Black Mirror season 7

Cafe Society
61

Enjoyed that series more than the last couple overall. I do get why a lot of people think there is over reliance on the VR/AI aspect, but it was done better this time than in the recent series in my opinion. And it works better when it’s just a vehicle for the plot and not the entire plot itself.

In order of viewing…

Common People
Enjoyed this a lot, despite predicting various bits, including

Summary

As soon as a main character mentioned a headache, I said ‘terminal brain cancer’
The upgrades and the fact there would be adverts

Bête Noire
A fun episode but again I predicted that

Summary

The antagonist (that could be a controversial opinion!) was changing time or reality by fiddling with her necklace

It felt like it jumped the shark towards the end so I’d rank this lower than I would have 3/4 of the way through

Hotel Reverie
Found this too long and the first half dragged, but it picked up in the second half and I thought the concept of it was original, to me at least.

Plaything

Enjoyed this one but again suffered from being a little predictable

Summary

I saw the use of the nationwide computer, or whatever it was called, a mile away

I didn’t feel like it was cut off halfway through, which is an accusation I’ve seen thrown at it in a review online.

Eulogy

Just about my favourite of this series. Had me in literal tears at the end, which makes me a softy but it got me right in the feels. It featured AI but I think it used it perfectly. The reveal about a particular character being

Summary

The daughter

Was pretty obvious but I’m not sure it was meant to be a massive revelation to us the viewer anyway so it didn’t matter.

USS Callister 2

Also enjoyed this a lot. It filled in some missing bits from the first one and expanded on character motivation. I liked the nod to The Matrix as mentioned previously by others.

62

“What We Do In the Shadows” did a similar thing.

63

I admit I forgot what they called the Callister episode.

USS Callister The Revenge
USS Callister: VR Boogaloo
USS Callisters
2 USS 2 Callister
USS Callister: Crimes of Jesse Plemons

64

Common People - The title is the punchline, I think. We’d all like to think we’d rob a bank or burn down Brain Commercial HQ, but historically most of us would wait in a queue to be shuffled off to death camps like sheep.

65

Late to the party as always, I just watched the first of the season (Common People) and really didn’t care for it.

I found it both contrived and predictable.
You could argue that the central problem that the protagonists face happens already today: someone being kept alive by (increasingly) expensive prescription drugs is essentially in the same position, minus the advertizing (which I admit was amusing; the actress is good at putting on that voice).
Which might seem to mean that the episode is a thoughtful commentary on a real issue, but for me it just felt shoehorned into a tech premise that didn’t really make sense.

Of course YMMV

66

I finished this a few minutes ago and I really liked S7. My memory is not so fresh, but I think I like it better than S6. And I like we all like different ones in different ways. I like that it takes the wild swings and sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Or make a quiet one that doesn’t touch everyone.

I don’t want to see every premise/episode revisited, but I was ok with the two sequel-ish bits we got. Occasionally and in small doses is fine by me. Like I really could go for a Callister 3 in another 5 years.

67

I saw the Common People episode as a mash up of satire of both subscription based services and the (US) health care system with the funnier bit being the subscription side (which let’s face it is not that important) and the more serious bit being the ridiculous health care insurance-based model in the US.

68

This season seemed to ask what if the future isn’t AI vs. humanity… but something more harmonic? Check out my new blog post that reflects on Black Mirror Season 7. (https:
// medium. com / @minigem13 / the-signals-are-holding-reflections-on-black-mirror-season-7-the-evolving-relationship-with-ai-d909597bb1c4) explores resonance & remembering what’s possible when we tune in…

69

Moderating:

Welcome to the straight Dope message board. We discourage links promoting your own blog, so I’ve broken your link. (But left it visible enough that a poster who wants to check it out can do that with some effort.) Instead, i encourage you to post your ideas here directly. We have a lot of sci fi fans, so you should find people to talk with.

70

I expect we’ll go with What_Exit’s opinion of Episodes 1 & 2 and RickJay’s ranking of Eulogy (plus I like Paul Giamatti) and watch Ep 5 first. My wife and my appreciations of Dystopic Sci-Fi differ so I want the first we watch this season to be a good one. If one of the best ever, great.

We’ll certainly watch Callister 2 and I’ll watch all of the others if she won’t.

Last season that Netflix-ey cable channel appeared almost as an easter-egg in one or two episodes (after the first) yet as easter-eggs they didn’t matter to any of the plots (except perhaps the channel that aired the Loch Henry film in ep 2).

So no problem going Eulogy, Callister and the rest in order?

71

The episodes don’t really have much to do with each other, aside from a few Easter eggs that don’t affect any plots, so the order you choose is really up to you.

72

For you own mental health, don’t watch “Common People” or “Plaything” last.

73

Will not. Thanks! Last season I remember when we had only 6 (Mazey Day) and 7 (Demon '79) left that I told my wife had heard 6 wasn’t considered too highly (maybe just on SD or Reddit) yet 7 was kind of crazy and funny looking.

We’ll get Plaything (Peter Capaldi!) in the mix with Common People

74

Too late to edit: I forgot that Series 1 and 2 were split into three each and the Winter Special - the first I watched. Six again for Series 3 & 4, Bandersnatch and a disappointing three for Series 5, five eps for 6 (so above I meant the last two episodes) and back to six for 7. Whew!

75

Okay. Glad I watched the rest after the extreme dislike I had of Common People.

Rank order.

  1. Eulogy. Excellent.
  2. Callister. Loads of fun.
  3. Hotel Reverie. Sweet.
  4. Plaything. A bit predictable but not a painful watch.
  5. Bette Noire. Getting bad. Boring. What up with the over dramatic organ chords. Stupid.
  6. Common People. Just horrible. Satire that flops. Mostly various past bits rehashed but barely warmed back up.

They really have some major talent this year. And only two eps that were awful.

76

I loved Hotel Reverie (the dramatic organ was to mimic a 1940s dramatic film) and Eulogy was my least favorite by far. I am very much in the minority here.

77

Common People was simply too long. It gave you too much time to know what was next, and there really isn’t any reason for it to be as long as it is (almost exactly an hour.) It’s bloated and paced too slowly. You could do the story in half that and it would be VASTLY improved.

78

I can’t remember watching any part of it and thinking “I’m bored”. I can definitely think of a few instances in “Hotel Reverie”, though (the lengthy exposition between Awkwafina and the studio head at the beginning and the cookie cutter “falling in love” montage in the middle come to mind).

79

I agree, I didn’t find CP boring at all but HR was too long (it suffered from the gimic of making it the same length as the film within itself, i.e.76 mins or whatever it was). The second half of HR was better than the first.

80

<Continuing my catch up, now 7.2: Bete Noire>

Well I enjoyed it, even though in terms of tech it was once again tacked on to a story that isn’t really about it. I think it landed well because of the actors*, the mystery, and that they showed some restraint at times which made it a tad less formulaic (e.g. the boss of the company enjoying both products and walking away, instead of a dramatic reveal of the beef gelatine while he was still eating).

Agree that the organ dirge at the start of each day was annoying (I was staying in a guesthouse and there was no volume level where I could hear the speech but not potentially annoy neighbours with the organ).

* I spent a lot of the episode trying to remember where I knew the office boss from. On googling, he starred in Andor, which is coming back next week :tada: