S04.E02: Arkangel

[Cranberry]

Worried about her daughter's safety, single mom Marie signs up for a cutting-edge device that monitors the girl's whereabouts -- and much more.

[Lady Calypso]

I do love when Black Mirror tackles subject matters and topics that are very much prevalent today, and seeing things that may not be that far off from our own society. I thought at the first the Arkangel technology was fascinating, until learning about what the technology could actually do. Being able to keep an eye on your children is one thing. I think the beginning, when Marie first took her eyes off of Sara and she disappeared from the park, that's terrifying for any parent to experience, but also perfectly normal. We have our phones now that can track people if needed, or if you lose your phone, but that would require the kids to have that mode on and have their phones on them. This episode showed technology going one step further with having a GPS portion inside of them. But then tracking vital signs? Being able to be at the control of their literal eyes? 

We already saw the doctor side eye Marie for Sara's low iron when the device was first implanted. That judgment alone goes down a whole rabbit hole of being able to judge not just the kids, but the parents too. Plus, the technology is fine for a young kid who need to be protected. But, like the episode dives into, what happens when they get older and have some more autonomy? 

Also, the issue with blocking out sensitive issues, such as violence or sadness or death. It's healthy for kids to learn some of that stuff, so they can be prepared in the future. Blocking some of it out is fine, but not all of it. It just leads to the question: how much control is too much?  

I appreciate that Marie did initially listen to the therapist and shut off the Arkangel stuff so that Sara could be on her own.  However, she still kept the tablet just in case, which came later for Sara's teen years.

Obviously, Marie had the right to be concerned when Sara started exhibiting bad behaviour, but it begs the question: how much was because of Sara's childhood with her being under the constant protection of her mother? 

The ending to the episode was also unexpected. I think both mother and daughter were wrong in many of their choices throughout the episode, that's for sure. I'm not really sure who I sympathize with more, if any of them. 

[CheezyXpressed]

I think Marie already exhibited that sort of behaviour and the device just made it worse. I'm not a parent, but I did think it was weird that Sara was still using a stroller when she was that big and could clearly walk just fine. I do get she was afraid when Sara disappeared, which is normal for anyone in that situation, but that device took someone who was already having helicopter tendencies and just exasperated it.

I did find it funny that the mom was sleeping with her former patient who is involved with someone, but got angry that her daughter lied so she could sleep with her boyfriend who is probably only 18 or 19. The drugs were one thing, and I get that, but she went off the rails when she found out a guy was involved.

Sara not killing herself was shocking though, because I fully expected it to happen when she got dumped and found out about her mom. I'm glad the show didn't go there though, but I really wonder what's going to happen with her. Marie is going to contact the police and there will be an Amber Alert out there.

[QQQQ]

I LOVED this episode. So much to digest.  But what's really staying with me is that, for as much of a helicopter mother as Marie was, she actually abdicated the majority of parenting to Arkangel. Instead of dealing with real life and the unpleasant stuff associated with being a parent, she used Arkangel to run interference, putting her own comfort ahead of her daughter's needs. Not that Marie would have seen it that way.

Edited December 29, 2017 by QQQQ

[PsychoDrone]

I knew Arkangel was going to be a problem from the outset.  When the rep was showing her all the features, all I could think was this will be a problem.  You can't give someone that kind of power and not expect them to use it.  Simply turning it off wasn't enough.  And, it totally blew up in the mom's face.  Initially, I thought Sarah was going to become this delinquent, self-harm girl because she had been so shielded.  Definitely thought so, when she got that crash course on depravity from Trick in the school playground!!! LOL  He had to hook up to everything on his tablet.  Funny how the episode ends just the way it started.  Although, Sarah took it too far.  It would have been just as impactful if Sarah smashed the tablet and then disappeared.  Mom would have found it and realized what happened.  Mom's stupidity was the reason she lost her daughter in both cases.  As any parent will tell you, can't take your eyes off little kids.  And, yes, that girl was too big to be in that stroller.

Edited December 30, 2017 by PsychoDrone

[peridot]

This was an interesting story.  I kind of understand the positives of knowing your child's vitals and location, but I don't understand seeing through their eyes at all.
The filtering was crazy as well.  When the grandfather had a heart attack, I'm surprised Marie didn't turn off the filtering at that point.  He could have died and Sarah wouldn't understand what has happening.  How did Marie have so much time to monitor everything in the first place? I thought physical therapists were busy people.

