. Either it was that or the salmon burger I had for dinner. I’ve had similar sleeping issues after salmon burger dinners. Perhaps it was the combo.

[Greg]

Just in case you aren't watching the new Joel McHale show on Netflix.

[Drunk Monk]

Just in case you aren't watching the new Joel McHale show on Netflix.

I'm not and that was great!  Thanks for sharing. 

[Drunk Monk]

To my mind, episode 5 Metalhead is skippable.

I enjoyed S4E5. It wasn’t as cerebral as the others, just a good ol’ chase tale. I liked the B&W and I usually disdain modern usage of that. Maybe it’s just good to come back to this show after a long break. Mind you, like most of my reviews, I’m easily amused, unlike like ‘no fun’ Glynch and I wouldn’t give his Ep a rave review, but I was entertained. 

One more Ep to go, then I’ll have to wait until next season.

[Drunk Monk]

Black Museum - the season finale. Been saving this one and I’m glad I did. It’s like the dark sequel to San Junipero, exploring the notions of digitized consciousness. A 3 act tale with a karmic resolution - quite satisfying - part 1 was based on a story by Penn jillete. Extra points because it’s Letitia from Black panther.

I’m delighted with this show and can hardly wait for the next season. Kudos to Netflix here.