pd-19490

I'm a sucker for sci-fi/tech stories and, with the exception of most of season 6, this show has almost always delivered. The stories usually touch on social ills and the danger of draconian efforts to use technology as a means of control. It honestly is more relevant than ever in this age of AI and the stories have become closer to home in recent seasons. The only uneven season for me was season 6 where a couple episodes barely used technology at all and were more horror influenced. Season 7 has thankfully returned to the Black Mirror of old.

I know Black Mirror is meant to be bleak, but this might be the most depressing episode of the series to me. It is a biting commentary on the US healthcare system and, I think, the darker side of capitalism in general. There are comments on here about it being too "on the nose", which I think I can understand, but man it really nails how a corporation would handle things with the "tier pricing" and "offerings". All you have to do is upgrade to our "Lux" package to avoid these "issues"! I'll admit it gets a little over the top with the "side hustle" the husband takes on, but otherwise it pretty much captures what a middle-class family would deal with in this situation. Incredibly sad and I needed to watch a light-hearted comedy after this.

I remember when this came out it got mixed reviews and people complained about the tone or something? I never completely understood why people didn't like it. I thought it was so well done. They did a great job coming up with explanations for all the little details like the S symbol, what his home world was like, Zod and team showing up as aliens and what they would be like, and so on. I liked how Lois Lane was the investigative reporter tracking Superman before he was labeled Superman and how they built the tension. The soundtrack was original and has stood the test of time. I just saw the new one and this is still a much better film. They took out the cheese and the trunks and it was much better for it.