S03.E03: Shut Up And Dance

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

When withdrawn 19-year-old Kenny (Alex Lawther) stumbles headlong into an online trap, he is quickly forced into an uneasy alliance with shifty Hector (Jerome Flynn) -- both of them at the mercy of persons unknown.

[Bama]

So........that was fucking brutal.

[Arynm]

This one was difficult for me. Was he really looking at kids? If he was I could see why he would be driven to such lengths to keep it hidden. If he was just caught wanking it to a pop star of some sort... that kind of thing will blow over with time. I knew they were going to leak it anyway, that's how these things always work out.

I am covering my webcam, just in case.

[benteen]

I had a strong suspicion in the beginning that he was looking at kids.  To me, it was the only reason he would go to such insane lengths to keep that video from going out although Hector does make a good case at how such a video getting out of her "wanking it out" would end up on the internet forever.  I can't say I was surprised when it was revealed but it was brutal nonetheless.

If it had been him wanking out to regular porn, it would have been idiotic for him to go to all these lengths.  You bite the bullet and tell the police.

Jerome Flynn was absolutely hilarious in this episode.  Once he started cursing behind the door, I knew who he was (though I had known he was in this episode already).  His description of Kenny jerking off on the video made me laugh out loud.

That trollface was ****ing creepy.

Edited October 22, 2016 by benteen

[snowwhyte]

Yeah, that was the bleak kind of episode I expected from Black Mirror. Such a modern tragedy that could happen to almost anyone. Even if you aren't doing anything criminal, the embarrassment of having your sex life, nude pics etc shared would push a lot of people to extreme acts. I finally got around to covering my webcam after watching this.

[Arynm]

After thinking about this one for awhile, and boy this show really makes you do that, I realized something. Everyone that was made to do something, did something bad that was caught on the computer. The two that were arguably the worst of the bunch were made to fight to the death. I would also guess that whomever was behind the "game" or whatever, also called the cops. So one child porn watcher dies, and the other, goes down for robbery, murder and child porn. Can't say I'm that mad about it.

Still covering my webcam, the people that could do this, could make it look like someone was watching whatever they wanted them to. The paranoia is real in my house right now.

[JessePinkman]

I actually expected them to reveal he was getting off to pictures of his sister.

And if it's just a video of him jerking off how could they prove what he was looking at? His computer was infected with malware so theoretically they could have planted the photos of kids (though obviously based on his reaction they didn't).

Good episode nonetheless.

[ExMathMajor]

Fuck. That was brutal.

I've always thought that people who covered their webcams were paranoid. Guess I'm one of them now...

[Chaos Theory]

I've covered my webcam simply because I've heard too many stories of people getting hacked.  This just reenforces it.  We all have secrets we want to keep and things we most definitely don't want to be put out on the internet for the world to see.      I thought the episode was especially well done because it showed how far alot of people are willing to go to keep their secrets secret and the lengths others will go to expose them.

[Kidlaw]

This episode was so messed up. I figured pretty early he was watching kids because just masturbating, while incredibly embarrassing, is still not worth committing crimes to hide. I do wonder about what the motorcycle guy did. I think his family called him a pervert, but maybe he wasn't watching child porn as it seems the pedos received the worst punishment. 

Yeah, I've covered my cameras on my laptops and muted my mics too. Now, I'm wondering what to do about the cameras on my tablet and phone. Seriously, after this season of Black Mirror, I think it's just time to live off the grid. 

[benteen]

Quote

I actually expected them to reveal he was getting off to pictures of his sister.

That amazingly would have been better for him then what he was actually getting off on. 

It doesn't bother me what happened to Kenny and the other pervert.  But I'm not going to call the hackers heroes.  They could have gotten innocent people killed during that bank robbery.  And while what Hector was doing was wrong with cheating on his wife, he certainly didn't deserve to be pulled into that.

[Nordly Beaumont]

That kid is a terrific actor, I'll b.e watching this one again (ugly as it was).

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, benteen said:

That amazingly would have been better for him then what he was actually getting off on. 

It doesn't bother me what happened to Kenny and the other pervert.  But I'm not going to call the hackers heroes.  They could have gotten innocent people killed during that bank robbery.  And while what Hector was doing was wrong with cheating on his wife, he certainly didn't deserve to be pulled into that.

