Joan Is Awful

Joan lives a fairly average existence and is shocked to discover that her everyday life has been made into a TV show, with Salma Hayek playing her. Every embarrassing detail is depicted within hours of it occurring. As a result of these revelations she loses her job, her boyfriend and her privacy. There's no legal way to prevent the producers doing this so she resorts to drastic measures.

I was at first pleasantly surprised that, four and a half years after Season 5, there's a Season 6 of Black Mirror. It is one of my favourite drama series of recent times and captures quite accurately the risks, phobias and pleasures of modern technology.

However, I was also worried in that after such a long gap the creativity isn't there any more and that Netflix and Charlie Brooker just wanted to cash in on how highly regarded the show is.

I needn't have worried. Episode 1 of Season 6 is as good as ever, with a clever Christopher Nolan-like layers-of-reality plot and some great performances. Very profound and thought-provoking too (as Black Mirror usually is). Plus, it's all so plausible, which has always been the scariest part of Black Mirror.

Can't wait to watch the remainder of Season 6.

This episode had everything, and it should have been a kick-ass start! I thought Black Mirror would have a hard time generating new, unique ideas. However, in this case, it was really a good idea. But... yes, there's a "but." They decided to execute it in a cliché Hollywood-ish way that would please teenagers. Black Mirror is all about provoking thought, not offering solutions. The challenge presented here with the deepfake technology was truly alarming, providing ample food for thought. Sadly, it was all undermined by the actions and plot twists. It ended up being disappointingly mediocre and catering to the crowd. What a tremendous waste of opportunity! I did enjoy it, but as a Black Mirror fan, it didn't live up to the mark.

An evening's telly and a new show has a tile, it looks familiar but on playing there's no smile, as your day is played, relayed, with Salma Hayek being payed, to enact what's taken place, but in her style. It's quite surreal and you're not sure how it's been done, and then your boyfriend realises you've had fun, with a partner of the past, this is bizarre, you feel harassed, but the small print means the past can't be undone; exasperation causes food to be binged on, and washed down with laxative as libation, a line is duly crossed, and the floor needs a good wash, but the nightmare will not cease, will not be quashed.

As imaginative as ever.

When you take a moment to think about the layers in this episode, and how timely this concept of AI generated imagery technology is, this is one heck of a welcome back episode for Black Mirror. Creativity was impeccable, casting and performances spot on, and you'll find yourself entertained and smiling throughout this entire episode. I was curious to see after all this time off how creative the stories would be, and so far so good. The humor is a great added touch, especially the church scene, and the Easter egg of the Netflix sound each time Streamberry was launched was hilarious, sort of a nod and pat on the back of ones self, and well deserved.

Joan is bored with her life, fed up of her boyfriend Krish, and genuinely stuck in a rut, at a meeting with her therapist she is offered the chance to change things up, which she accepts, unaware of what she's signed up to.

It's been a while, over four years to be precise, you always worry that some of the well earned polish may have rubbed off, fortunately no sign of that here, this was a cracking return, it is far from perfect, but a bleak scenario of the future, that's exactly what Black Mirror delivers here.

Be careful what you download and click accept to, because you never quite know what the terms and conditions are.

This was fun and chilling in equal measure, you honestly had no idea what was coming next, I imagine there were lots of in jokes here, there were certainly lots of Easter eggs to look out for.

I was worried that the show might have moved to focusing on names, rather than the winning formula that made this show so great, but Salma Hayek added a little something, I'm not quite sure what.

Annie Murphy was terrific, her timing was perfect, you couldn't help but feel sorry for Joan, Hayek clearly had a lot of fun, a different role for her to play.

8/10.