MovieChat Forums > Black Mirror (2011) Discussion > Playtest made no sense

Playtest made no sense

posted 8 years ago by jstreeter3163
29 replies | jump to latest

Why does the phone call kill him? Was it the electrical interference from the phone that caused some kind of malfunction? If this is the case, then nothing that happened in this episode after getting the chip implanted actually mattered. Because of this, we know almost nothing about the game, the AI, the intentions of the employees, etc since none of that actually occurred.

So this brings me to the next point...whether or not you believe that the game and AI actually worked as described from the simulated employees...why and how did the game's AI go rogue and kill him in 0.04 seconds? At first I thought that the game's AI had used the phone to escape the confines of it's programming by accessing the internet, but there is no *absolutely* indication that this was the case.

You could say he died from a broken heart or something, I refuse to believe this because the simulation only lasted 0.04 seconds (which is also very hard to believe, but I won't go there) Even if the simulation *subjectively* lasted for days, your physical body cannot possibly be affected to such a degree that simulated terror/hopelessness/etc could cause you to die in a few milliseconds.

[–] General_Haberdashery 8 years ago

Why does the phone call kill him? Was it the electrical interference from the phone that caused some kind of malfunction?

As soon as the implant was given and the phone rang he started to die.
Everything after that (the wack-a-mole, haunted house etc) was in his head.

He started dying before he even got to the hallucination about his mom.

[–] turnipjedi 8 years ago

I think the point could be made his selfishness is what killed him

He clearly just ran away from his mother at a point in their lives when they needed each other

If he had at any point answered his phone prior to getting wired into the game it's unlikely she would have rung him during the game causing the malfunction, which maybe the company knew about hence insisting it was switched off, he only switched it back on to take photos, to get money to carry on avoiding going home

I like this episode over-all and sneaking in a Bio-Shock reference amongst all the Resident Evil / Other Zombies one was lightly fried gold

[–] fclermont777 8 years ago

This is probably the best answers. This episode was about virtually ignoring someone in the need and leading to the main character's death.

[–] WerdnaMernox 8 years ago

So it doesn't make sense because a big chunk of what happened was just in his head, not 'real'?

You might want to sit down. I have some devastating news for you about the nature of TV shows.

[–] khordkutta 8 years ago

His fear AND the call killed him. The interference killed him... the 0.04 was real..in his head. If he woulda picked any of the previous calls, Mom probably would not have called @ that time. Or.. he may not have met the girl...

[–] justin7989 8 years ago

Who cares, the idiot couldn't follow directions. He just had to take a picture of the equipment. what was the phone doing in the room in the first place... even if it was turned off, you'd think it would at least be put in a Faraday bag or something...

But anyway, I liked the episode, especially the part where the idiot died.

[–] mafausseboite 8 years ago

I thought it was stupid too, why would anyone bring a phone in a room where it's a dangerous threat ?
If a turned-on phone could crash a plane then airlines companies wouldn't ask politely people to turn them off.
But in my opinion it was just a trick to conclude a weak episode.

[–] MrRowBot 8 years ago

The mom calling throughout the episode shows there is a clear issue he has with his mother. Something he is hiding from and does not want to face and is running away from. He says at one point that answering the call will open a can of worms. So the story is building a mystery with the mom, not the phone itself. Every time the phone rings, we are reminded about the problem he has with the mother.

The game he is playing triggers one's worst fears. When he hears the phone vibrating while loading into the game, he starts to think about his mother. Its like thinking about bad things while being on a bad trip. The phone is just a metaphor for his greatest fear, nothing to do with the technology itself.

Watch an episode from Star Trek The Next Generation called "The Inner Light" (Season 5 Episode 25). Picard's mind gets tethered by an artifact and he lives an entire 30 years of life in only 15 minutes of real time inside his mind. In his mind, he lived for 30 years. If you are confused about the 0.04s time he played the game, this episode will help make sense of this.