I think there's little chance that innocent people could have been killed. Kenny's gun wasn't loaded, so he couldn't shoot anyone. There's a possibility that an armed guard might shoot and miss, but that seems relatively small.

[benteen]

Oh, that's right.  I forgot that the gun didn't work.  Still, that situation could have gotten real messy.

[Negritude]

On Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 9:19 AM, snowwhyte said:

Yeah, that was the bleak kind of episode I expected from Black Mirror. Such a modern tragedy that could happen to almost anyone. Even if you aren't doing anything criminal, the embarrassment of having your sex life, nude pics etc shared would push a lot of people to extreme acts. I finally got around to covering my webcam after watching this.

Now this is the Black Mirror I know and love! I haven't been as impressed with this season but this episode was definitely a standout, and it was all British so there you go. They just seem to have a better hand at this kind of material (and most TV and film in general imo). 

 

On Friday, October 21, 2016 at 8:09 PM, benteen said:

Jerome Flynn was absolutely hilarious in this episode.  Once he started cursing behind the door, I knew who he was (though I had known he was in this episode already).  His description of Kenny jerking off on the video made me laugh out loud.

That whole sequence was hilarious. From the time he floored it with the lady in the car to the bumbling bank robbery, I was cracking up. Then the gut punch when it turned so dark. That actor cracks me up on GoT too.

If there is a season 4, please more of this and less San Junipero, and while we're at it, just keep it British and leave the Americans (and British actors playing American) out of it.

Edited October 23, 2016 by Negritude

[Kidlaw]

25 minutes ago, Negritude said:

If there is a season 4, please more of this and less San Junipero, and while we're at it, just keep it British and leave the Americans (British actors playing American) out of it.

Ugh, yes! The American accents by most of the British actors were glaringly awful. I noticed this throughout the series with the actors in Men Against Fire being the absolute worse (probably because a few were trying to mimic AAVE with positively awful results). 

[Negritude]

30 minutes ago, Kidlaw said:

Ugh, yes! The American accents by most of the British actors were glaringly awful. I noticed this throughout the series with the actors in Men Against Fire being the absolute worse (probably because a few were trying to mimic AAVE with positively awful results). 

Oh God yes, and also just the whole vibe is off. I think in US television even in this age of the antihero there's still a tendency to lighten things up and smooth the rough edges and it seems like TV in the UK, particularly the previous seasons of this show, aren't/weren't afraid to go THERE as evidenced in this episode.  

[NorthstarATL]

I hate when people do stupid things for the sake of plot. I was OK with the kid being a bit dim and that being the reason he downloaded a "free" anti-malware program without already having one on his computer, but he kept escalating the stupid during the course of the episode over nothing! And then in the end it turns out it wasn't nothing...but even THEN I didn't believe it, because that is NOT how webcams work. So, if we take the blackmailers at their word, Kenny was a monster and he deserved what he got, and we (okay, I) were manipulated into sympathizing with him; but, if we don't, they perpetrated some awful stuff.

Edited October 23, 2016 by NorthstarATL

[Zima]

This was the best episode of the season. The ending was so bleak, and I thought about it long after it was over. I agree, leave this show to the British, please!

[Chaos Theory]

4 hours ago, NorthstarATL said:

I hate when people do stupid things for the sake of plot. I was OK with the kid being a bit dim and that being the reason he downloaded a "free" anti-malware program without already having one on his computer, but he kept escalating the stupid during the course of the episode over nothing! And then in the end it turns out it wasn't nothing...but even THEN I didn't believe it, because that is NOT how webcams work. So, if we take the blackmailers at their word, Kenny was a monster and he deserved what he got, and we (okay, I) were manipulated into sympathizing with him; but, if we don't, they perpetrated some awful stuff.

The free mallware stuff I've done so I can see that happening easily.  If someone hacks your webcam then it's a pretty good bet they've gotten your search history and website captures.  There is no way even Netflix or hell even HBO which has the lightest amount of sensoring around could show even the him of kiddie porn. Hell even now one of those most controversial episodes was the guy who had sex with a pig and that wasn't even shown.  So yeah with a little imagination and hand waviness I could more then see the whole scenerio exclating quicky.  

Plus the storyline only works if he is guilty and the blackmailers have actuaL evidence.

[Racj82]

15 hours ago, Negritude said:

Now this is the Black Mirror I know and love! I haven't been as impressed with this season but this episode was definitely a standout, and it was all British so there you go. They just seem to have a better hand at this kind of material (and most TV and film in general imo). 

