it's currently out.

episodes:
1. USS Callister
2. ArkAngel
3. Crocodile
4. Hang the DJ
5. Metalhead
6. Black Museum

Will watch this as soon.

Got a tire appointment this afternoon. Should be able to burn through a couple of these while waiting.

<-- Dave Thomas knows what's up...
__________________________

Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect.
Game: Like Gladys Knight.
Jay: Aretha Franklin.
Game: Word, I like her too.
Jay: Nigga...

>1. USS Callister

Good episode. Middle-range B.M.

>2. ArkAngel

One my personal favorites of the season.

>3. Crocodile

Didn't like it. Weakest episode of the season.

>4. Hang the DJ

This was a great episode. Had a lot of fun with this one.

>5. Metalhead

Like the first episode this was good, but a middle tier B.M. episode. David Slade remains one of the most interesting directors working tho.

>6. Black Museum
>
My favorite of the season. So, so good.

------------------------------------------
America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

1. Hang the DJ (Ep 4)
1. Black Museum (Ep 6)
3. USS Callister (Ep 1)
4. ArkAngel (Ep 2)
5. Crocodile (Ep 3)
6. Metalhead (Ep 5)

Hang the DJ is definitely the episode of this season I'm most likely to recommend to non-Black Mirror watchers when trying to get them into the show. It's this season's San Junipero for sure with the difference is this time around the couple falls in love and escapes the virtual world and into reality.

Black Museum was a cool little compilation of mini-eps. I wonder if this was an original concept and then they came up with these stories or if these were a bunch of ideas they couldn't fully flesh out for an entire episode but didn't want to see them go to waste. The twist at the end plus her mother's consciousness being inside her a la story #2 really pushed this up to the next level. But WTF MONKEY STILL NEEDS A HUG??!?!?!?!?

I loved that in USS Callister, like White Bear, they make you sympathize with the person you eventually find out is the villain.

Of all the eps in the season ArkAngel I think exemplifies best the "did we really think this technology ALLL the way through before implementing it?" theme of Black Mirror.

My favorite episode ever still remains The Entire History of You, and because of that, I really wish they tied that same technology into Crocodile as I feel like there are so many other directions you can go with the whole "self-DVR" thing and this was one of them. I think the guinea pig was a bit much, I would have rather the episode end with her getting away with it and having killed the (blind) baby for no reason.

Metalhead was a complete miss to me.

____________________________________________________


Steph: I was just fooling about

Kyrie: I wasn't.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8OWNspU_yE

I was rooting for that dog..ha.
Black Museum was solid, but I didn't think it was the best of S4.

01 Hang The DJ
02 USS Callister
03 Metalhead
04 Black Museum
05 Crocodile
06 ArkAngel

I will say that S4 is definitely MUCH better than last season. Much more consistent.
Hang The DJ is the episode I'd recommend to people that aren't really into the series.

https://digife.com

When I saw that souvenir people got of dude screaming?

I immediately thought of the mobs of white crowds that would dismember black people hanging from trees.
Fingers. Toes. Genitalia.

Many media outlets are getting flammed for not addressing the racial undertones in this episode.

https://digife.com

probably just getting a little more used to the trick, but I felt the show was already trending in this direction with the first Netflix series. In the BBC episodes, each season had an episode that felt like it was taking place in our current moment, but each of them were such a mind fuck in their own ways that it didn't feel like sort of a budget thing. it's not hurting the show, just something I noticed, because it leads me to one of my comments on the first three episodes.


USS Callister: This was a fun episode, but I hate to admit I have a hard time feeling sympathy for sentient AI. I completely get that that reality seems like it'd really, really suck, but we've seen sentient AI go so wrong in fiction for so long, and the world seems so ready for war, that I'm not sure I like the idea of AI smart enough that it can kill its creator, even if that creator was using it to play Star Trek with his pizza box (and torture all his employees). Still, like I said, it was a fun episode, it was nice to see Jesse Plemons and Cristin Millioti in the same show again and acting their asses off, and it was neat to see a Black Mirror episode that wasn't afraid to be hilarious if there was a joke in there.

