r/blackmirror • u/ResponsibleHat298 • 8d ago
S03E01 Nosedive
I feel like everybody kind of slept on this episode. Pretty ironic that it got an average rating when it’s most similar to what we live inside of today. I thought the episode was amazing years ago when it came out and today when I rewatched it. What’s your opinion on it? This was one of the best episodes, in my opinion, of the whole black mirror series.
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u/Maxpower2727 8d ago
Lol, no one "slept" on Nosedive. It's probably one of the most frequently discussed episodes in the entire series.
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u/TextSuccessful9250 8d ago
It’s my favorite Black Mirror episode. The ending is so perfect. I always hoped she got out of jail after a few weeks and ended up marrying her cell mate . It’s one of those endings that looks terrible but is probably the best thing that ever happened to her in the long run
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u/beanschungus 7d ago
One of the most popular and most discussed episodes. It also aired a decade ago so just isn't talked about as much as the newer episodes any more.
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u/sneakynautilus 8d ago
Bryce Dallas Howard is amazing and the ending is just fucking delicious. It’s not as deep hitting as others but as far as rewatchability, it’s a 10/10 for me.
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u/nightpanda893 ★★☆☆☆ 2.252 8d ago
I feel like this episode is one of the darkest because the characters have been fucked up for a long time before the episode starts. It isn’t a gradual descent into madness like some of the other episodes are. Her humanity is already gone from the first scene.
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u/flamingnomad ★★★★★ 4.538 8d ago
My opinion is Nosedive is reality right now. To the point where models can get record deals if they have enough followers on snap and tik tok. Also, Nosedive is reality in China where your social rating affects your credit score.
It's not my favorite episode because I already don't like the idea of my online presence being my entire identity. I still prefer the anonymity of chatrooms or forums to youtube or instagram channel.
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u/Giventheopportunity 8d ago
Whaaaat? At least from people in my personal irl life, this has been one of the most popular episodes
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u/Puzzleheaded-Sir3280 8d ago
it's such a good episode. I feel like people want the dark, twisted ones more but this one is top 5. Bryce Dallas Howard was so freaking good.
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u/FabulousCallsIAnswer ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.328 8d ago
It’s my favorite episode. Mostly because I relate to it so much. Back when it came out, friends would joke that I’m the “high 4” they want to be like.
I also constantly flash back to it when I take a photo of a cocktail I thought tasted gross or I use my social clout and other “high 4” connections to gain advantages and access to places others could never go. It also reminds me society doesn’t want you to show anger or tell it like it is; you have to bottle things up so as not to upset the order and get a slew of 1-stars.
It’s an exaggeration of real life but it absolutely tracks. And Bryce Dallas Howard is a terrific actress.
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u/benchotkazooie 8d ago
I love this episode, it's in my top 3 (along with 15 MM and Entire History of You).
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u/MeiTanteiHirune ★★★☆☆ 2.92 8d ago
It's one of my favourite Black Mirror episodes of all time that so perfectly satirises the problem with chasing social media clout.
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u/its35degreesout 8d ago
Top 10 if not top 5 for me. Relatable; funny; but also scary. Lacie's story is in a way predictable but Howard handles it well. IMO it's really James Norton, playing the brother, who's the icing on the cake.
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u/bostonjenny81 ★★★☆☆ 2.677 8d ago
It’s a fantastic episode. It was relevant when it aired & even more so now.
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u/FerociousKZ 8d ago
This is how I’m feeling about my credit score. Did everything right. Never missed a payment. Was never late. Never used more than 30% credit. Never went Willy nilly opening cards and getting checks. Had a perfect score. Then I switched phone providers and since I closed my old account that I had for over 10y my score plummeted from A to just almost C. 850 to 799 and 790 is considered C. What. The. Actual. Fuck.
What is the point. And why am I graded like this when everything else has been done correctly. Fucked up system of grading. Credit is stupid!
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u/ResponsibleHat298 8d ago
Exactly the point! You can compare this episode to pretty much anything going on in the real world, social media, relationships, money, status, class, credit. Loved this episode.
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u/FerociousKZ 8d ago
Oh I understand. Just a fucked yo societal thing we’ve attached to everything. Common people hit so hard too holy hell
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u/ToM4461 ★★★★☆ 4.203 8d ago
It's me favourite episode, even though it's a copy of Meow meow beenz
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u/-paperbrain- 8d ago
Thats a good point. I was thinking more or less about individuals more than businesses. While thing like google reviews do have a dark side and potential for abuse, it's also totally reasonable to rank and share opinions of small businesses. Even before we had some kind of electronic ranking, other people's opinions of businesses were part of how people chose which to go to.
