But despite — or perhaps because of — the wildly imaginative dramatic scenarios that Brooker and Jones dream up, their characters' conflicts and impulses remain disturbingly relatable.
In Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too, Rachel feels like"nobody knows I exist," and Angourie Rice's performance perfectly emulates teen self-loathing and discomfort. She's a victim of a culture in which Kardashianism spreads way beyond the Kardashian clan — in which rich celebrities vomit feel-good phrases of fake, girl-power feminism.
In Smithereens, Andrew Scott's rideshare driver looks around with disgust at a cafe to see all the cow-eyed patrons glued to their phones while shovelling their BLTs. In that episode, social media giants are in fact intelligence agencies spying on their own users — and ultimately they outperform the data-collection and crime-preventing capacities of the British police to resolve the hostage situation.
In Striking Vipers, the members of the central love triangle use technology to expand the possibilities of desire, sex and longing, by evading the sacrifices and disappointments of their IRL relationships. And yet the ultimate irony is that tech-based fantasy might just hold together Danny's marriage, by providing an outlet for the boredom of monogamy.
Perversity and dramatic irony proliferate: merchandise as friends; mindful tech-bros who end phone calls with"peace"; corporate branding as personal identity.Black Mirror season 5 is streaming now on Netflix.
First two aren’t too bad. Third decends quickly into Home & Away script and acting. None nearly as good as earlier episodes.
Another example of ABC wasting public funds - how is free publicity news? ItaButtrose