![]() ![]() As crowds record her struggle, she soon finds that the scenario is nothing like she could have imagined. “White Bear” feels the more like a traditional horror film than any other episode of Black Mirror, as an amnesiac woman (Lenora Crichlow) is being chased by gun-toting “hunters.” With no memory of how she found herself here or why she is being pursued, she tries to piece enough information together in order to survive. Not much sets this episode apart from different (yet similarly grating) Black Mirror episodes other than the featured star. ![]() Unfortunately, the episode fails to connect, given that the premise is already well-treaded within this series, with a protagonist’s soul leaving their body, only to find a new host within an Alexa-like virtual home assistant/friend who’s under the care of a teenage fan. That’s perhaps the most interesting aspect of this episode, which rests largely upon the gimmick of casting Cyrus and assuming that all the other pieces will slide into place. Miley Cyrus self-referentially plays a glossy pop star who’s not unlike Hannah Montana but one who at times covers Nine Inch Nail tunes. “Men Against Fire” has a lot to say about the extent of power given to the government and how that can corrupt, but unfortunately the ugly metaphor doesn’t quite land. After his government-issued interface ends up damaged, he starts to see the roaches for what they really are, rather than how the higher-ups want them to be seen. As Stripe (Malachi Kirby) hunts down these roaches, an attack leaves him with a different view on the situation. In this look at military life and the political agendas behind it, soldiers are hunting down and eliminating “roaches,” mutated human beings that are seemingly a danger to society. ![]() Lawther and Flynn are both good, but the episode will make you feel like you require a Silkwood shower and is not for the faint of heart. He’s helped by another blackmailed man (Jerome Flynn) and things get increasingly bleak as the episode builds towards a devasting conclusion. When a seemingly kind young man (Alex Lawther) accidentally downloads a program that records his every move through his laptop camera, he is blackmailed into a series of increasingly dangerous actions or a video of him masturbating to internet pornography will be released. Sometimes Black Mirror leans a little too hard into nihilism, and “Shut Up And Dance” is the clearest example of that tendency. Black Mirror uses memory access to the detriment of its characters to greater effect in “The Entire History Of You,” so while “Crocodile” amps up the stakes, the emotional payoff just isn’t there. Despite Riseborough, “Crocodile” still falls a bit flat. Playing the increasingly desperate Mia, you can feel her start to fray as her perfectly constructed life (she is a celebrated architect, after all) is threatened by a dark secret from her past and a new sin in the present. NetflixĪndrea Riseborough has been on the cusp of stardom for a while, and this episode is proof of why. Government is a serious business that shouldn’t be controlled merely by the loudest voices, but Waldo is probably not the best mouthpiece for that truth. Despite these heavy themes, “The Waldo Moment” doesn’t have that much to say. Waldo was once a tool to poke fun of the stuffy political class, but that doesn’t mean that he is a better alternative in the long run. When a failed comedian (Daniel Rigby) and his cartoon character, Waldo, get roped into an election, the lines between entertainment and politics get uncomfortably blurred. While it feels surprisingly prescient following the 2016 election, “The Waldo Moment” just doesn’t have the cleverness to put it in the top ranks of Black Mirror. The danger that sets off the mother’s choices feels relatively low stakes compared to the horror in other episodes, making the violent end both expected and unearned. ![]() When new technology allows a mother (DeWitt) to censor what her daughter sees and also tracks her every move, things go expectedly awry. Unfortunately, the story beats are all too familiar, proving that sometimes you can see a Black Mirror twist coming. Directed by Jodie Foster and starring Rosemarie DeWitt, the expectations for “Arkangel” were rather high. ![]()
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