You forgot the Tinder swipe culture.
Sure all of that (which you describe) was there - in your face. Chief amongst the advertisements were Simon Cowell’s recent successes. I guess I’d respond by saying product and consumerism provided the context and, I guess, motive.
This was a human story though, imo - fwiw, all the way through I kept thinking back to when people had relatively achievable ‘aspirations’ rather than Simon Cowell-culture ‘dreams’.
And just to mention S1E1, I liked when the media briefly became the story because that is so important when critiquing modern media, especially but not only 24-hour news entertainment (in this example when the reporter was shot).
What was slightly missing was the situation when media criticise an ongoing investigation - like some two-bob talking head at half time criticises the coach’s tactics in a football game. Especially when that criticism distracts the police away from doing their job in a time-sensitive investigation.
Also the situation when a media ‘investigation’ potentially prejudices the police investigation - for example illegally obtaining ‘evidence’, announcing it (well, we got this - what were the police doing!), and thus jeopardising potential prosecutions.
Obv. they do this because they want the next headline.
I can really see that it was pretty impossible for Brooker to cover those situations in his 10-hour time scale, those kinds of media intrusion usually happen weeks into an ongoing investigation (when they feel public interest is waning).
I agree 15 Million Merits it not just supposed to be a one for one parody of Reality Shows. It is about a culture that is empty and is literally going no where where every waking moment is spent on nonsense. I rewatched it yesterday. Other than possibly the Christmas episode, it is my favorite.
I finished all of them last night, and I think my order is thus (subject to change upon re-viewing):
My critique of 15 Million Merits was that it was just a bit too preachy and in-your-face for my tastes. That’s not to say I didn’t like it–I did. Just not in my personal top half of episodes.
I think Be Right Back was my favorite episode- I thought the actor playing the dead guy was pretty chilling as he was only “mostly” a copy of the real person.
I also liked the 15 Million Merits episode though I think a little more world-building explanations would have been a better use of time than all the shots of the jackass guy that gave the drone worker a hard time for reflecting in his screen.
White Bear- it was great but in that Requiem for a Dream way, I never, ever want to watch it again.
Actually, after rethinking this and reflecting on the episodes, I’ll drop #1 and #2 to #4 and #3, respectively, and move the original #3 & #4 up two spots. I really like the more introspective psychological episodes.
One thing that briefly threw me out of the episode (although it’s one of my favorites):
Something about the “copy” not mimicking breathing threw me off. Here he is, such a realistic copy, down to being programed for sex via porn movies, the ability to mimic eating, etc, and the designers didn’t take into account breathing? I find that with some episodes I need to “play along” a bit with Brooker and just not question his universe, and just pretend there is some in-world logic for it–especially in National Anthem–but it still irks me somewhat. Also, her trying to banish the simulacrum into the external world, I couldn’t help but wonder a little about the logic of that. I would think the character would be worried about this clone running into characters that knew the real dead person (and originally, this is where I thought the episode might be going.) Sometimes I find myself wondering about the out-of-story world a bit too much in these stories, and I have to remind myself to just go with the flow and not worry about it. That said, it’s still my second favorite episode.
I watched S2.1, “Be Right Back” and it was my favorite so far. I thought the acting was first rate. The wife’s grief was just so heart wrenching, and her reaction to the replicant of her husband was just so spot-on. The weakest part for me was the very end, it should have ended on the cliff.
It is so Twilight zone, but with the technology that we are so close to now.
OKAY! Just watched the whole thing over the last couple days, Xmas Episode included. My head is still processing “White Christmas”. It is THE BEST one, but I enjoyed every other episode too.
What are your thoughts on White Christmas? For me:
[SPOILER] There was really three crazy technology “advances” in this. The Blocking of people visually, the egg/cookie/thingy where your personal avatar slave lives, and the virtual time control. I’d love to see an episode on each of these!
There’s also some legal stuff similar to now: you can legally block people visually, like Facebook or restraining orders. AND you’re on the latest sexual harassment list for being a “peeping Tom”. 
