Black Mirror

[RINO Tom]

As great as this show is some episodes such as 15 mil merits and White Bear are really too depressing.

Hard to beat the shock value with the twist ending in White Bear, though!

Also: BUMP!

Any timeline on the new Netflix season?  I absolutely love Black Mirror.

[Mr. Morden]

Any timeline on the new Netflix season?  I absolutely love Black Mirror.

No release date has been announced, AFAIK, beyond "late 2016".  I thought I read a rumor somewhere that it would be coming out in November, but don't quote me on that.

It's also still unclear how many episodes we're getting this year.  The initial press coverage said that Netflix was picking it up for "12 episodes", but are all of those episodes being made this year?  I don't know.  I think directors or partial cast lists have been released for at least 5 episodes this year though, so maybe we'll get 6 episodes this year and then another 6 next year?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why do British shows always have such short seasons? 12 episodes is a long season for a British show, for a US one that's considered a short season.]

The last two seasons had only three episodes apiece, which makes it closer to a series of specials than a TV series.

[Mr. Morden]

6 episode 3rd season is coming out on October 21:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/07/netflix-dates-black-mirror-chefs-table-returns.html

[Mr. Morden]

6 episode 3rd season is coming out on October 21:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/07/netflix-dates-black-mirror-chefs-table-returns.html

More info here:

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/07/black-mirror-season-3-rashida-jones-mike-schur-1201710649/

[Mr. Morden]

Some additional plot info on the upcoming episodes here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/09/black-mirror-netflix

Apparently, two of them will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in a few days.

[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

So, the new season's out.  Anyone else watch it yet?

While still a good show, I'm afraid the new batch isn't operating at the same level as the earlier episodes.  Would any of the new eps be included in my personal ranking of the top five Black Mirror episodes?  Probably not.  But then, the Channel 4-produced episodes were of such incredibly high quality that I never expected it to be able to hold up to that standard forever.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

*bump*

So, the new season's out.  Anyone else watch it yet?

While still a good show, I'm afraid the new batch isn't operating at the same level as the earlier episodes.  Would any of the new eps be included in my personal ranking of the top five Black Mirror episodes?  Probably not.  But then, the Channel 4-produced episodes were of such incredibly high quality that I never expected it to be able to hold up to that standard forever.

It's been a long time since I watched the first two seasons but I thought "Shut Up and Dance" was top-notch.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

*bump*

So, the new season's out.  Anyone else watch it yet?

While still a good show, I'm afraid the new batch isn't operating at the same level as the earlier episodes.  Would any of the new eps be included in my personal ranking of the top five Black Mirror episodes?  Probably not.  But then, the Channel 4-produced episodes were of such incredibly high quality that I never expected it to be able to hold up to that standard forever.

I just finished them, and I agree. The Netflix episodes aren't bad...they just aren't up to the admittedly high standards of the Channel 4 ones. Shut Up and Dance was the best. Maybe Charlie Brooker had already used all his best ideas?

[Mr. Morden]

One other thing is that, given the large (by Black Mirror standards) number of episodes, it seemed like the number of "targets" of Brooker's satire in this run was limited.  Felt like every episode was about either social media or augmented reality, whereas the early episodes cast a somewhat broader net, tackling not just social media, but the larger media ecosystem and things like reality TV.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I've watched this now. I agree with the fact that Brooker apparently got a bit obsessed with Twitter and that Jon Ronson book. It's a good device to mine though.

My initial personal rankings are:

1) San Junipero
2) Shut Up and Dance
3) Hated in the Nation
4) Men Against Fire
5) Nosedive
6) Gametest

San Junipero was a lovely piece, really well framed and got past  a lot of the limitations of the show. I could flip the positions of 2-4 around a lot - they all had certain flaws buy by and large were successful. Nosedive was bloated and felt very much derivative of Stepford Wives and other such ultra-ubiquitous satires of suburbia. Gametest was very confused, had pacing issues and had an annoying, cheap ending. All good though, no real turkeys.

overall ranking (keeping in mind I haven't seen the rest in a while:

1) Be Right Back
2) San Junipero
3) 10 Million Merits

4) White Christmas
5) White Bear
6) Shut Up and Dance
7) National Anthem
Hated in the Nation
9) Men Against Fire

10) Nosedive
11) Entire History of You

12) Gametest
13) Waldo Moment

[RINO Tom]

*bump*

So, the new season's out.  Anyone else watch it yet?

