Fifteen Million Merits

This episode tore my heart out and stomped on it for good measure. Whereas Black Mirror's first episode was more darkly comic in tone (disturbing nonetheless), this was an utterly bleak excursion into the realms of reality television and our consumerist culture. Oh and a beautiful love story to boot. But if you think this love story is bound for a happy ending, you haven't watched Black Mirror before.

Although a touch heavy handed in its message, its themes still ring painfully true. It looks with disdain upon our symbiotic relationship with reality television, and how anything of purity, authenticity, and honest beauty will inevitably become corrupted and filtered down to a 'lowest common denominator' level of entertainment to feed the willing masses.

Its simply a powerful yet utterly bleak hour of brilliant thought provoking television.

Let me be honest: This is my first episode of Black Mirror, which is a show I've always heard is good, but never got to confirm for myself until now. What made me want to watch this specific episode is not the main character's actor, who has since gone on to star in this year's mega-hit 'Get Out', but it's premise alone. A world where people help power their isolated world by exercising, while those not fit enough become janitors who are often mistreated and mocked or the butt of a joke. It's shocking in it's themes, but not in a way that makes me want to puke.

To put it lightly, this episode displays why I now like this series: it's gut wrenching, horrifying, and shocking, but not in the conventional way of displaying horrific visuals meant to make you cringe. Instead, Black Mirror manages to get all 3 of these across the board with it's honest, tight, and brilliantly told messages about the many ways society could connect with technology... and let me tell you, none of them are really 'good'. This specific episode I've chosen to review is something that starts out subtle, and only goes downhill as the episode progresses. I'm not going to say anything about this episode other than how much it got to me, because it really is one you're better left seeing without too much knowledge about it. Many of the characters I found interesting, even some minor ones. They're relatable in ways that everyone can agree with, and the dialog plus the overall story is sharply written to a point that made the 1 hour I spent watching it feel like nothing.

If you're looking into Black Mirror as a potential series to binge, know that it's not for everyone. It's shocking and emotional in many unconventional ways, and almost always has a statement to make, so if that sounds good, then shoot for it. Just thinking of this episode makes me want to watch the other episodes.

Whatever it was, it nearly made me suffocate with holding my breath.

You know that feeling you get, that almost nausea, that exhilarating terror when you take the plunge over a roller-coaster loop, that feeling of stretching out a finger to barely touch something transcendental, that white blank feeling you get when you've hit ground zero and the truth is there, almost there...

No?

I've had that feeling before. I almost can't quite remember when, just that the enormity of feeling something like that couldn't possibly be contained in a memory.

This makes no sense, does it?

I don't know - but tell me you didn't feel something rare when you watched Bing nearly commit cultural, political and physical suicide on that stage. I've never seen anything that's managed to depress and stimulate me at once. I've never seen anything that raw and human. Not for a long time.

Watch it?

And transcribe the end speech. I would have that tattOOED.

As the first season of Black Mirror progresses (only being 3 episodes long), I personally find it to explore deeper subject matter. "Fifteen Million Merits" simply affects me as a person a lot more than the previous episode "The National Anthem," which contained more shock value than anything as far as I saw it.

"Fifteen Million Merits" takes place in a futuristic "digital utopia" (saw that description elsewhere, and I liked it... though I would personally view it as a "waking nightmare.") This world that doesn't resemble ours upon sight, but seems to represent it in every metaphorical way possible. The protagonist contains pure values that no one else around him seems to have, until he meets a woman singing a beautiful song. There is love there, and a yearning for something greater than than the slave-like existences they are currently living, riding on hamster wheels, for what seems to be no purpose.

In typical Black Mirror style, the dark, apathetic, and indifferent aspects of human nature are there to see in all their glory. There is a speech given by the protagonist toward the end that cuts to my core as much as anything could, highlighting pretty much all of the things that I myself have come to despise about our society. I have known people who have watched this and thought it was boring, so I am forced to believe this isn't for everyone. But, for those of you who question authority, spend any time thinking outside of your little bubble, and strive to be more than a "rat in a cage," well then my friend, this episode is for you.

Aside from all of the wonderful messages, it also layers on top all of the visual details that make this digital world so unique, much of which is reminiscent, but still very different from our world today. The innovation of the details is so terrific, that I was truly blown away. The only reason this one falls 1 star short of perfection is there is a slight lull throughout. Once it kicks off, it's all systems go... but perhaps 5 mins or so could have been shaved off? A lot of time that many would find unnecessary is spent setting up the world to get you used to it, and become immersed in it.

All-in-all, this is a wonderful episodes that absolutely hits the nail on the head of channeling the reality TV watching, short attention span nature of today's modern culture... and gives us a rather dark glimpse at what could be if we continue down this moral-craved path.

In a future world you have to cycle for your supper, Bing does his best to help talented singer Abi get onto a singing contest.

It's a magical episode, a study of exploitation, containerisation and a demand for fame abd fortune, there's also something of a love story running through it.

It's definitely a mirror image of life itself, the endless cycling represents the rat race that many people live their lives by, blindly running along the treadmill, eating, sleeping, repeating, but every now and then something good comes along, do you strive for it, or let it pass? That's the situation for Bing.

That scene where Abi faces The Judges, it's just brutal.

I just love the imagery, the emojis, the idea of those constant, forced adverts, and being penalised for not watching them, amazing ideas.

Definitely a pop at the likes of X Factor, Britain's got talent, and all of those other shows headed up by egotistical judges.

Daniel Kaluuya and Jessica Brown Findlay deliver truly astounding performances.

Made back at the time when this show was producing genuinely sensational, thought provoking episodes.

10/10.