Black mirror fifteen million merits review năm 2024

In a future world you have to cycle for your supper, Bing does his best to help talented singer Abi get onto a singing contest.

It's a magical episode, a study of exploitation, containerisation and a demand for fame abd fortune, there's also something of a love story running through it.

It's definitely a mirror image of life itself, the endless cycling represents the rat race that many people live their lives by, blindly running along the treadmill, eating, sleeping, repeating, but every now and then something good comes along, do you strive for it, or let it pass? That's the situation for Bing.

That scene where Abi faces The Judges, it's just brutal.

I just love the imagery, the emojis, the idea of those constant, forced adverts, and being penalised for not watching them, amazing ideas.

Definitely a pop at the likes of X Factor, Britain's got talent, and all of those other shows headed up by egotistical judges.

Daniel Kaluuya and Jessica Brown Findlay deliver truly astounding performances.

Made back at the time when this show was producing genuinely sensational, thought provoking episodes.

10/10.

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9/10

This is Art

Cycling continuously and earning points was so similar to us being in mundane jobs and accumulating points to pay off our bills. Even when we accumulate enough points and buy the golden ticket; we do not actually get what we were hoping for. We humans have made a viscous circle for ourselves that we can never escape from.

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10/10

Multiple layers of darkness

I only recently came to Black Mirror and find it fascinating viewing them through the prism of all that's happened in the five years since this first season was produced.

The structure of this episode feels more like a piece of theatre. The scenarios in which the characters are placed are implausible and don't bear analysis (yes, of course using humans to generate electricity is not efficient) and the supporting characters are deliberately one- dimensional. But that's what makes it so effective.

Look beyond the obvious and specific commentary it provides on reality TV and body image obsession, and you'll find that what it really exposes is the fundamental futility of our modern consumption-driven existence. Our visceral needs to obtain more drives us to greater debt. Our debt forces us to work, pedalling frantically at life just to keep our heads above water. Like the man relegated to wear yellow and serve as the butt of crass humour, failure to keep up just pushes us onto a downward spiral from which we cannot return. And ultimately the fear of failure, of the oblivion of death, allows us to swallow our moral objections to that life when a path to greater comfort is offered to us.

And of course, at the end of the day, those in power know how to manipulate our weaknesses. They are caught up in the cycle, trapped themselves. The judges know they have to keep pushing the boundaries to keep people viewing. So their moral compass spins as wildly as our own as they struggle to stay ahead of the pack. In a world bereft of genuine feeling or emotion, what little genuineness exists is itself commoditized. Expressions of individuality, of innovation, become the intellectual property of others, are franchised and end up as dully ubiquitous as what came before.

But what choice do we have? Can we escape the treadmill? We are not fulfilled, but can we see a viable path to a fulfilling life? Are we better off mindlessly keeping the wheels turning so that the material necessities of life are still provided? Or do we take the risk and break out? Is there even anything outside the treadmill? Can we live outside of the economy that imprisons us? Is death really our only escape?

Or should we just resign ourselves to it? Become like the crass, mindless idiot who laughs along with the spoon-fed televisual mush? Can we suppress thoughts of betterment and make our lives tolerable by giving in to conformity? Can we let "I really had no choice" become a valid defence for our inhuman actions?

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10/10

Gut wrenching, but honest

Let me be honest: This is my first episode of Black Mirror, which is a show I've always heard is good, but never got to confirm for myself until now. What made me want to watch this specific episode is not the main character's actor, who has since gone on to star in this year's mega-hit 'Get Out', but it's premise alone. A world where people help power their isolated world by exercising, while those not fit enough become janitors who are often mistreated and mocked or the butt of a joke. It's shocking in it's themes, but not in a way that makes me want to puke.

To put it lightly, this episode displays why I now like this series: it's gut wrenching, horrifying, and shocking, but not in the conventional way of displaying horrific visuals meant to make you cringe. Instead, Black Mirror manages to get all 3 of these across the board with it's honest, tight, and brilliantly told messages about the many ways society could connect with technology... and let me tell you, none of them are really 'good'. This specific episode I've chosen to review is something that starts out subtle, and only goes downhill as the episode progresses. I'm not going to say anything about this episode other than how much it got to me, because it really is one you're better left seeing without too much knowledge about it. Many of the characters I found interesting, even some minor ones. They're relatable in ways that everyone can agree with, and the dialog plus the overall story is sharply written to a point that made the 1 hour I spent watching it feel like nothing.