When Sarah was a pre-teen, her therapist mentioned that Arkangel would be banned from the US shortly.  If he was right, how did the system work when Sarah was a teenager? I would have thought that all the networks would be down.

When they showed the montage of Sarah growing up, I half thought that Marie was drugging her all along with compliance drugs.  When Sarah had the bad reaction to her drugging, I thought all of it would come out then. 

Marie didn't have any concept of parental boundaries.  I thought she was killed at the end, but I suppose that would have been an easy ending for her. 

Edited December 30, 2017 by peridot

[Arynm]

I knew that system would cause all kinds of problems, no parent should have that kind of control over their child, at any age. I get the GPS, when my kids were younger I said if they had an implantable tracker I would have done it in a hot minute. I also said that the minute they turned 18 if would be turned off and certainly nothing to the level the arcangel was at. That system told the mom the daughter was pregnant and mom just took care of it. The daughter never even knew! That is so wrong on so many levels I can't even believe it. The mom just wanted complete control over her kid, no matter what she had to do. She never even bothered to talk to her daughter about what was going on. I am shocked the daughter didn't beat her to death with that tablet and leave the house forever. Sara actually grew up pretty normal no thanks to her overbearing mom.

I need to go have a heart to heart with my own daughter now since I can't track her every bodily function and thought she has.

Edited December 30, 2017 by Arynm
spelling is key

[2727]

Beginning: Sara! Saaara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Saaaara! Sara! Sara! Sara!

End: Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Saaaara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara!

I had to mute. But yeah Marie, you lost her again. This time for good.

That filter was shit. When Marie viewed her father's stroke, she acted like she had no idea what she was seeing until she focused the screen. Sara had no frame of reference, but the situation should have been obvious enough to an adult. I would also think it's more terrifying for anyone to see something fuzzy and unknown lunge at you and make snarling noises (even if muted) than to see a dog behind a fence. Also? Walk on the other side of the shitting street.

I appreciated that the story was thought provoking, but the glaring age discrepancies and plot holes took me out of it.

Edited December 30, 2017 by 2727

[peridot]

2 minutes ago, 2727 said:

I appreciated that the story was thought provoking, but the glaring age discrepancies and plot holes took me out of it.

Lol, yeah.  I thought Sarah was in college after the aging montage and was surprised we were supposed to believe she was only 15.

[Lady Calypso]

I guess it's lucky that Arkangel was eventually banned in the US, or else Marie could have just gone and gotten the tablet fixed. Now, she's definitely lost her daughter for good. Now, upon processing the episode, I've decided that my sympathy lies square with Sara, who really had no chance to rebel with the Arkangel device in place. I mean, she took it a little far with smashing her mom's head with the tablet, but at least she didn't kill her? But I do think if her mom hadn't made the choice to terminate her own pregnancy, her anger wouldn't have gotten to head-smashing levels. 

[Arynm]

I also noticed that some of tech looked to be the same from previous episodes. the scrolling through the memories was familiar and the blocking out of people was also familiar. I am not good at remembering the episodes but i like that I can kind of tie them together.

[Chaos Theory]

Helicopter parenting at its most extreme.  

Of course all parents want to protect their kids and to start with a parents worst nightmare of losing their kid even for just a moment was the right place to start at because it made you sympathize with Marie.  Even  in theory putting a gps on a very young child isn’t a horrible notion it is the “added” bells and whistles that are a little creepy even for a child.  It might seem funny to watch a child plays hide and seek but to turn off what they see is all kinds of dangerous and doesnt allow them to process emotions correctly.

 I thought the scene where Sara was shown the unrestricted internet all at once was very telling.  We usually see it in bits and peices not in one big scary moment.  

And when Sara became a teenager. Having mom grab for the technology again at first blush and then going full helicopter mom.  I have no sympathy for her and how things turned out.  Well I have some.  It’s just that the outcome was predictable.   You take a child and don’t teach them how to process the world correctly and then try to control every part of who and what they are.  This is what happens.  

Ironically a parents worst nightmare.  

