S03.E01: Nosedive

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

Insecure office worker Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard) lives in a happy, smiley, status-obsessed nightmare world. Her old friend Naomi (Alice Eve) is one of society's elites -- and Lacie may have found a way to join her...

[Primetimer]

Lisa Schmeiser is not a crackpot. She just thinks this episode illustrates that the primary peril of social media is not how it warps your social interactions, but how it muffles your sense of style.

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[Sarah D. Bunting]

"a girl wearing an enormous shaker-knit sweater and Hunter Boots while standing pigeon-toed in a pile of crimson leaves"

A+

[snowwhyte]

This episode really reminded me of one of my favourite episodes of Community, where everyone has a rating and their place in society is guided my their number. It's always an intriguing topic to explore since there are people who base their sense of self worth on the opinions of others and not just in a general way. It's all about numbers of followers, numbers of likes etc.

Black Mirror has always been uncomfortable to watch because of the way it presents what seem like extreme situations that in reality are not far from what we currently experience.  I think this episode was actually one of the more realistic ones. I could imagine some people living like this.

On a side note, as a Brit, it is interesting to see a more Americanized episode of Black Mirror. So far it seems not quite as bleak as the earlier series.

[benteen]

Great episode and definitely classic Black Mirror.  Howard was outstanding in it and I thought that was Cherry Jones and I was right.  The whole rating system works for this show and doesn't seem too far from reality.  Although I think I would be off the grid.  That kind of thing looks absolutely exhausting. 

[snowwhyte]

i gave you a like. are you going to like me? OMG you haven't given me a like. Does that mean my opinion isn't valid? Do people not like me? What do i need to do to get people to like me?

Yeah, that is really exhausting. I'm not really into social media and i generally don't care much about what people think about me but it is really easy to get sucked into that whole thing. You post a comment, someone likes it, you get a little ego boost and suddenly you're chasing it like a high. It is really sad though. I wouldn't want to live like that. I did enjoy her brother being the voice of reason.

[Chaos Theory]

The ending was great.  You so ugly jokes.   I also thought the wedding reception where she finally broke down was fabulously well done.  

Yeah the wold  would be exhausting to live in.  Keeping up your online persona almost constantly.  We would in essence be a world of Kardashians but worse.   When you do fall you fall hard and far.

Two stars?!

it wasn't s meaningful encounter.

 

<----edited to add:. Should I worry about the irony of commenting on social media about an episode that comments on social media?  Or does this really count as "social media"?

Edited October 22, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[benteen]

It was a great satire not only of social media but of the PC language police run amok.  It kind of reminded me too of the Twilight Zone episode where the townspeople have to constantly think good thoughts and say happy things.

I really liked Cherry Jones's trucker character.

Edited October 22, 2016 by benteen

[SlackerInc]

8 hours ago, snowwhyte said:

This episode really reminded me of one of my favourite episodes of Community, where everyone has a rating and their place in society is guided my their number.

Meow-meow Beenz!

I liked this episode quite a bit, although it could have been tightened up by editing out ten minutes or so.  I also was disappointed that as she got dragged out of the wedding, she was screaming about how much she loved "Nay Nay".  I was hoping it was going to all be more along the lines of the "fuck the planet" jab.

[Demian]

Give me a fucking break: Bryce Daddy Howard's in a relationship with James Fucking Norton, and she's tossing him attitude?  Honey, get over yourself, because despite your father's influence, you are still SO not that.

Whoops.  They're siblings?  Whatev.  She's still blowing way more attitude than her so-called "talent" can handle.

Also:  James Norton needs to start penciling in his eyebrows. (But I still love him, anyway.)

Edited October 22, 2016 by Demian

[Chaos Theory]

What I like most about Nosedive is that this is something that a tech company could actually come up with tomorrow.  Its not something 100 years in the future or if things had gone a little different and we make different choices kind of story.   I found it fascinating how easily the world could be created from where we are now in society.  A world where someones "Facebook status" determines if they have good job or get medical care or even picked up on the street after a flat tire.  Alot of my problems with Dark Mirror is that the worlds seem too far in the future or maybe a little too dark for my tastes but I liked how the ending even though Lacy's life was destroyed had shred of hope.  That being "disconnected" gave her the first (well second) taste of genuine human connection.   