Arkangel: Again, quality short film making, basically, this was like Boyhood mixed with two other Black Mirror episodes (White Christmas and The Entire History of You) so I felt like I knew where it was going from the moment I realized what the titular Arkangel was about. I couldn't help but picturing all the suburban moms watching this episode because everyone at work was talking about it and coming away from it thinking, "well, that'd never happen if I'd had that with MY daughter, and I wish I had." The episode sort of felt like another show attempting to do Black Mirror, to be honest, but I enjoyed it through Foster's direction and its specific take on parental anxiety. (Also, sidebar: I'd love to see an iPad sit uncharged for that long in a dusty box upstairs and work just fine 15 years later.)

Crocodile: Seems like this is one of the lesser received ones so far, and I get it. The tech angle is very shoehorned in just to make the ending happen, and if Black Mirror has ever felt like magical realism then this was it. That said, Andrea Riseborough delivered one of my favorite performances of the entire series, and I have to admit I'm simply fascinated by the concept in general. The Fall is a great BBC show IMO for similar reasons, and when I wind up stumbling onto a random serial killer's wikipedia page late at night, it's usually due to some reference about how they were such a nice guy or a minister or had a family of five or something. So this ticked all my boxes and really didn't even need the memory machine stuff; if anything, that was the only downside. It wasn't as specifically weird as Blade Runne's Voigt-Kampf test and we got it the first time, so seeing it used so often just felt like padding past a point.


One last note on the 1st and 3rd episodes is that for how long they are, I feel like they earned us seeing how the antagonists are treated by the wider world when they're found out. I didn't want Daly to die, I wanted him to have to go in to work the next morning. To me, THAT'S Black Mirror, not him just dying at his computer (again, a bit like a "Black Mirror is always about death, right?" thing) And I'd have at least liked to have seen Mia have to react to somebody looking at her like they know she's a murderer while she knows she can't do anything about it. Her conversation in the shed was difficult, but I think Riseborough would've really brought it if she had to have a sit down with her husband.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Season 4
Black Museum @@@@@
Metal Head @@@@1/2
USS Callister @@@@
Arkangel @@@1/2
Hang the DJ @@@1/2
Crocodile @@1/2

*It's gotten better as they've moved forward IMO.

Season 3
Most Hated in the Nation @@@@@
Men Against Fire @@@@@
Shut Up and Dance @@@@1/2
Nosedive @@@@
Playtest @@@@
San Junipero @@@

Season 2
White Christmas @@@@@
White Bear @@@@
Be Right Back @@1/2
The Waldo Moment @@

Season 1
National Anthem @@@
Fifteen Million Merits @1/2
The Entire History of You @@@@@

.

<--- Big Baller World Order

.

1.5 has to be trolling

<-- Dave Thomas knows what's up...
__________________________

Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect.
Game: Like Gladys Knight.
Jay: Aretha Franklin.
Game: Word, I like her too.
Jay: Nigga...

its more allegory than sci-fi
the characters were annoying
the ending was turrbl
i was annoyed the whole time watching it

1 The Entire History of You ★★★★★
2 Be Right Back ★★★★★
3 San Junipero ★★★★★
4 White Christmas ★★★★★
5 Crocodile ★★★★1/2
6 Metal Head ★★★★ (this and DJ are interchangeable to me)
7 Hang the DJ ★★★★
8 Nosedive ★★★★
9 White Bear ★★★★
10 Most Hated in the Nation ★★★★
11 USS Callister ★★★1/2
12 Playtest ★★★1/2
13 Men Against Fire ★★★1/2
14 Black Museum ★★★
15 Fifteen Million Merits ★★★
16 Shut Up and Dance ★★1/2
17 Arkangel ★★1/2
18 National Anthem ★★
19 The Waldo Moment ★


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Bottoms up....and the devil laughs..




http://soundcloud.com/rayandersonjr

I think people rate it low not because it is a bad episode but because it is unpleasant and depressing. I rate it high in my list because of how effective it is at touching your buttons emotionally. I also think it is one of the best filmed episode. The photography is gorgeous in it.

time is money, money is time
so i keep 7 o'clock in the bank and gain interest in the hour of God
I'm saving to buy my freedom, God, grant me wings, I'm too fly not to fly _ Saul Williams

namely the memory tech.

First they stated that the investigator wasn't working on behalf of the police but the insurance company...and could not make anyone use the tech. (at one point she even mentions to her husband that she hopes the main character agrees to use it).
We learn that there IS a legal requirement for everyone to meet with the interviewers and give statements (tech or not). We also learn that the investigators have a legal obligation to report what they learn to the police if a crime has been committed. (the investigator tells this to one interviewee but not all evidently).