 

That whole sequence was hilarious. From the time he floored it with the lady in the car to the bumbling bank robbery, I was cracking up. Then the gut punch when it turned so dark. That actor cracks me up on GoT too.

If there is a season 4, please more of this and less San Junipero, and while we're at it, just keep it British and leave the Americans (and British actors playing American) out of it.

Black mirror already got greenest for season 4 before this season came out.

I still don't get the British vs American black mirror thing going on. It's all great to me minus the season 2 ender and episode 2 of this season which wasn't even that bad. Just scattered.

[Jael]

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.

[natyxg]

My question for this one was how exactly did the video show that what's his name was masturbating to photos of kids.

[Kidlaw]

10 minutes ago, natyxg said:

My question for this one was how exactly did the video show that what's his name was masturbating to photos of kids.

I assumed that maybe he wasn't looking at photos. That was just a lie he said to absolve himself in some way. But, that it was actually a video he was watching in which case a person could hear what he was watching and realize it was the terrible awful. That or they displayed his search/browser history or something. His mother only screamed that there was a video of him looking at kids. She didn't say it was photos. 

Edited October 24, 2016 by Kidlaw

[Primetimer]

He's just a bank-robbing pawn, standing in front of his boss, asking her to love him.

View the full article

[Sarah D. Bunting]

"the Loggins/Rogers/G. exemption" = A+

[Miles]

It's not often that "TV" gets one over on me, but this episode I really thought Kenny was just trying to hide the video of him jerking off, not that there was someething more to it. Bravo, Black Mirror writers.

Btw. that boy has the fastest beard groth I've ever seen. In the morning it's just a shadow, by evening it looks like it has been growing for at least 3 days. (which it probably has, because filming takes a while)

On 22.10.2016 at 9:28 PM, JessePinkman said:

And if it's just a video of him jerking off how could they prove what he was looking at? His computer was infected with malware so theoretically they could have planted the photos of kids (though obviously based on his reaction they didn't).

Yeah that seemed dubious. I can handwave Kenny not thinking about it, since he was under extremely high stress the whole episode. But then the hackers actually proved it in the end. I don't know how they would do that. Anything they could show could as well be doctored. When a computer is compromised, you can put anything you want on there.

On 23.10.2016 at 6:27 AM, benteen said:

It doesn't bother me what happened to Kenny and the other pervert.  But I'm not going to call the hackers heroes.  They could have gotten innocent people killed during that bank robbery.  And while what Hector was doing was wrong with cheating on his wife, he certainly didn't deserve to be pulled into that.

Yay for wishing death on people, who haven't hurt anybody, for their sexual orientation. Feels like the 1950s all over again. I see making america great again is working out amazingly. :)

On 23.10.2016 at 8:49 PM, NorthstarATL said:

So, if we take the blackmailers at their word, Kenny was a monster and he deserved what he got, and we (okay, I) were manipulated into sympathizing with him; but, if we don't, they perpetrated some awful stuff.

How was he a monster? He even would have rather killed himself than another person.

I actually thought after the reveal "Even if I had done something like that, I'd probably just confess to the police and deal with the consequences before robbing a bank." but after reading these comments I can understand why somebody wouldn't.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Miles

[snowwhyte]

If he was willing to go to such extreme lengths to hide his secret then it seems likely that he was was looking at child porn. Even if he never acted to abuse children beyond that he is creating a market for child pornography that incentives child sexual abuse by others. I don't think forcing him to fight to the death is appropriate but turning him in to the police was definitely warranted.

He seemed sympathetic in this because he was young, socially awkward and obviously terrified but as usual with black mirror the true victims aren't always the characters we are watching. 

[Miles]

27 minutes ago, snowwhyte said:

If he was willing to go to such extreme lengths to hide his secret then it seems likely that he was was looking at child porn. Even if he never acted to abuse children beyond that he is creating a market for child pornography that incentives child sexual abuse by others. I don't think forcing him to fight to the death is appropriate but turning him in to the police was definitely warranted.

Do you really believe the bullshit politicians concoct to have a pretense to censor the internet? There is no commercial child porn business. There is only men and women raping children, making videos of it, and trading them. They would still rape children if nobody ever watched a single video they made.