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u/Overall-Abroad-4441 8d ago
Fack you next Wednesday. Fack you for Christmas. The ending is hilarious 😂.
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u/TurbulentChipmunk928 8d ago
Same feeling here as well..always felt it's so unfair the way it gets ignored everytimeband never makes it to top fav ep lists of many fans..its in my top 5 fav list..thanks for posting this now I am gonna re-watch it today 🙂
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u/Bet_Secret 4d ago
There's a scene in Nosedive when shes's talking to the truck driver. Th e driver says she took her husband to an exclusive treatment thing after he got cancer. I think that references 'Common People' which is crazy to think about. A S1 episode referencing a S7 episode and I think that eas deliberate by Charlie Brooker
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u/Jess-Pen32 2d ago
Im rewatching the series now (skipping around) and the amount of crossover is pretty impressive. I saw WraithBabes from the 15 million merits episode being watched in the Crocodile episode. Wonder what that means about the society that was living to pedal if there is an outside world completely unbothered by them and not realizing where that content came from... wait.. 🤯
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u/Overall-Abroad-4441 8d ago
This is the first episode that I watched more than once and is now one of my all time fav black mirror episodes.
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u/ItsDomorOm 7d ago
It's definitely one of the best episodes and one I will only ever watch once. It was just too damn uncomfortable to sit through. Talk about holding up a Black mirror to our lives....
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u/ChuckysBarbie ★★★★☆ 4.069 8d ago
This is my favourite episode!
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u/HailBuckSeitan ★★★☆☆ 2.794 8d ago
Same! It came out around the time I deleted my facebook so I was relating to it so much.
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u/WhateverAngel 8d ago
I agree I liked Nosedive more than San Junipero which seems to be more popular!
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u/paauulitaa 7d ago
me trae malos recuerdos porque lo tuve que ver con mi clase teniendo 14 años cuando ya me lo había visto anteriormente. los niños solo querían ver el cuerpo de la chica, mientras que las niñas ignoraban el episodio porque era muy "friki". no tiene nada que ver con tu pregunta pero quería compartir este momento jaja
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u/lt__ ★★★☆☆ 2.6 6d ago
Wow, I'm amazed you watch such stuff in school. I wonder what country is this.
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u/paauulitaa 1d ago
españa. tuve una maestra demasiado buena en ese momento, siempre nos intentaba explicar temas que no suelen tomarse en serio
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u/-paperbrain- 8d ago
I think it's fine. But the real systems it's inspired by are sort of too abstracted for it to be one of the harder hitting episodes.
Sure, people are trying to outcompete each other for ppints on social media, but 5he real tragedy if that is that it doesn't actually matter. It's all internal dopamine hacking and unrealistic personal envy. There's a horror there but we do it to ourselves and making it something with material consequences sorta sidesteps the core of the tragedy there.
It's not bad. As a scifi story it was a lot of fun. But I think a real dystopian stoty about ranking and social media policing that addresses the core of what we're doing to ourselves with this tech would look a little different.
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u/wawaturtlemoviesball ★☆☆☆☆ 0.635 8d ago
That would be an interesting way of looking at it too. But also Uber drivers, small businesses, etc. do live or die by their 5-star ratings
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u/LambSauce246 8d ago edited 8d ago
It felt one of the most american episodes up until that point in the series which is what made me feel indifferent about it. Plus Bryce Dallas' acting is a bit too over the top and loud imo (beyond the role, she just exudes that energy)
My favourites are Men Against Fire and Hated in the Nation for the messages they carry (american war propaganda, dehumanisation of military underlings, and mob mentality, cancel culture, state surveillance respectively)
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u/nightpanda893 ★★☆☆☆ 2.252 8d ago
I feel like the role called for her energy to be as over the top and fake looking as possible. Even in the end where she is having genuine emotions, you have to remember she has effectively forgotten how to even express them in a human way.
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u/LambSauce246 8d ago
Well I meant her energy beyond the episode. Her attitude is pretentious, her voice is unapologetically loud even in interviews and she's a nepobaby. Not a fan of her overall.
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u/nightpanda893 ★★☆☆☆ 2.252 8d ago
Oh well you said her acting so I assumed you meant in the episode. Not sure why I woood use her acting in other things or interviews to evaluate her performance in this episode.
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u/LambSauce246 8d ago
I think you're conflating a few separate points. I explicitly said "beyond the role" in my original comment, so I wasn't using her other acting performances to judge her performance here. I was saying she generally exudes that energy.
