Black Mirror is an anthology TV series that’s nutritiously known for its mind blowing episodes. The thrilling storylines weave technological advances with reality in a way that leaves watchers feeling both amazement and unmistakable dread. The Netflix Original series has mastered showcasing how technology can manipulate people in the worst ways. With so many intense stories being told, here’s a list of the most twisted episodes of Black Mirror. (Warning: spoiler alerts ahead!)

8. Men Against Fire

We start off our list with Men Against Fire. The episode follows a soldier who’s job is to get rid of the “Roaches,” which are the dangerous zombie-like enemy. It only gets more twisted as it’s revealed that the “roaches” are in fact humans that are only viewed as “roaches” because of distortion implants. The episode toys with the idea of how soldiers are programmed to see the enemy as lesser in order to not feel the full impacts of the damage that they cause. What really topped the cake with this episode was the ending. Something about seeing the soldier see his family and their home where there’s only wreckage from war, and wondering if the implant is still intact, pulls at the heartstrings and makes the episode a lot more impactful.

7. Playtest

The episode about Cooper, a globetrotter looking for his next thrill, who agrees to help test out a new game, takes a dark turn as you watch him go from playing Whac-a-Mole to being left in a manor where his biggest nightmares are simulated. While you watch him face his biggest fears, all you can think is that it can’t get much worse. The relief that comes with Cooper being snapped out of the simulation, and the sense of content that comes with him finally going to see his mother should’ve been warning enough that the twists weren’t over yet. The shocking ending of Cooper still being in the simulation all along, and his death (?), made the episode ten times more horrifying. The question of if he’s still in another layer of simulation by the end makes the episode all the more unsettling.

6. The National Anthem

There’s only one thing that needs to be said about the first ever episode of Black Mirror to show why it deserves to be on this list: The Prime Minister has sex with a pig on national television.

5. Shut Up and Dance

Shut Up and Dance had us all asking the same question through most of the episode. Why is Kenny working so hard to keep masturbation a secret? The episode follows Kenny as he’s manipulated into doing things and committing crimes by a group of people online that are threatening to release video footage of him doing something he shouldn’t have. While the tasks turn into crimes you find yourself wondering why Kenny would continue to do the tasks over something that pales in comparison. At the episodes climax, it is revealed that Kenny is a paedophile that was masturbating to children. To make matters worse, the episode ends with him winning a chicken fight to the death with another paedophile in order to keep his secret. Despite this, the online organisation not only reveals his, but also everyone else that was manipulated, is dirty secrets to the public anyways.

4. White Bear

This episode takes place in White Bear Justice Park, which takes prison (and amusement park) to a whole new level. As you watch a woman who doesn’t know who she is get chased down by murderers, while the whole town films instead of intervening, you can’t help but feel sympathetic towards her situation. Once it’s revealed that she’s a criminal that helped kidnap a little girl and filmed her murder, which is the same situation she’s thrust into, you begin to question whether she deserves the punishment after all. Is the punishment a fair one if the woman doesn’t know what she’s being tortured for? Or is it fair because the crime she committed?

3. USS Callister

From stealing peoples DNA, to creating carbon copies of people you don’t like to torture them. From taking away the clones private parts, to taking away their entire faces when they make you mad. From forcing clones to act the way you want by threatening to bring their loved ones into your simulation, to turning clones into grotesque monsters when you’re done with them. If you do all those things recreationally, you’re Robert Daly from USS Callister! And when you take into consideration that the clones have the brains of the people that they’re cloned from… you find yourself becoming less sympathetic of Daly when he gets stuck alone in the void left behind by the simulation he created. This twisted episode makes all immersive video games seem far less appealing…

2. 15 Million Merits

As if watching everyone slave away on the bikes wasn’t enough, when you see the defeat at the end of this episode, you’re thoroughly destroyed. This episode follows our main character as he falls in love and then donates the points he’s has to help the woman he falls in love with fulfil her dreams… only for her to be drugged into agreeing to do porn instead. As he rebels against the system to get her back, and speaks his truth, you watch as he falls into the same trap and becomes an attraction of his own. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than watching the main character submit to the system when you were sure he was the one that was going to change it.

