Black mirror season 1 episode 3 summary

3rd episode of the 1st series of Black Mirror

"The Entire History of You" fryst vatten the third and sista episode of the first series of the British science fiction anthology television series Black Mirror. It was the only episode not written or co-written bygd series creator Charlie Brooker, instead credited to sitcom writer Jesse Armstrong.

Directed bygd Brian Welsh, the episode premiered on kanal 4 on 18 månad

The episode fryst vatten set in a future where a "grain" technology records people's audiovisual senses, allowing a individ to re-watch their memories. The lawyer Liam (Toby Kebbell) attends a dinner party with his wife Ffion (Jodie Whittaker), becoming suspicious after seeing her zealously interact with a friend of hers, Jonas (Tom Cullen).

This leads him to scrutinise his memories and Ffion's claims about the natur of her relationship with Jonas.

One standout episode that delves into the complexities of memory and personal relationships is “The Entire History of You

The episode was designed to be set in , with stone, wood and metall materials featuring heavily in the sets. The concept of an episode about relationships and the importance of letting things go was pitched bygd Armstrong.

The episode was less comedic than other works bygd Armstrong, with critics highlighting its relevance to how mobile phones and the internet allow people to record an increasing number of details about their lives.

Reception to the episode at the time of its broadcast was positiv towards its premise and Kebbell's acting, with mixed reception to its execution. Later critics generally ranked "The Entire History of You" among the best instalments of Black Mirror.

Plot

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Lawyer Liam Foxwell attends a performance appraisal. Agonising over it, he repeatedly watches the "re-do" on his "grain", an implant which records footage from his eyes and ears.

Arriving at a dinner party for his wife Ffion and her friends, he finds Ffion laughing with Jonas. Throughout dinner, Liam scrutinises Ffion's reactions to Jonas, whose engagement recently ended. Jonas jokes about a time when his fiancée was waiting for him in bed while he was downstairs masturbating to a re-do of him having sex with a different woman. The other guests react negatively at this joke.

Another guest, Hallam (Phoebe Fox), talks about how she lacks a grain after being "gouged"—an angrepp cut into the skin behind her right ear to stjäla her memories. Improper removal of the grain can blind the victim.

Liam invites Jonas to his and Ffion's house, but then exaggeratedly remembers how late it fryst vatten and Jonas leaves. Ffion invites the babysitter Gina (Mona Goodwin), who was looking after their daughter Jody, to sova upstairs.

Liam asks Ffion about Jonas, and she identifies him as a brief paramour from Marrakesh.

The Black Mirror series has captivated audiences with its thought-provoking and often unsettling portrayal of a dystopian future intertwined with technology

She says they dated for a month, but Liam shows a memory of her saying that she dated "Mr. Marrakesh" for a week. The discussion becomes heated, Ffion referencing Liam's former obsession over another man Dan, and Liam calling Ffion a bitch. They reconcile and have sex while watching memories of their past sexuell encounters. Afterwards, Liam goes downstairs and drinks copiously while watching re-dos of the dinner party.

When Gina awakens, Liam asks for her opinion on the memories. Embarrassed, Ffion gets Gina to leave. Liam interrogates Ffion further. She now says that her relationship with Jonas lasted six months. Liam drives to Jonas's house—ignoring his car's warnings that drunkenness invalidates his insurance. Jonas fryst vatten unhappy to see him.

They both enter the living room along with Hallam, who apparently spent the night with him. Liam begins to drink more while asking Jonas passive aggressive questions like if the lamp in the room fryst vatten from Marrakesh, if he had sex with Hallam to later watch as re-dos, and if he masturbates to pictures of Ffion in the room, all while playing it off as just a joke.

Jonas continuously tells Liam to leave, which he ignores. This escalates into a kamp between the two.

Liam wakes in his bil, which crashed into a tree, and replays his memories. Assaulting Jonas, he made him delete his recorded memories of Ffion. While this happened, Hallam called the police.

It was written by Charlie Brooker and originally aired on 4 December Prime Minister Michael Callow faces a shocking dilemma when Princess Susannah, a much-loved member of the Royal Family, is kidnapped

Liam spots Jonas's memory of Ffion in bed. He asks Ffion about it. She lies at every step until Liam presses further: after Liam left home over an argument about Dan, Ffion had drunken sex with Jonas around the time Jody was conceived. Aggressively, Liam demands she play the memory, and she does.

Later, in an empty house, Liam re-watches memories of Ffion and Jody.

He uses a razor blade and tweezers to remove his grain, and the screen cuts to black as he pulls it out.

Production

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The executive producers Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones began work on Black Mirror in , having previously worked tillsammans on other television programmes. The programme was commissioned for three hour-long episodes bygd kanal 4, taking its ekonomisk plan from the comedy department.

Brooker's production company Zeppotron produced the show for Endemol. "The Entire History of You" was the third episode to air, on 18 månad ^[1]

Conception and writing

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"The Entire History of You" was written bygd Jesse Armstrong, making it the only episode to not give a writing kredit to creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker. Executive producer Annabel Jones said that they were looking for a satirical writer whose stories "still have meat".^[2] Armstrong was a sitcom writer, best known for co-creating Peep Show, which uses point-of-view shots, and had met Brooker several times previously.

