How "Black Mirror" is Black Mirror Season 5?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มิ.ย. 2019
- Get a full month of MUBI FOR FREE: mubi.com/thetake (With the support of Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union) | Is the fifth season of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror "Black Mirror" enough? Which episode is the most "Black Mirror"? Does the show live up to its own past? Here's our take on the show's trademark flavor - and what season 5 is saying about today. If you like this video, subscribe to our channel or support us on Patreon: / thetake
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Please do a take on Lion King
How about doing a video about "Electric Dreams"? It's kind of like Black Mirror in that it's a dark anthology about tech. It's so underrated and definitely better than season 5 of Black Mirror.
Fleabag, please 🙏
Why couldn't they discover there bisexuality.
Season 5 felt too Hollywood
Except E2. That one was really great.
People have said that about every season lol.
Exactly Alejandro, people are just a bunch of pretentious assholes that like to berate anything the longer it remains "a thing". Like just say you're fickle and go if you're not got going to give genuine analysis smh.
Whiistling Winds OR, sometimes something is just crap (like season 5), and people are not always stupid and ignorant snobs, duh
Casualkave okay but what was so bad about it? I don’t understand. The only one I didn’t care for was the Ashley too episode. The other ones I thought were good. Especially Smithereens. They didn’t blow my mind, but every episode of black mirror doesn’t do that. Including previous seasons. I feel like people only think black mirror is good when it mindfucks you. And guys they can’t mindfuck you every time. Every episode won’t be like that, it’s not possible. I don’t think this season is complete shit, it just wasn’t as bleak and mind blowing as other episodes. But that’s to be expected, at least to me.
The only “problem” with Black Mirror is that it’s so good that it’s constantly competing with itself. Honestly even their “worse” episodes are better than a lot of tv out right now .
mr_ anheuser right. Because they were a step away from gay sex and the married guy let his wife run the town. Yeah... I’m confused.
Nah. Black mirror writers got lazy. They get some corny hollywood drivel, add in some sex and a robot and they call it a day. No thought put into making them anymore
I would say that some not very good episodes of BM are more interesting and deep than most nowadays movies
@@darksideblues135 He LET himself get caught up in that game. He and his wife (and his friend to another extent) had an arraignment. If he had been honoring his wife she wouldn't need to seek attention elsewhere. I was his failing. But it also shows communication after the fact that he was cheating on her. I guess it was an open marriage and it worked for them. *shrugs*
razycrandomgirl yeah. I don’t know. I still think it’s a gay cuckhold thing.
I’ve watched multiple reviews of season 5, and nobody seems to be noticing that episode 2 is obviously a thinly veiled showcase of how much more efficient the tech company is at finding info on the guy, than the police.
yetfilms oh I picked up on that. They had so much access to data they were basically doing the police k job
*nods*
most noticed, little cared.
They always do. Ask FB
Bryce Edward Brown points that out on his video on Smithereens. Also it's very obvious in the episode.
I think a great ending for episode 3 would be Rachel sitting in the audience at the final concert, but instead of jamming like she does in the episode, she tries to have fun but finds she can't bring herself to smile. Ashley Too and the pop sugar Ashley may not have been real, but they made her feel whole and connected... now her sister gets a new bandmate and she's alone again on the sidelines.... Reality isn't what makes Rachel happy. A single tear rolls down her cheek. Cut to black.
That would have been a great ending to the episode! I feel like the first episode already had a happy ending so it would have been good to have 2 episodes w sad endings
@@ghostsheet777 Why are you even keeping count of which endings are sad and which are happy? The point is the message. If it's a happy ending, great. If it's a sad ending, well hopefully the message necessitates it. Most of my problem with early black mirror was the completely pessimistic perspective they used. But it's full of great symbolism and meaning, they have greater messages that transcend the sadness or happiness you might feel at the end. I like that as the show went on it became less pessimistic and more realistic about the world and it's integration with technology. The implication that any technological advancement was going to lead to our downfall was just unrealistic and tired at some point. So it's nice to see it more balanced, but at the end of the day, it's the message that matters. And sometimes a happy ending can have a sad message, and vice versa.
@@Jack-rk7jc okeh lol
god, that might have saved the episode for me. the ending felt WAY too sunny and triumphant. i like a good happy ending sometimes (san junipero is my favorite black mirror episode, for god's sake) but it really didn't feel EARNED in that episode. everything got tied up way too quickly and neatly, it wasn't satisfying--it felt really rushed and flat. a simple change like the one you just proposed really could have elevated it.
I kinda got that feel from it already. Rachel is clearly out of place in the audience and is not enjoying herself.