1. White Christmas

When it comes to Black Mirror episodes, White Christmas takes the cake as the most twisted. While the majority of the story is nothing spectacular, the end of this episode is absolutely jarring.  You watch helplessly as the two main characters suffer, and all you can do in the end is ask yourself, “What just happened?” There’s something truly horrifying about watching as our one main character lives through the same traumatising day on loop for millions of years while the other main character is blocked from everyone in the world despite being set free. Despite the two characters being criminals, you can’t help but feel like what’s been done to them is wrong. The two different tortures are both difficult to process, making the whole situation one that makes you want for all technological advances to come to an abrupt halt so that nothing like what happens in the episode can ever happen in real life.

What’s your favourite episode of Black Mirror? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Most Twisted Episodes of ‘Black Mirror’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

All three new instalments retread a lot of ground that the show has covered before – existence in virtual reality, social media addiction, and how living in an interconnected globalised community pushes us to the edge of sanity. But although these concepts have previously been dealt with in more interesting ways, the lighter touches in season 5 generally help to repackage them in episodes that are more hopeful for the future.

‘Striking Vipers’ is the strongest of the set, telling the story of Danny, a married man, who indulges in virtual reality sex with his best friend. Though both are gamers who fulfil traditionally masculine roles in the real world, their inhibitions and pretences drop away as soon as they take on the appearance of their online fighter avatars, Roxette and Lance. In an ironic reflection of modern Internet behaviours, they are only able to express their true selves and desires while they are detached from their physical bodies. The game’s partial anonymity and its endless list of identities that players can adopt is enticing, and stand in for the many ways online communities can be used as a form of escapism.

The question of how gender identity and sexuality come into play with this technology is raised, though ‘Striking Vipers’ seems more occupied with the impact of the men’s online relationship on their external lives. Both grow disconnected from their surroundings, searching for some form of satisfaction that can live up to their simulated sex. Their dudebro expression of masculinity compensates for the insecurity that they feel in their skin, and this eventually escalates to a violent brawl when Danny is forced to do the one thing he has always strived to avoid – face his deepest feelings.

‘Striking Vipers’ does what Black Mirror does best, blurring the lines between social concepts we are familiar with until they can barely be distinguished. Does this abuse of video game mechanics constitute as porn, cheating, or does it deserve an entirely different label with new ethical guidelines? While it could have dug deeper into the psychological implications of this VR game, the worldbuilding and creativity of ‘Striking Vipers’ make it the most thought-provoking and challenging episode of season 5.

The middle episode of this season brings our setting back to the modern day in a tense thriller starring Andrew Scott as Chris, a man with a vendetta against a Twitter-like social media company, Smithereens, from which the episode gets its namesake. On the outskirts of its central story, ‘Smithereens’ gets close to hitting something brilliant in its critique of how big tech companies may potentially be better at tracking and identifying criminal suspects than the police force. Much like its predecessor though, the core of this episode sets its sights on simpler, more familiar material.

After Chris kidnaps a Smithereens employee, attempts to ransom him for a direct phone line to CEO Billy Bauer, and attracts the attention of the police, it quickly becomes clear just how incompetent he is. But though Chris isn’t cut out for this sort of criminal activity, he is still intelligent enough to take control of the negotiation attempts. While the police are struggling to figure out who he is, Smithereens has already figured out everything about him through his online data history. Even after Smithereens and the law enforcement team up, the company executives realise that if they’re to successfully defuse the situation then they will need to go about it their own way.