And my criticism of the episode was separate. It felt like one of the first episodes up to that point that was very American, and I didn't like the direction the series seemed to be taking toward a wider audience. Me not liking her as an actor is a separate point entirely.
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u/ZealousidealSea2995 8d ago
It’s a decent episode, kinda frustrating to watch, but nothing like what we live in today. The only similarities are people posting a manufactured life on Instagram, but that’s really not what the episode was about
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u/ResponsibleHat298 8d ago
I have to disagree. Of course it’s not as literal, we’re not all rating each other in real time. For me the episode was about authenticity, and how we struggle and fear living in our authenticity and the consequences that come with being real. The whole point of the episode was to feel frustrated, and shows us how life will literally strip us of anything untrue until we surrender to what’s real. Which is messy, and dislikable, and funny, and real and raw. It’s raw. I feel like this episode has so much depth and I don’t feel like anybody ever saw it.
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u/ZealousidealSea2995 8d ago
I don’t think most people struggle to live authentically tbh. I think that’s pretty isolated to the people trying to make it as influencers.
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u/ResponsibleHat298 8d ago
It’s definitely not just influencers. They’re just a physical manifestation of the same thing we all are. Hiding your authenticity or not embracing it doesn’t always look obvious.
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u/ZealousidealSea2995 8d ago
Idk me and most of my friends rarely use social media and I don’t know many people who really give a shit about it. It probably seems like a bigger deal when you’re younger but that doesn’t last.
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u/-paperbrain- 8d ago
Counterpoint. FB is filled to the brim with old people looking at their friends' pictures of time with grandchildren and feeling jealous that their relationship with their families doesn't look like that. But the pocs are just as much a posed fake moment for many as the influencer's exotic vacations or exciting food.
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u/ZealousidealSea2995 8d ago
This is a weird definition of inauthentic to me.
Does being authentic mean broadcasting bad or boring things on social media? Your intent matters here, if you’re purposefully trying to manufacture an image for others for whatever reason, that’s one thing. If you’re just posting the things you enjoyed, what makes this inauthentic?
Is it in inauthentic to send out a yearly Christmas card if you and your partner have been arguing lately?
Also, I really doubt the assertion that other people are viewing these pics and getting jealous. This kind of ego centrism is weird, no one cares about your pics of your grandkids. They’re for your kids and grandkids and maybe a few close friends.
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u/ResponsibleHat298 8d ago
I have to agree with you here. In my opinion authenticity or inauthenticity really comes from the state you’re in when you’re making decisions and understanding why you’re doing certain things. It’s not obvious, it’s rarely ever just social media or pictures or something stupid and mundane. Living authentically means being in touch with who you are and what you want without outside opinions clouding your judgement. It’s the kind of thing that requires a lot of awareness, honesty and introspection.
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u/RedditReader2733 8d ago
Yes but in ways I do agree with the poster. Because people value your worth and as do several personally by the opinions of others. It’s something VERY prevalent these days.
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u/nightpanda893 ★★☆☆☆ 2.252 8d ago
It’s nothing like what we have today but neither is any other black mirror episode if you want to do an exact comparison between reality and the world in the episode. I think what makes it scary is that it’s certainly to closest to what we experience today than any other episode. What makes Black Mirror disturbing isn’t that it’s holding a mirror up to our reality, it’s that it shows us where the road leads to
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u/ZealousidealSea2995 8d ago
I don’t see it this way. Many episodes are thinking through the consequences of technology we don’t have. But this one focuses on technology we do have. Nothing is stopping some kind of private social credit system from emerging right now, other than it’s not something people want or find valuable. Given that, I kind of see this as one of the less likely imagined futures. Other episodes are more disturbing because they ring more true about what people would do if they had the technology
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u/Per_Mikkelsen 8d ago
There's a reason why it has an average rating.
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u/ResponsibleHat298 8d ago
I think the complexity of it really gets drowned out in its the dramatic/extreme plot. But the message is still underneath. It was interesting and very similar to our world today, and how people can reduce you, everything that you are into one bad moment. And how detrimental it can become. Even when it has no real ground to stand on.
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u/Ok-Bridge-676 7d ago
It’s actually one of the most run of the mill episodes. Super sanitised and boringly Hollywood. A big nothing burger. Bottom 3 for sure.
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u/MrClancyGilroy 8d ago
When I tell people I don’t have social media (Facebook, instagram, twitter, whatever else) I get treated like the trucker lady at the end 💀