Now something like a memory recording tech, we HAVE to assume has been the subject of a LOT of controversy/discussions/scrutiny/etc. as it was introduced/mandated, so we have to assume that everyone KNOWS that they don't HAVE to use it, only that they have to give a statement. So with all of this as the backdrop--and KNOWING you've just killed two people, the idea that the main character, did a cursory gloss over the terms of consent then agrees to use it, is BEYOND ridiculous.

The episode telegraphed that the tech would be her downfall which is fine, but they exercised the most ham fisted way of doing it--they could have gone a LOT of different ways to get to that point, but for her to simply agree to use it when she didn't have to was the point where I was done with the episode. After that all the killing in the end of the episode just seemed silly, as she was just increasing her footprint the more she moved around and interacted with people.

Anyway, I think THAT's why people are saying it's such a bad episode, they just summed it up as the killing was unnecessary, because the whole premise of the investigation didn't make a lick of sense.

All that said, the visual cinematography was beautiful and well done, but the script was just bad on this one.

I understood that scene differently.When the investigator arrives at her house Mia is drinking and is inebriated. I thought her boldness initiated from her previous murders made her believe that she could beat the memory device.Which is why she agreed to the device being connected to her. It even looks like it is going to work but her inebriated state can't stop obsessing with what she has done, which is why it appears on the screen the investigator was watching. To me this episode's tech was not the focus it was the the idea of Mia's original reluctance towards hiding the body of their first victim and getting bolder and bolder as long as she could get away with it.

time is money, money is time
so i keep 7 o'clock in the bank and gain interest in the hour of God
I'm saving to buy my freedom, God, grant me wings, I'm too fly not to fly _ Saul Williams

But I think without the tech it looks worse--the memory thing sexies it up a bit.

It's essentially like her having two dead bodies in the corner of her basement, but agreeing to a voluntary search of her house, because you know there's no way they're gonna look in THAT corner of the basement so it's all good.

Her being crazy drunk would make it more palletable I guess...I didn't think she was that drunk, but maybe that was the explanation.

------------------
One Hundred.

the writing was so so bad...definitely the weakest BM episode i've ever seen.

i really hope the other episodes are some fire

you.are.buggin

yupyupyupyupyupyupyupyupyupyupyupyupyupyup

There was nothing to really enjoy about the Crocodile ep. It reminded me of the first episode of the first season. Dark just to be dark, not really saying anything.

I wasn't too impressed by this season.

Metalhead was interesting but didn't hold me. I will go back cause I never got to the end.

Black Museum was predictable as shit. I knew where it was going from the jump. The Teddy Bear story was crazy tho..

Arkangel was probably my favorite this year.

The first one was ass juice. Was it USS Callister? boo hiss

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Ranked from least favorite to favorite.


6. Metalhead - Didn't do anything for me. I got pretty invested in trying to figure what was going on in this world (were the dogs the cause of the apocalypse or just a feature of it?) so I was never that interested in the hunt. A lot of different shows could have done this, didn't need to be a black mirror episode.

5. ArkAngel - I will be honest, I keep dozing off as I watched this one. I got the premise and the show didn't seem to have a lot of twist and turns based on that premise. I will watch again but not sure I missed anything.

4. Crocodile - I dug this more than most because I spend a lot of time wondering where this story was going. Despite the bleakness of the episode and the cheesy twists, I was there to the end. My biggest disappointment (besides the colored folks getting killed so brutally) was the tech in this episode didn't seem to be the same tech as in The Entire History of You.


3. USS Callister - I enjoy the concept of the sentient digital clones introduced in White Christmas and I am a sucker for every episode that works in that concept. I could watch a whole series devoted to the ethical quandaries sentient digital beings create. I am also a Star Trek fan but I can see how if someone was not interest in Star Trek this episode could leave them cold. But I loved the ethical question of the evilness of mistreating a digital clone of someone.

.
2. Black Museum - I am also a sucker for stories inside of stories. I also like the idea of seeing the early protypes of the tech we see in the other episodes and the early missteps as the technology developed. The main thing that knocked this down a notch is that I couldn't buy into the notion of putting someone's conscious inside another person's conscience. It feels lit nitpicking but it took me out the sci-fi realism I like of other episodes.