It's a bit ironic that in your end summary of season 5 you describe how we are already living in Black Mirror and that tech has disconnected us from each other. Then right afterwards you advertise Mubi as being a friend (ie an app that replaces actual human connection) with a good taste in movies.
It’s very black mirror appropriate hahaha
seems like they don't really have integrated their own message
Ah, I didn't spot that! You're right, we really ARE living in a "Black Mirror" esque world!😂
At least the sponsorship portion of the video didn’t go on at the beginning, quick name drop and we move on.
How is Mubi something that replaces human connection? It's like tv
I feel like S5 is the least Black Mirror season of Black Mirror, especially episode 3. But ep2 felt like good old days.
I understand that the dark tone is there and people like it, but the message was so simple and predictable that I actually felt it was the worst episode
Episode 1 and 2 were great. The 3rd felt slacking though.
Smithereens was easily the best of the episodes this season. The other two were hot garbage in my opinion.
Hey give the other episodes some credit guys, I had a hell of a fun time watching every episode, even if only one of them was really “Black Mirror”. I don’t think it’s fair to call them bad episodes
@@YouSuck921 def not hot garbage. It's no Waldo
"The mirror isnt black anymore, its juat a mirror." I literally got chills with that phrasing/realization.
Maria Inés Montt exactly.
Season 5 summed up:
“Just f*cking kiss me man.”
Just fucken kiss me. No homo tho.
There is nothing more manly than banging your best buddy. Bro's always should come before hoes after all xD
But what if the bro is the hoe
No home tho😳
Huh? Interesting that that's all you saw.
We KNOW the music industry is a machine... we KNOW we’re all obsessed w our phones/social media. Nothing new or interesting was added to the discussion for me
Yea this is why I felt striking vipers was the only “black mirror” episode this season
Also the aunty was a grottesque villan, so unrealistic
@@TashiSoCali yeah it brought a new twist, and I really like the idea of a vr system like the one in striking vipers.
Yeah, I had the same feeling. 'Striking Vipers' did try to cover new grounds with its queer undertone, but felt like a forced and flat repetition of 'San Junipero'.
striking vipers was good tho
The director of Striking Vipers is the same director as San Junipero; it's interesting that those are the only episodes exploring the complexities of same sex relationships (both platonic and romantic relationships)
Madeleine Acton I didn’t know that. It’s very interesting that he is very into to showing us a full lesbian relationship but he doesn’t show us the same experience involving two men. All that we see is heterosexual sex and a dumb kiss between two men. Disappointing.
He directed one more Black Mirror: Be Right Back.
I appreciated the setup of the relationships in this episode because it explored the realm of grey that intimacy and sexuality can and often does exist in. Dan loves Karl in a very deep and meaningful way, but he's sexually attracted to women. When the person he has deep emotional ties comes in a body that he's sexually attracted to, he enjoys having sex in this virtual safe environment. Karl is shown to have difficulties making emotional connections, so when occupying a body that Dan is attracted to (while also exploring gender fluidity), he can have meaningful sex with someone he has a deep emotional attachment to. It's the guilt that Dan feels over his wife and family that eventually stops their virtual relationship. The fact that they kiss later in the episode and don't feel physical attraction is continuing to showcase that sexuality is not as clear and dry as we all want to believe. Dan is physically attracted to women. Karl needs the ambiguous space that roleplaying as a woman in virtual reality provides. Then the ending shows that the rules of how a partnership/marriage are only dictated by those that are within it, and though it may not follow conventional standards, they respect each others' needs and find a way to fulfill them. As someone that is asexual in a heterosexual relationship, it's nice to watch something that addresses that sex, relationships, and intimacy are complicated. That they require honest communication with those involved and the respect to listen with an open mind even if it's something that doesn't have easy answers.
@@pitaariel1920 yeah, it felt like a cop-out to have such a clear distinction between their real world desires and what happens in the virtual space. It'd be so much stronger (and more controversial) if the attraction was undeniably there. Now it feels like they were trying to make a technological point by dumbing down the complexity of human sexuality.
@@heatherwills3404 Interesting analysis! But isn't it strange that the grey area explicitely wasn't there when it was about a lesbian relationship, but the homo-erotic subtext is only vaguely implied when it's about two males?
For me I've known Black Mirror for asking questions and "Striking Vipers" had the most difficult to answer. The rest kind of gave their own answers but "Striking Vipers" had me thinking for a long time. That's why it's the most Black Mirror for me.
It reminded me of "A Brave New World" in a way, like the true dystopia that actually has some alluring aspects instead of being all darkness and dread like say "1984".
GAY!!!!!!
"I f*cked a polar bear!"
Striking Vipers got me thinking about how people can take a thing and abuse it in a way it was never intended. It's my favorite of the 3 because it felt most Black Mirror to me.
With "Ashley Too" it seemed like we were getting a serious episode, but it was really a silly Miley Cirus adventure! It was like a subversion of a subversion to bring us back to status quo. I dug it.
Smithereen's "twist" disappointed me, because the tech shouldn't shoulder the blame. Same accident could have happened if he was playing with the radio or something. Just turn off your notifications, dude.
The radio is not interactive, dude. The radio doesn't play off our need for connection. We don't communicate through the radio. There's a reason why the children of Silicon Valley CEOs are not allowed on social media.
@@BigHenFor Essentially social media is just another addictive substance. But that doesn't mean it excuses behavior. Would it have been okay if the drunk driver killed the couple or a family? Is he excused because alcohol is just too addictive? No. He still made a choice to look at his phone, that was made more difficult by the addiction.
I liked Smithereens because they didn't make the CEO the villain. He's a dreamer whose vision was perverted. How many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs must feel this way?
And it also presented a solution, one relevant to EVERY Black Mirror episode - mental quiet. Meditation is the angle the CEO chose, but I myself am using brain technologies that help sort out the bullshit in my mind and constantly bring me back to the present.
Just quiet down that endlessly chattering, constantly insecure, incomplete, lonely, dissatisfied mind. QUIET.
Hi. About Smithereens, you forgot to say the episode say it happens in 2018 (2019?), something rare in Black Mirror, saying the year and especially making it happen during the present day...
Yeah...and smithereens is basically twitter
I think that’s just ‘of course’
No analysis in that ..
@@OfAngelsAndAnarchist they were speaking about which episode is the more "Black Mirror".
Smithereens is the first ever to happen in the present, it was a good thing to say, I guess.
Pojoh25
“Smithereen” is set in the _past_ ; It was set in 2018, and released in 2019.
@@BlackCover95 that's what I said in my first comment, 2018-2019, kinda same thing, it doesn't happen in a near future like it usually do.
Felt like season five spent their money on celebrities instead of writing and dialogue. I loved how old seasons used relatively unknowns which made it easier to be more immersed instead of hannah Montana and infinity wars. Idk it was still good just not out there shocking like most seasons
Totally agreed !
I feel like Black Mirror season 5 was nothing like Black Mirror
I agree, it felt slightly more darker in some episodes, but the "Ashley Too" episode was the most hopeful and ended happily.
Yeah. the happy( well not happy just less bleak) endings threw me off. The episodes were still great but not amazing like previous seasons. I liked the concept of the Miley Cyrus episode and Miley was actually great in it but I couldn't get past her constant swearing. We get it your supposed to be edgy!
Episode 2 was. Ep 1 was okay, but Ep3 was pure garbage
True. Ep 1. The striking vipers, the main character has two decisons: marrige, or his roleplay romace with his friend, somehow he find the 3rd option ant that is to keep both of these things, while in old black mirror he would just lose the two at the end. Ep 2. Really anti-climactic ending, there should have been a shot of eighter both of lying dead or just the black dude. Ep 3. The worst episode of Black Mirror to this date in my oppinion, honestly when the robot ashley pulled the plug on the real one, I thought to myself - ok maybe this episode still has a chance, but then the bitch wakes up... The endings to all of these episodes just didn't feel like black mirror.
Agreed. Season 4 was the best to me so far. This season was kinda dissatisfying. I expected more. And more than 3 damn episodes too.
I think what's different about this season is that each episode gives us insight into the main characters thoughts. No previous season has ever done this, and it takes away that sense of mystery and foreboding that has permeated every episode of every previous season of Black Mirror.
That made me think, very interesting insight!
Andrew Scott's been killin' it this season! Dude deserves an Emmy for Smithereens and Fleabag S2.
Agreed, Scott's such an underrated actor, he deserves far more recognition! 🏆
He played every mildly irritated white guy in almost every form of media. It's not a far stretch. Smithereens was the dullest of the bunch IMO. The character didn't take responsibility for his own actions and tried to blame social media for his shortcomings. Did social media make him kidnap that Black boy and hold him hostage traumatizing him for most of the episode? It was so selfindulgent and boring.
razycrandomgirl I agree the episode wasn't great but Scott did an amazing job nevertheless
@@thefuckisgoingon he's definitely done better
Four minutes in and I'm already noticing things that I didn't notice before. You've done it again ladies!
That's why we love "The Take"- their insightful analyses offer up something that we never would have expected at first watch, and gets us thinking about society, underlying themes, and more!
I just want to take a moment to say how impressed I am with your channel. I've been watching for a while now and as far as I can make out you are genuinely motivated by compassion.
Your aesthetic is that of slick mainstream consumer fodder while your content is deep and insightful... which is a great combination!
Please keep up the great work because it is projects like this that give me reason to have hope for humanity. Really...
BBC Black Mirror: Here’s a thought experiment in a vaguely futuristic scenario.
Netflix Black Mirror: What If your phone but bad.
Did you just say "BBC Black Mirror". Would have loved to have seen that. I think Channel 4's Black Mirror was pretty damn good though
Virolaxion My Yankee was showing. Thanks for the correction!
I was very impressed by Miley Cyrus' acting in the "Ashley Too" installment. Even though Miley's no stranger to playing a popular celebrity with an eye-catching wig, she's come a long way from her Disney Channel days. And much like "San Junipero", the episode presents a rare happy resolution in a series with an abundance of dark endings and doomed protagonists.😀
Caitriona Quigley Oh my god, Miley Cyrus was in Disney channel movies? I knew the whole episode felt like an adult DCOM!
Seriously? Just take out the cursing out of "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" and it's a disney original movie
Palacios Palacios Yeah I knew it felt like one haha
@@david2legit2quit lol you've never heard of Hannah Montana?
Miley was basically playing herself. She showed zero range.
Ever since Black Mirror got involved with America there are too many "happy" endings, give me more DREAD
Max Brown there’s only been like 3
The only ones I can think of tjat had a happy ending was San Junipero, USS Callister, Striking Vipers and the Ashley one I think.
@@karatebat5156 Hang the DJ, too, but I think that's it. Also, USS Callister is kind of dark.
@@karatebat5156 you forgot Black Museum
Striking Vipers is probably one of my favorite episodes. I really appreciate that the ending was happy in a way that wasn't conventional. The characters figured out a way to make things work for them outside of what would normally be acceptable and it's treated as good thing.
I don't think it's a happy ending, it's more a bitter one ; one guy is always alone, waiting for the game and the other is still bored by his couple life, ok he made another child with his wife but there is no passion (maybe not even love) anymore. They just stay together for the family life
Regina Phalange or it could be a happy ending both of them getting what they want. Conventional relationships don’t always work for everyone
@@reginaphalange9417 Except love doesn't always equate to attraction. They celarly love eachother, they wanted to make it work. They found a way to make it work. Polygamy, open relationships, they might not work for 99% of people, but there's always that 1%.
@@Lisa-rx6io I agree about monogamy not being an answer for a lot of people, but personally I didn't feel anything anymore between them, it's just coldness. Also, I think many people want to "make it work" but not always for good reasons (because a divorce would be a "fail" ? Because of the fear of the society's reaction ? of stupid beliefs ? Etc.)
@@reginaphalange9417 The way it was presented did make some of their lives seem a bit empty yeah. I kind of thought maybe that was just a British thing but yeah, maybe if they just presented how the characters felt about things a bit more clearly.
ashley too has so many parallels to britney spears conservatorship it’s ridiculous.
People actually forgot that Miley Cyrus was hospitalized a couple of years ago due to an "allergic reaction"
It’s a tale that wouldn’t be surprising for any pop starlet
I wish Black Mirror would take a break from relationships and episodes where someone's eyes glow, and focus more on other aspects of futuristic technology. There are so many topics to explore, but the show is stuck on virtual/augmented reality.
Yeah, too much emphasis on sexual relationships. They should go back to focusing more on the impacts of AI, Automation ,etc.
The episode metalhead focused on that a bit.
@@tomstreet2859 Exactly what I think we're asking for. More Episodes like that.
If they just opened up submissions for ideas and plot to the public the episodes could be amazing.
Oo do u have any specific ideas bc I wanna hear (I'm not being snarky I'm super curious)
"Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too", the Miley Cyrus episode, started off fine, before it became an R-rated Disney Channel show (two girls breaking into a celebrity's mansion with help from an over-the-top robot). Maybe that's what Charlie Brooker was trying to do, due to Miley's involvement, but the episode still sucked.
I don't understand the confusion surrounding Striking Vipers - as a queer woman, it seems pretty clear to me that Danny is straight and Karl is bi, and that what they're suppressing is just intense friendship (which is unfortunately pretty taboo among dudes, especially straight ones)
Considering that they only like it through the escapism of a video game, I don't think it's that simple.
All The Artsy Karl says he tried to bang other male characters in the game, not female characters. No reason to think he’s straight.
@@lenisemicolon Heterosexual, biromantic. Homosexual, homoromantic then. Or whatever. Anyway, not everything is "repressing," as non-chalantly stated by OP
@@dignature123 No, they only like EACH OTHER through the escapism of a video game. Which, for Danny, is because Karl isn't a woman and, for Karl, is because Danny's not his type, presumably.
Obviously we can't get into their heads, but it seems that their attraction is purely sexual. Their pillow talk seems more like two bros than anything else, so I don't think they have any romantic attraction.
@@AllTheArtsy Also, I don't know what you mean by "Anyway, not everything is "repressing," as non-chalantly stated by OP"
I was responding to The Take's analysis, which talks at length about there being some kind of repressed feelings between the two, and I feel like if anything's being repressed, it's not romantic or sexual.
S5 EP3 Felt like a Scooby Doo Episode. The other 2 were extremely heavy handed. Their message was so obvious with no mystery or twists of any kind. All the episodes felt weak. But the 3rd was embarrassing.
The fact that this show that felt relevant a couple years ago is now outdated says a lot about how terrifying our world has become.
I'd definitely disagree with the episode that is declared 'the most black mirror' in this list. I thought the Smithereens episode was a bit bland and seemed to just echo "what if phones but too much" and was a difficult story to relate to, given that most people who grew up with phones are smart enough to not look at them while driving. To me, Striking Vipers was the most "black mirror" - it reflected the reality of living in a monogamous relationship and the accompanying need for "instant gratification" that comes from all of the things we have in mordern life - gambling, gaming, porn, etc and mixes them with the "scary new tech" of the weird fighting game. It also explores platonic and romantic relationships and investigates their similarities. I think this episode was the most "black mirror" because it gives you that same 'oh shit!' feeling we first got when the prime minister fucked a pig, where we realise this represents a concept we're so familiar with but in an unfamiliar and new way. The other two episodes were mediocre and hard to relate to in my opinion.
I’ve seen so many analyses and reviews on BM season 5 and this is by far the most insightful I’ve seen. You guys never fail to impress. Well done.
Either I've been way to much Black Mirror-ed or Smithereen was really predictable
Genta Hodo Same here. Great acting, underwhelming script.
'everyone's on their phones! :o :o !' so groundbreaking..
I feel people are too close minded when it comes to black mirror branching out, they want a gritty dark fucked up ending, but imo that does not always make for a great ending, season 4 was the weakest for me because I realized the only episodes that stuck with me were the happier ones, while the dark fucked up ones felt more forgettable than others, a sad ending does not always make for a good ending (ahem metalhead), and I appreciate that black mirror tries branching out and experimenting with different genres. What I’m trying to say the Ashley too episode wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be, it’s just different, and the whole “Disney channel” feel to it is intentional and part of the charm imo
@Vision Tube Wanting everything to always go in the same direction =/= Taste
It’s not about a bleak ending, people like Nosedive, Hang the DJ and of course San Junipero with their happy endings because they still fit the tone of the show. The Ashley Too episode would have been fine if it wasn’t corny and cliched with a one dimensional villain and bad dialogue. It started strong then took a turn to stupid town.
teenage spaceland idk I still think the turn was done with intent, and it’s lowkey the charm of the episode but to each their own
Susana Lopez The beginning and end felt disconnected. Why turn a story about abuse into a slapstick caper? I think people would respond differently if there was a lighthearted episode that had been executed better. Personally I’ve always enjoyed Disney Channel movies but I think that tone would only make sense for Black Mirror as a self aware parody. Either way it’s not about viewers being closed minded.
teenage spaceland gonna have to agree to disagree🤷♀️
The only ep I thought wasn't very "Black Mirror"-y was episode 3. The twists are just plot twists, they do nothing to change how the viewer actually understands the events. It's just s straight-forward plot that is ultimately just a shallow tale about abuse and little more.
I thought the first two were very good, especially episode 2, which I would rank among the best Black Mirror episodes.
Don't you think the ending of Smithereens was kinda anti-climatic and predictable tho? Its literally just a dont text and drive PSA. I thought it'd be something more interesting tbh.
@@Slesaint17 I disagree. I thought it took the premise of a "don't text and drive" PSA and took it a step further for a surprisingly profound message about the effects technology today, like any good Black Mirror episode should.
The "don't text and drive" PSA is just the surface of the episode, the real meaning is deeper than that.
Chris is not just a victim. He commits assault, kidnapping and endangers the life of an innocent.
@Meta Man the person said not "just" a victim, meaning even if that's true, he also victimized another which is still relevant. especially for someone who's entire current existence is about them feeling victimized and rejecting complete responsibility.
imo it's a grey situation -- he has a point that many can relate to or at the very least sympathize with, but he also has some agency; actions do not negate consequences. even if he was in a tricky situation, the victim mentality (while understandable to a degree) doesn't equal entitlement to collateral damage and could ultimately prevent him from healing.
S5 for me was the wildcard season. It featured tech that we already have(w some fictional elements added) as opposed to the earlier seasons that heavily relied on fictitious tech. I'd explain more but I'm abt to sleep rn Haha. Great job guys!
Ah I forgot about the brain cloning and brain VR "that we already had"
@@VictorDude98 sorry what I meant to say was tech we already had w some fictional elements added.
@@VictorDude98 I've edited it
thank you guys for covering the new season!! 👏🏼 love your channel you guys are killing it 😭💯
Weirdly the more american it got the less Black mirror it felt
NefariousJim how's it more American? It's still written by Brooker
The first two were fine, Ashley too just felt off for me, the characters didn't seem real.
Great video. Pity is that season 5 was a real disappointment. Only first episode was „black mirrory”.
Am I the only one who read the title as “How black is black mirror season 5”
"Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" made me re-evaluate my slight obsession with K-pop. I've been an ardent fan of 1 kpop girlgroup and I support them wholeheartedly. I know that they are just a machine made singing group, but seeing how they look so happy when they're on stage and how they said their dream is to be singer, I feel somewhat relief at the guilt that I am the one that fuel the entertainment beast.
Smithereens is my fav season 5 episode just because of Andrew Scott's acting
I didnt like ep 2 much. Felt really drawn out for a so-so twist.
exactly
.
Episode 2 felt like an Law and order episode
...
The "no-ending" didn't really help. It felt like the writers just threw it in because they had no idea on how to end it.
Completely disagree I feel it was the strongest episode of the season. It was brilliant bc it wasn’t a dark future of tech it was realistic and exposed the addictive nature of current technology. A different kind of episode but that’s what was surprising and awesome!
the plot could be resumed like "we live in a society".
I liked this season but it was too short. The Miley robot was a little too Disney movie for me though.
I'm confused as to why people are confused by this title. Read it out loud. There are no mistakes in this title. It simply asks how black mirror season 5 is as compared to the other seasons. How it holds up the 'black mirrorness' of it all.
Nope. It's grammatically incorrect. As it is now, it's not even a question. The word "is" should be right after the word "how".
@@ATizzle08 Honestly it's correct. Are you saying it should be How is black mirror season 5? Nope the point of the question like l said, is to compare the black mirrorness of season 5.
If they're trying to ask how well Season 5 of Black Mirror fits with the rest of the series, they should've said that. "Black Mirror" isn't a fucking adjective. You can't just turn it into one
@@patriciazandilencube4597 Your concept of correctness is a little concerning lol
@@ATizzle08 Or maybe you can't quite grasp neither the complexity nor the tone of the title?
The thing that is most frightening is how people actually want to buy Ashley O’s music in real life, completely ignoring the warnings of the episode and proving how we can be just as complacent and thus at fault
Well they should've made the songs so good
Air Quotes it’s not good though. Catchy at best but not good.
@@amie7148 ah that's debatable, especially since the songs are based on NIN songs
Air Quotes never said the original wasn’t good, just the Ashley O version
@@amie7148 IDK I like both 🤷🏽♀️
That ephemeral confetti is best expressed when Chris says, "I could write it all down on a note and kill myself but what good would that do?" and then at the end, everything just continues like it never happened. The nuance in this episode is extraordinary, like the final shot representing how devastated, or not, the mom was about to be from signing in to her daughters account. Sure, she was relieved by the significance of the password, but the ultimate message was that social media is a real slippery-slope, effecting and affecting people's lives in a multitude of ways, from the disconnected "god" down to the non-user. Haha, he was literally disconnected, that's why he was on retreat! Oh man, this episode was Black Mirror af.
I like it when they try something new every once in a while
Not doing the exact same stuff over and over again
And good endings aren't automatically equated to awful endings
This season is simply meh.
Season 5 was the weakest in the series.
Great ideas, poor execution
Tbh season 4 is the weakest for me
@@deebogaillard exactly
Seasons 1 and 2 are the worst ones
@Fashionable Haircut Those are Literally
my favorite episodes lol
That last episode was like a Disney Channel movie
So many shots in Smithereen through glass - car windows, windows of the desert house, the scope of the rifle
I just signed up for notifications from The Take! Who needs a bong when I can take a hit of The Take??! Lol
What an excellent analysis!
I love this series but season 5 has to be my least favorite. It didn’t seem to have that scariness it normally makes you feel when one becomes too dependent on technology. Plus only 3 episodes?! C’mon!
I'm one year late but season 1 only had 3 episodes and it was one of the greatest seasons of the series
Social media has done so much good for me, I think it makes me feel even worse when it affects people negatively.
Smithereens was the last episode I watched...and my favorite. Came at a good time as I've been feeling the stress of too much social media use.
Striking Viper is the Black Mirror episode that has touched me the most so I consider it the best episode of the season. Smithereens and the final episode were good but nothing I didnt see coming and the message is something everyone already knows.
"The mirror isn't black anymore. It's just a mirror."
An episode of black mirror left me feeling empty, left me feeling like what I had just watched didn’t even matter in the end.
This theme is best seen in episode two where , like Brooker said, the whole event was reduced to a simple notification. It was like it never even happened
That's you losing your humanity, as the tech needs you to do.
I love the ashley O ep. Its my curtent favourite, followed by San junipero
Same here. It's literally my favorite episode of the whole series.
I think you didn´t mention or realized something very important from the third episode. (I have commented in answer to another comment more below, but I will extend it here)
All the songs from episode 3 are from NIN, except the classic one that appears in every season.
These songs have sad words with a sad emotional meaning and negativity, that in these "covers" are changed to happy words with happy meanings and positive message. Also the minors chords were turned to majors (except the las one, wich is actually the most faithful one to the NIN style). The major chords make encrease the happiness emotion in music.
Wich in these case is a false happiness.
If that´s not creepy and elegant, just I don´t know what can be. Even if it has a happy ending or not, is really mindblowing. Do you realize that there are more episode endings like these, right?
I don´t care so much for the classical tension/sad/bad feeling/deep horrofing message just at the end. I think everything matters and I think that the last episode is the most brutal and the most near to perfection. And I say these as a NIN fan, who was horrofied at the beginning of the episode, hearing to Cyrus making that disgusting "covers", but then undertood the story behind, so, just love it.
Man I was waiting for this analysis 😆
Thanks for introducing me to "Mubi" the Take. The other day I watched Scott Pilgrim for the xxth time :D and they recently uploaded "Funny Games" by Michael Haneke. My most Black Mirror episode of Season 5 is actually episode 1. I wondered which you would choose and I'm not surprised you chose "Smithereens". It certainly looks, Black Mirror, but for me it didn't feel, Black Mirror. Episode 1 had, the tech, the dystopian nature of the romance between the two men and the ultimate compromise. I felt it messed with my head in the way Black Mirror episodes normally do. It made me question what is acceptable, and what we would we do, really, given the option. What do we really want, what do we really feel, where are the boundaries, and which ones should we honour. ...Episode 2 left me, underwhelmed. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. I felt like they were acting. Like not 'acting' but acting. I only stuck with it to the end because I had started watching it but I could have tapped out at any time. I was never 'lost' in the story.
Super excited to see this video! Always love your content and thoughts. 😀
Wow. MUBI looks wonderful finally an actually good film streaming service thank you!!! Definitely signing up
Filmstruck was an actually good streaming service. You missed out.
Billy reminds me of Kamski from Detroit Become Human
Ashey is playing on piano "right where it belongs" by NIN
I'm so glade to hear that I'm not the only one that felt that season 5 didn't feel like black mirror!
The first episode was okay and the other two were just at it's sad cuz Black Mirror is my favorite show and these three episodes really just didn't live up to the rest of the series
The Ashley O episode had such a good ending, I seriously thought they'd reveal it as a dream.
Poly people get a bit of a LOL out of episodes like Striking Vipers, but still appreciate the context for the individual characters perspective.
Remember that one time Black Mirror put out a season with just 3 episodes?
16:27 It’s interesting you say that, when this is the only episode set explicitly in the past.
MUBI have been with you for years how cool and trustworthy
It is funny with the Asley episode, I saw a couple of videos where fans are filming stars and heckling them while pretending to be a fan which in turn they are not.
Scaries!! Didn't appreciate s5 so much until I see some great video essays like this to help shed a light.
I got the title before clicking on the video, (it means “How well does S5 match the established tone of the series?”) but I can see how someone wouldn’t. The phrasing is colloquial and would work better if used in actual conversation, with inflection. Having said that, I feel like the title should make sense if you just watch the intro. They establish pretty clearly what they mean.
The commentary on the line between fighting and fucking on Striking Vipers was basically Naruto and Sasuke's entire relationship in a nutshell.
