It's Bella's nephew. She says at the beginning she promised her sister to help him.

Hah! I did.

So this is going back to last season's "Nosedive" but this is a somewhat fascinating, somewhat frightening article about Social Credit in China. It's a long read but worth it.
https://www.wired.com/story/age-of-social-credit/

Just finished it up, I enjoyed this season more than last season... finally got a so called "feel good" ep... worth the wait!

just finished a good podcast with the creator charlie brooker, was a fun listen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09kx840

Here's my rankings:

Hang the DJ
USS Callister
Arkangel
Metalhead
Black Museum
Crocodile

They went all in with the "uploaded consciousness" tech this season, possibly because of the acclaim San Junipero got last season.

My rankings:
1. "Hang the DJ" -- enjoyable story, well paced and executed, with a fun explanation
2. "USS Callister" -- good for Star Trek fans, although it does seem to drag a bit after the "reveal"
3. "Black Museum" -- not bad, but the performance of the main guy was a huge turnoff to me, I found him very grating.
4. "Arkangel" -- pretty meh, this could have been told almost the same way with current tech. I did like the exploration of what happens with tech after a company goes belly-up (remember Divx?), but it took a back seat to the main plot.
5. "Crocodile" -- pretty much a conventional thriller, again it could have been told almost the exact same way without the tech elements.
6. "Metalhead" -- just an episode of "The Walking Dead" with robots instead of zombies.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this point. I have a son, and in no way would I ever risk my life to give him something that wasn't essential for his existence, no matter how happy it would make him.

So having said that, I wish there was something in the episode that confirmed that they had written down the wrong inventory number -- meaning that even if they had succeeded in their mission, they would've opened a box containing the wrong item.

I'm not sure, exactly. It's just that the best Black Mirror episodes have both interesting set-ups AND interesting payoffs. With "Black Museum," all three had interesting set-ups that the payoffs didn't really meet or surpass. I just found myself mentally shrugging with each conclusion. The idea of a consciousness being trapped in a stuffed monkey and only capable of two responses SHOULD be horrifying... but the episode just didn't really convey that horror adequately, at least not for me.

I should rescind that comment, at least until I watch the episode again. The end of the episode wasn't so much "preachy" as it was "talky," which drained it of any momentum it had. I used the wrong word.

Bottom line: "Black Museum" just didn't deliver for me, and "Metalhead" ruined its potential with the final reveal. For me, "USS Callister" and "Hang the DJ" were the standout episodes.

Well, when you delete out the part of my post where I say that very thing ...

So, I’ll grant you that was the unstated backstory for sake of this discussion (although I felt something in the story should have told us that). With that in mind, is this the first episode where technology has actually turned on humanity? In most episodes technology is used, either intentionally or unintentionally, to debilitate humanity (or a human) and then humanity (or a human) destroys itself.

I haven't yet finished season 3 but jumped ahead for the USS Callister because I love Cristin Milioti, and she did not disappoint. Kinda funny to have a happy ending in one of these episodes.

Easily my least favorite season. Two standout episodes (Hang the DJ & USS Callister), 1 good one (Arkangel), 2 mediocre ones (Crocodile & Metalhead) and one awful one (Black Museum).

Terribly underwhelming. Not a single episode stood out to me. USS Callister was good but dragged on too long, plus, maybe I have Trek (or Trek like) fatigue from Discovery and The Orville. Worst season so far.

We all love Black Mirror, but who has the time for a full episode.

Introducing Mini Black Mirror. All the twists in only two minutes:

Not sure what you meant there ... all the twists?

All the twists of a single episode maybe.

Compact Mirror

'Black Mirror' Renewed for Season 5 at Netflix
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/li...etflix-1090957

Even middle of the road episodes keep me more interested than a lot of movies these days.

It's a great series.
Only a few episodes didn't interest me.

I wonder if the new season will get into the issue of consciousness/technology interfacing.

Bit behind the times but started the series last weekend and finished it today. Superb all around, each season getting better with the 4th being the best in the bunch. Reading around a bit on the rankings in this thread and other articles it's clear each episode touches different nerves in people based on their life experiences. My 5 favorite are Be Right Back, White Christmas, Hated in the Nation, USS Callister, and Hang the DJ.

The only episodes I thought were weak were San Junipero (the ending made little sense considering the story before it and felt like a tacked on happy ending) and Men Against Fire (weakest story as it's something that has been done hundreds of times and having been in and around the military most of my life I find it hard to believe you would find enough people to volunteer willingly for something like that to make a force big enough to field an Army).

You're in an EXTREME minority if you didn't like San Junipero, as it's widely considered the best episode of the entire series.

Yes, San Junipero is amazing. IMHO this is the best episode of BM, and one of the single best episodes of a TV series I've ever seen.

San Junipero is a near-great episode, but I think it's somewhat overpraised. There are better episodes of BM in my opinion.

I think it get a lot of praise because it was the first with a happy ending. After 10 episodes with dour or bittersweet endings, it was refreshing to have one that was just a happy ending.

The Entire History of You is my favorite. But San Junipero is great stuff.

I think, in a way, that in and of itself was the shocking twist.

Like I said, the episode is great until the end when it just turns to fan service. Truth be told even if Kelly didn't end up staying with Yorkie you still had a happy ending. Yorkie finally made her decision to stay in SJ because she got to experience the life that was taken from her. Kelly would have made the decision not to stay based off her marriage. Kelly's speech about why it was selfish and wrong for Yorkie to say those things about her decision were 100% correct. In no way would I believe that Kelly have made that choice in the end after spending, what, a month or so with Kelly compared to 48 years with her husband and child, both who aren't in SJ. The proper and logical ending would have been both going their separate ways. The ending we got completely ruined the episode. Hang the DJ does a much better job justifying the happy ending.