1. Hang the DJ - This is Black Mirror (and Sci-Fi) at it's best for me. Introduce the technology and let the story be about the real world implications of such technology. I will say that I was more interested in the idea of a dating technology that tells you who to date and for how long to prepare you for your soul mate than a technology that runs dating simulations with a potential partner. I was busy wondering if I could date someone with a set expiration date on our relationship or someone I didn't like initially and knew they wouldn't be my ultimate partner. So I was slightly let down with the reveal. Still top Black Mirror episode in my mind.





6.



>it's currently out.
>
>episodes:
>1. USS Callister
>2. ArkAngel
>3. Crocodile
>4. Hang the DJ
>5. Metalhead
>6. Black Museum
>


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

but if I remember right, you had to opt in to the tech they were using in Entire History, there was that one woman at the dinner party that didn't have it installed and everyone was sort of caught off guard by that, right? the stuff in Crocodile was a mandatory government program, so I suppose it could've been mandatory implants and that'd definitely be a little more "Black Mirror" but I liked that it was still this new thing people weren't always aware of, or hadn't heard it was a rule.


but also like I said above I'm just a sucker for those sort of family matters serial killer stories anyway and was too caught up in the actress' facial expressions to care about the tech. I can totally see some people watching that episode and constantly waiting for the "hook" like most episodes of this show have, but I appreciated that they just went and shot a thing. I feel like that's how a lot of this season was, really. The tech and sometimes even the plot of each episode was often a rehash or remix of something they'd already done, right down to all the winks and nods in Black Museum, so I wound up appreciating stuff like Crocodile and Metalhead more because they just got to go for it in a different way with that Netflix money.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I guess I am fan of a consistent universe technology wise but that would make sense that the opt-in tech is way more dynamic and has more features than tech that is forced on people involuntarily.

See, I like the episode more now that it seems consistent technology-wise.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

For me it just seemed like the tech/sci-fi element was only incidental here.

I mean the idea that a person who was initially against hiding an accidental death becoming pretty much a brutal serial killer...that's a pretty good idea I guess. But it doesn't really go anywhere. I feel like you could tell the same story without the sci-fi element, which is what makes it tied with the pig-fucking first episode of season 1 as my least favorite ep so far.

My goofy ass was only half watching that episode, so I TOTALLY missed the point of the hamster at the end, and how they ultimately use its memories to catch her.

That's why you just can't have this show on in the background.

LOL just paying more attention bumped this episode of from my least favorite to my second favorite of the season. Black Museum is still the best.

I've ranked them from best to worst.

I've also put them in bands and within a band they aren't that drastically different but from band to band there are big leaps in quality/greatness.

I didn't watch these all at once so I think the older episodes are collectively ranked higher because of the freshness of the series when it launched.

GREAT EPISODES

The Entire History of You
The National Anthem
White Christmas
White Bear
Hang the DJ
Black Museum


VERY GOOD EPISODES

Nosedive
Fifteen Million Merits
San Junipero
Shut Up and Dance
The Waldo Moment
Playtest
USS Callister
Crocodile

OK, BUT NOT GROUNDBREAKING.

Men Against Fire
Be Right Back
Hated in the Nation
Metalhead
ArkAngel


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Rankings and SPOILERS

1. Black Museum... LOVE the meta-ness to this, and the anthology feel to this episode.
2. Hang the DJ... Another great episode that goes against the grain of what a normal BM episode usually is.
3. USS Callister... For as much as I'm not a Star Trek fan, I love stuff that pokes holes in it (this and Galaxy Quest come to mind). Obviously this is a bit different (and darker) than GQ.
4. ArkAngel... Enjoyable, but not great... A bit predictable.
5. Metalhead... This was OK. Those dogs were some rough MFers though.
6. Crocodile... The technology aspect wasn't as apparent as other episodes, but tied well enough together in the end.

http://twitter.com/phenompyrus

Get Out the Room
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-out-the-room/id525657893

if it was its own thing.

but i heard there were talks of it being it's own thing.

There's be no Black Mirror hook at this point. It would just be a space sci-fi show. Not that there's anything wrong with that premise, but do we need another Orville right now?

<-- Dave Thomas knows what's up...
__________________________

Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect.
Game: Like Gladys Knight.
Jay: Aretha Franklin.
Game: Word, I like her too.
Jay: Nigga...