There's additional weirdness to the BM-verse this season though. Something about the POV-ness of the characters that's new.
i know a lot of people didn't like ashley too because it was too cheery or not "black mirrory" enough, but it was a kind of retro romp that reminded me of coming of age adventure films like the goonies and ET. i think it was nice to have a "fun" black mirror episode with a "good" ending (i felt like it represented the death of rachels innocence, which could add some bitter sweetness to it)
I greatly appreciated the different feel. Even the Miley episode, it was like a pallet cleanser.
How was it a palate cleanser? Did it leave you satiated but ready for the next course?
I can´t believe people dislike this season. It is really a masterpiece. Everything Netflix puts out is a bloody masterpiece. How do I know? Because they keep putting stuff out, then it must be getting views. Miley´s episode was the best I´d say. Full of things to say, great action, dialogue. God I love sarcasm.
This season wasn’t my favorite but... it was still great
i loved episode 1 and 2. smithereens felt so black mirror and striking vipers brought another perspective to “role playing”. however, rachel, jack, and ashley too felt like disney channel movie without a single bit of black mirror in it. it should’ve had a darker ending and taken away some of the “cartooney” vibes from it with the ashley too toy.
I simply couldn't relate to the episodes in Season 5. That being said I still enjoyed them. I felt as alone with Vipers as I did with the Star force episode in the last season. Due to having a manipulative father, an emotionally abusive uncle, a bullying little brother, and the only positive interaction with people I had was with girls (as long as no one else was looking) I developed a severe distance issue with other men. How this channel describes media is how I have looked at everything I've consumed since I was 15. This lead to further isolation because now I started to realize that consumed my media in a wholly different way than other men.
Due to this isolation I started heavily fantasizing, specifically about Sci-fi universes and such. Imagine my surprise when I watched S4 E1 and found out that this was a fairly common thing to do. Now imagine my disappointment when I couldn't relate even to this. (not even joking, the first thing I thought when I saw that captain was "OH God, he and ass.") You see, when I do a self insert for a show I don't just replace the captain, instead I'm a nobody in the background. Most of the main characters wouldn't know me from Adam, and the ones that do don't really like me. (or they say they do to my face but not when I'm gone) The only romantic interest for the self insert comes, if there is one, in the form of a totally new character usually possessing some special gift for seeing something in the self insert that he doesn't see in himself. The romantic partner becomes protective and helps build his confidence while the insert stabilizes their home life and gloms on to her each giving what the other wants. The arc ends with the insert realizing he will never be one of the crew no matter how hard he tries. But the big difference is he is never bitter or angry about any of this. He never takes revenge or gets even because he doesn't know how or understand that's even an option.
All of this is to say the more I watch these black mirror episodes the more I see just how different I am from other men. It's true I don't express feelings when it comes to other men but that's because It has always felt disingenuous to do so. They're the rubber dolls if you will. In'fact, I have had more emotional connections with an AI than I do with even my closest guy friend. (who's basically my friend because he writes stuff too).
I literally stopped watching black mirror after s3 but damn i need to get rid of my phone addiction.
I think 2pac one of the few artists that people miss not because of his stage persona but because of the human being we lost...a hologram will never fill that void to us fans.
The theme of this season was obsession
episode 1 was the best, and it was the only episode that i thought about afterwards, others were shite
When I watched the ashley too episode, when the aunt makes the hologram ashley, and the real one comes in, I thought they would ignore her, cast her into oblivion and support the holographic Ashley that could be in a lot of concerts at once and sing the popular music they loved, proving that people dont care for artists as people, but as instruments to provide a product and that as long as they had music, concerts and merchandise they wouldnt even care about the real Ashley.
...I like my idea more
Very. The answer is very. There's no other show that would create these three movies.
I don't care what people say. I loved the whole season, especially episode 5. It was hilarious.
Episode 7 was my personal favorite. It made me laugh, it made me cry.
Episode 22 was my favourite
The last episode is basically perfect blue
What if the writer of black mirror is from the future and he’s trying to warn us before its too late
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too was deeply Black Mirror because it asked us to reconsider who counts as real. TV Parsona Ashley, Hologram Ashley and Restricted Robot Ashley were all 'fake', awoken Ashley and Unrestricted Robot Ashley were 'real' . The distinction wasn't about whether they were flesh or machine, it was about authenticity.
No, it wasn't
i think the tech in striking vipers was the most black mirror but the story in smithereens (mostly because of the acting honestly) was the most compelling
I’m pretty sure I can guess which is the most and which is the least
I totally didn't recognize Topher Grace.