Edited December 30, 2017 by Chaos Theory
Clarity

[Miles]

Ah the poetic irony. She had her daughter bugged to not lose her and in the end that's what actually made it happen.

The grandfather said he was 2000 years old. Was he really or was he exagerating for dramatic effect? If he was really that old, that was poor timing with the dying. Also why weren't all the cars self driving? That I would expect way before brain implants that don't even need servers, it seems.

For Black Mirror this was still a relatively happy ending. I mean the mother got what she deserved and the daughter got out of there, albeit with a lot of scars.

I kinda hope she puts together that the mother blackmailed her boyfriend and she calls him. Just to get some closure.

[ally862]

I'm torn on this one.  As a nervous mother of 2 toddlers I am embarrassed to admit that I would happily sign up for this.  I don't think the seeing through their eyes piece would be necessary though and the filtering was ridiculous.  Even then though, I had a hard time seeing the bad when shefound out about the drugs.  But like so.eone else said, I would have confronted her.  Not just keep watching and chasing people away.

 

All that being said, the thing that really took me out of the episode is that I wish Sara was 18 at.the end.  I'm pretty sure that if this technology existed and, even if the company was closed, if a 15 year old went missing with a GPS tracker in her, they'd use it to track her down.

[Cranberry]

You know, my mom is great... but if she'd put something like that in my head, then as soon as I was old enough to think of it, I'd find that tablet wherever she'd hidden it and smash the hell out of it. Don't even give someone the opportunity to dig it out years later and fire it back up, I say.

[Cthulhudrew]

I was waaaay more disturbed at the beginning of this episode than I was by the end. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, and think it hit a real nerve with the helicopter parent implant, but I just felt that some of the implications of it initially would have been a lot more interesting to explore than the route the episode ultimately went.

For one thing, the disturbance filter was very much shades of "Men Against Fire," so it felt like a retread. I also think exploring the impact of potential on child development and empathy would have been more dramatic than having it just be the impetus for Mom to initially get rid of the device (like, could she have turned into a sociopath if Mom had kept the filter on all her life?)

The health monitor as well seemed like it could have gone places that the show didn't really venture into (Lady Calypso mentions the doctor's judgmental attitude towards the early diagnosis of low iron, for example).

One thing that is interesting is how the Arkangel implant seems to combine several functions of other technologies from earlier seasons (the aforementioned "Men Against Fire" filter; the "Entire History of You" eye cameras recordings, etc.)

ETA: I see Arynm already mentioned the similarities above. :)

5 hours ago, peridot said:

This was an interesting story.  I kind of understand the positives of knowing your child's vitals and location, but I don't understand seeing through their eyes at all.
The filtering was crazy as well.  When the grandfather had a heart attack, I'm surprised Marie didn't turn off the filtering at that point.  He could have died and Sarah wouldn't understand what has happening.  How did Marie have so much time to monitor everything in the first place? I thought physical therapists were busy people.

I suspect Mom just used it as justification for continuing to use Arkangel. "If I didn't have the filter on, I wouldn't have known what was going on because I wouldn't have been alerted to my daughter's elevated tension levels and I wouldn't have been able to save Dad's life."

Edited December 30, 2017 by Cthulhudrew

[DharmaG]

It was interesting to me that the mother seldom ever communicates with the daughter. She feeds her healthy smoothies and monitors her whereabouts. Even after finding out the daughter's lies, risky behavior, she does not have a talk with her daughter. 

Btw is there a show that does not show teens being irresponsible, lying, & self destructive? Would love to see that.

Was the mother over protective? Is that what caused the daughter to misbehave? Or is it because the mother replaced a monitoring device with parental communication?

I didn't get the scene with the mother dancing. What was that about?

It did raise an important issue about the demerits of shielding out kids from unpleasant things out there. It's a human need to want to explore all the good and the ugly and the emotions that go with it.

Good episode but could've been better if it didn't have to rely so much on characters making bad decisions.

The first episode Callister was riveting with great characterization & writing.

[PsychoDrone]

12 hours ago, ally862 said:

All that being said, the thing that really took me out of the episode is that I wish Sara was 18 at.the end.  I'm pretty sure that if this technology existed and, even if the company was closed, if a 15 year old went missing with a GPS tracker in her, they'd use it to track her down.