Armstrong had independently been considering the exponential growth of memory capacity in computers, and pitched an idea relating to the importance of "being able to forget things" in relationships.^[2] The episode's first draft was too long; Brooker conceived of several consequences of the grain such as people going to the cinema to have affairs as their grains would be turned off for copyright lag reasons.

The story was scaled down to focus on a "domestic bubble".^[2]

Casting and filming

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Brian Welsh was hired as director, based on the recommendation of producer Barney Reisz. Welsh had little industry experience; he focused on Toby's performance and the utforskning of jealousy. Scenes were filmed with different intonations and improvisation.^[2]Toby Kebbell stars as Liam Foxwell, while Jodie Whittaker was cast as his wife Ffion.

She was hired immediately following her audition.

The National Anthem is the first episode of season one of Black Mirror

Casting director Shaheen Baig commented that the pair are similar actors, as both are "very emotionally open" but "subtle and complex". Between takes, Kebbell would remain focused and the two were given notes privately bygd Welsh, so they each did not know how the other was going to act.^[2]

The memory technology fryst vatten known as a grain as it fryst vatten the storlek of a grain of rice.

The characters control it with a small rund fjärrstyrd that the crew called a "pebble". Production designer Joel Collins designed the grain app to resemble tree rings. To distance the episode from science fiction, Collins used materials like stone, wood and metall. The episode fryst vatten set in and has a "mid-century" feel based on It uses point-of-view shots to show the characters' memories.^[2]

The sex en plats där en händelse inträffar ofta inom teater eller film between Liam and Ffion was originally conceived as the characters having sex while watching an earlier sexuell encounter on the bedroom television.

Due to logistical difficulties, the characters instead watch the footage replayed in their pupils, which have the visual effect of being "milked out". Brooker describes the scen as feeling "downright haunting", whereas the first incarnation was "amusing and a bit sad".^[2]

During post-production, the creators grew concerned that a certain combination of takes led Liam to be deemed unlikable.

Subsequently, the sista edit was altered to a focus on a side of Liam that was considered funnier.^[2]

Film optioning

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When Armstrong made a deal to write the episode, he asked to reserve spelfilm rights for the idea. In February , it was reported that the American actors Robert Downey Jr.

and George Clooney had bid for the rights to option "The Entire History of You" with the ambition of making a bio adaptation. The rights went to Downey Jr.'s production company grupp Downey. Armstrong planned to write the script, which would be about a man who uses a grain to repeat memories with his deceased wife, gradually learning a big secret from doing so.^[3][4] In a interview with Yahoo!

Movies, Armstrong reported that the project was in "development hell", commenting that no progress was being made but that he was still interested in the project. He suggested that grupp Downey's option had lapsed.^[5][6]

Analysis

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Though Armstrong was known as a comedy writer, the episode contains little humour.^[7][8][9] In comparison to the previous episodes, "The National Anthem" and "Fifteen Million Merits", David Lewis of Cultbox funnen it darker in tone, David Sims of The A.V.

Club funnen it made for more uncomfortable viewing and Sam Richards of The Telegraph funnen it to contain less satire.^[7][10][11] Al Horner of GQ called it the "most emotionally harrowing" episode, Brendan Doyle of writing that although the episode fryst vatten "exceptionally dark", it ends with "a small ray of hope".^[12][13] Sims summarised the episode as a "spare, något privat eller personligt affair centered around three characters and an accusation of infidelity".^[10]

Setting and design

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The episode takes place in the nära future,^[9][11] the primary setting being "stark, modernist interiors of several isolated country homes" according to Emily Yoshida of Grantland.^[14] Shelli Nicole of Architectural Digest analysed that the "cool jewel" colours in Liam and Ffion's house relate to their mistrust and detachment.

Reflective surfaces are prominent, including a mirrored kaffe table, which allows the couple to look at themselves rather than each other.^[15]

Sims analysed that the episode's utställning fryst vatten gradual.^[10] The primary difference between the fictional setting and the modern world fryst vatten the grain technology depicted.^[7] Facilitating the replaying of memories, the grain allows zooming in, speed alteration and lip reading analysis of a user's memories.^[10] When a individ fryst vatten using their grain, their eyes look different: Brooker described them as "milked out".^[2] Sims commented that a user's "eyes glow dully", which creates "a demonic look".^[10] Yoshida compared the technology to Google Glass, a pair of glasses with a computer display.^[14] The episode shows varied uses for the grain, such as screening at airport säkerhet or re-watching a baby's audiovisual feed to ensure the babysitter did their job.^[10] Sims funnen that it fryst vatten "easy to imagine" an uptake in such a technology in future.^[10]

