Looking forward to Black Museum then. I should get there today or tomorrow. Can't say I share your love of Shut Up and Dance, but it also didn't stick out as a "bad" one to me like Arkangel or the Waldo episode. "Playtest" also irked me. It was a decent horror plot, but was too tied up thinking it was clever when everyone knew the twist(s)....like Inception for dummies.
Crocodile was interesting. I don't know that it made any grand points, but it was unflinching, and the (excellent) cinematography of the austere landscape(s) matched well with the inner realm of the main character. I won't remember it like my other favorites, but it was the sudden rush of a chilly breath of air on a winter morning, so to speak, which I enjoyed.
I haven't seen any episodes this season except for one: Black Museum. And indeed it is a great episode.. It reminded me of "White Christmas".
__________________ Chicken Boo, what's the matter with you? You don't act like the other chickens do. You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man you're a Chicken Boo.
I thought Crocodile was the weakest one of the new season. I also didn't care much for Arkangel. But even those and other episodes that I think are not great, I still usually enjoy them. I don't think I've seen an episode of Black Mirror and thought it was genuinely bad.
I have. Several, in fact, which is why I was less enthusiastic about the show earlier. The production, acting and writing is usually fine-to-great. But it's when it gets too heavy-handed in its messaging, and expects surprise at the often obvious "aha!" moments in the endings. Predictable is fine when you aren't relying on shock and surprise, or are compelling enough in other ways, but becomes a liability when you are relying on those things for an emotional punch.
I'd put Arkangel in that group. Helicopter parenting is a valid topic to view through their "technology as social commentary" schtick, but I thought it fell emotionally flat. The predictable criticism applies here as well.
Crocodile wasn't a great episode, but I appreciated it more for the minimalism of the cinematography and dialogue. Metalhead was short enough not to inspire vitriol against it. I saw it as more of a "is this type of future inevitable?" fable, which is fine in small doses.
Black Museum was well-made, and super-fans will love the easter eggs that ostensibly tie BM into one universe. I don't consider it in the pantheon, but it was a good ending to a solid season. Penn Jillette - who wrote a story in the 80s that became the first short (about the doctor who experiences pain) - almost played the carnie in the episode, which would have been a riot.
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Jan 8th, 2018 09:22 PM