 It was mentioned earlier in the thread too, but I didn't believe Sara was 15.  That part of the story came across as contrived for the plot.  Not really seeing too many parents, especially helicopter parents,  letting their 15 year old stay out until 1130pm.  Even with the tech, helicopter parent would have called to ensure the story was true.  Of course, mom was distracted since she was going on a date and getting her swerve on.  Trick and Sara seemed real close in age.  If he had graduated, then she would have been close behind (junior or senior).  Which considering Romeo and Juliet laws would have made mom's threat an empty one.

[Miles]

5 hours ago, DharmaG said:

Btw is there a show that does not show teens being irresponsible, lying, & self destructive? Would love to see that.

Was the mother over protective? Is that what caused the daughter to misbehave? Or is it because the mother replaced a monitoring device with parental communication?

Self destructive, misbehave, irrisponsible? I mean come on, she did one line of coke and had sex with her boyfriend. Experimenting a bit and having sex at that age is normal. She really should have used protection, but I'm sure that her mother never even talked with her about save sex. So shocked was she that her daughter might be having sex, ever.

I also think it's weird that Coke seems to still be illegal, if this is really 2000 years in the future. Although it might not really be, since

Spoiler

the tablet was in the black museum and I never had the impression that all the other episodes were set that far in the future.

But it has to be a while in the future and I would expect all drugs to be legal at that point.

Anywho, the mother was completely overreacting and that the daughter didn't have protection with her and use it, is really a massive failure on her part

Edited December 30, 2017 by Miles

[leighdear]

The dad was just being sarcastic when he referred to himself as being 2000 years old.  

Interesting that this episode was directed by Jodie Foster.  I wonder if she ever had an occurrence of "losing" one of her sons when they were small.   

Good symmetry, as others have mentioned with the search for Sara at the beginning and at the end. 

But why didn't she call Trick after she found out what her mother did?  I would think he & his van would be around pronto to pick her up.  And she should have taken the tablet with her, no matter that it was broken.  

[millahnna]

This wasn't 2000 years in the future.  This was another "just around the corner", near-future story.  THat line was hyperbole from the grandpa in that way that some older peeps will say that we were around when the dinosaurs were born.

[Miles]

I guess so. It's just that he said it so matteroffactly, without any tinge of irony in his voice. Did the director not tell him that it was hyperbole or did they make him say it that way deliberately so they could use it out of context in the trailer for this season?

it's also not a phrase I've ever heard. I've heard "older than dirt", "older than the dinosaurs" or "old as [insert thing]". Never a number though.

[QQQQ]

Jodie Foster's Black Mirror Episode

Foster, 55, experienced that sometimes overbearing relationship with her own mother, Brandy, who managed her career as a child star. 

"We traveled everywhere together, and her whole identity in some ways was enmeshed in mine. It was a painful struggle," Foster says. "When I needed to walk away, she felt like she was being abandoned. I felt forever responsible, and continue to feel responsible for her well being, and the roles are reversed."

[Bama]

1 hour ago, QQQQ said:

Foster, 55

The fact that Jodie Foster is 55 years old fucks with my head almost as much as "Black Mirror".

[Zima]

On 12/29/2017 at 8:23 PM, 2727 said:

That filter was shit. When Marie viewed her father's stroke, she acted like she had no idea what she was seeing until she focused the screen. Sara had no frame of reference, but the situation should have been obvious enough to an adult. I would also think it's more terrifying for anyone to see something fuzzy and unknown lunge at you and make snarling noises (even if muted) than to see a dog behind a fence. Also? Walk on the other side of the shitting street.

I was thinking the exact same thing! The blurred-out figured would be completely terrifying! Way more than a dog or anything else. I kept thinking that something bad was going to happen to Sara (someone attacking her, a car almost hitting her) and that the blur would have prevented her from doing anything about it. 

[cmfran]

Really enjoyed this ep. I get the appeal of the Arkangel tech, but the added features were wrong on so many levels.

It was great to see Danny Rayburn's kid from Bloodline playing Trick. 