Stop.

Say the show doesn't attract your interest. But don't critique it without seeing at least an episode.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Filled with simulated avatars controlled by real people on the outside world.

There's the possibility of them making contact with their flesh and blood selves.

There's plenty of intrigue to that premise. Nobody is screaming for a 10 season run on a network schedule, but a one shot with a short,4-8 ep run on Netflix has a definite appeal.

Dark, morbid but with a slight sense of humor. A nice twist that you don't see coming right from the start. And a satisfying ending.

This was probably my favorite episode of the season. Not quite to the level of The Entire History of You, but still really damned good.

We saw it in White Bear. "White Bear" and "Black Museum" both had these white mobs who felt justified in being cruel to these black criminals. Dope.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

1. Black Museum
2. Hang the DJ
3. USS Calister
4. Crocodile
5. Metalhead
6. Arkangel

____________________________________
Podcast Now on iTunes and Google:
http://tinyurl.com/JTTOU-iTunesSubscribe
Twitter: @nipsey @JTTOUPodcast

Last 3 things I watched:

The Changeling Season 1 (Apple+): C
OMITB Season 3 (Hulu): B-
Ahsoka Season 1 (Disney

rankings

1. Crocodile 5/5 perfect sci-fi thriller
2. Black Museum 4.5/5 a bit too much at times, but brilliant
3. ArkAngel 4.5/5 very relatable, loved it
4. Metalhead 4/5 great hitchcock vibes, but needed more world-building
5. Hang the DJ 3.5/5 liked the concept, but wasn't executed too well
6. USS Callister 1/5 this never happened

I've been arguing about it with a couple of people.

The people I am arguing with say that the tech pairs you with your soul mate like Match.com and they know it's your soul mate because they run simulations with you and that person and pair you with someone who you have a high percentage (e.g., 98%) of runaway together scenarios.

I say that the app is more like tender and it runs simulations with anyone you want to meet and tells you what percentages of simulations you would run off with that person. So at the end when old girl and old boy saw that they had a 98% together, they knew that they were a good match. But either one could have met someone else in the bar with a much lower percentage.

Small difference which I don't changes the story at all, but what do you think?



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Initially, I thought it was like option 1, but after reading your post, option 2 seems just a plausible. I just don't know.

>I've been arguing about it with a couple of people.
>
>The people I am arguing with say that the tech pairs you with
>your soul mate like Match.com and they know it's your soul
>mate because they run simulations with you and that person and
>pair you with someone who you have a high percentage (e.g.,
>98%) of runaway together scenarios.
>
>I say that the app is more like tender and it runs simulations
>with anyone you want to meet and tells you what percentages of
>simulations you would run off with that person. So at the end
>when old girl and old boy saw that they had a 98% together,
>they knew that they were a good match. But either one could
>have met someone else in the bar with a much lower percentage.
>
>
>Small difference which I don't changes the story at all, but
>what do you think?
>
>
>
>**********
>"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then
>they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson
>
>"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

____________________________________
Podcast Now on iTunes and Google:
http://tinyurl.com/JTTOU-iTunesSubscribe
Twitter: @nipsey @JTTOUPodcast

Last 3 things I watched:

The Changeling Season 1 (Apple+): C
OMITB Season 3 (Hulu): B-
Ahsoka Season 1 (Disney

They have one algorithm/simulation.

The simulation is Person A and Person B meet for their first date in the system. They have 12 hours. Then they get paired with various people, A has a good relationship and B has a bad relationship. They run into each other during this time and it reignites that spark from night 1. A starts to get sick of their partner and moves onto several quick flings. B finishes out their bad relationship.

They eventually get paired again. Then go their separate ways, again. And they each get their final match at the same time and meet one last time. They either accept they aren't meant to be together or they disobey the system and revel.

They run this simulation with every potential couple in the system 1000 times. However many times the couple rebels it's a success, every time they accept their fate they fail. That's how they determine your % match.

What we saw was one of the simulation runs for the combination of Amy (Person A in this simulation) and Frank (Person B).

I understand how the simulation works.

My question is who are they running the simulation for. Everyone you could potentially date (tinder) or are you only being introduced in real life to people who you highly match (98%) with (match.com)?

My question is what happens before the simulation even occurs.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Lets say a hypothetical world of all straight people. 100 guys and 100 girls.