If you're looking into Black Mirror as a potential series to binge, know that it's not for everyone. It's shocking and emotional in many unconventional ways, and almost always has a statement to make, so if that sounds good, then shoot for it. Just thinking of this episode makes me want to watch the other episodes.

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7/10

"I just want something real to happen. Just once."

Warning: Spoilers

Anybody here see and remember the movie "The Running Man"? It starred Arnold Schwarzenneger and took place in a dystopian future in which the mindless masses were kept entertained with programs featuring blood and violence. You have pretty much the same thing here except the violence has been replaced by celebrity sex by players who pay their dues on the way to becoming the next 'Hot Shot'. All throughout, the story hints at the idea that the principal characters Abi (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Bing (Daniel Kaluuya) won't succumb to the relentless pressure of achieving that status, knowing that the only thing they each want to do is what makes them happy. But that choice is made impossible by celebrity judges Wraith, Hope, and Charity, who promise to send the fan favorites back to their lives of daily boredom scoring points while creating energy for the State and watching mind numbing programs of questionable value. An alternate ending in which Bing slashes his throat would have been considered more acceptable to this viewer, in as much as he seemed to be fiercely opposed to the choice he was offered, but in the end he too failed to deliver on his principles. Not that he had to be that drastic, he could simply have returned to his previous status. As Rod Serling once posited in one his more memorable Twilight Zone episodes, I guess it's all in the 'Eye of The Beholder'.

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10/10

Still One of My Favorite "Black Mirror" Episodes.

Warning: Spoilers

To me, this is the episode which best captures the essence of "Black Mirror". Don't get me wrong, this entire show is filled with thought-provoking stories that will often make you think. It's one of the greatest attributes which consistently draws me to the sci-fi genre. However, for me, this episode nearly defines the entire show, in more ways than one.

"Fifteen Million Merits" centers on a futuristic civilization that is saturated in all things visual. Nearly everything is fake and synthetic; geared towards cheap pleasure, which offers no lasting meaning. The episode essentially takes what our current society values, from an entertainment standpoint, and extrapolates it into the future.

Let's face it. Human nature is drawn to superficial looks and "shock and awe". Just turn on the TV, and look at nearly every person on the screen. Every woman is a knockout, and all men have charisma. This is true from television shows, to news anchors, to even commercials. Society likes to look at beautiful people.

So this episode hits the nail right on the head, when it explores what happens when an innocent, attractive young lady enters a singing competition, with the hopes of winning first prize using her talented voice. In an "American Idol" style competition, the judges focus more on her looks than her voice. Innocence is stolen, as a heartfelt, noble dream is turned into something dirty.

This episode is of Shakespeare caliber, in terms of its writing. Not only is it highly creative, it also touches something that we can all relate to. General society, as a whole, is shallow. We're all judged, at least initially, on our looks; whether we like it or not. It's one of the ugly attributes of mankind, and this show's purpose, is to reveal it -- Hence the name "Black Mirror".

When you turn off the television screen, we're left with a black screen -- a mirror. That mirror reveals that we, as individuals, choose to watch what's on the screen. We see our own reflection, every time we turn off the screen. We're reminded of whose watching. The first episode makes this same point, but this episode does, as well.

After watching this episode, multiple times, I'm able to see its contribution to the series, as a whole. Bing escapes his life on the bike, by putting a piece of broken glass to his neck. That piece of glass resembles the same broken piece of glass at the beginning of every episode, in the title sequence. The title sequence shows the screen break on the "Black Mirror" title. Could one of those broken shards reflect this episode and Bing's new way of making money with his new stage prop?

I may be making an unintended connection between this episode, and the opening title sequence of this show. However, that's one of the beautiful things about this show. There's so much to be seen and recognized, since it truly causes viewers to think.