[tennisgurl]

A lot to unpack in this one. Helicopter parents are the ones in the focus here, and I think this was a really interesting way to examine it. The most obvious thing to take away from this episode is that kids need to experience things that are scary or unpleasant for them to grow into functioning adults. Best explored with little Sara being afraid of the dog at their neighbors house when he was blurred out, and eventually getting over her fear (and even befriending the dog) when she could actually see him. "Bad" emotions and uncomfortable truths are a part of growing up, and hiding them from kids lead to a messed up kid. 

I also think there is a lot to say about overreacting, and being open and willing to trust your kids, especially as they grow up. Maries panic at losing Sara was understandable, but her obsession with controlling every aspect of Sara's life quickly became less understandable, and more creepy. It became less about Sara being safe, and more about Sara having every second of her life monitored and controlled. This probably hit its horrifying climax when you (and Sara) realize that her mom put an anti pregnancy pill in her smoothie. Thats just such a massive violation, I dont blame Sara for totally freaking out and running away. And the real tragedy is that it seems like, before Marie started using the chip again, Sara seemed like a pretty happy, well adjusted teen who had a good relationship with her mom, and her behavior, while not good by any means, was just teenage stuff that lots of kids get into, and could be dealt with by actual parenting, and Marie punishing Sara for lying and sneaking around and talking to her about sex and drugs and such things. Instead, Marie did what she did when Sara was little, and took the easy way out after panicking at the first sign of trouble. Instead of having the hard conversation and actually being a parent, she realized on her stupid App to be a parent, and manipulated and lied to her daughter instead. I think that might be the other part of the Helicopter parent critique here. Not only did Maries hovering invade her daughters privacy and try to control her life, but she tried to avoid being an actual parent, and instead used tech to do it instead. 

At least it sounds like the ArkAngel system was banned pretty soon after it was conceived. Some things are too creepy even for the Black Mirror universe. Honestly, I thought Sara would have actually killed her mom, and not really knowing she did it because her bloody body had been blocked out. But this was a bit more ironic. 

[benteen]

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 9:38 PM, Bama said:

The fact that Jodie Foster is 55 years old fucks with my head almost as much as "Black Mirror".

I can't believe she's only 55.  Mind you, it's not because she looks old (she certainly doesn't) but it's because it feels like Jodie Foster's been around forever.

This episode was fine but I wasn't crazy about it.  The technology and the issues that it raised though were fascinating.  Marie is definitely the worst kind of parent and this brought out the very worst in her.  Her concern is understandable and every parent would want to be able to locate their kid instantly if they became lost.  But filtering what she sees and hears to protect her?  Inexcusable.  This isn't like just for scary movies...you can't hide kids from seeing unpleasant things and it's the only way they are going to learn and grown.  Giving her an anti-pregnancy pill without her consent?  Even more inexcusable and creepy.  Marie deserved to losing her Sara.  I'm glad Sara didn't kill her though as I don't think that would have been necessary for the story.  But she probably should have taken that tablet too because I sure as hell wouldn't have left that with Marie.

[QQQQ]

A nice twist (and Crocodile tie-in) would have been if Sarah's blows to Marie's head with the Arkangel device resulted in her being blinded.

[Jael]

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. 

[DEM]

The casting of oldest Sara was a big failing of this ep. I thought she was supposed to be 18. Even though I understood Mother's panic when she called all over creation and couldn't find Sara, knowing the kid was 15 would have made the situation feel even more dire.  And then porno-sex and narcotics?  That's not la-di-da 15-year-olds will be fifteen stuff.

The main issue for me, as others have stated, was the lack of communication.  It wasn't the tech, per se. Marie's controlling nature was secondary to and arguably symptomatic of failure to engage in open and honest communication.  When she visited the doctor and realised how damaging the software was to her daughter's development, she immediately stowed the thing away.  It wasn't until several years later under extreme stress that she pulled it out again.  Don't real-world parents use GPS apps for their minor children's phones?  Where Marie failed was not following up with Sara, and then she made matters worse by going behind Sara's back.

[Rockfish]

It was telling that when Marie put the tablet away—after realizing the damage she was causing—she didn’t walk to school with Sara that first day. This would have given them the opportunity to talk about the dog and about any other stressors that may have been overwhelming for her. But it didn’t seem as if there was much communication between them.

As a parent, I liked this take on helicoptering parenting. But I agree that the older Sara seemed much older than 15.