For each guy they run 1000 simulations with all of the 100 girls.

So for each guy he has a % match/revel rate with every girl.

Just as you would on match or eharmony or whatever, you have a match % with every person in the system. This episode is just creating the simulation/algorithm in which that % is determined.

I've noticed that some of the tech is in multiple episodes. For example, the neural plugin from White Christmas seems to also be in USS Callister, Crocodile (a primitive version perhaps?), and San Junipero.


---------------------------------------


---------------------------------------

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Bottoms up....and the devil laughs..




http://soundcloud.com/rayandersonjr

is Wraith Babes from 15 Million Merits

Bandcamp/IG/FB/Twitter: @hecticzeniths

Only one I've read is Permutation City, and it's a fantastic exploration of the concept of digitized human consciousness and the ethical and humanitarian considerations for digital copies of two others.

I use to be heavy into Sci-Fi so I wasn't too surprised with storylines in Star Trek: NG because I had come across them before.

I haven't kept up with Sci-Fi so I've been blown away by Rick And Morty and Black Mirror with sc-fi concepts I've never seen before, like the cookies stuff, and I was wondering what these sci-fi TV writers were reading (assuming concepts are introduced in sci-fi lit before TV and films).


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

A meaty story that isn't exceedingly heavy is the Wake/Watch/Wonder trilogy by Robert J Sawyer. It seems like a YA series at first, as it centers on a blind teenage girl who happens to be a brilliant mathematician, but it's much more. It centers on her unique relationship with an A.I spawned from the internet and the broader, big pictur3 implications of his existence as he makes himself known to the world at large. It's a great read.


Sawyer has one other book, Calculating God, that I consider a sci-fi must-read.

These are great in that they strike an excellent balance between provacative depth and accessibility that doesn't patronize.

San Junipero
Entire History of You
Men Against Fire
Be Right Back
Hang the DJ
Shut Up and Dance
Black Museum
Arkangel
USS Callister
Crocodile
15 Million Merits
Nosedive
Playtest
National Anthem
Metalhead
The Waldo Moment

Note that White Bear, White Christmas, and Hated in the Nation are missing; I need to rewatch a few episodes, since I don't remember them well enough to rank them (I binged this show hard).

I'll probably rewatch the whole series and revise my list. I'm hoping to get my wife on board, but she generally avoids watching super dark/bleak stuff that will just bum her out. Maybe if I start with the more positive ones - I'm thinking San Junipero and Hang the DJ.

---

Sidenote - what do y'all think is the bleakest, most depressing episode? I'm inclined to say Crocodile, Men Against Fire, or 15 Million Merits.

A whole bunch of innocent people were killed because one woman didn’t want to own up to her crime. And the baby. The baby man!

____________________________________
Podcast Now on iTunes and Google:
http://tinyurl.com/JTTOU-iTunesSubscribe
Twitter: @nipsey @JTTOUPodcast

Last 3 things I watched:

The Changeling Season 1 (Apple+): C
OMITB Season 3 (Hulu): B-
Ahsoka Season 1 (Disney

Crocodile was dark and didn't like seeing those brown lives snuffed out like that. But in the end she was caught.

A bleak episode are the ones were the take home is "we are all fucked".

The Waldo Effect is one of the bleakest episodes to me.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

I think I was leaning towards the latter interpretation (viewer), but either is valid.

I'd pick Crocodile for the latter, though the reality of Trump makes The Waldo Moment a contender too.

I'd have to think a bit more for the bleakest in terms of writer's perspective. Maybe Men Against Fire? The Waldo Effect also fits here.

i do not trust your understanding of narrative art

and I believe you don't understand either episode

Metalhead was pretty forgettable.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

I liked San Juniper but I think it is slightly overappreciated.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

I guess the dog robot is cool but I wasn't impressed.

I like my shit brighter yet... darker, if that makes sense.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

ArkAngel was one of the more predictable episodes to me which didn't really have a complicated moral issue. Not hard to guess that technology designed to protect a kid would end up pushing the kid away.

What if the mom was a digital clone of a dead mom raising the kid though?

Would a mother know best even if she is a digital clone?

Would it be acceptable to turn your mom off at some point?