The music, for this episode, is also noteworthy. The composer did a great job conveying complete innocence with the beginning scenes of Bing and Abi. The characters connect on a completely innocent level, and the music captures this, perfectly. Appropriate music also captures Abi's fall, on the "Hot Shots" stage, when the judges and crowd, pick her apart, and cause her to give in to their sinister idea. The music perfectly conveys the chipping away of her innocence. She's like a lamb, being surrounded by hungry wolves. The directing is brilliant, and the writing is top-notch!

I love this episode, for so many reasons. It subtly underscores the way humans think, and what people tend to value, on an instinctual level. This not only makes the episode clever, but also highly relatable; and it does so in a tasteful, yet entertaining, manor. The director could have chosen to show lots of nudity, but they chose not to. It's able to make the point, without being the point. Well done.

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10/10

The real genius of this story

SPOILER: The real genius of this story wasn't so much the setting, or even most of the plot. The dystopian future this is taking place in with two modes of life - underground, in a sort of indentured servitude, or in the penthouses with a view - isn't all that original either. What i loved about this episode was the ending. It wasn't a dramatic ending. It wasn't a happy ending. It was a depressing ending. The protagonist starts out with morals and a stand to take and ends up consumed by the consumerism he makes money off of. Its disconcerting most of all because i think it rings true. And it's creepy how true the entire setting seems.

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9/10

A powerful, heart wrenching vision of the future (and the present).

This episode tore my heart out and stomped on it for good measure. Whereas Black Mirror's first episode was more darkly comic in tone (disturbing nonetheless), this was an utterly bleak excursion into the realms of reality television and our consumerist culture. Oh and a beautiful love story to boot. But if you think this love story is bound for a happy ending, you haven't watched Black Mirror before.

Although a touch heavy handed in its message, its themes still ring painfully true. It looks with disdain upon our symbiotic relationship with reality television, and how anything of purity, authenticity, and honest beauty will inevitably become corrupted and filtered down to a 'lowest common denominator' level of entertainment to feed the willing masses.

Its simply a powerful yet utterly bleak hour of brilliant thought provoking television.

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8/10

Seems so long ago, yet so prescient

I still haven't seen Black Mirror season 3 onwards (I guess I have to subscribe to Netflix eventually). I'm only now catching up on three episodes from the early years: this and the third one in season 1, and the Christmas one with Jon Hamm.

Fifteen Million Merits has several layers that is akin to a rorschach test. What you see depends on your priority in life. Consumerism? Capitalism? Talent shows? Simon Cowell? You have it all wen you see this.

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9/10

Creative Second Effort

This, of course, is an outrageous allegory about the foundations of our decline. The plot involves a man who seems to be comfortable. His bodily needs are taken care of. He seems somewhat free. But we soon find out that his daily routine is to get on a stationary bike and earn merits. These accumulate and can be exchanged for the the things that the governing body (whatever that is) is willing to sell them their products. They can get snacks from vending machines, watch pornography, mundane music, watch fat people being abused, on and on. They can also try to leave their station by giving up their merits in order to try to be celebrities themselves. It requires a huge number of merits (in the case 15 million) which could take six months to accumulate. Two people find each other and one makes a big sacrifice to allow that person to realize her dream. She must audition for three disgusting show-biz types in a kind of Hunger Games interview. We learn quickly that the decks are stacked and the prospect of pedaling a bicycle for eternity versus a modicum of celebrity is a hard decision. One of the most striking things about the episode is that people are represented to one another as avatars. When the girl sings in her audition, she sings before an arena full of cartoon figures who are the extension of real people. An excellent second episode after the first sickening one. I'll keep moving on to the third.

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9/10

Painful

That was really a good episode. The theme of the audio is much like our daily life. Regularly working 9 to 5 to earn these foolish luxuries and then bragging about them is pointless.

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8/10

Beautiful Irony

This is one of the best if not the best episode about what Black Mirror is about.

A clash of technology and human emotions. A great display of it.

In the end it is truly ironic how the expression of emotions and calling the system out in a way results in turning and reinforcing the system. Intelligent and well ut together. Also the start of playing the recurring song Anyone. This is the episode that got me hooked on the series

8.5/10

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8/10

The Matrix vs The X Factor

Today, more than ever, man is a slave - a slave to capitalism, consumerism, modern economy, and media brainwashing. We are trapped in a vicious circle of cash flow and our lives are spent paying bills, repaying loans, and constantly striving to stay afloat. The powerful manipulate our needs and satisfy them, probably largely unaware that, although on a different level, they themselves are trapped in the same game.

