Netflix Pick – Black Mirror Season 3
This week’s Netflix pick should be obvious, unless you hate amazing programming. Black Mirror is back with it’s phenomenal 3rd season! Even better, this season is more than twice as long as the first two and boasts even more incredible talent.
Black Mirror is a modern day Twilight Zone. Every story relates to the current human condition. Social issues are blown wide open. The series centers almost exclusively on technology and technological advancements in the not so distant future.
Science fiction by definition is a form of fiction that uses scientific knowledge and speculation to drive plot, settings, themes, and commentaries. Sci-Fi as a genre has always been an iceberg in storytelling. The surface story is only a small part of what the writer is really saying. The meanings of the story in Black Mirror aren’t insanely cryptic, but that’s a huge part of the draw. There is no ‘what did they mean?’ Not even in the episodes with massive twists. The meaning is up front and almost always self reflection, to individual or society.
What’s really fun about this anthology series is the big talent that agrees since it isn’t a long term contract position. They get to tell an interesting and unique story, generally with a great morality tie. The first episode alone, Nosedive, features the very talented Bryce Dallas Howard. We won’t be going deep into detail in every single episode, or every single cast member, because discovering everything every episode has to offer is half the appeal to the series.
Every episode of Black Mirror is a stand alone work of art with a varied cast and crew. Every episode has the quality of a big feature film. Every detail is top notch. The audience disappears into the world one episode at a time where in a mere hour you get all the satisfaction of a feature length film or season of traditional television.
Here is a review of the first episode to get your feet wet if you’re somehow new to the series.
Nosedive
The quality of the show keeps pulling bigger and bigger talents. Bryce Dallas Howard leads the drama as NAME, a far too chipper girl trying to live a dream life. The whole show centers around people’s obsession with social media and being far, far too connected. Every person carries a ranking number and every person has the ability to vote on everyone else. The more influential the person the more the vote counts. NAME is given a target score to achieve and plasters on a smile to try and force it out. People are overly chipper and kind in hopes of a higher ranking but no one speaks like a human. There aren’t people or personalities anymore, just rankings. The ones that do, the low ranking ones, are first shown to be lesser people. As the story unfolds it’s shown that the people with lower rankings are generally whole, honest, and real.
The online social ranking storyline isn’t something too far off in our world. The front you put out to the world and who you really are can often be two different things. People invest so much importance into social media standings. How many likes a picture gets, how many upvotes a comment gets, etc. It’s enough to make you insane.
The title, Nosedive, implies a downward spiral. As NAME’s ranking inevitably goes down (stories need conflict of course), she becomes far more likable as a person before teetering the other way. When honesty is bottled up too long it can be ugly when it finally comes out.
Dallas Howard is a powerful actress who carries the full hour story perfectly. The awkward and stiff acting of the character is never a reflection of the acting of the actress. The episode is shot with professional hand and the video quality has anything broadcast on cable beat, hands down. The score really elevates the story telling in a way that you can actually feel the emotions rumbling as you watch. Never has two characters screaming the F word at each other over a beautiful string ensemble been so hopeful.
Once again Black Mirror has delivered an hour long social commentary that makes you think about everything you’ve ever thrown up on the ever increasing amounts of social networks.
