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Hated in the Nation, the final entry in the third series of Black Mirror, with cop Karin (Kelly Macdonald) taking the witness stand (or seat, in this court), to recount the events that began on May 15th last year, and which will unfold effectively, and it shows a return to form for the series after the disappointing San Junipero and Men Against Fire.
Oh, and I like how it’s set in the near future, so Karin’s home switches lights on automatically as she walks in (well, they were all the rage back in 2015, in Back To The Future Part II!). It’s also a future where autonomous, electronic drone bees have replaced real ones, since they’re dying out. All they need now is some Moon Pie down their local supermarket to complete the wonderful age in which they live.
Partnered up with Blue (Faye Marsay) – who used to be in forensics until a gruesome case changed her direction, she’s called to the house of journalist Jo Powers (Elizabeth Berrington), lambasted after she slammed wheelchair-bound disability rights activist Gwen Marbury, so she’s basically the equivalent of Katie Hopkins. However, following the delivery of a cake with derisory remarks written on it, and scores of Twitter death threats, it’s all led to a very disturbing situation, but with no signs of forced entry to the house, would social media trolls go so far as to deliver such a blow?
Naturally, things don’t stop there, and this episode includes a particuarly chilling scene which pays homage to the best of Hitchcock, and while most of the episodes are 60 minutes in length, this finale increases that by 50% to 90 minutes.
With this episode showing great improvement after the last two, 4 good ones out of 6 is a decent strike rate, so here’s to series 4, hopefully next year.
Black Mirror: Hated In The Nation is available on Netflix from tomorrow. Also, click on the top image for the full-size version. The series isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but you can buy a DVD boxset of Series 1 & 2 and the 2014 Special.
Score: 8/10
Widescreen ratio: 2.20:1
Director: James Hawes
Producer: Sanne Wohlenberg
Writer: Charlie Brooker
Music: Martin Phipps
Cast:
Karin Parke: Kelly Macdonald
Chloe ‘Blue’ Perrine: Faye Marsay
Detective: Benedict Wong
Rasmus Sjoberg: Jonas Karlsson
Nick Shelton: Joe Armstrong
Jo Powers: Elizabeth Berrington
Tusk: Charles Babalola
Tom Pickering: Ben Miles
Vanessa Dahl: Esther Hall
Clara Meades: Holli Dempsey
Liza Bahar: Vinette Robinson
Tess Wallender: Georgina Rich
Garrett Scholes: Duncan Pow
Dam Patricia Lamarr: Cecilia Noble
Dana Costellow: Katherine Kingsley
Simon Powers: James Larkin
Harry Barclay: Robin Pearce
Alex Wallis (Home Secretary): Adrian Lukis Head of MI5: Jane Bertish News anchor: Anita Anand
Roadie: Thomas Dominique
Fiona, Clara’s flatmate: Leonie Elliot
Aaron Sheen: Reon Smith Marshall
Delivery man: Matheus Mirek
Dog Walker: Jeremy Booth
Paramedia: Tom Ashley
Pundits: Matt Forde and Faiza Shaheen
MRI Technician: Imogen Daines
MRI Doctor: Ziggy Heath
Inquiry Official: Michael Bott
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.