[Negritude]

12 hours ago, benteen said:

It was a great satire not only of social media but of the PC language police run amok.  It kind of reminded me too of the Twilight Zone episode where the townspeople have to constantly think good thoughts and say happy things.

I really liked Cherry Jones's trucker character.

Yes! The cornfield episode for the new millennium. I also liked the callback to the earlier seasons with the whole eyeball technology.

18 hours ago, snowwhyte said:

On a side note, as a Brit, it is interesting to see a more Americanized episode of Black Mirror. So far it seems not quite as bleak as the earlier series.

It wasn't as bleak and that's disappointing for me. I have a feeling the British episodes will probably be the standouts of the season. I skipped ahead and watched episode 4 which was also American and it was just ok. I binged the 1st 2 seasons all at once and loved them, but season 3 not so much. In the words of Randy Jackson, it was just aiight for me dawg, lol.

[Chaos Theory]

I think the show might be a little too bleak for me.  Which is probably why I appreciated the episode.  Still not a traditionally happy ending but not so bleak that I dread the next episode. I also liked how well developed the world was and a lot of the moments just worked for me like when Lacy went to get coffee and everyone was on their phones and not actually communicating with each other.  The Cherry Jones scenes worked as both a general info dump and as a terrible tale of how easy a single bad rating or the opinions of people you never met could have deadly consequences.   I've watched most of season three and this remains my favorite.  

[NorthstarATL]

I keep imagining what Jane Austen would make of the Selfie and Yelp society, and think it would be akin to the first part of this episode. The scariest part to me was the encounter at the airport. I can totally see that sort of thing coming in today's society where every customer/service provider encounter can be rated. To have immediate fallout is not too far a stretch.

[Charlesman]

There actually was a Yelp for People app where you could rate everyone you met, a couple of years ago. Thank God it failed. 

[NutMeg]

I love how they bonded at the end by screaming suicide-on-social-media horrors to each other without fear of repercussion.

This felt like a very near future. It's not out of the realm of possibilities to think that media influencers can already have better deals on their rentals - heck, I think I read recently that the Kardshians had free holiday somewhere because they show the place on social media.

I'm going to brace myself this season, and will come back here for more in depth talk between episodes :) 

 

Ooops, I meant I'm going to *pace* myself :)

Edited October 25, 2016 by NutMeg

[zxy556575]

4 hours ago, NutMeg said:

This felt like a very near future. It's not out of the realm of possibilities to think that media influencers can already have better deals on their rentals

It made me think about the "free product for your honest review" crap that's already going on.

[Zima]

I really enjoyed this episode, for the most part. I could totally see this happening in the near future (it's already sort of happening now, with the Facebook and instagram "likes"), and it is so scary.

The only think I didn't like was the ending. I thought it should have ended either when she was dragged off, or when she was put in her jail cell.  The yelling back and forth between her and the other prisoner was too light-hearted and funny. Black Mirror is at it's best when the episodes end with bleakness that I'm left to wallow in for hours. 

[Portia]

Interesting premise, but I wasn't feeling the wackiness.

For years now I've been screaming at Hollywood, "Stop trying to make Bryce Dallas Howard happen!" Ugh. I fear I'm fighting a losing battle. 

Edited October 23, 2016 by Portia

[Chaos Theory]

I thought the ending was a necessiry part of the story.  I understand that many feel the bleakness is what makes this show special but like the Twlight Zone some of the best episodes have a glimmer of hope.  

I found it ironic that the only people who found any true happiness were those with abysmally low ratings and those who stopped playing by the rules of society.  Even Lacy's brother whose rating was a 2 something managed to have a real friend who would put him up,. 

It was those who gave up or were cast out who found real happiness.  I think any other ending would have missed that point.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[benteen]

I didn't mind the ending either.  I appreciated that glimmer of hope.  It's nice to get that once and a while.  People remember the twists of The Twilight Zone but often forget that Rod Serling liked to give characters a second chance.  Black Mirror isn't like that but it's a nice change of pace to see hope once and a while.

