Black Mirror S03E02

An under 2000 character Review on Anthologies. Number 9, Black Mirror S03E02 – Playtest – Directed By: Dan Trachtenberg – Written By: Charlie Brooker – Release Date: 10/21/2016. Originally Posted on 6/18/2020.

Black Mirror is a UK retelling, of sorts, of the Twilight Zone. Most of the episodes have to do with humanity or the dark sides of humanity in relation to modern society, technological advancements and media/social media sensationalism aka what I call “POOP Culture.”

Another trip inside virtual reality and/or the Matrix pending on your definitions of each. An American traveler to Europe is dodging his mother after his father’s death and after a year of wondering is short on cash. He signs up for this app for odd jobs to make ends meet. He also signs up for something like Tinder to meet a lady for obvious reasons.

He meets a girl from the app at a pub later across his journey. They hook up or whatever, but when she mentions she is super big into video games and testing games. She sets him up with a potential gaming job through that app to test a revolutionary new gaming system, but soon can’t tell where the hot-game ends and reality begins. The idea was for him to take some pictures of the system so she could sell it to one of the competitors.

When Cooper gets into the game he never knows if he is in a game or out of the game, back in the real world. The game’s AI is so advanced that it kills the player in seconds, which seem like days/weeks for the player. The developers just keep throwing bodies at this AI trying to figure out why it is doing this. I think the AI takes your guilt and fears to use against you. The AI believes it is Lucifer, the game is HELL…

That is where the episode ends. The way the story flows this would/could have been a great alternative of how THE MATRIX we know from the movies start. Not that it is or is even suggesting it.

I am just saying if you did a reboot of the Matrix Origins, this could be a great discussion here for that. “Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead… Only try to realize the truth…. There is NO SPOON…”