[LittleIggy]

4 minutes ago, Rockfish said:

 

As a parent, I liked this take on helicoptering parenting. But I agree that the older Sara seemed much older than 15.

I had the same problem with Alias Grace. No way did the actress look like a 16 year old (when the murders occurred).

[benteen]

Agreed.  Sara seemed much older than 15.

I also agree the lack of communication from Marie was the downfall here.  I don't blame her for freaking over the sex and drugs but instead of confronting the problem with her daughter, she handled everyone in an all-seeing control freak manner.  Make the decisions for her daughter and not even consult her as to what she was doing.

[Lady Calypso]

I honestly thought Sara was 17. 

17 hours ago, Rockfish said:

It was telling that when Marie put the tablet away—after realizing the damage she was causing—she didn’t walk to school with Sara that first day. This would have given them the opportunity to talk about the dog and about any other stressors that may have been overwhelming for her. But it didn’t seem as if there was much communication between them.

Yeah, I knew that Marie would bring out the tablet again once Sara started rebelling, as it was very telling when she put the tablet away instead of smashing it and tossing it in the garbage. If she really meant to stop using Arkangel, she would have completely gotten rid of it.

[ganesh]

On 12/30/2017 at 10:38 AM, Miles said:

Self destructive, misbehave, irrisponsible? I mean come on, she did one line of coke and had sex with her boyfriend.

I didn't find her to be anything out of normal teen behavior. The coke was a little far fetched to me because I would think teens would be smoking weed, and it's easier to obtain than coke. If anything, what was out of the norm was that she wasn't snippy and yelling at the mother like teens typically do. 

If my parents found out I lied about being where I was; 1. They'd tell all the other parents, and 2. We'd all be in a heap of problems. I don't get why she just didn't say, 'Hey, they said they were doing movie night at your house, so there not there. Any idea where? Did you overhear anything?' I mean, I get that she knew she could just look up on the tablet, but even when the daughter came home, not saying anything seemed a little much, when she actually talked to the other parents, and the friend was busted too. 

I had no idea she was 15; I thought when they fast forwarded she was a senior in HS.

I found this rather predictable and not particularly interesting. I get the relevance of the issue. They left some loose ends out there again like in E1. The mother is going to call the police, etc., to try to find her. Just leaving outright isn't much of an ending. 

[Anela]

I thought she was at least eighteen. 

[markx]

It would have been interesting to see the consequences of someone brought up with that technology until they are 18 (or beyond? If it can't be removed, it won't ever switch off...) On the other hand, I liked that they addressed the obvious flaws early on, and then moved on.

A world where it becomes the norm would be scary. No privacy from parents, and the people who've grown up with that might except all sorts of invasions of privacy. Imagine this technology being used on criminals, perhaps even for minor crimes (it seems a perfect way to keep track of them - at the expense of their privacy and of anyone who associates with them; perhaps the filter could be modified to block other things). Or companies that require employees to install one of these. I did wonder if the mother's boyfriend was going to find the tablet and start snooping. Or imagine a hacker gaining access and using it to broadcast secrets, or blind the person by turning the filter up to 11.

Making it accessible only through one device seemed unlikely, more likely it'd be viewable through the person's own devices. Maybe this was meant to be a way to keep things more secure (or of course, it's easier to show the idea of putting the tablet in the loft, and then bringing it out again, compared to an online account).

I liked that whilst the parent was irresponsibly using some dangerous new technology, the teenagers were doing what teenagers have done for generations. I might be more worried of a future where teenagers are no longer like that!
 

On 30/12/2017 at 2:44 AM, Miles said:

Also why weren't all the cars self driving? That I would expect way before brain implants that don't even need servers, it seems.

I agree, this seems to be a common mistake in several Black Mirror episodes (e.g., The Entire History Of You). Hated in the Nation at least had a character saying they were waiting for self-driving to go mainstream (and seemed to be set nearer to the present than this episode).
 

[benteen]

Although I love the idea of self-driving cars (seriously, it would be a great way to get some additional sleep) I don't think I could ever be comfortable with trusting a machine while I was in the car.

What surprised me was learning that the arkangel technology had been bad.  Wow, the world of Black Mirror actually be responsible when it comes to dangerous and questionable technology...