With this satirical futuristic episode, "Black Mirror" brings this hopeless situation to an extreme, making the life of an individual completely meaningless. But the satire here is not achieved through humor, but through the depressing and uneasy atmosphere of the story of a society in which brainwashed individuals spend their lives producing electricity by endlessly turning the pedals, while virtual reality diverts their attention from general absurdity. And when a whiff of individuality and the will to change accidentally appears in one of them, they are effectively suffocated by skillful manipulation and the screw is freshly oiled and returned to the machinery.

8/10.

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10/10

The Best Played Role I have Ever seen

Warning: Spoilers

I watch many movies from many different genres,so when I saw this I was intrigued. So I began this episode and watched as a future which does not seem that far fetched loomed onto the screen. We see a future where if you do not watch the screen then you are inundated with this screeching siren of a noise. Then your eyes open and it stops while you are in a tiny prison riding a bicycle for power while sitting next to people that you would never ordinarily socialize with. Yet this is what you see and a screen so your avatar can buy accoutrements to make it look more unique. Yet you physically remain on a bicycle watching television until seemingly your eyes would bleed.

Then you watch as this relationship develops and in it's simplicity and fragile nature it is beautiful actually. In a world where there seemed to be little lingering spirituality or soul there came a voice and he heard it and fell in love. Possibly for the first time. He saw another being and loved and suddenly. So to inspire others and to get her out of prison he was willing to allow himself to remain in his prison to give her wings to fly.

Then well you can watch what they do to her a little later however he gains a determination and a care for nothing anymore and goes on that stage raw and spectacularly displays the rage for the whole population of the slaves on bicycles.

Within those few minutes i witnessed more talent coming from Daniel Kaluuya than I have in a very long time from Hollywood. His heart was right there screaming those lines as if it were the last thing ever performed. I was absolutely stunned watching him act.

This show is worth every second. Go watch it now and ask yourself what are you doing to possibly contribute to a world such as this? What could you change to help avoid or at least not contribute to this and do it.

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10/10

Epicurus would have approved

Warning: Spoilers

This week's Black Mirror is, again, brilliant. Epicurus would have approved of the mirror it holds to modern corruption.

Perfectly portrayed parody, portraying the pustulating, pestilential, purgatory of perpetual, pervasive, plebvision puerility - pandering, pathetically, to perverse passions - producing pure pornography *.

A dystopian present all too real to some already. The only real objection that I have to my iPad is that it makes it more difficult to turn off the advertisements - no doubt, as 15 Million Merits so marvelously makes clear, the intention is to make them compulsory.

If the writers of Black Mirror aren't on my exact wavelength, they're certainly absolutely in phase with my prejudices.

['pornography' is, originally, defined by the authors, not the subject matter]

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9/10

A Mirror Darkley

Warning: Spoilers

A Mirror Darkly 15 Million Merits is almost an adaption of 1984, the world which is depicts is one of stark and total sensual deprivation, where people literally live though their social networks, there isn't money, there isn't reality, there are the confines of you room, and where you work. But even in this hollow reality there are the Telescreens constantly crying for your attention, to the point of being the wholeness of your personal life.

This episode is not only a rebellion against the puerility, of reality television and the way it distracts from what is important in life, like the week of hate in 1984; it rallies the mob to a cause that is ultimately insignificant but encourages an almost self-fulfilling prophecy or purpose, it doesn't matter what is shown, or who it is, if it is real or not, but the mind has moved to a point of total deprivation of thought. The mind of these characters has become dead, uniqueness is something expressed though the hair of an avatar, it does as it is instructed, it thinks what it is told to think. In the world of 15 Million Metris, Sex and Horror are the new gods there is no morality it has all been digitized away by screaming avatars mimicking life with glassy eyed insincerity of a black mirror.