While still a good show, I'm afraid the new batch isn't operating at the same level as the earlier episodes.  Would any of the new eps be included in my personal ranking of the top five Black Mirror episodes?  Probably not.  But then, the Channel 4-produced episodes were of such incredibly high quality that I never expected it to be able to hold up to that standard forever.

It's been a long time since I watched the first two seasons but I thought "Shut Up and Dance" was top-notch.

And made me about as uncomfortable as I could possibly feel ... a couple different messages you could take from that, all coherent and creepy and some even conflicting against each other.  Classic Black Mirror.

[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

The new season comes out on Dec. 29:

http://ew.com/tv/2017/12/06/black-mirror-premiere-date-trailer/

But it looks like they've already sent out screeners to critics, as there are a bunch of reviews out on the web right now.

[RINO Tom]

^ Nice, thanks for posting!  I had actually just Googled this the other day and saw there was still no date set.

[Mr. Morden]

So I just finished watching the new season.  Anyone else?  Still a good show, but this season did nothing to dissuade me from the opinion that the show was at its best when it was on Channel 4.  The Netflix-produced episodes just don't pack the same emotional punch.

[SWE]

A friend of mine introduced me to this show a few weeks ago and it's fantastic. I spent the last few days binging the new season and enjoyed all of them (although I really can't put my finger on why I liked USS Callister so much). Best episodes are White Christmas, White Bear, Shut Up and Dance, and Black Museum, but once you get past those it gets pretty arbitrary to rank because they're all so good. The only real dud imo is Men Under Fire.

[fhtagn]

A friend of mine introduced me to this show a few weeks ago and it's fantastic. I spent the last few days binging the new season and enjoyed all of them (although I really can't put my finger on why I liked USS Callister so much). Best episodes are White Christmas, White Bear, Shut Up and Dance, and Black Museum, but once you get past those it gets pretty arbitrary to rank because they're all so good. The only real dud imo is Men Under Fire.

^USS Callister was my fav tbh.

I started watching some of it last night and enjoyed it a lot.

[TPIG]

I've really enjoyed every season of the show thus far, with this season continuing that trend. I will say though, this season's episode "Black Museum" is probably some of the darkest television I have ever seen. Overall, it's an extremely thought-provoking/catharsis ignoring, well-made show.

[fluffypanther19]

So I just finished watching the new season.  Anyone else?  Still a good show, but this season did nothing to dissuade me from the opinion that the show was at its best when it was on Channel 4.  The Netflix-produced episodes just don't pack the same emotional punch.

exactly... this season wasnt bad but weak

[The Other Castro]

USS Callister and Hang the DJ were my favorites in terms of how messed up the first was, and how awesome the payoff was for the second one. They're both in my top 5, along with San Junipero, Shut Up and Dance, and White Christmas.

[Devout Centrist]

I'm halfway through, and I really enjoyed the USS Callister. Crocodile was erm...interesting as I swung between immense disgust and laughing out loud at several points.

[fhtagn]

I very much enjoyed Hang the DJ.

Metalhead was incredibly boring for me, and Crocodile was just strange. Black Museum was a pretty good one too. Arkangel was okay.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

USS Callister and Hang The DJ were my favorites as well. Arkangel was great, but was a little too predictable and phony. Crocodile was just downright weird. Black Museum was too overt with making a statement. Metalhead is my least favorite episode they've ever done.

Overall, probably my least favorite season in general. Still good, but as others have said, it just didn't pack the same punch that the episodes usually do.

[diptheriadan]

What the  was even the point of Crocodile?

[fhtagn]

What the  was even the point of Crocodile?

This, but Metalhead too.