[cmfran]

I liked this ep for the most part, and the Radiohead song over the outro was a great choice. However, I agree with this post. The ending didn't work for me. And the amount of planning/work that went into that scheme must have been staggering.

On 10/24/2016 at 5:15 PM, Jael said:

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.

[kermitmissesjim]

I am hyper-sensitive to clues in Black Mirror eps, so when he handed the truck back to the little girl and watched her leave, I said "pedo" in my head, but hoped I was wrong. Nope.

[AlwaysWatching]

Quote

I am hyper-sensitive to clues in Black Mirror eps, so when he handed the truck back to the little girl and watched her leave, I said "pedo" in my head, but hoped I was wrong. Nope. kermitmissesjim

That's exactly what I thought in that scene.  Then I completely forgot about it and was surprised when it turned out that he was watching child porn. Creepy and sickening.  Still, a very interesting episode.

Just a little aside:  One of my uncles, years ago, absolutely could not or would not believe the statistics on men abusing young children.  Fortunately, for him, he had never experienced this nightmare in any way through 65 years of age at the time.  Well, I grew up with this kind of crap all around me.  I can imagine how the internet has just turned the world into a pedophile's dream come true.  The ones who can actually not act on their urges and rape a child, can now probably get want they want online.

Oh, and now that I think about the episode, maybe him having that short interaction with the young girl was what sent him rushing home to his computer. Yeah, it was all right there and I didn't catch it.  Maybe that's a good thing.

[millennium]

On 10/26/2016 at 0:22 AM, Miles said:

It's not often that "TV" gets one over on me, but this episode I really thought Kenny was just trying to hide the video of him jerking off, not that there was someething more to it. Bravo, Black Mirror writers.

 

Me too.  It never occurred to me what he was really looking at, but once you find out his compliance with the blackmailers' demands suddenly makes sense, and then you think back to that opening scene where he goes down on his knee to return the toy to the little girl and ... ugh.

[NutMeg]

Watched this a few days ago, well at least four days ago, and the fact that I couldn't get myself to post about it before illustrate how depressing I found it.

This episode almost seems like it takes place in the past (our past, I mean). Who the hell still download random free fixers without checking if they're legit? Or for that matter how many of us still know DOS commands? And believe me, if/when (it may have happened) I got a message from "xxx", I would delete it right away without reading it :)

Otherwise, I'm one of the naive people that never saw the revel coming. Even when the other one who was going to fight to the death said "that's all I did too, look at pictures... but how old were they?", I took Teddy's anguish to mean he had done so much because of a very menial thing that was so much less punishable than the others' misdeed. And even when his mother called and cried "Teddy, what have you done!? there's a video of you...", I wondered what indeed she was referring to - robbing the bank? killing a man? there could have been a video of both, and it never occurred to me that there could be more.

[NutMeg]

35 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

Watched this a few days ago, well at least four days ago, and the fact that I couldn't get myself to post about it before illustrates how depressing I found it.

This episode almost seems like it takes place in the past (our past, I mean). Who the hell still downloads random free fixers without checking if they're legit? Or for that matter how many of us still know DOS commands? And believe me, if/when (it may have happened) I got a message from "xxx", I would delete it right away without reading it :)

Otherwise, I'm one of the naive people that never saw the reveal coming. Even when the other one who was going to fight to the death said "that's all I did too, look at pictures... but how old were they?", I took Teddy's anguish to mean he had done so much because of a very menial thing that was so much less serious than the others' misdeed. And even when his mother called and cried "Teddy, what have you done!? there's a video of you...", I wondered what indeed she was referring to - robbing the bank? killing a man? there could have been a video of both, and it never occurred to me that there could be more.

[romantic idiot]

On 10/24/2016 at 3:11 AM, Chaos Theory said:

The free mallware stuff I've done so I can see that happening easily.  If someone hacks your webcam then it's a pretty good bet they've gotten your search history and website captures.  There is no way even Netflix or hell even HBO which has the lightest amount of sensoring around could show even the him of kiddie porn. Hell even now one of those most controversial episodes was the guy who had sex with a pig and that wasn't even shown.  So yeah with a little imagination and hand waviness I could more then see the whole scenerio exclating quicky.  

Plus the storyline only works if he is guilty and the blackmailers have actuaL evidence.

Yeah that put me out of the episode. Never pick the paid ads and always check out reviews. Though I do it the other way around - reviews first and then pick the winner.

