After a cracking Episode 1, which left us with a sense of awe, Black Mirror returned with a second episode. This time around, we switch gears to enter the world of reality TV in a dystopian futuristic society – an age where iPad and Kinect have taken over our lives, and consumerism has become omnipotent, almost to the level of a totalitarian government. With sleek visuals and a claustrophic environment surrounding the entire episode, this dark face of our not-so-distant future, might probably be the best of genre television of the year. But it is not just the scifi elements which stand out in this episode. There’s pretty much everything for every one – a doomed love story, a clear villain, and even that annoying sidekick which we want to get killed. Read on, as I discuss the key points of Episode 2 of Black Mirror – Fifteen Million Merits. Needless to mention – SPOILERS ALERT.

A Not So Distant Future:

The world where this is set, seems more like 2020, considering the pace at which we are moving. I have several reasons to back me up here.

A world with avatars = SIMS, Second Life.

Swipe to forward, gestures, Touchscreens = iPad, Kinect

Product Recommendations, Gifts = Social Network, Online Shopping

There is no exact date given here, but the styling of the judges do point out that fashion hasn’t drastically changed. It is only the fuel makers, who are dressed in their prison-esque grey suits. This gave me a deja-vu of the underrated Michael Bay movie – the Island. After all, similar to the Island, the humans are here used as some kind of a source.

Dystopia:

And like in a George Orwell story, this world is not ruled by democracy anymore. It is now taken over by the ever-powerful few, who rule it by means of consumerism. The world is a more peaceful place, where everyone gets to watch telly, be healthy by riding bikes all day long, and play video games through the miles earned. No one is hungry, as food is again distributed by means of these hard-earned miles. But you don’t have the freedom to choose food. There’s only pre-processed, manufactured food, and labelled drinks to have.

Is it a world worth living in, where there is no free will? You are penalised for skipping adverts (something that Sky might do in the dystopian future? Ask Murdoch). And TV programming is either over-feeding and humiliating obese people, softcore porn, or reality TV singing competitions. How different is that from what we have today? And if you take your eyes off, you’re warned about obstructed viewing with a high pitched noise tearing your ear drums.

Is this where we are all heading towards? Charlie Brooker’s painting of this dystopian society is very effective in its limited scale. Not for a while do we get to see what is beyond the walls – neither outside the closed space of Bing’s small square room, or even the large building which houses the Hot Shots audition. We travel from a room, to another, and I ended up feeling claustrophobic and in desperate need to go out and breathe the fresh air.

But again, how different is this, when we spend almost 8-10 hours every day, in front of a screen, breathing conditioned air?

And when love strikes:

Like all great stories, this one is also centred around a doomed relationship. Our hero Bing, falls almost instantly for the sweet Abi, and is blown over by Abi’s sweet voice. It is him, who persuades her to enter the reality TV show – Hot Shots. But things take an unexpected turn, as the judges decide that the world does not need another “average singer”. They encourage her instead to feature on their pornographic channel – Wraith Babes. And poor Abi, having exploited unknowingly by means of an intoxicating drink, given to her prior to her performance, agrees.

And poor Bing is now fed to forcibly see his love, being watched by everyone as a sexual object. He is haunted by his own mistake, but it is too late.

The Judges:

It is hard to ignore the stark parallelism of what Reality TV is now against what is shown here. Although the judges are edging on being caricatures of their real world counterparts (one more than the other two), the underlying message is loud and clear. These are the ones who decide what we eat, what we see, and what we consume in our 24 hours of daily routine.

Yes, Rupert Everett’s portrayal of “Cowell” is quite unfunny. But that’s not the point. The point is that these people are the ones that rule the space that surrounds us – sort of a comparison of what happens in the real world now. So, it does not matter who wins or who you vote for in the X Factor, or American Idol etc. It’s the ones that these stalwarts back and support that eventually end up occupying our screen space. Of course, Charlie Brooker takes it up a notch by making these people a hybrid of Cowell, Murdoch and dare I say, Gates.

Special mention for Julia Davis. I am a big fan of her, and even in a brief role which involves her just sitting on a chair, being sinister, and delivering pokerface expressions, she’s just brilliant.

The Climax:

So, poor Bing, having faced the doom of his love at his own hands, is now enraged and guilty. He goes on a rampage to earn the required 15 miles, and enters himself into the competition again. Smartly so, he dodges the intoxicant drink, and delivers the speech of his life. He holds the judges responsible for abusing humans and making the world revolve around “stuff”, “useless stuff”. His passionate rant against the judges is what makes this episode peak. And just when you expected it to be the climax, when all of us were sitting in silence and listening to Bing speak his heart out, we get the twist thrown at our face.

The judges offer him a slot, sort of video podcast , which means he doesn’t have to bike his way through life. And as fate would have it, Bing accepts it. If that didn’t make you feel manipulated and mindfucked at the same time, I don’t know what will.

In conclusion:

In my opinion, Charlie Brooker’s second episode is more unsettling than its predecessor. He has effectively taken all the shallowness of our contemporary lives and woven it into an Orwell nightmare, set in the near future. Bing played by Daniel Kaluuya wowed me with his intense performance, especially the final monologue. His heart-wrenching and short lived relationship with Abi is what makes this episode much superior and heartfelt than Episode 1. Kudos to the art direction team to have beautifully created a futuristic world of avatars, social media invasion and touch screen walls.

Full points to the scheduling team of Channel 4 to have aired it after the XFactor finals (and to have advertised it as well). This very strongly drives home the point, that behind all the glitter and shimmer of the show business, lies the dirty reality of exploitation and abuse – on a participant level, and on an audience level. As judge Julia Davis pointed out – The market for singers has reached its saturation point. And this holds true for the real XFactor as well.

Finally, the depiction of a world with no sense of attachment, possession and free spirit, could possibly be the bleakest depiction of a future that we’re heading towards. Is this an indication that we need to move away from our addiction to shiny screens? This future is squeaky clean, but the only tangible possession you can have is in the form of a temporary origami made out of a food wrapper. And that is a scary thought.

9e3k Rating: 15 Miles Out of 15

You can also check out our Spoiler filled review of Episode 1 of Black Mirror – The National Anthem.