S04.E03: Crocodile

[LittleIggy]

23 hours ago, Meedis said:

And to think poor Shiza didn't want the guinea pig and it somehow solved her impending murder.    Also how convenient for her car not to start when trying to get away from Mia (I don't recall Mia doctoring the car).

They had shown the car earlier having starter problems.

[meep.meep]

According to a blurb on IMDB, the episode is titled because of a "crocodile's cognitive ability to associate memories with senses such as smell or hearing."  Smelling the beer is supposed to initiate remembrance of the events with the pizza truck.

Glad I didn't have to do that research.

Being much less deep than the rest of you, I kept wondering why a bunch of Scottish people were all driving on the wrong side of the road.

[100Proof]

What drove me nuts is when murdering woman asks insurance woman, "does anybody know your here?"  Of course the logical answer is "Yes!!'

"You can't kill me, the police will be coming right for you."   But no, it actually won't save you because now murder woman feels that the most efficient and logical way to deal with her predicament is go and kill your family, then everyone in the insurance company, then everyone in law enforcement in the country who are certainly going to take notice now...

 

Kind of reminds of the Blackadder II episode where he's in love with 'Bob', his manservant and worries about his social status if others knew.

So the old crone giving him advice says, 'kill Bob."  "Never!"  "Then kill yourself." "NO!"

"Then ensure that no one else ever knows."   How?"   "Kill everybody in the whole world!! Ah, ha, ha"

 

I thought this 4th season was a big letdown and I think I know why. When it was more or less the style of scathing wit that's singularly British, it was great. Then as seasons progressed it's turned itself more into an american made copy, with more and more american actors, of a great british show. Charlie Brooker or no Charlie Brooker

And we all should know how american tv turns british tv into pure crap. I also notice this happening a lot lately with british programs having american actors in the leads. Awful

Edited January 31, 2018 by 100Proof

[romantic idiot]

I was so happy to hear British accents again.

[Superpole2000]

On 02/01/2018 at 4:18 PM, ganesh said:

I'm having a hard time suspending disbelief that memory is that reliable. They showed that the dentist got the color of the jacket wrong, and eyewitness testimony irl is highly unreliable. Not to mention the egregious violation of civil rights in compelling people to use the device.

Yeah, it was so over the top. Not only can a little chip suction cupped to the side of a person's head reveal someone's memories, it can play them as a video on a TV screen for others to view! That's not even science fiction...it's just fiction fiction. I can't even picture what I wore to work on Monday, and I certainly don't have video-quality memories of anything in my life.

I do think if this technology was feasible (not that it ever will be) that we would be forced to share our memories when commanded to do so by "authorities." We're already moving in that direction with phone searches and searches of our online presence.

But the real terrible part of this episode was all of the killing. We can have a discussion on memories and privacy without all of the bludgeoning. It was all SHOCK VALUE, MUST SHOCK VIEWERS!!! and I hated it. I'm fine with dark/bleak, but this was just unnecessary gore. It really did separate the main character from the viewer, who can't fathom one killing, let alone all of the subsequent coverup killings. Just plain silly.

[nicgwatchingtv]

On 1/30/2018 at 6:07 PM, 100Proof said:

we all should know how american tv turns british tv into pure crap. I also notice this happening a lot lately with british programs having american actors in the leads. Awful

 

I think that it's generally true that there is something something fundamentally less interesting and insightful about this  last season of BM, but I also think that it's a vast over simplification to push the blame onto the idea that idea that Brit shows are worse when they morph into more American-ized versions of those shows.

While this is sometimes ture, it's not always true and I don't think that that's the problem in this case.

Edited March 16, 2018 by nicgwatchingtv

[100Proof]

3 hours ago, nicgwatchingtv said:

I think that it's generally true that there is something something fundamentally less interesting and insightful about this  last season of BM, but I also think that it's a vast over simplification to push the blame onto the idea that idea that Brit shows are worse when they morph into more American-ized versions of those shows.

While this is sometimes ture, it's not always true and I don't think that that's the problem in this case.

 

There are rare exceptions. God knows there's as much British tv garbage. However, imo more often than not, when a British series does become a hit big enough for American tv to copy, its a flop.

As far as this is concerned, Brits, like Charlie Brooker, are known for their scathing satire, sarcasm and humor that Americans seem to lack. Maybe Black Mirror's just running a natural course of an initial first season 'wow', then maybe an even better or lesser sophomore effort, but then further season slides, as this season was imo

For all I know the magic formula might be, at least to american ears, that everything is delivered in a british accent, lol. However, that's doubtful although a good part of it.

There's american shows I may be watching and liking that I never saw the brit original, such as 'Shameless'.  But actually that's the only one I'm aware watching of british origin. Maybe it is successful because so called 'white trash' is sooooo ameican in the first place, lol

Edited March 16, 2018 by 100Proof

[kokapetl]

On 14/03/2018 at 11:51 AM, Superpole2000 said:

Yeah, it was so over the top. Not only can a little chip suction cupped to the side of a person's head reveal someone's memories, it can play them as a video on a TV screen for others to view! That's not even science fiction...it's just fiction fiction. I can't even picture what I wore to work on Monday, and I certainly don't have video-quality memories of anything in my life.

“Chips suctioned cupped to the side of people’s heads” is one of the main themes of this show. It’s sadism, social media, cctv, living in computers and suction cup head chips.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 1/13/2018 at 2:09 PM, Dobian said:

 The second has to do with her ability to overpower and kill two grown men.  This is a very slight woman who looks like she's 90 pounds soaking wet, yet she managed to choke her ex-boyfriend to death.  

That bugged me so much to the point where if they had found a better way to explain it, it would have been a great episode. But the fact that she was not only able to push her ex around but actually knock him down made no sense.

Also I did find it funny that based on the memories of the guy who got hit by the pizza van he didn't seem to look both ways before crossing the street.

And hopefully if we ever get to a future where we can read people's memories, cars will be more reliable.

[Nidhal]

Hamsters have poor sight, to begin with. Most hamsters can't see far in front of them and rely on a combination of sights and sounds to guide them. This means that your friend who is sitting across the room from them isn't going to be a major part of their memory. 
This means that their stupid ending is completely wrong. I wonder how a team of writers and producers didn't even to bother to look for this information. Such a failure of an ending to such a great episode. 

[sugarbaker design]

I hope Mia Nolan gets the same prison sentence as Victoria Skillane.