Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Official Thread)

[mastermind]

I just finished Man Against Fire, which was my last episode in the whole series. Definitely a top five episode, but it never gets talked about.

I said that before.

It’s one of the GOAT depictions of othering people.

 

[mastermind]

No judgment at all, but can you explain why everyone shyts on Arkangel? I really liked it. I honestly don't get all the hate for it. Is it because it represents people's worst fears when it comes to their kids?

Spoiler

When she opens the Arkangel and sees ol' boy smashing her daughter

Great content but it went into a warped direction.

It woulda been better with me if they stuck with the abortion angle.

The worst episode was Crocodile, imo.

 

[Emoryal]

Great content but it went into a warped direction.

It woulda been better with me if they stuck with the abortion angle.

The worst episode was Crocodile, imo.

Abortion angle?

 

[TinFoilSnapBack]

Great content but it went into a warped direction.

It woulda been better with me if they stuck with the abortion angle.

The worst episode was Crocodile, imo.

Yes, I HATED Crocodile. The cacette main character was probably the worst person in the whole series, but she comes off as a sympathetic figure, and we never even get to see her punishment.

 

[mastermind]

Abortion angle?

Arkangel episode. The mom gave her daughter an abortion pill in a smoothie after finding out she was pregnant.

That episode would have been better if it went down that route, imo.

Yes, I HATED Crocodile. The cacette main character was probably the worst person in the whole series, but she comes off as a sympathetic figure, and we never even get to see her punishment.

she got punished once the cops entered her son's performance.

My issue was that she just kept killing to keep that lie going.

And the use of that hamster.

 

[Emoryal]

Arkangel episode. The mom gave her daughter an abortion pill in a smoothie after finding out she was pregnant.

That was like the last 6 minutes of the episode
That ruined it for you?

 

[mastermind]

That was like the last 6 minutes of the episode
That ruined it for you?

Yes, and?

 

[Emoryal]

Yes, and?

The original made more sense to the story they were trying to tell.

 

[mastermind]

The original made more sense to the story they were trying to tell.

The abortion angle would have been better.

Or, in true Black Mirror, that girl becoming an unsympathetic psychopath would have been good. (It seemed like they were going there)

 

[Emoryal]

The abortion angle would have been better.

Or, in true Black Mirror, that girl becoming an unsympathetic psychopath would have been good. (It seemed like they were going there)

Nah

 

[mastermind]

Nah

ok breh, i don't care.

 

[Emoryal]

ok breh, i don't care.

K

 

[tru_m.a.c]

Arkangel episode. The mom gave her daughter an abortion pill in a smoothie after finding out she was pregnant.

That episode would have been better if it went down that route, imo.


she got punished once the cops entered her son's performance.

My issue was that she just kept killing to keep that lie going.

And the use of that hamster.

Yo I loooved that sick demented rabbit hole they ran her down. She just snapped.

 

[tru_m.a.c]

So I watched the first episode (where the terrorist wanted the prime minister to fukk a pig on live TV in exchange for the princess) and while it was entertaining and thought provoking, I had some major issues with the writing so I want to get a flavor for if those issues persist or if it gets better.

First issue is that the national security team didn't seem believable with the actions they were taken. The ploy to use an actor to fake it had minimal upside and tremendous downside. The only upside was the PM wouldn't actually have to fukk a pig. The public would still have to think he fukked a pig, however. Maybe you could let his wife in on it too, but only a very small number of people could know you keep the secret safe. The downside was huge: the loss of life to the princess simply because of your treachery. Many in the public may have been ok with not complying with terrorist leading to her death, but for her to die because you failed to trick a technically savvy terrorist wouldn't go over as well. My next issue with that security team was them not surrounding the building where they thought the terrorist was and allowing a reporter to just sneak in. That was way too sloppy for such a high profile operation. Her running was dumb too, and her surviving the shots when she did run was lame. Finally, my biggest issue is with the lack of contingency planning. As soon as they got the video they should've been devising a plan for if they were to comply and one for if they chose not to comply. So when 4pm came, if they weren't complying, they'd get on air with a speech explaining that they will not negotiate with terrorist because today they may demand a lewd act tomorrow they may demand something worse, and this is something the U.K. cannot tolerate, yadda yadda yadda. Now it's possible that this plan was done offscreen and never mentioned cuz they didn't use it, but I doubt it cuz they didn't have a narrative ready for the comply option. All they did was read a short message saying keeping the video was illegal. Gotta believe a real strategy team would've read a carefully manicured statement before the act in order to sway the public. Such a statement might convey that the PM is complying in hopes that this embarrassment for himself and the government may save the beloved princess's life. And while he is choosing to comply, there is no requirement that UK citizens actually watch the broadcast. So he'd play to their civic pride and the fact that most people despise terrorism and ask them to turn off their televisions, not to tweet about it and not give this terrorist any of the attention it deserves. Obviously, everyone wouldn't oblige, but many would and it would've created a realistic and interesting dialogue amongst those public gatherings at the hospital and the bar.

My final issue is with the release of her 30 minutes prior and no one noticing with all the cameras in that city. Sure, they general public may have been glued to their television sets (tho I don't know if that was necessarily be the case a full 30 minutes prior), but with such a big active kidnapping, you'd think they'd have "all hands on deck" monitoring those cameras. Wherever she first comes up on camera (if she was released after the act as they thought she'd be) is where they send the police to start looking for the perp. Her being out in the open for a full 30 minutes seems unreal.



Sorry for the long winded post, but before I start to go through 4 seasons of this, I wanna determine if the writing tightens up or not.

Yeah bro you took the shyt way too literally. It's a story about a terrorist using pig fukkn as a ransom demand. To think that strategic ops mattered here is unnecessary.

All they wanted you to do was think one thing: if someone stole your child and said you had to fukk a pig on tv to get them back would you?

Then the second question was: if they could get you to fukk one pig, what makes you think they couldn't steal another family member and make you fukk 2 pigs, then 3, then a horse....where does it stop?

Then the third question was: if fukkn a pig was where you drew the line, would you be able to look your family in the eyes and say fukkn a pig wasn't worth a loved ones life?

It's just a circular set of questions with no right or wrong answer as priorities shift. The reason or rationale behind your answer is more important than the answer itself.

 

[R.E.N. Spells Ren]

Yeah bro you took the shyt way too literally. It's a story about a terrorist using pig fukkn as a ransom demand. To think that strategic ops mattered here is unnecessary.

All they wanted you to do was think one thing: if someone stole your child and said you had to fukk a pig on tv to get them back would you?

Then the second question was: if they could get you to fukk one pig, what makes you think they couldn't steal another family member and make you fukk 2 pigs, then 3, then a horse....where does it stop?

Then the third question was: if fukkn a pig was where you drew the line, would you be able to look your family in the eyes and say fukkn a pig wasn't worth a loved ones life?

It's just a circular set of questions with no right or wrong answer as priorities shift. The reason or rationale behind your answer is more important than the answer itself.

I know what the story is about. A thought provoking premise doesn't excuse shytty writing.