Comments on: Trailer for season 2 of Black Mirror, scariest/best sf on TV

By: poop

poop — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:05:00 +0000

Erm.. this is not the trailer. This is a promo, shot entirely independently of the show, has only minor subtle references to the show. Yes, I do know what I’m talking about.

By: pdffs

pdffs — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 04:56:00 +0000

The following two episodes were significantly better, I’ll admit. Thanks for the article link too.

I guess I understand the point he was trying to make, but I just couldn’t let go of the notion that it was completely ridiculous to suggest that people would expect that the PM should consider going through with such a thing, and more so that he actually did. It just made all the characters ring completely false to me.

By: C W

C W — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:59:00 +0000

The last scene was unnecessary, but I felt it was well done, throughout the arc of emotion, stupidity, and horror that would run through the (any) country.

By: C W

C W — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:35:00 +0000

I did too, holy bejeesus are they (especially 3) dark. 2 makes a lot of sense considering Brooker’s scathing criticism of news, “reality” programming and other media.

By: G. Aron Perez-Selsky

G. Aron Perez-Selsky — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 01:02:00 +0000

My partner and I marathoned season one last night. Episode one was definitely the weakest, but it was still bracing. Episode 3 was excellent television, with a smart hook and a devastating, yet completely plausible payoff. But episode 2 blew us away. She and I were shaken by its conclusion, and spent close to two hours talking about the themes and execution of that episode alone. Cory was right: this is the best sci-fi TV series in years, and it’s a damn shame that it’s all but unknown in the States. You can find the episodes…out there.

By: Matt McRae

Matt McRae — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 23:26:00 +0000

Go to tunlr.net and set it up. Go to the Channel 4 website and search for Black Mirror. Create an account. Voila!

By: Diederik Werken

Diederik Werken — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:04:00 +0000

Oh yeah, I remember this.
Oink Oink!

By: Jeremy Hughes

Jeremy Hughes — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:06:00 +0000

Does it help if you think of it as a miniseries?

By: Historybuff

Historybuff — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:57:00 +0000

I know UK TV is stingy in the amount of content they dish out, but three episodes is a Series now? Geez!

By: Max Amerongen

Max Amerongen — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:52:00 +0000

No, he was pointing out a typo.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:05:00 +0000

Twice!

By: Purple-Stater

Purple-Stater — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:04:00 +0000

Well I’m definitely going to check it out!

By: stumo

stumo — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:49:00 +0000

Personally I thought the first was the weaker of the 3 – but even then it was very thought provoking (although also shocking for the sake of it)

In http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/dec/01/charlie-brooker-dark-side-gadget-addiction-black-mirror he writes about his inspiration for the first series (scroll down to the bottom for episode by episode stuff). If you’re not from the UK the reference to Gordon Brown being “forced” by the media to go to apologise to Gillian Duffy may not resonate – but I’m sure there are similar stories in most modern countries, where the media talking heads decide on a sentiment to follow and things play out in a way that wasn’t predicted…

By: Jeremy Hughes

Jeremy Hughes — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:44:00 +0000

I love how the trailer started like one of those ubiquitous YouTube ads for some tablet or other; I went into neutral waiting for the real trailer to begin, and was excellently surprised when it went all Brookerish.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:08:00 +0000

Not really as each episode is a completely different story, what the ad does is set the mood and hint at the subjects – it’s pretty dark and relies heavily on suspense and mystery, so the ads can’t really be anything more than vague.

Just watch it. Watch it twice.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:05:00 +0000

Looks good? It is good. The overwhelmingly positive comments above yours should have been the clue.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:02:00 +0000

As a MASSIVE fan of Black Mirror – I started watching Utopia last night – definitely interesting!

Loved Black Mirror though, easily one of the best things on Television – I only hope it’s won some awards so it gets the credit it deserves.

By: pdffs

pdffs — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:41:00 +0000

And speaking of ludicrous, the end of that first episode…

By: Purple-Stater

Purple-Stater — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:50:00 +0000

I’ll take the recommendations and try to find this. I’d never heard of it before now. I’m thinking that the commercial has meaning if you’ve seen Series 1, but as it is, when it ended I was thinking it was an incomplete commercial for some new cellphone and was still waiting for the commercial about the series.

By: pdffs

pdffs — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:36:00 +0000

Well, half-way into the first episode, I’m already disheartened and disappointed in the complete lack of technical veracity. To be fair, the first few minutes set that tone though, with, “it came from an encrypted IP address.”

Seriously, how hard is it just to reference real concepts? Every day more people understand these concepts, and to those that don’t, one piece of gobbledygook will sound just as incomprehensible as another. I really struggle to see the reason for using nonsense terms and concepts.

I do understand the need for plot devices to move the story along, but you can do that by simply not going into specifics, rather than being specifically nonsensical. A consult with someone who knows enough to fill in the technical blanks with something sensible, yet still entertaining would probably cost almost nothing.

The subject matter makes this all the more deplorable. I’ll stick out the rest of the season, but at this stage I’m feeling rather let down by Cory’s recommendation. Oh well, first time for everything I suppose ;)

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:27:00 +0000

Nah, there was the Walpurgisnacht summit a few years back, they region-locked all scrying and divination devices. Those mirrors nearly got banned in Germany, but the case got thrown out cos the edges are bevelled, not rounded. No prior art, y’see.

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:23:00 +0000

I’d recommend Utopia for anyone who liked Black Mirror. Very odd & gory conspiracy thriller also on CH4

By: spacedoggy

spacedoggy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:12:00 +0000

Every episode is a different story, loosly based around the theme of a possible dystopian near future.
Episode 1 deals a bizarre ransom situation, in the modern information age where nothing can be kept secret from the press and social media.
Episode 2 is about the enslavement of the masses through placation using interactive entrainment, virtual goods and reality tv, to distract people from the obvious truth.
Episode 3 is about a futuristic world where almost everyone carries an implanted device that records every hour of every day of ones life. any moment from your past can be saved, accessed, watched, and instantly shared. the episode deals with the pedantic nature of the human condition, the tendency to dwell on the past, and how the condition becomes exacerbated by this technology.

By: GyroMagician

GyroMagician — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:46:00 +0000

Also watched S01E01 last night, based on this trailer. That was warped. In a Blue Jam kind of way. Can’t wait for the rest.

By: flickerKuu

flickerKuu — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:23:00 +0000

Derp. This is why piracy exists. Studios have got to figure out how to distribute (isn’t that basic?). You can torrent this show and have it in 9 minutes.

By: Tribune

Tribune — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 07:55:00 +0000

Hmm Amazon has:
Black Scrying Mirror with Beveled Edge
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Scrying-Mirror-Beveled-diameter/dp/B000WS5CJY/

I wonder if I can watch it on that

By: Lelielle

Lelielle — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 07:13:00 +0000

“15 million merits” blew me away and the other 2 episodes in S1 were great, it seems to have gone under a lot of sci-fi fans radar, I can’t wait for the new season.

By: Francis Delaney

Francis Delaney — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:12:00 +0000

Oh you haven’t seen anything yet. Episode 2 is amazing.

By: Kenmrph

Kenmrph — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 04:24:00 +0000

Same here… never heard of this before, but on Cory’s tip just watched S01E01. Damn, it’s good.

By: Francis Delaney

Francis Delaney — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:43:00 +0000

I watched the first two episodes of season 1 tonight. Wow.

Thank you very much for the heads up, Cory. This show is outstanding.