This episode if a brilliant indictment of not only the people that watch reality television and those that don't but the life it creates around it, the constant buzz between horror and sex. Ala Cheryl Cole being a role model for young women, while she prostitutes herself at HMV on posters where she kneels on all fours looking up at you, no different to the constant stream of pornography shown in this episode. This instalment is about indifference breading contempt for morality and life and that innocence is something to be cherish not sold, where it becomes cold and twisted, a broken Hallelujah.

"To predict the behaviour of ordinary people in advance, you only have to assume that they will always try to escape a disagreeable situation with the smallest possible expenditure of intelligence." Friedrich Nietzsche

• Just watch it

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7/10

What was that?

Whatever it was, it nearly made me suffocate with holding my breath.

You know that feeling you get, that almost nausea, that exhilarating terror when you take the plunge over a roller-coaster loop, that feeling of stretching out a finger to barely touch something transcendental, that white blank feeling you get when you've hit ground zero and the truth is there, almost there...

No?

I've had that feeling before. I almost can't quite remember when, just that the enormity of feeling something like that couldn't possibly be contained in a memory.

This makes no sense, does it?

I don't know - but tell me you didn't feel something rare when you watched Bing nearly commit cultural, political and physical suicide on that stage. I've never seen anything that's managed to depress and stimulate me at once. I've never seen anything that raw and human. Not for a long time.

Watch it?

And transcribe the end speech. I would have that tattOOED.

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9/10

Cut me to my core.

As the first season of Black Mirror progresses (only being 3 episodes long), I personally find it to explore deeper subject matter. "Fifteen Million Merits" simply affects me as a person a lot more than the previous episode "The National Anthem," which contained more shock value than anything as far as I saw it.

"Fifteen Million Merits" takes place in a futuristic "digital utopia" (saw that description elsewhere, and I liked it... though I would personally view it as a "waking nightmare.") This world that doesn't resemble ours upon sight, but seems to represent it in every metaphorical way possible. The protagonist contains pure values that no one else around him seems to have, until he meets a woman singing a beautiful song. There is love there, and a yearning for something greater than than the slave-like existences they are currently living, riding on hamster wheels, for what seems to be no purpose.

In typical Black Mirror style, the dark, apathetic, and indifferent aspects of human nature are there to see in all their glory. There is a speech given by the protagonist toward the end that cuts to my core as much as anything could, highlighting pretty much all of the things that I myself have come to despise about our society. I have known people who have watched this and thought it was boring, so I am forced to believe this isn't for everyone. But, for those of you who question authority, spend any time thinking outside of your little bubble, and strive to be more than a "rat in a cage," well then my friend, this episode is for you.

Aside from all of the wonderful messages, it also layers on top all of the visual details that make this digital world so unique, much of which is reminiscent, but still very different from our world today. The innovation of the details is so terrific, that I was truly blown away. The only reason this one falls 1 star short of perfection is there is a slight lull throughout. Once it kicks off, it's all systems go... but perhaps 5 mins or so could have been shaved off? A lot of time that many would find unnecessary is spent setting up the world to get you used to it, and become immersed in it.

All-in-all, this is a wonderful episodes that absolutely hits the nail on the head of channeling the reality TV watching, short attention span nature of today's modern culture... and gives us a rather dark glimpse at what could be if we continue down this moral-craved path.

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9/10

Near-future dystopia, partly familiar-looking, partly with its own new forms of mediocrity and unpleasantness

Warning: Spoilers

While the dystopia in this next offering of high-class and indeed mind-blowing British sci-fi obviously owes a debt to our country's ever-pertinent predecessor duo authoring "1984" and "Brave New World", Charlie Brooker does bring in certain inventive features all of his own here. And just like its "Black Mirror" predecessor episode "National Anthem", this one keeps allowing new ideas to unfold at each moment through to the very end, often surprising the viewer as this happens.

In the meantime (and again in the same vein as with "National Anthem") we have multiple (conceivably even too many) targets having potshots taken at them, and the emotions come in thick and fast.

The most Orwellian feature here is the sheer dullness of the everday existence presented. Nothing looks very high-class, and most things look artifiical, flashy, dumbed-down and childish - yet, while the people living this life do seem to have insight into this fact (certainly lead role Daniel Kaluuya as Bing seems to notice that "everything is sh**"), and while they are not apparently forced to keep with this lowest common denominator by Big Brother/Thought Police/Room 101-like terror or even - most likely - by being drugged, as in the Huxley masterpiece, they do things as prescribed and play along...