[Slovenly Muse]

I'm not sure that it IS a particularly hopeful ending. I mean, yes, it's cathartic to see these characters make a human connection that's based on reality and not some arbitrary system of numbers, but in the end, that catharsis is practically meaningless. Lacy is rated about as close to a zero as a person can get and now has a criminal record. She may have had a genuine experience and found some personal fulfillment, but when she gets out of jail she will find herself back in a world that determines her value based on a number that she can't control. She'll never be able to have those cathartic moments again; not if she also wants a place to live, a job, the ability to buy nice things and live in comfort... She's a pariah, and likely always will be. In a way, giving her a taste of genuine human connection was the cruellest ending possible for her, because she doesn't live in a world where that sincerity can be parlayed into happiness. (And I certainly don't mean to imply that material wealth is the same as happiness. I'm only saying that from what we see in this episode of how "sub-3's" are treated, your ranking affects your whole experience of life, not just your wealth and physical comfort.)

I agree that the ending was not as bleak as most episodes, but it feels a bit simplistic to say that this one is "hopeful." It gave me a lot to stew in, and I'm still not sure how I felt about it all, but I will certainly not be forgetting this one anytime soon!

[Chicago Redshirt]

Anyone else reminded of the episode from a previous season in which people  saved up credits to potentially appear on an American Idol-like show and the one person got a gig basically being a shock jock? A different outcome/moral but somewhat similar in the notion that people would be so susceptible to being rated.

Anyway, I like to think that our heroine will get let out of her cell and have fantastic hate sex with her co-inmate.

I also hope she will come to a happy medium between the perpetually fake, perpetually concerned sort that she was going to try to curry favor with and the don't give a f--- person like Large Marge. 

[Epeolatrix]

Quote

There actually was a Yelp for People app where you could rate everyone you met, a couple of years ago. Thank God it failed. 

Snopes has a good article about the 'Yelp for People' app (Peeple), which officially launched in March 2016. Average rating on the iTunes store is 1.5 stars and the reviews are awesome reading...

[Phishbulb]

A good reason why this episode was lighter in tone than the others (which I don't think anyone has mentioned yet) is that it was written by Rashida Jones and Mike Schur.  I believe Charlie Brooker came up with the story idea and then Jones and Schur wrote the actual script.

[Duke2801]

On ‎10‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 2:38 AM, Demian said:

Give me a fucking break: Bryce Daddy Howard's in a relationship with James Fucking Norton, and she's tossing him attitude?  Honey, get over yourself, because despite your father's influence, you are still SO not that.

Whoops.  They're siblings?  Whatev.  She's still blowing way more attitude than her so-called "talent" can handle.

Also:  James Norton needs to start penciling in his eyebrows. (But I still love him, anyway.)

Um, what? Even if they were in a romantic relationship on the SHOW, and not brother-sister, you do realize that her "dad" has nothing to do with the storyline at all, right? 

Or was this just a low-key attempt at calling BDH an uggo? 

[tennisgurl]

This episode reminded me of an hour long, more dramatic version of that Meow Meow Beans episode of Community. I half expected the characters to start chanting "We approve we approve, meow meow meow meow meow". 

I liked the satire here, even if it was a bit on the nose. I even wondered a while ago in Black Mirror would ever do a social media episode where it focused on peoples obsession with looking good online. Interesting episode. 

[Maximum Taco]

On 10/21/2016 at 6:02 PM, benteen said:

Great episode and definitely classic Black Mirror.  Howard was outstanding in it and I thought that was Cherry Jones and I was right.  The whole rating system works for this show and doesn't seem too far from reality.  Although I think I would be off the grid.  That kind of thing looks absolutely exhausting. 

It's nice to think you might be able to be off the grid, personally I don't use any social media now unless it's the kind where I can stay anonymous, but it doesn't seem possible in this reality, unless you'd like to go off and live as a hermit in the woods, which would to be fair would also be pretty exhausting. 

Not having a "score" in this world would be akin to operating in our own society without a credit score, or health insurance or even a freaking social security number. You'd immediately disqualify yourself from a large number of jobs and probably the concept of home ownership and any number of other things. I suppose it would be possible if you were independently wealthy, but what isn't possible if you're independently wealthy?

That's what's so freaking terrifying about this episode to me. It would make a social media presence a necessity for pretty much everyone, and unless you wanted to drastically change your life (and make it a lot harder), there'd be nothing to do but comply.

