4/5
Mirror-verse.
6 Episodes. Starring: Annie Murphy, Salma Hayek, Samuel Blenkin, Myha'la Herrold, John Hannah, Monica Dolan, Aaron Paul, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz, Clara Rugaard, Anjana Vasan & Paapa Essiedu. Created By: Charlie Brooker. On: Netflix.
"Get it right". In this world where the scariest threat to our humanity, even in the times of Putin, Jong-un and possibly Trump (say it won't be so) again, is A.I. We need to look into Netflix's 'Black Mirror' again, instead of just staring down the abyss of our phones. Especially as artificial intelligence is writing essays, painting pictures and entering fake Drake songs into the Spotify streams. Let alone the 'Secret Invasion' of designing Marvel themes that frustrate fans. Just imagine if it had its fake finger on the trigger. But before you get flattened by the idea of a driverless car, the sixth season and first in four years isn't all "tech is bad." Even after the most creative show on television and most critical series of our lives delivered likes in real life, blocking people right in their face, and the brilliant 'Bandersnatch' interactive movie where you decide the ending like one of those old "turn to page" mystery books. Although I can't get past deciding what to have for breakfast. Figures. Such is the indecisive world we live in. Now with its most divisive season yet, revolutionary creator Charlie Brooker says the origin of this outstanding series is actually all about how "people are f###ed up". And it shows.
'Joan (or insert your name here) Is Awful' continues with the greatest 'Mirror' concept since Bryce Dallas Howard's character just wanted to be liked. Sensational sitcom 'Schitt's Creek' star Annie Murphy is so unrecognizable and undeniable it took me a minute to realize who I was watching. But we all know who Salma Hayek is. And as Annie sees the Hollywood actress live out the life as she's just known it on the red and black ta-dum platform of "Streamberry" (absolutely hilarious), it really is Murphy's law indeed (you can even interact like 'Bandersnatch' and make your own show). We've really said too much already, but what results is one of the sharpest points the genius passing bar of 'Black Mirror' has ever made. Not only at the threat of A.I., as great as the one Allen Iverson had on defences that couldn't answer him, but the very platform this show calls home and of course the people ourselves who all buy into and couch potato all this binge-watching without checking the fine-print like we would allergy information on a menu if we had a gluten intolerance.
This idea of our collective serial stunted inspiration continues on the darkest times yet. 'Loch Henry' takes us to a small coastal town in Scotland, harbouring some of the world's most hidden horrors. Watching our obsession with true-crime documentaries and exploiting it for all it's worth. Everybody talks about the tortures that happened here in hushed tones. But nobody makes it out to this beautiful backdrop any more before the cameras start rolling in. I've never been a fan of true-crime documentaries. I don't get them, or the desire to watch something so sickening that actually happened. Now, holding up a mirror to our interest that borders on obsession, Brooker asks why. But then again, even if I don't like real life docs, how about all the detective and violent shows I watch? It's all action lit on the same camera. Compelling chapters of seasons like this make sure the answers don't fall in our laps. Instead, the questions stay with us long after the next show countdown and the awards have been announced. The true measure of art in this artificial age.
'Beyond The Sea' takes us even further like that lovely little ditty once more with haunting feeling. Aaron Paul, Kate Mara and Josh Hartnett (all on formidable, fine form) star stud the longest and deepest cut of the series. One that plays out like a movie, out of this world, and way back down to earth of the human realities that ground all breaking science fiction stories like the fare of the forefather Philip K. Dick. In a fresh idea to a genre that's played out more than Marvel or the 'Fast' family sees two men lost in space work, whilst their android avatars walk around the world of their everyday lives back home on the third rock from the sun. When tragedy hits home for one in something that mirrors the Manson family meeting those in the sixties who asked why they put a man on the moon, a friend only sees fit that his co-pilot should take a walk in his shoes. Plug into what happens next and the predictable meets the ludicrous halfway for an ending that makes sense to the horrifying human condition the more you think how terrible this all is.
By 'Mazey Day' starring 'Atlanta's' awesome Zazie Beetz, you'll see how dark this all gets by the end of the day and a classic conclusion you never saw coming. Truly showing how horrible humans can be (with old tech), we're taken back to the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes days when before social media, the paparazzi were still obsessed with hunting down pictures of stars in scandal like a pack of wolves...even if it killed them. Hounding Hollywood's elite with a map to the stars homes, just so they can make rent. After two of the darkest episodes of the season, this ends more excitingly like the powerhouse premiere. It's also the best look at the lack of integrity in some journalists since Dustin Hoffman turned John Travolta's bank job world into a 'Mad City'. That mini-masterpiece of a movie was before its time. This one is of it. All the way down to what the last collective shot tells you of whose really pushing the buttons. A maddening meditation and roaring success at how much we are failing as a species.
Then the creepiest is saved for last with 'Demon 79' that evokes both the time and aesthetic of 'Bandersnatch' and the vintage horrors Marvel gave us last year with their 'Werewolf By Night' at Halloween. A young woman working in a local shoe shop feels the pinch when she accidentally touches a talisman and is visited by a demon that's more "y'all right love" than "HAIL" you know who. Adopting the form of the man from Boney M, this demon gives our lead a more conflicting choice than the one Dave Bautista and company brought a young family's door with a 'Knock At The Cabin'. Funny yet forlorn in the nature of the raw racism and long loneliness that troubles this time...it's not far from where we are right now. Truly making a killing. Another reason why 'Black Mirror' is right on time and life as we know it. How do you do a deal with the devil when you've already sold your soul? Where does the real evil lie in the world? With the technology? Or the one holding it, looking into the darkest mirror? Time to refresh and update your settings. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch', 'Making A Murderer', 'The Truman Show'.
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