‘Smithereens’ doesn’t ponder so much as it brushes over the power shift that has happened with the rise of social media, which has given an extraordinary amount of power to private entities who hold large reserves of personal data. Instead, its focus is on social media addiction, an issue that Black Mirror tackled in a far more insightful way in season 3’s ‘Nosedive’ by examining its manipulation of the basic human desire to be loved. Though Scott delivers a convincing, impassioned performance as he rails against the companies that design their apps to be deliberately addictive, there is no new perspective on display here that hasn’t been considered before. The reveal that his wife died in a car accident due to his own compulsion to check his Smithereens notifications is tragic, but it fails to develop the idea that social media ruins lives beyond that very simple moral statement. Even though ‘Smithereens’ ends up being a missed opportunity to explore the potential for the abuse of data collection, its masterful direction and intense performances still allow it to succeed as a suspenseful crime drama.

Wrapping up season 5 is the vibrant, poppy episode ‘Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too’, a cautionary tale against the brand of positivity culture that comes at the expense of personal dignity and individuality. Though it also has some similarities to ‘Nosedive’ in this way, its focus on the commodification of celebrities allows a fresh take on how a desire to be part of a people-pleasing community is fuelled by corporations that profit off these behaviours.

The narrative itself is split between two concurrent storylines: that of Ashley O, a pop star on a depressive downward spiral, and sisters Rachel and Jack, two grating stereotypes of 2019 teenagers. In the former, Ashley O is dreaming of pushing her music into darker territory and breaking free from the marketable teen-friendly image that she has created for herself. The casting of Miley Cyrus in this role is a fun nod to the actor-singer’s own experience pushing against the constraints of the corporate music industry and helps her slide naturally into the part of the discontent musician.

Ashley O’s story takes a dramatic turn after her manager sees her shift in disposition, drugs her, and forces the singer into a coma to preserve her perfectly clean, conservative image. This is clearly intended to be a twist, but its sudden escalation only robs the episode of the nuance that Black Mirror episodes usually deliver so well.

The second plotline follows schoolgirl Rachel who has purchased the brand new Ashley O artificial intelligence doll, Ashley Too, whose intent of delivering empty platitudes to self-doubting teenagers has subtle, insidious implications. Though it bolsters Rachel with self-confidence, it disconnects her from a reality that can never live up to the doll’s fake, relentless optimism. Self-improvement is a commodity that Ashley O’s brand specialises in, promising fans that by actively consuming her merchandise they can learn to become the best versions of themselves possible. It’s the same old “money will buy you happiness” promise, but delivered in a 21st century self-help package.

Around the third act, the rising stakes of ‘Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too’ become a little too far-fetched. The episode starts to rely on contrived plot devices, such as a machine that extracts music from Ashley O’s dreams, and a wacky rescue sequence that would be more at home in a Disney Channel series. The story comes to a stock standard happy ending that sees the “bad” music executives punished and has each of our heroes rewarded for their noble efforts in fighting for autonomy and individuality.

I’m not averse to Black Mirror episodes ending on positive notes, but generally those that are more satisfying are the ones that maintain some level of authenticity. In the case of ‘Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too’, the corporisation of entertainment is treated as a threat that hits hard but can be easily beaten by staying true to oneself – a message that doesn’t sound too far off from something the Ashley Too doll might spout out. As a result, the win is barely earned, undercutting its own warning against positivity culture and Black Mirror’s thesis that the future is inevitable.

There is only so much a single writer can create before they start to repeat themselves, but that doesn’t mean the concepts they’re writing about can’t be reinvigorated with new perspectives and possibilities. Charlie Brooker still has the ability to make us squirm as we watch our most self-destructive social habits exposed on television, but in season 5 his truly fascinating ideas are merely kept in the background while the more worn Black Mirror tropes play out in the centre. Though it remains one of Netflix’s most thrilling and cerebral television series, Brooker’s production team may need some fresh blood if it is to recapture the thoughtfulness of its early seasons.

What did you think of Black Mirror Season 5? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Review: ‘Black Mirror’ Season 5 appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Can’t figure out what to watch next? Well thank me later because here are 10 television shows for you to binge watch, if you haven’t already! So get comfy, grab your chosen snacks, grab your remote, and it’s time to watch some fantastic series!