In the end it doesn't seem like her brother is struggling to maintain a mid-3 rating, if you have a good group of friends and you all give each other fives on a regular basis, and you just aren't a jerk to the rest of humanity it's probably the easiest path with also allowing yourself a normal quality of life.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Maximum Taco

[benteen]

It's interesting just how callous the rating system is used too.  Howard's character accidentally bumps into a woman (a 4.8) getting into her car and apologizes but the woman is so pissy about a five-second inconvenience that she gives her a one.  That kind of power and misuse of it is infuriating.

[zxy556575]

26 minutes ago, benteen said:

It's interesting just how callous the rating system is used too. Howard's character accidentally bumps into a woman (a 4.8) getting into her car and apologizes but the woman is so pissy about a five-second inconvenience that she gives her a one. That kind of power and misuse of it is infuriating.

I think the taxi driver having to wait 45 seconds downgraded her as well.

It's so ridiculous. I had a reviewer at Amazon rate me as unhelpful this week because I gave a movie three stars. I said one of the characters wasn't sympathetic: "In order to feel sympathy, you'd need to HAVE A HEART!!"

My rule is that any online seller who sends follow-up emails begging for feedback gets none.

[Miles]

On 24.10.2016 at 1:33 AM, Chaos Theory said:

I found it ironic that the only people who found any true happiness were those with abysmally low ratings and those who stopped playing by the rules of society.  Even Lacy's brother whose rating was a 2 something managed to have a real friend who would put him up,.

He actually had a 3.7. So not even that bad. But around 4 seems to be the magic number where you get all the perks.

But I think his exampe shows that even in that fucked up world you can live a perfectly happy life. You don't have to be a complete outcast or a crazy esperate person who licks everybodies behind. You probably won't get specia perks, but you won't live in the gutter either.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Miles

[Demian]

Quote

Um, what?

Sorry!  Sorry -- I have this almost uncontrollable aversion to Bryce Dallas Howard.  I think it's because my first exposures to her were through those lousy M. Night Shyamalan movies, and so I keep thinking someone in Hollywood keeps pushing her on us, whether we like her or not.  I'll try to be more accepting of her...whatever in the future.

[cmahorror]

I'm sorry - I am really trying to get into this episode but I just can't.

Maybe it is because I don't have a frame of reference to the situation. I don't do twitter, my facebook page is updated once a year on my birthday to thank people for their well wishes, heck my phone is old school with a slide out keyboard and no internet, and basically I have been through too much crap in my life to care if some stranger likes me or not. Life is just too short.

Sure, I love my IPod and Kindle but I use them for music, podcasts, books and games, not for social stature or anyone's approval. I write and post on different sites but I do it for me and accept that there will just as many people who don't like what I have written as like it. The kind of future this episode is hinting at just seems way too simplistic and one-note for my tastes.

This is my first venture into the Black Mirror universe and, so far, I am not impressed. I hope the next episodes are better.

[pixelpasta]

the humanity made them self to slaves of their own system. that's my favorite black mirror episode 

[DearEvette]

I liked this episode  Loved the look, the color palette and the the somewhat sinister cheeriness of everything.  I do think it is a nice bit of shade toward people who value themselves by their number of twitter followers or use the lack of followers and some real world condemnation of other people.  But It is rather scary in that sense but only because it is treated like a credit rating and therefore your ability to live well is based on it.

I would have loved it, though, if her freakout at the wedding had resulted in some high ratings just because people are sick like that.

[peach]

I was sort of hoping that the guests were going to start down rating Naomi because crazy Lacie was her oldest friend, and the longer the rant went on, the lower Naomi's score went.  But I still liked it overall.  China is actually already instituting a "social credit score" very similar to this.

[NutMeg]

I'm not on facebook, twitter, etc. But... when I migrated from TWOP to here, I felt overjoyed and very welcomed when the day after my first post I got two "like" notifications. And while I write when I feel I have something to add to the thread, and not with the aim of getting likes, I still like getting some, and maybe that's because I find posters here particularly insightful, so their approval means a lot to me. If I had grown up with current social media since infancy, would I be so casual about my rating? I wish I could answer yes, but it's doubtful. After all, haven't I spent how many years waiting for my mother's approval? Maybe social media in early years will mean that people in the future will yearn for virtual peers'/social media approval, rather that parent/actual peers approval. I really don't know what to expect, I travel often to Japan and used to think some social trends seen there were extreme, but now you find them everywhere, granted, not to the same degree etc., but still, no established culture seems immune to the changes brought by technology.