Yeah I am armchair showrunning but this idea popped into my head at some point recently.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Mother Knows Best, a companion AI and guidance system designed for orphaned kids provided as a service by the government that orphaned kids can reject at any point in their lives once they've reached whatever the legal age of emancipation rights is. Would touch on the existing social stigmas certain orphaned kids experience, all the same themes of the existing episode, and avoid the obnoxious "I'm gonna nearly kill you with that damn iPad, mom" ending we got.


Plus, how does an AI mother respond to witnessing its "daughter" having sex for the first time when it (probably?) understands the point of existence is more existence? How does it react to the drugs; even more harshly?


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

You can't blame the mom for wanting to protect and shelter her kid, but yeah it's messed up that she lies and does stuff behind the kid's back. And the abortion stuff was especially wrong. Yet everything she did was 100% selfless and looking out for her daughter.

But the thing is though, it's not that the technology turned against her. The main idea was that the technology was not enough to shelter her. The tech worked just fine. But the daughter still started having sex, still started using drugs, and in the final confrontation, the violence she had been exposed to came right out of her when she beats the shit out of her moms.

The way I viewed it, that's what it was about. You can try to filter out everything negative from your kids, but they are just going to find out about it on their own. I think it was saying that if they have that appetite in their nature, you can't shelter them from themselves.

There was no big twist like a lot of the other episodes, but to a parent, that shit strikes a mighty blow.

about overparenting.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Man I don’t think that was the point at all (that the daughter still lived as teens tend to live).. to me the message was a tool originally designed to keep kids safe, particularly kids who had a propensity to wander off or who had been briefly kidnapped, could be immediately found and removed from those situations via GPS or whatnot. I don’t think the idea was that mom was meant to prevent her from experiencing life as a normal kid; hence the agreement she would turn it off as she entered adolescence. The mom just couldn’t help herself and that’s when things went downhill.

That's how I viewed it. Even in the beginning when you see the kid cut herself and see the blood censored out, you could see the curiosity in her. It was all there, despite the actual visual being blocked out. I also don't think it's coincidence that the fascination she shows when being introduced to violence in movies and on the internet comes out at the end when she beats her mother nearly to death.

That was my takeaway: that if they have it in them, the kids are going to get dirty no matter what you do, and if you try to hard to shelter/protect them, regardless of the resources you have at your disposal, it's all just going to turn against you.

But that was just how I read it, after watching it a couple times. If you don't see it that way, eh, different strokes yo.

The idea that regardless of what you do as a parent you're not going to be able to save them from everything. They still have to have the space to live their lives and make their own decisions. In the end trying to do so ends up doing you as a parent more harm than good.

Or at least that's how I saw it

Get out the room,
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-out-the-room/id525657893

Situation Podemy love

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/situation-podemy/id620232249

Situation Podemy : www.situationpodemy.wordpres

Yeah man I agree, it was definitely more about the mother.

I guess the question I had is: did the daughter always have it in her to go towards the shady life, or was she just attracted to it because she was so sheltered growing up?

When I saw it the second time, it seemed like she was curious from the jump about all the negative things her mother was trying to keep her in the dark about.

The more you keep stuff from them, the more they want to experience it.

Get out the room,
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-out-the-room/id525657893

Situation Podemy love

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/situation-podemy/id620232249

Situation Podemy : www.situationpodemy.wordpres

there. The ideas aren't mutually exclusive. I don't see a huge difference between how you all are describing the episode and how I am describing it.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

I just thought this one was more straight forward in terms of the story.

I'm not trying to be a dick, I just wanted to know which other ways you saw it.

Get out the room,
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-out-the-room/id525657893

Situation Podemy love

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/situation-podemy/id620232249

Situation Podemy : www.situationpodemy.wordpres

improve our lives so much as amplify human frailties.

Give the overprotective mom the ultimate technology to monitor her kid, and it has the result of not only making her child safer but ruin the relationship with her mom.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Doesn't mean that we should.

Get out the room,
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-out-the-room/id525657893

Situation Podemy love

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/situation-podemy/id620232249

Situation Podemy : www.situationpodemy.wordpres

Building on my earlier idea. I think a dope story line would be the mother is a digital clone and we don't know it.

That is. You have this mother who is always facetiming her family and you think she is just away on business trips but it turns out that the truth is she is really just a digital clone.

Inspired by wife facetiming on a business trip this morning and trying to tell me and the kids what to do and help get us out of the door in the morning.

Maybe this isn't a Black Mirror episode but a 10 minute short.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"