Review of the Netflix series ‘Black Mirror’ season 6
Some gems, but also some episodes that don’t fit the original approach.
In addition to being all about technology, the first season episodes of black mirror something else in common: they were incredibly depressing. It’s not bad, but it’s so dark that a section of the audience tuned out. That soon changed and each season of this series now offers a mix of various genres including comedy. It is also common for the quality of the episodes to differ greatly within each season. Fair enough to judge each story separately.
Juana is horrible is immediately an example of how fun and accessible the series can now be. This is the most entertaining episode on the list. Joan, an employee of a streaming service, discovers that her employer has put a series about her online. Now that nothing is private anymore, she is going to lose a lot in her life. The funniest thing is that the character in that series about Joan, played by Salma Hayek, also discovers that a series has been made about her, with a Joan played by Cate Blanchett.
The real Joan handles it very well; she immediately takes action in such a playful way that she has to make a change. The episode is comical, but story wise it is also completely intertwined with the technology that has been devised. This criticizes how you are listened to on your smartphone and your computer registers your interests, but also the fact that negativity attracts more public attention than something positive.
In henry lake A young filmmaker takes his girlfriend to her Scottish hometown, abandoned because tourists have been scared away by a serial killer once active there. The girlfriend convinces him to make a documentary about it, but when the old cows are pulled out of the ditch, they turn out to be hiding more secrets.
Yes, officially a video camera is technology, but one that looks familiar to us. And just displaying images isn’t exactly a solid app. It uses a beautiful location where it soon feels like something mysterious is going on, but the story starts very slowly and the response is quite predictable. What exactly the episode means is not entirely clear; It comes across as an average thriller.
Beyond the Sea It is the best episode of this season. Certainly depressing and effectively using the technology invented for the episode, but also deeply moving. Two astronauts in the depths of space can still enjoy their life on Earth with the help of a robot that is an exact replica of them, where their consciousness changes when they go to sleep. Something goes wrong with one of them and when the other offers to help, he turns out to be too traumatized to deal with it in a healthy way.
With a running time of eighty minutes, this can rightly be called a movie. Yes, the pace is slow and things will go wrong, but the plot so surgically targets the emotions that it’s a sci-fi masterpiece. Excellent performance by stars Aaron Paul, Josh Hartnett and Kate Mara. So good that it can’t really have a perfect finish. The episode leaves the viewer with a “now what?” feeling, but everything before is so well done that it’s forgivable.
Immediately afterwards follow with maze day The weakest episode of this season. Yes, paparazzi cameras are also technology, but you have to settle for that. When a famous actress suddenly retires for reasons unknown, a hefty cash prize is promised to the photographers who manage to snap a snapshot. A photographer investigates and discovers more than she could have imagined.
Incredibly weak on technology, which makes this a short genre TV movie. And not the most exciting. Time is needlessly wasted on the photographer’s backstory, including how she has to live with an autistic roommate; none of it adds anything. The criticism of paparazzi behavior is too soft. There’s a scene where the camera flashes go on and on, not making for great shots, but rather an unsettling attack on the retina.
season closure demon 79 it’s about a demon in the year 1979. At least, an Indian shoe saleswoman in England who suddenly gets a demon on the roof telling her that she must kill three people in three days, otherwise the world it will come to an end. Zero technology. The source of the credits is that of a B movie of the time. There are two moments in which the young woman imagines that she is attacking someone and suddenly scratches appear as if it were a grindhouse movie.
But otherwise no, so they are stylistic devices that are used lazily. Just like the racism that women have to deal with; almost all white men and women are nasty to her. And those people are also malicious, like murderers or pedophiles. Soft, too easy to create discrimination in a setting like this. It’s a comedic horror story and really nice in itself, but it just isn’t. black mirror.
black mirror can be seen in Netflix.