[Anela]

I wouldn't want access to anything like this, because I think I would be tempted to do just what the mother did, when I was feeling insecure/paranoid/worried. I also noted that they missed some important talks, and learning experiences, because of that. She didn't feel the need to talk about things, or to help her daughter confront her fears. 

[AllyB]

So glad other people mentioned the child at the start being too old for the stroller as it looked very off to me too. Though I think Aniya Hodge who played the young Sara was probably about 18mo older than the character she was playing so that made her look 4 going on 5 rather than 3 like the character. Either way it was ridiculous that she was in a baby's high chair while being spoon fed her meal of green goop. (Though she was super well behaved for not pouting or yelling in outrage when the Arkangel doctor(?) switched Simmer and Shine over to the war scenes without warning her.)

I was wondering through the latter half why these future teens had such a Gen X culture. Their music, fashion, hair, lingo, drug choices, body language was all soooo 90s. I know fashions are cyclical but apart from the teens having smartphones identical to those we use today, everything about their lifestyle was right out of my teens and fashions don't recycle that identically. It was really jarring.

Other than that I agree with those who thought the premise had more potential than the story we were shown. The story of a teen rebelling and running away from a parent who attempts to control them is one we've all seen a thousand times and there was nothing especially new added by the addition of advanced technology. The more interesting stories about increased judgement in terms of the child's health, the mental health implications of growing up with half the world hidden from you, the fact that Marie partially used the technology to avoid much of the real work of parenting were all the more interesting stories that the premise could have yielded. 

[LadyArcadia]

I'll admit it. This hit way too close to home. The more I monitored my son's phone, etc. the more he rebelled. Which meant, I gave him reasonable consequences (taking phone away) and he acted out.  Rinse and repeat until he felt completely smothered and I was/am convinced I have a deranged teenager.

As much as it feels like I'm being a bad parent, I find it much more peaceful to not even look anymore.  Download all the porn you want kid, I don't want to know.

100% I would have used this device if it were available and guaranteed my challenges now would have been so much worse.  I wouldn't have used the filter, but I for sure would have looked through their eyes and monitored where they were.

On another note, at the end I was convinced that the filter would flip to on as it broke and Sara would be stuck with it on.  It was more tense to think that was going to happen than it actually happening. So well done, show.

[Madding crowd]

I thought this was a cautionary tale for parents. I belong to a social media group of parents of teens/college students and I am shocked at how many parents use some kind of app where you can not only GPS your child 24/7, but read all of their text messages, get lists of phone numbers called and lists of websites visited. Your teenager is a human being, not your possession. I am just livid that parent's would not allow their child to even have a private moment to vent to a friend. This episode shows the downside to this type of technology. Even if you spy on your child 24 hours a day-you cannot get inside their head and you cannot prevent all bad things from happening. Preparing your child to be an adult is the only way they can truly thrive. In this case, Trick was really not a bad guy and he did not force Sara into anything. And how in the world would it help someone to not be able to recognize danger? So, if someone was chasing you, it would be blurred out and you would have no chance to escape.

What about things like hurting yourself or falling? You would bleed to death because you didn't know what was happening. I thought the end with Sara smashing her mom's head over and over was a bit much, and her age should have been higher. Where in the world would a 15 year old even go? I agree the actress looked way older than 15. But this is probably my second favorite episode of the season. 

[PatternRec]

On 12/30/2017 at 4:57 AM, DharmaG said:

Btw is there a show that does not show teens being irresponsible, lying, & self destructive? Would love to see that.

 

Not quite as convoluted as Black Mirror 

[monagatuna]

I think I missed a few things on this episode. The EC thing was pretty terrible to begin with--drugging your own kid with EC--but my understanding was that this was the next morning (after the snooping on the beach trip), so within the 72 hour window of EC effectiveness. But then the nurse said "it worked; the pregnancy was terminated." So she was already pregnant and her mom gave her EC? I don't think EC would cleanly and effectively terminate a pregnancy, although it's probably not good for the embryo. Either way, that's not how it works, and it's terribly irresponsible for the writers and director to conflate EC and the abortion pill (which is also not administered via morning smoothie). Sure, maybe in future-world you can terminate a pregnancy by slipping some future version of "EC" into a drink, which is a terrifying prospect considering how many wanted pregnancies could be terminated against the mother's will. If that's the case, though, they should've included a scene of a doctor explaining this Cool New Drug that is administered orally and can cleanly terminate pregnancies in underage girls. Teens are already so undereducated about pregnancy and prevention, and this isn't helping.

