Striking Vipers

Two men struggle to deal with the consequences after playing an immersive video game.

Yet another humb dinger of a scenerio, that with a few tweaks could've been fabulous.

Slight spoilers below!!!

The problem is we don't see enough friendship development in the early stages to truly feel how powerful their connection is in the later scenes. We only see a snippet of college like behaviour.

Because of this we don't know if it's the game or their bond that makes the simulation so powerful.

The ending however adds an excellent spin on how to manage complicated relationships in modern times.

I definitely wouldn't say it's a favourite, but it does have a very profound message, can you fall in love with more then just the physical. It has you confused at times, as you question sexuality, love, romance etc.

Some people do genuinely live in a cyber reality, where life can perhaps seem a little simpler, this episode certainly looks into the divide between real life and cyber reality.

Very well acted, and well produced, I'd argue the most bizarre episode to date, but it's certainly enjoyable.

It's always great to see a new episode of Black Mirror. 7/10.

You'll see a picture of me and my (also male and both straight) roommate watching this together

For me this was one of the sexiest, least depressing and highly underrated episodes. It's unpredictable and actually quite moving. The whole idea of questioning your own sexuality and how it relates to emotional attachment is quite fascinating. Definitely worth watching!

There are good ideas within Striking Vipers, and there is a bravery to it too in terms of its content and its bigger budget. Those ideas suggest the idea of online relationships providing something real life does not, of breaking down barriers (even gender), or just of them being an escape from the real life as those relationships are totally untethered from it. The starry cast and high production values added to the feeling that this could be good - but it was only okay.

The energy of the delivery helped it, but fundamentally it didn't feel like the characters made a real connection, and the episode felt very event driven rather than character so. The performances were decent, but too much was telegraphed and/or presented without nuance or detail. The writing is surprisingly lacking though; the whole thing concludes in quite a small way, there doesn't feel like a warning here, or some sort of chill that this will be coming - instead it feels like a decent compromise. All told, while there are ideas in here, nothing really seemed to take off in it.