Why would that be?

A clue may be provided with a further twist in the tale at the end, given the implication that these bits of human civilisation (if we can dignify what we see with that term) seem to exist in order to allow everywhere else beyond the confines of the centres we see to return to nature. That's a particularly paradoxical and chilling thought if the interpretation is correct.

What price a restored environment?

Yet this gels with the idea that the even-slightly-overweight are very much abused and looked down on in the society presented here - the implication being that they are taking more than their fair share of resources, or some such, and can to be mocked and abused for that.

The beautiful and still-carefree 21-year-old Abi is an obvious reference to "Julia" in 1984, and of course she entrances Bing who is her Winston Smith. And just as Julia somehow lets Winston (and the reader) down in "1984", so the gorgeous Jessica Brown Findlay in the role of Abi accepts - very reluctantly, under merciless audience pressure, but nevertheless - that her lucrative, privileged if demeaning place will be in porn, rather than singing. Bing is similarly broken by this system (again a la Winston Smith), the thing being all-encompassing enough to allow him to preach a toned-down version of his diatribes against that very system as a new form of paid-for entertainment within the system framework!!

And, this being "Black Mirror", the fact that Abi and Bing both escape the daily grind and go on to higher, more elite things DOES NOT mean them getting back together to rekindle the wonderfully inspiring love that they have experienced briefly.

So all is miserable and maudlin once again, but certainly thought-provoking enough.

Perhaps tyrannical discipline is really not needed in a world where people have nothing to spend unless they first exercise-cycle their way through energy production, then buy meagre rations and dire entertainment before starting the next bout of exercising ad nauseam.

Indeed, much of that entertainment in its commercial aspect they will continue to receive UNLESS they pay "merits" NOT to receive it - a tragic and terribly scary twist denoting a default position in which everybody is soused with advertising or commercial pressures and content, unless they can afford not to be.

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8/10

Very futuristic

Warning: Spoilers

This is by far the most futuristic and eccentric episode. It is a satire of live TV contest shows. Like many of Black Mirror episodes, the story is also kinda creepy. Daniel Kaluuya is the star of this episode, and he's fantastic...and he's also hot.

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8/10

I want to ride my bicycle.

'Fifteen Million Merits (2011)' is the second entry in Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror (2011-). It's perhaps more typical of the series as a whole, with a single sci-fi premise at its core and a generally downbeat vibe. It's also highly satirical, a reflection of reality that's only become more relevant in the years since its initial release. Despite its heavy allegory and multi-faceted message, the piece remembers that it is, first and foremost, entertainment. As such, it's entertaining. It's also incredibly interesting and consistently compelling. It tells a fully-rounded story, with a tight script and a strong sense of design. The thing ties itself together wonderfully, culminating in an explosive finale that's truly great. Its first half, dedicated to establishing its world and setting up its extended meet-cute, is enjoyable and endearing. Its second, which is much darker, is straight-up gripping. You know something bad is going to happen but you really don't want it to, too invested in the central characters to care whether or not their suffering would make for better TV. It's really, really good. One of its best features is its star-making turn from leading man Kaluuya, which is still one of his best performances to date (it's not like he's ever given a bad one, though). His moment in the spotlight, as it were, is raw, visceral and properly powerful. It's a great end to a great experience. 8/10

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9/10

Satire Alert

Firstly if you want to ingest something that validates your life, that confirms everything you already believe in or something that makes you feel comforted, loved or thrilled then you probably need to go away and look in the (black?) mirror.

It manages to be upsetting, tedious and poignant and necessarily so. Also add intriguing.

Unfortunately judging by outbursts on Tw*tter (its a love/hate relationship) it seems many people are reacting in a similar way to one of the more remedial characters in this work of genius.

Watch this then turn of your TV for a while and read. Society depends on it.

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10/10

What used to be a radicalization is now truer than ever.

Warning: Spoilers

I remember watching this episode and from what i recall it changed my perception of the world as i knew it completely, however I found the part where Abi is persuaded into joining the porn industry a bit over the top.