Also, this illustrates the difference between this season and the previous ones. The previous ones wouldn't have made us feel better by showing him up to be a 'pervert who deserves to have bad things happen to him'. 

[NutMeg]

11 hours ago, NutMeg said:

12 hours ago, NutMeg said:

Watched this a few days ago, well at least four days ago, and the fact that I couldn't get myself to post about it before illustrates how depressing I found it.

This episode almost seems like it takes place in the past (our past, I mean). Who the hell still downloads random free fixers without checking if they're legit? Or for that matter how many of us still know DOS commands? And believe me, if/when (it may have happened) I got a message from "xxx", I would delete it right away without reading it :)

Otherwise, I'm one of the naive people that never saw the reveal coming. Even when the other one who was going to fight to the death said "that's all I did too, look at pictures... but how old were they?", I took Teddy's anguish to mean he had done so much because of a very menial thing that was so much less serious than the others' misdeed. And even when his mother called and cried "Teddy, what have you done!? there's a video of you...", I wondered what indeed she was referring to - robbing the bank? killing a man? there could have been a video of both, and it never occurred to me that there could be more.

Sorry for this, I thought I had edited the (numerous) typos in my post but now I see it as a quote - strange thing... 

[PatternRec]

On 11/16/2016 at 4:50 PM, NutMeg said:

Sorry for this, I thought I had edited the (numerous) typos in my post but now I see it as a quote - strange thing... 

The boards act in mysterious ways... 

[Sader87]

Very well done...if very unsettling in a host of ways.

[Paloma]

Just watched this last night and was really disturbed at how possible this scenario is in today's world. However, I have two questions:

(1) Although everyone here seems to believe that Kenny was guilty of watching child porn, is it possible that "they" put that on his computer? Granted that pedophiles don't necessarily look or act a certain way, but I never got the impression that he was anything but a shy, awkward, decent kid--and his offering the child the toy just seemed part of that (I thought it was her toy that she accidentally left on the table). I can believe that a decent kid who was threatened with having everyone see a video of him masturbating (no matter to what) would go to desperate lengths--in real life, kids have committed suicide when sexting photos and videos got out. I'm not sure that Kenny was being singled out for worse punishment because of child porn--it seemed like they all had their lives ruined in various ways and that "they" were doing it just because they liked playing with people and ruining their lives, not out of any sense of morality.

(2) What is the connection of the title to this episode? I know the Shut Up and Dance song and video but don't see the relevance. 

[Amarsir]

On 1/19/2017 at 7:25 AM, Paloma said:

(2) What is the connection of the title to this episode? I know the Shut Up and Dance song and video but don't see the relevance. 

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/dance+to+tune

I'm with you in that I didn't take him to be a pedo even after the the other guy assumed he was. I figured the bleakness came from how minor his offense was. (Especially considering the angle of a laptop camera wouldn't even capture much, let alone what he was looking at.) But then when his Mom called, yeah maybe.

[Dobian]

On 1/19/2017 at 4:25 AM, Paloma said:

Just watched this last night and was really disturbed at how possible this scenario is in today's world. However, I have two questions:

(1) Although everyone here seems to believe that Kenny was guilty of watching child porn, is it possible that "they" put that on his computer? Granted that pedophiles don't necessarily look or act a certain way, but I never got the impression that he was anything but a shy, awkward, decent kid--and his offering the child the toy just seemed part of that (I thought it was her toy that she accidentally left on the table). I can believe that a decent kid who was threatened with having everyone see a video of him masturbating (no matter to what) would go to desperate lengths--in real life, kids have committed suicide when sexting photos and videos got out. I'm not sure that Kenny was being singled out for worse punishment because of child porn--it seemed like they all had their lives ruined in various ways and that "they" were doing it just because they liked playing with people and ruining their lives, not out of any sense of morality.

I'm going to say that he was looking at child porn because it didn't seem to be the antagonist's m.o. to manufacture fake crimes and improprieties.  All of the others were guilty of what they were exposed for.  I liked how the episode, even immediately following the bank job, seemed to play out like a sort of farce, but then turned terribly dark and bleak at the end.  Very good twist to a strong story.

[Black Knight]

On 11/16/2016 at 11:03 AM, romantic idiot said:

Also, this illustrates the difference between this season and the previous ones. The previous ones wouldn't have made us feel better by showing him up to be a 'pervert who deserves to have bad things happen to him'. 

