I’ve watched season 1 through 6 and there definitely were more than one episodes that just left me feeling like crap… But there’s so many incredible episodes intermixed, like San Juniperno, that has made me keep coming back.
Today I watched the first episode of season 7, Common People, and… I just can’t. It’s done me in.
I have a question for those who have watched the remainder of the episodes. Are there any episodes that end on any sort of positive note or are they all this dreadful?
Maybe it’s just not for me anymore. I get the premise behind Black Mirror, but there is something about this episode that just kind of shoved me past a point that I’m not sure it’s worth it for me to keep watching.
I thought episodes 4 and 6 were top notch! Both were very entertaining and have the uncommon somewhat optimistic ending for Black Mirror.
Oh I know the feeling! I just watched Arkangel of season 4, since that’s where I left off. Half way through I asked myself why I’m doing this to myself. It’s actually not a horrible episode, but in general Black Mirror is just leaving you with a very high quality depression.
I’m anxious about watching them too. I loved the feeling of hopelessness and inevitability they left you with, but these days I’m just not ready for it. I think it’s because we’re all living with a standard baseline of that sensation now. It’s not a novel, if unpleasant, feeling you get to experience for an evening after watching.
Not as intense, but basically the same as how war veterans with PTSD don’t really want to watch Saving Private Ryan.
Minor spoilers, I’ll try not to give too much away.
- Episode 2, Bête Noire, the episode ends in a positive note, but is more in the weird category in terms of endings.
- Episode 3, Hotel Reverie, generally ends on a happy note however it has a lot of sad moments within the episode.
- Episode 5, Eulogy, is probably the saddest episode of the season. It’s also arguably the best. The ending I think is a positive one. It’s a general theme of loss and closure.
- Episode 6, USS Callister: Into Infinity, I think of you found the first USS Callister episode to end on a positive note then I would say the same applies here. They both end with a similar feeling.
Thanks again for this. It was really helpful.
Watched Eulogy in the living room and one of my kids was kids hard in the feels zone. I chose to focus on the positive and really liked the episode. They wanted to know if this was how Black Mirror always was, so we watched my fav episode of San Junipero. Goodness do I love that one.
Anyway, I really enjoyed all the rest of the season.
That first episode really hit me hard, so I was worried about the rest. Maybe it was bad timing. More likely that it just hit too close to home. Add in the advertising economy in real life and how it’s everywhere, stealing your info, and blocking everything from any semblence of a good experience. It just got to me. I will never understand the irony in Netflix releasing this episode.
I will never understand the irony in Netflix releasing this episode.
I mean the hope is always that companies see it and then don’t follow. Last season we had the super focused Netflix series episode, which I think only worked because it was also on Netflix.
But also companies are short sighted sometimes. I remember when the iPhone dropped the headphone jack and Samsung had a huge marketing campaign, “We have a headphone jack!”. Then, 1 year later, they also dropped the headphone jack.
So I’d like to say society at large has learned from an episode like this. But I know at large we’re pretty stupid, greedy, etc.
Also glad you liked Eulogy. It’s the one that sticks with me the most out of the season. It can be viewed as horribly tragic and depressing, but I really think it touches well on closure. Yes, closure is painful, but it’s also therapeutic. It can lighten the burden. It’s ultimately a positive thing.
You nailed it regarding closure and the therapeutic nature of it. That’s exactly how I took it. Life throws a lot at people. We can’t stop that. It’s simply a byproduct of existence.
Sometimes closure is hard to find, so it was really nice to see that happen for someone. There are some things in my own life that still weigh quite heavy and it was nice to co-experience the feelings of Paul Giamatti’s character.
Why are you asking people for subjective opinions? Go ahead and read the summary and ruin whatever episode you want for yourself. I feel like this is mostly a request for a free therapist more than anything else. Sorry that TV shows are capable of making you "just can’t"ing. That has to be embarrassing and socially crippling.