I rewatched it today due to Netflix skipping over this specific episode after watching "The Entire History Of You" and I can confidently say that this fit the bill more than ever.

Anyone and everyone is making money through OnlyFans and honest work is completely buried in fabricated half-measures, quantity over quality.

As the lines between the two gets all the more blurred.

The acting is superb, this is too real and I actually feel ill as I'm watching this, the sense of impending doom is all the more prevalent as i feel smaller when the thought hits me this is me, I am Bing.

We all are.

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6/10

My first review

Watching all black mirror again . Not sure why this one is so highly rated . There is obviously a message to it but it's slow to start and I got bored 3 times watching it .acting is superb though

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15 Million Credits: Good idea that is solidly done but doesn't hit home as hard or as quickly as it should

Warning: Spoilers

The first episode of this series was a real doozey; it thrilled, engaged and disgusted all in the context of damning society with its realism and dark, ugly view. The second episode sees a futuristic story which seeks to condemn modern society again, with a similar range of topics. In the future, workers cycle endlessly to generate electricity while earning credits which can be spent on food, accommodation, entertainment or just generally stuff they don't need that has no reality or value. We follow one guy through this as he finds something he thinks is worth more than money. In essence this episode puts virtual worlds, online social interaction, exploitative entertainment and more on trial and goes at it for its sheer hollowness.

As an idea it is a good one. In some ways it will seem exaggerated but those that think it is vastly unrecognizable simply do not have the awareness of reality. All the things within this fictional world are real – from online avatars and virtual products through to people working pointless mind-numbing jobs for the sake of it and of course the specter of cruel reality television and manufactured dreams. All of it is fair game and in a way the episode is mostly successful in how it does it. The kick in the tail is solid and the general delivery does a good job of damning the bigger picture and the detail. That said, it is a little heavy handed in how it does it – certainly when viewed to the much cleverer scenario of the first episode. It also doesn't help that it unfolds slower than it should – I'm not sure why this episode ran to over an hour, but it doesn't warrant it. The irony within that is that some aspects of the story seem to happen too quickly and easily for the sake of the narrative.

The conclusion is nice but in retrospect doesn't sting as it should and I did wish it had had more teeth and bite. Visually the world is good and the ideas are sometimes just a step away from reality. I watched this just a week after Xbox announced their new "always listening" console with its daily online checks required to keep it working and its use of hand gestures etc to operate it, so yes seeing this world here often did not seem too far-fetched and indeed in some ways was eerily close. Paying to skip adverts and "content" was the one that really just seemed like it is only a few steps of "progress" away.

The cast make the episode work well in the most part. Kaluuya plays the lead well and does good work in the later stages, even if it is hard for him not to overplay (since the situation calls for it). The three judges are an obvious clone and none of them really did more than impersonate their real counterparts. There are moments of humanity in here and I thought that Findlay and Laughland both delivered in small touches that worked.

Overall, this episode was very much in the shadow of the strong opening story. It has good ideas and it mostly works but it does it slower than it should and it never really bites so much as nibbles and barks. It is still solidly done and I enjoyed it, but I hope the third episode is closer in quality to the first rather than the second one.

What was the point of Black Mirror Fifteen Million Merits?

Set against the backdrop of a dystopian future, this episode explores the nature of the digital economy, labor, consumerism, and the entertainment industry. It can be argued that, with its bleak portrayal of the perils of technology, this episode was the first to set the dark and uneasy tone for the series.

What is considered the best Black Mirror episode?

1 "White Christmas" (Season 2, Episode 4) "White Christmas" is Black Mirror's 2014 Christmas special, although at 74 minutes long, it's almost a feature. Considered the best Black Mirror episode by many, "White Christmas" stars Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall and tells three interconnected stories.

Why do they cycle in 15 million merits?

He rides on a stationary bike to generate electricity in exchange for "merits", which he needs to pay for his daily cost of living. He sits next to Dustin (Paul Popplewell), an obnoxious man who degrades the overweight cleaners as they pass and watches pornography as he cycles.

Is Black Mirror Fifteen Million Merits scary?

Season 1, Episode 2: Fifteen Million Merits This twist on “American Idol,” in which people are coerced into doing things they don't want to do, is too much like real life to be scary. Depressing, yes. But not really scary.