I noticed how others saw Jon Hamm in a red blur instead of white, telling others what he is on sight. (scary)
When the girl pulls the murder/suicide with poor little Harry getting coached by his expert, I got scared then cracked the fuck up. That came from nowhere. Awesome side story! There could be countless other types of hookup stories that went wrong for Matt (Hamm). Someone could’ve simply roofied their date and they die.
The Joe & Beth story was also fantastic. I didn’t think Joe wasn’t the father, but maybe the baby had complications and Beth wanted to keep Joe out of it or something. I knew the kid was gonna get lost in that damn storm though.
You also gotta love the future pregnancy tests with the animated baby if it’s positive. Wasn’t that in Be Right Back too?[/SPOILER]
It was just a comment on how the powerful stay in power by making the middle class blame all their problems on the poor. The jackass guy gave the drone shit because he was conditioned to hate them, the TV shows portrayed them as trash, hell their video games made them the actual enemy. I thought it was one of the best parts of that episode.
Huh wow I had the first two seasons for a long time but saw this thread and watched some early eps and had such a strong reaction I had to come here and post.
I HATED what I saw, I was lead to expect a modern Twilight Zone with a bitter sense of humor.
I got laughably simplistic social satire on the level of Snowpiercer, but even that was actually entertaining. It didn’t strike me as smart or biting but juvenile.
15 Million Merits, what exactly is it satirizing? Smartphones and social media/games, the daily grind? I walk around with my face in a smartphone because it improves my day, it allows me to find info and learn things that add to my life like quick look up how to cook this etc. It adds entertainment and information to otherwise pointless free time like on a bus. Just like a library you get out what you want, just ignore hosing down fat people and go for something interesting.
Or is it satirizing the daily grind of the economy and society?
Ok reading more on 15MM
[SPOILER] Indeed the whole thing is a comment on economic classes and capitalism and society.
The Idol style TV show is supposed to represent a higher class than the bike people, who are I guess supposed to be the middle or working class.
Bing makes the astoundingly stupid decision to give a small fortune to a girl he just met in the hopes she would like him I guess, and it backfires.
Are they not allowed personal possessions? Are they even allowed relationships or dating? I wanted more details of the world.
[/SPOILER]
FYI: A Paranoid Reflection Of Our Digital Age | On the Media | WNYC
Perhaps 6-7 minutes, he discusses the series overall, specific eps, etc.
I thought it was a hierarchy; at the top it started with the Simon Cowell and porno guys attitide to contestants and filtered downwards. Same grinder was later seen unthinkingly accepting Cowell’s verdict on another contestant - abdicating personal decision-making as perhaps some people do with liking popular chart music.
Personal and workplace dignity, plus the influence of classless arseholes like Cowell informing social mores, seemed to the the theme of that particular strand.
Holy Crap, indeed! I downloaded both series, based on the first page of this thread, and just watched the first episode. That’s some good tv, in that the premise and outcome were ‘satisfying’ (in a that’s the least bad outcome kind of way). I thought the public’s expressions were priceless; a mixture of disgust, admiration, horror and freaky/guilty enjoyment.
I won’t go into the episode any further as I don’t want to give major plot points away, and I’m now going to binge watch the rest. My sensibilities aren’t that delicate - it’s a tv show not a documentary - so I expect to enjoy this evening’s viewings.
I just watched the first episode and I thought it was dumb. I thought the premise was too thin for an hour-long show and it was too cartoonish to be disturbing.
FWIW, as I wrote above, the first episode is an outlier in tone from the rest. The rest are much more Sci Fi oriented.
I’m glad you pointed that out. I watched the second episode and it was a hundred times more interesting than the first one (IMO).
But if they ended it there thenthe first scene in the house, discussing how his Mom had put the pictures of dead family members up in the attic after they died, would not have been the creepy foreshadowing it was.
:bump:
It is now coming back FROM Netflix.
Awesome. If you did not catch the Christmas one, it was their best episode.