But here the issue is broader, being liked is not just an ego boost, it's an economic currency. So why would society reward "influencers"? THAT is ever closer to where we are right now. Some days, I wish I had thought of writing comments intended to gather reactions, and been able to live off that. But the scariest thing here was that skills are completely absent from the picture, only approval matters  (granted, we don't know what the job/sector was). The funniest or saddest thing is that, if "you're not popular" had meant "you're fired" back in the 90s, there would probably not be any social media in their current form today today.

[zxy556575]

6 hours ago, NutMeg said:

But... when I migrated from TWOP to here, I felt overjoyed and very welcomed when the day after my first post I got two "like" notifications.

I don't have any social media accounts and feel like this is the last thing I should be interested in after watching the episode, but still ... I would want to see site-wide aggregate "like" statistics if they were available. Are mine average? A lot lower than others? If lists of most "liked" posters were available, I'd also probably follow some of them, just for curiosity's sake. Maybe I'm missing some funny and insightful stuff!

But I also want to stick my feet in and not allow media influencers to, you know.

[luckyroll3]

On 10/27/2016 at 1:33 PM, DearEvette said:

I would have loved it, though, if her freakout at the wedding had resulted in some high ratings just because people are sick like that.

This is what I thought would happen as well.  That she would get deeper and darker in her rant, and a large proportion of the people there, who may have also secretly resented the wedding couple for the perfectness and fakeness, would have started rating them down and her up.  I liked the ending just fine, but think I would have enjoyed that a bit more.

[Uncle Benzene]

22 hours ago, lordonia said:

I don't have any social media accounts and feel like this is the last thing I should be interested in after watching the episode, but still ... I would want to see site-wide aggregate "like" statistics if they were available. Are mine average? A lot lower than others? If lists of most "liked" posters were available, I'd also probably follow some of them, just for curiosity's sake. Maybe I'm missing some funny and insightful stuff!

(Not to get too off-topic here, but...) The problem with that is that any kind of overall numbers are so skewed as to be basically meaningless. For example, take a look at a Walking Dead episode thread right after an episode airs. You could post "OMG RICK NOOOO!" and get 67 "likes" over the next few minutes. Happens every single week. Same is true for a lot of the more popular reality shows. People use "likes" to basically say "ditto" to what amounts to a reaction post. Which is fine, of course, nothing wrong with that, obviously folks are entitled to "like" what they like. I'm just saying "like" stats aren't really an indication of content quality, and are EXTREMELY skewed to right-place-right-time posts in an episode thread right after a show airs and lots of people are excited (or terribly annoyed, and everybody's got their torches and snarkforks.) It's kind of the flip side of Black Mirror's "walking past a stranger on the street and they one-star you because you looked at them wrong, or they don't like your outfit" or whatever.

[marinw]

Just popping in here with a question/plot hole:

Do they still use money in this world, or are people paid in ratings? If it is the former, then why not pay people to give you stars? That may not be legal, but there must be a huge black market in buying rating points. As in so many other things, the rich could buy rather than earn their status.

[OldButHappy]

On October 22, 2016 at 8:18 PM, NorthstarATL said:

I keep imagining what Jane Austen would make of the Selfie and Yelp society, and think it would be akin to the first part of this episode. The scariest part to me was the encounter at the airport. I can totally see that sort of thing coming in today's society where every customer/service provider encounter can be rated. To have immediate fallout is not too far a stretch.

I was thinking along similar lines, wondering how amused (or horrified!) Edith Wharton would be.  She also understood how a simple breech in social protocol could trigger an irreversible downward spiral into obscurity.

(btw, am wondering what rock I live under to only have discovered this series today.  Seriously).  

This was the first episode that I watched.  I'm not even a sci-fy person, particularly, but I continue to binge watch....just....one....more.....episode.  It's now 3:30am, and coming here to ptv to read other's reviews is the first break I've taken since "just checking out what this series is all about before I go to bed" HOURS ago.

Maybe I'll just check out one more episode, quickly, before finally sleeping...it's not a problem....I can quit any time that I want to........

