Jael

I agree; assuming their relationship is fine unless we get clear evidence otherwise. Romantic couples are largely damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't as far as PDAs go on the Mat -- either they smush their faces together and people say "Too much!" or they do a polite peck/shoulder bump/hug and people say "Eh, I'm not convinced they're really together." (or both, it's the internet.)

So much good about this one; definitely my favorite of the season. Fantastic casting, especially Jimmi Simpson -- plenty of actors can come across completely believable as a) a simpering coward or b) a confident jackhole, but it's rare to see someone so good at both. I can't quibble too much with the genitals thing since it made possible the destined-to-be-classic line from Nanette, "Stealing my p*ssy is a red f*cking line!"

Too many holes in this one. For one, Mia left the memory device on Shazia when she beat her to death; I assumed that was going to be what undid her. Also, if you just killed somebody and you hear a baby crying and you're trying to avoid racking up and/or having to kill witnesses, try not going in the room where the baby is. (Could have easily been avoided by having her kill the seated husband from the back while he was watching TV and then notice the kid was snuggling up next to him unseen, but then I guess you miss 10 minutes of horrifying tension. Still, indicative of sloppy writing.)

I'm so excited I finished the whole season, mostly because I can now hang out in this thread! Before Black Museum, I was going to say the quality of this season had dropped dramatically from the previous ones, but damn, they knew what they were doing when they put that episode last. USS Callister & Black Museum were head-and-shoulders above the rest, and seeing that one at the end made me feel retrospectively rosy about the whole season, honestly. But what I mainly wanted to talk about was this: I wonder about Charlie Brooker's writing process, and whether he tends to write characters without gender or race and then either assigns those in a later draft or trusts the casting director to assign the best actor for the role. The casting for this season was exquisite (with the single and extremely distracting exception of Arkangel's "15-year-old Sara", sigh.) Whether it's happening intentionally or not, we're getting a nice broad range of female characters, for example -- from reprehensible murderers like Mia to avenging angels like Nish to the physically and mentally badass Bella in Metalhead. There's no plot-related reason any of those characters needed to be female, right? There's no plot-related reason Aldis Hodge's character in Black Museum or the investigator's husband in Crocodile needed to be black. (Obviously when there are kids involved they pay attention to casting within a plausible racial background, but otherwise, the field seems unusually open.) Which I like. It's great when TV tells stories that draw on a particular background or subculture, but it's also great to just see a more representative range of faces on screen, period.

Well-said. I was trying to parse the difference between the copies in USS Callister and this ep, and why I felt awful for the former and not the latter, and that's it. These don't have the memories or consciousness of the real people, so "trapping" or even "killing" these copies is less of a problem. If even rebellion is accepted as a positive outcome, and at the end they just vaporize, it's very different from the Callister clones or the cookies of "White Christmas."

As a mom of small kids, including a little blonde daughter, I was so worried about this one where this one might go, I skipped ahead to watch Hang the DJ until I was in the right frame of mind and full daylight. Guess I needn't have worried. One of my least favorite episodes -- it just doesn't go anywhere that interesting. Plenty of parents already drive their kids away by being too restrictive and invasive. It doesn't take near-future technology to cause the problem you're trying to solve.

I read the book as well, and I've read your theory on the jarring music, but if that's what they're going for, it isn't working for everyone. People sauntering confidently in slo-mo to "Feeling Good" makes me think I'm watching "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and that Boyle's about to slip on a banana peel. (And I love Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but this show is... not that.) I agree with others above who say Ann Dowd is killing it as Aunt Lydia -- not a sympathetic character, and easy to depict as pure evil. Dowd is bringing something better.

I complained about the jarring music cues back in Episode 3 and it was better for a while but there were two in the finale that were absolutely ridiculous. Someone here is scoring for comedy -- "Feeling Good" and "American Girl" would have made me laugh if I weren't so furious. This is a good show. Not flawless, but good. And the music choices come as close to ruining it as any music possibly could.

And we are legion. I'd forgotten Dohring had been cast this season, so it was a nice surprise, though I agree with all the speculation above that there's a good chance Vivian's not dead at all. They sure do like to pile up twist on twist on this show. I admit I have a little trouble following it sometimes -- though I thought I'd missed something about why Major/Liv was shoved aside for Justin/Liv, but from what I read here, it was unexplained. Sigh. Wasn't sure where I recognized Finn Vincible from -- apparently he was on VM as someone named Mason. Off to scour the internet for whoever the hell Mason was.

This show is utter genius and I savor nearly every second of it, but this is the third episode of three with a jarring, aggressive music cue near the end of the episode and it is throwing me out of this world every single time. I'm sure cues like "Don't You Forget About Me" are used to remind us that our current world isn't so far away from this one, but I just find it too jarring to accept. It almost seems to be making light of what we're seeing. I really question that decision. Can't tell whether I'm more scared for the "batshit-insane" Ofwarren or of her. I was pretty sure she was going to smother that poor baby (it's been a long time since I read the book, plus I don't know what they've changed) but now that they've shown her delusion about her Commander being in love with her, I don't see that happening. Thank goodness. Plenty of darkness in other directions, obvs.

As much as I enjoyed seeing Logan naked on a horse, that made no sense. If he survived, it would be his word against William's, and why would they believe William? Logan was the one with the rank and power. And given how hardcore William was, I can't imagine him sending Logan off to die without being 100% sure death would actually result. My other frustration is Felix's mindless cooperation with Maeve, but he could still be a host, so I'll wait and see on that. If the picture someone posted on p1 of a Felix-looking samurai means he was designed as a host for a different park of the park, her line "you're one of them, not one of us," could still apply. (Though unlike Cylons, so far all hosts seem to be unique, right? One Dolores, one Teddy, etc. though they may play different roles over the years.) Did Abernathy make it out of the park? Was that addressed? My new life goal is to look as good as Tessa Thompson in high-waisted white pants.

Aw, this was sweet. Way off brand for Black Mirror, but lovely, and my goodness is Gugu Mbatha-Raw insanely magnetic. The afterworld didn't seem to be terribly well thought-out (how do you jump from year to year? how would they know where to meet and when, like how did she know Kelly was coming back at the end? while you're still in your body how can you have fully tactile VR experiences? what if people's idea of fun has nothing to do with arcade games, bars or The Quagmire?) but as a framework, it served the story.

Best of the season for me, just ahead of Nosedive. I immediately thought nanobots after the journalist's husband's testimony and that wasn't far off, but they kept it twisty and clever enough to keep me guessing. Kelly Macdonald is the champion of the world, damn.

Disappointed by this one. It's not that I found it too bleak, but I expect Black Mirror to be clever, and I kept waiting for something clever to be revealed -- was it Kenny's mother or sister trapping him all along? Was there some other link between masterminds and victims/accomplices? But no, it was just awful people trying to get out of having their awfulness revealed to their loved ones, and then it was all revealed anyway, and that was the end.

Agreed that Mariah putting up with "That's my girl" is ridiculous. I expected her to spit back "I ain't your girl, boy," with hardly a heartbeat between.