Black Mirror

Black Mirror is undoubtedly one of the best science fiction TV shows. It is a British television series that combines sci-fi with dark and satirical themes and takes a huge toll on modern society and the consequences if upcoming technologies. This show is designed to make you think. We’re in a realm that frequently uses technology in our everyday existence and we end up putting an awfully large amount of energy into it. We of course aim to make our lives better with it, but are we getting better though, or only getting worse? This twisted show will leave you hooked for sure and might even leave you wanting to live remotely in the woods!

Westworld

It’s about a technology-based amusement park with all hosts at your disposal. You can do anything you want to them, and they can’t hurt you. Or so you think! With a star-studded cast, this killer delight is a must binge watch. With all the twists and turns in each episode, it’s hard to wait for the next. With so many intertwining storylines, this one will keep you glued to the screen.

Stranger Things

This hit show explores different genres including sci-fi, drama, horror, and romance. Set in 1980’s, it is centred on four nerdy friends and how their lives drastically change when one of them goes missing. While searching for him, they encounter a strange girl on a rainy night. Weird labs, conspiracies, and upside down planes of existence, this show has it all! The young cast of fantastic actors lead this series to its full glory. This show will leave you holding your breath with its many hilarious, but terrifying moments.

The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd isn’t a showcase of futuristic tech, but rather a look at the shenanigans of the mismatched rabble of the IT department in the fictional Denholm Industries. In a claustrophobic basement of a skyscraper building, we find an IT department consisting of 3 members, the lovable Moss, the sarcastic Roy, and the voice of reason, Jen. The show is massively quotable, at times surreal, and takes what could have been a simple sitcom about an office IT department and raises it to cult classic status thanks to the writing and the quality of the lead performances.

The Big Bang Theory

How can any list be complete without including this show! Now in its final season, the show follows two physicists and their friends who go through life one socially awkward situation at a time. The hilarious punch lines and the top-notch actors make the show the big hit that it is. There’s constant scientific theory and tech banter with cameos of real life scientists like Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bill Nye.

Mr Robot

If you are among the ones who are done with the current political, economic, and social structure and wish to bring it down, this series is totally for you. The lead character Elliot is a cyber security engineer by day and a vigilant hacker by night, who wants to bring down the corporate America by destroying the financial records. But all isn’t going smoothly ever since Elliot is diagnosed with a mental illness.

Firefly

500 years in the future, in a world combining futuristic space travel and border planets that exist with the most basic of technology, Firefly is lovingly referred to as “space-western.” A renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them. Captain Mal and his crew may be thieves, but they’ll fight to death to do what’s right. With a combination of wit and drama, this show will make you laugh, think, cry, and stand up and cheer.

Legion

The show focuses on the mutant David Haller, a.k.a Legion. He just so happens to be one of the most powerful mutants alive as he tries to navigate his new powers and tries not to let his mind wander. He’s also the son of Charles Xavier. Legion is a character meant to blow your mind as he is complex filled with psychological, emotional storylines,  and characterisation that can get a little weird. This show absolutely nails everything you thought about the title characters. It’s funky, bizarre, wacky, and downright brilliant. It brings viewers a fantastically beautiful and insane piece of TV that you can’t help but binge.

Sherlock

Based on the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this modern update finds the famous detective and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London. This show is so amazing that you can’t help but re-watch it again. With brilliant actors and direction, this show is loved by its audience.  Sherlock is smart, sassy, intricate, and wildly entertaining.

Altered Carbon

Altered Carbon is an ambitious sci-fi series set around 350 years in the future, in a world where humans are able to upload and download digital versions of themselves onto ‘stacks’ (hardware stored in the base of the neck). This means humans can switch and upgrade bodies at will, making death a thing of the past for most. The opening episode of Altered Carbon sees trained killer Takeshi Kovacs wake up in prison to find himself in a new body. He’s given the choice to either stay there or accept a job solving the murder of one of the world’s wealthiest men, Laurens Bancroft.

Are there any other series you would recommend? Tell us in the comments below!

The post 10 TV Shows To Binge Watch appeared first on The Nerd Daily.