[wmdekooning]

Quote

For years now I've been screaming at Hollywood, "Stop trying to make Bryce Dallas Howard happen!" Ugh. I fear I'm fighting a losing battle. 

I guess I've been taken over/co-opted/made a 'pod person' for BDH.

I'd seen her in stuff, but she never really registered heavily as there is another actress who she resembles (And who is annoyed by this) . No doubt some Hollywood nepotism is responsible, but she is good enough that I would label it "good nepotism".

This was an amusing story and BDH was able to cover a number of bases, dramatic to the comedic and yes the story was lighter than the usual "Black Mirror" which I started watching this past weekend. My girlfriend found the series either too bleak or too ridiculous.

[millennium]

On 10/22/2016 at 2:38 AM, Demian said:

Give me a fucking break: Bryce Daddy Howard's in a relationship with James Fucking Norton, and she's tossing him attitude?  Honey, get over yourself, because despite your father's influence, you are still SO not that.

Whoops.  They're siblings?  Whatev.  She's still blowing way more attitude than her so-called "talent" can handle.

Also:  James Norton needs to start penciling in his eyebrows. (But I still love him, anyway.)

I don't understand this.

[millennium]

I didn't like the ending.   It felt terribly forced and unnatural.   Also this series seems to glorify the F word.   They don't seem to get that the F-word loses its power to shock if you use it every couple of lines (as in the episode Hated in the Nation).  The conclusion, where the two inmates escalate to the point of shouting FU at one another, seemed neither shocking nor liberating simply due to overuse of the word in our culture.

[pfk505]

What exactly is wrong with Bryce Dallas Howard? I found the episode so-so (the second half somewhat justified the half hour of pure cringe that preceded it), but by far the best thing about it was her performance. She's hardly the first progeny of the Hollywood elite to find her way into good material, and so what if she was in a few Shyamalan movies? Why do people act as if this should be a permanent disqualifier for future work and/or a fair assessment of ability? I mean for fucks sakes!

On 10/26/2016 at 0:09 AM, Demian said:

... I keep thinking someone in Hollywood keeps pushing her on us, whether we like her or not.

Here's an idea: don't watch the stuff she's in if you hate her so much.

[Portia]

On 11/6/2016 at 0:27 PM, pfk505 said:

What exactly is wrong with Bryce Dallas Howard? I found the episode so-so (the second half somewhat justified the half hour of pure cringe that preceded it), but by far the best thing about it was her performance. She's hardly the first progeny of the Hollywood elite to find her way into good material, and so what if she was in a few Shyamalan movies? Why do people act as if this should be a permanent disqualifier for future work and/or a fair assessment of ability? I mean for fucks sakes!

Here's an idea: don't watch the stuff she's in if you hate her so much.

Speaking only for myself . . . I honestly don't care who her daddy is . . . I just find her unremarkable and un-hype-worthy. Therefore I find myself thinking "Her again?" when she turns up in stuff.

Also, if my parents chose my middle name based on the city in which I was conceived, I can guaran-damn-tee you I wouldn't use all three names professionally.  Eww!

Edited November 7, 2016 by Portia
afterthought!

[PatternRec]

I have to admit that I'm in the "I don't get it" camp with BDH. I can't say I dislike her, but I don't recall ever being impressed by her acting either. The only time I felt she did a bad job was in The Village, but I have significant experience working with the blind so it would be unfair of me to fault her on things 99% of the viewing audience wouldn't notice.

[tongueincheek]

I'm someone who's rooting for BDH. I thought it was her performance that really anchored this episode and makes it worth watching (along with the production design). I thought her best work was in 50/50 and THE HELP, not doubt, this episode of Black Mirror is her career-best yet. It's a very difficult role that requires her to measure and balance a range of complexities. She did it very well from my lens. 

[PatternRec]

8 hours ago, tongueincheek said:

I'm someone who's rooting for BDH. I thought it was her performance that really anchored this episode and makes it worth watching (along with the production design). I thought her best work was in 50/50 and THE HELP, not doubt, this episode of Black Mirror is her career-best yet. It's a very difficult role that requires her to measure and balance a range of complexities. She did it very well from my lens. 

Yeah, she did a good job in 50/50. I felt bad that her character wasn't written better because she really was solid in this one.