Also, I read somewhere that the helicopter parenting "caused her to get into an eighteen-wheeler with a serial killer." Was this speculation on that person's part, or was it established that the driver was indeed a serial killer?

The clothing in this episode was very odd. It was like 2025 technology with 1995 fashion.

[PatternRec]

2 hours ago, monagatuna said:

I think I missed a few things on this episode. The EC thing was pretty terrible to begin with--drugging your own kid with EC--but my understanding was that this was the next morning (after the snooping on the beach trip), so within the 72 hour window of EC effectiveness. But then the nurse said "it worked; the pregnancy was terminated." So she was already pregnant and her mom gave her EC? I don't think EC would cleanly and effectively terminate a pregnancy, although it's probably not good for the embryo. Either way, that's not how it works, and it's terribly irresponsible for the writers and director to conflate EC and the abortion pill (which is also not administered via morning smoothie). Sure, maybe in future-world you can terminate a pregnancy by slipping some future version of "EC" into a drink, which is a terrifying prospect considering how many wanted pregnancies could be terminated against the mother's will. If that's the case, though, they should've included a scene of a doctor explaining this Cool New Drug that is administered orally and can cleanly terminate pregnancies in underage girls. Teens are already so undereducated about pregnancy and prevention, and this isn't helping.

Yeah quite a few people are having an issue with this as do I. For the sake of maybe 30 seconds of added exposition perpetuated a myth about EC that has some pretty bad social consequences. 

[Duke2801]

On 12/29/2017 at 9:44 PM, Miles said:

Ah the poetic irony. She had her daughter bugged to not lose her and in the end that's what actually made it happen.

The grandfather said he was 2000 years old. Was he really or was he exagerating for dramatic effect? If he was really that old, that was poor timing with the dying. Also why weren't all the cars self driving? That I would expect way before brain implants that don't even need servers, it seems.

For Black Mirror this was still a relatively happy ending. I mean the mother got what she deserved and the daughter got out of there, albeit with a lot of scars.

I kinda hope she puts together that the mother blackmailed her boyfriend and she calls him. Just to get some closure.

Happy ending? I mean, the daughter is now a runaway and very likely off to live a life of homelessness, drugs and/or prostitution. I would call that the opposite of a happy ending there. 

And yes the “2,000 years old” was an exaggeration. 

 

Quote

I knew Arkangel was going to be a problem from the outset.

Quote

I knew that system would cause all kinds of problems,

These comments are cracking me up.  LOL.  I mean we're watching Black Mirror, where the entire point of the show is to show how technology causes problems.   

Edited January 5, 2018 by Duke2801

[knaankos]

I think this episode and premise had more potential than it delivered on. In the end it only created fairly basic mother/tenn daughter problems that could happen today. A modern day mom could easily find out about her daughter lying without Arkangel technology, if not actually see her daughter having sex (which btw they could have made a more damaging thing but shied away from exploring that too much.) I don't think they explored enough possible issues with this technology. And the daughter was way too normal if they really wanted to make a point about the dangers of this technology. I mean she was a normal teen without social issues, with a rebel streak. They showed sigs of her maybe developing issues as a young girl, but then never explored those again,

[Inquisitionist]

16 hours ago, monagatuna said:

I think I missed a few things on this episode. The EC thing was pretty terrible to begin with--drugging your own kid with EC--but my understanding was that this was the next morning (after the snooping on the beach trip), so within the 72 hour window of EC effectiveness. But then the nurse said "it worked; the pregnancy was terminated." So she was already pregnant and her mom gave her EC? I don't think EC would cleanly and effectively terminate a pregnancy, although it's probably not good for the embryo. Either way, that's not how it works, and it's terribly irresponsible for the writers and director to conflate EC and the abortion pill (which is also not administered via morning smoothie).

I haven't seen this episode but Planned Parenthood has posted about it on Facebook.  I'm surprised Jodie Foster would be this sloppy. 

[ganesh]

I don't even know if I'd call the daughter that much of a rebel prior to her snapping.