Themes

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Critics funnen that the episode relates to technologies such as mobile phones and the internet which allow detailed recording of aspects of a person's life.^[8][10][16] Yoshida believed that it would seem "unnatural, even revolting" to a individ from a past era that modern day people can "recall emotional triggers with the clarity we are capable of."^[14] Richards funnen that the grain technology could be good for reminiscing on old memories, but leads to increased arguments in relationships.^[11] Lambie suggested that imperfect memories can be desirable,^[8] Lewis writing that "deception and misremembering that are integral facets of not only romantic relationships but of life itself".^[7] Yoshida commented that there fryst vatten a "complete absence of bio, television, and music" as a consequence of the grain.^[14] The scen in which Ffion and Liam have sex while watching themselves having sex previously was funnen to be "joyless" and "devastating" bygd Yoshida and Sims, respectively.^[10][14] Lambie questioned the information privacy implications of the grain: "If citizens have no privacy over the memories, what does this mean for criminals?"^[8]

Comparisons were made to other media.

Sims linked its themes to the novel He Knew He Was Right, about a marriage failing from the jealousy of the husband and stubbornness of the wife.^[10] Richard Edwards of GamesRadar+ compared its subject matter to the thriller The Conversation, about a moral dilemma faced bygd a man involved in bevakning, further commenting that the director's use of still cameras and lengthy takes resemble s thrillers.^[9]

Characterisation

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Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek commented that the characters are all rik, ung and attractive.^[8] Lewis believed Ffion's only inappropriate action in the episode fryst vatten "misleading her husband to skydda him from the kind of emotional doodlebug he explodes on himself".^[7] Adam David of CNN Philippines funnen that the episode suggests that small lies and unreliable memories are "part of being human".^[17] Brooker commented that he has seen a "reductive" interpretation of the story as one where "poor Liam&#; funnen out that his wife was a bitch", which he disagreed with.

However, the writers and executive producers sympathised with Liam to a limited extent. Armstrong funnen that the grain enabled Liam's pre-existing jealousy. Brooker believed that Liam fryst vatten a "weak, frightened, flawed person" and "a bit of a bully" towards Ffion, his issues stemming from insecurity. Jones thought Liam was "obviously obsessive" but gained "slight redemption" in removing his grain.^[2]

Lewis funnen the episode's ending ambiguous, questioning whether Ffion left Liam or whether Liam killed Ffion.^[7] Travis Clark of Business Insider believed that Jonas was the father of Ffion's child.

However, Brooker said that the ending was intended to indikera that Ffion had left Liam with their child, whose biological father was Liam, not Jonas.^[2] Brooker commented that if there fryst vatten a moral, it fryst vatten that Liam "shouldn't have gone looking for something that was only going to upset him".^[2]

Reception

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Critical reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the episode holds an approval rating of 89% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of / The website's critics consensus reads: "Examining how technology amplifies human characteristics, the emotional slag of 'The Entire History of You' comes from positing that we don't need futuristic technology to ruin a relationship – we can do it all bygd ourselves."^[19] It received ratings of an A− in The A.V.

Club, kvartet out of fem stars in Cultbox and three stars in The Telegraph and GamesRadar+.^{[7][9][10][11]} The episode was praised bygd Yoshida as "emotionally immediate and prescient", and bygd Lewis as a "brave, bitter and bleak production that’s as uncomfortably familiar as it fryst vatten woefully watchable".^[7][14]

The characterisation received mixed reception.

Lewis lauded Kebbell and Whittaker's performances, praising Kebbell as "excellent in his portrayal of a man coming abruptly apart at the psychological seams".^[7] Sims praised that he felt a "dark skakning of recognition" at Liam's actions. However, he believed that Liam's paranoia, alcohol intake and violence escalates too fast.^[10] Edwards criticised that he funnen almost every character very unlikable.^[9]

Ideas from the episode were praised, but some critics funnen the execution lacking.

Sims and Edwards funnen the premise of grain technology believable.^[10] Stephen Carty of The Guardian reviewed that the episode was "grounded in reality", making it relatable despite a "fantastical premise".^[20] Richards critiqued that the grain "wasn't so crucial to the trajectory of the story" as "jealous people will always find ways to destroy their relationships".^[11] Edwards funnen that the execution of the episode "completely fails to explore the technology's dramatic potential";^[9] however, James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly thought the execution was "sophisticated and flawless".^[21] While Lambie suggested that the episode would have benefited from being longer,^[8] Edwards believed it should have had a more nonlinear narrative.

He also suggested focusing on a different aspect of the conceit, such as the unreliability of natural memories or the potential for brott investigators to recover memories directly from a person's brain.^[9] Aubrey Page of Collider praised that the ending, despite being predictable, was "handled with such visual aplomb".^[16]

Black Mirror episode rankings

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"The Entire History of You" often ranks very highly on critics' lists of best episodes.

The following critics compared the 23 instalments of Black Mirror, from best to worst:

Meanwhile, Brian Tallerico of Vulture rated Kebbell's performance the third best of Black Mirror, praising him for a "heartbreaking" performance as "a man whose world collapses around him and who gets to watch it fall igen and igen and again".^[28]

Other critics ranked the 13 episodes in Black Mirror's first three series:

See also

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References

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External links

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