Au contraire. That's exactly what happens in a previous season too:

S2 E2: White Bear.

[romantic idiot]

15 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Au contraire. That's exactly what happens in a previous season too:

  Hide contents

S2 E2: White Bear.

Respectfully disagree. In White Bear the point was that it was punishment. If they did it again, that makes me think a lot less of the writers. 

[spiderpig]

On 10/27/2016 at 1:28 PM, kermitmissesjim said:

I am hyper-sensitive to clues in Black Mirror eps, so when he handed the truck back to the little girl and watched her leave, I said "pedo" in my head, but hoped I was wrong. Nope.

I thought that exchange was odd, but the connection didn't occur to me until the reveal at the end. I'm slow that way.  Also, in retrospect, didn't he keep the placemat crayon drawing the little girl had left behind?  Somebody was ridiculing him, as in "Did you do this?"  His sister or coworkers?  I forget and I'm probably wrong.

I agree - the kid playing Kenny was outstanding, and I had to look up Hector on IMdB because he reminded me so much of Richard Harris, who had three acting sons.

This requires a second viewing, but so do most episodes of Black Mirror.

[benteen]

Although I suspected just what he was doing when I read the description of the episode, I thought that bit with the kid in the beginning was him trying to get in good with the mother.  It is deeply disturbing to realize that was not the case.

[LadyArcadia]

On 9/12/2017 at 4:19 AM, spiderpig said:

I thought that exchange was odd, but the connection didn't occur to me until the reveal at the end. I'm slow that way.  Also, in retrospect, didn't he keep the placemat crayon drawing the little girl had left behind?  Somebody was ridiculing him, as in "Did you do this?"  His sister or coworkers?  I forget and I'm probably wrong.

I agree - the kid playing Kenny was outstanding, and I had to look up Hector on IMdB because he reminded me so much of Richard Harris, who had three acting sons.

This requires a second viewing, but so do most episodes of Black Mirror.

Add to that the song "That's the way... I like it"  was playing in the background as he looked at the little girl.  Pretty disturbing clue.

[spiderpig]

On 10/22/2016 at 9:27 PM, benteen said:

That amazingly would have been better for him then what he was actually getting off on. 

It doesn't bother me what happened to Kenny and the other pervert.  But I'm not going to call the hackers heroes.  They could have gotten innocent people killed during that bank robbery.  And while what Hector was doing was wrong with cheating on his wife, he certainly didn't deserve to be pulled into that.

I thought that too, initially.  But then we only had Hector's word that after a long marriage he wanted some fun with a 20-something.  Methinks he actually wanted fun with an underage-something (Mindy of the cake?).

Still have to watch again.  This damn series!

Edited September 13, 2017 by spiderpig

[iMonrey]

I'm not sure the show accomplished what it meant to. Until I read through this thread I did not "get" that Kenny was looking at child porn. At the end when his mother called and said something about looking at kids, I assumed the blackmailers had mixed up his story with the guy he'd just killed (and I still don't know how they knew what he was looking at). I found it perfectly sufficient that he was simply mortified by the idea of a video of himself being posted online and/or sent to everyone in his contact list. And I didn't read anything into the brief scene where he returns the little girl's toy to her - I simply took that as the show's short-cut to telling us he was a nice kid. Now, having read through all of this thread, it does make more sense now, but I shouldn't have had to have that extra input to get there. So while the episode was compelling as hell, the ending kind of confused me. Not a 100% successful story.

[NutMeg]

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm not sure the show accomplished what it meant to. Until I read through this thread I did not "get" that Kenny was looking at child porn. At the end when his mother called and said something about looking at kids, I assumed the blackmailers had mixed up his story with the guy he'd just killed (and I still don't know how they knew what he was looking at). I found it perfectly sufficient that he was simply mortified by the idea of a video of himself being posted online and/or sent to everyone in his contact list. And I didn't read anything into the brief scene where he returns the little girl's toy to her - I simply took that as the show's short-cut to telling us he was a nice kid. Now, having read through all of this thread, it does make more sense now, but I shouldn't have had to have that extra input to get there. So while the episode was compelling as hell, the ending kind of confused me. Not a 100% successful story.

I know, I didn't get it either right away, and thought he was caught because of his escalation of crime. It took me a while (and comments here) to realize he was actually guilty of more that jerking off online.