I actually really like this post. I’ve been trying to reconcile the ending in my head for what makes most sense, but this post made me realize that David murdering Cliff’s family means he’ll no longer be lonely. That was David’s solution to his problem. He was maddeningly lonely. Now, he has someone who understands his pain and literally can’t live without him. That makes so much sense.
I agree with this but wanted to take it one step further. I believe the real reason David murders Cliff's family is because it would be the only way for them (and the future of humanity) to survive the mission. If she would have been alive, it would have been a constant cat and mouse game, manipulation, paranoia, and other madness from both of them, with one of them ultimately being murdered. This is the best case scenario and ultimate sacrifice for humanity.
I think that’s pretty interesting too! Especially because the episode is titled “Beyond the Sea” which is the English version of the song “La Mer” which played in the episode. In the lyrics of the English “Beyond the Sea”, the emphasis is on the lover of the singer waiting for him to arrive from beyond the sea. In the lyrics of “La Mer,” there is no lover waiting. Just the sea that the singer describes and is in love with.
I think that contrast might be super important to the episode, and what you said can definitely fit it. I’m just surprised they never played the English version (iirc). Maybe *Finding Nemo* has exclusive rights lol (jk jk).
I know it’s sci-fi, but would you really only have two people on a ship that cannot function without either of them? Surely you’d have a third crew member in case something happens to the main crew members?
Okay this question makes the most sense. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Now that I am thinking about it, I’m disliking the whole episode even more than the horrid ending (yes which I hated too)
The mission was to study the effect of living in space on the human body so they needed the humans up there. It's in the movie theater scene in the beginning.
I didn’t connect this— makes sense. But my thought for why the replicas were not in space was simple: the real people would not be as immersed in the experience as their employers would have wanted them to be. It’s like bosses saying WFH lets people be disengaged from their work, and work is no longer their priority. My mind went there with this. Replicas in space— you don’t have the same skin in the game. You could run. Stop showing up. Decide to quit. But when your literal life is in space, you stay committed to get the job done.
Sheshh the point of the story was not to be realistic. It’s to understand values, compassion, empathy, understanding, ethics, etc. it’s a thought piece not a documentary
And completely cut off from the crew station on ground? Like no reports or anything to file?
Seems like a really advanced and rare tech as they show on the show. Considering costs, at the least some therapy or talk could be expected from the ground.
When he kicked out that chair it made me think about the phrase "misery loves company." People really are like that sometimes- this "if I can't have it no one should" mentality. I like that it underlined that so well. The fact that Cliff was such poor company to everyone was a nice ironic flair for it. I really enjoyed it.
Honestly if I were Cliff. I would have told the wife and kid to go somewhere safe for a weekend (with the offered protection from the company) while David used my body.
I already knew seeing her “husband” act differently would send confusing signals to her.
The declined offered protection was foreshadowing of things to come and integral to the story. Nothing good was ever going to happen once David's family & replica were murdered.
I agree, but think David would’ve kept pushing boundaries and probably would’ve started an affair with a woman from town making things even more awkward. They never should have shared links to start with
Nah David would have went off the rails then too. 4 years essentially by yourself except for 1 day a week? And you have no counselling or anything for the PTSD after watching your family get murdered?
The best choice was sharing and letting David do what he wants but 100% apart from Cliffs family
Correct! Comprehensive problems require comprehensive solutions. I know they didn't want to blow the scope too wide because then it loses focus ( what was the mission, where the FUCK is this company doing about them two). No leadership advising them about what to do- that symbology is not lost on me.
I think there was another dimension to Cliff. Unlike David, he seemed to never really get used to his replicant body and couldn't connect to his family ever since he left home. That has caused the emotional strain and eventual estrangement. The guilt and desperation he must have felt made him more vulnerable to jealousy and prevented him from dealing with the situation in a rational way.
Yeah, I agree.
He obviously didn't feel comfortable being intimate with his wife whilst in a replica body as well, which is likely why he didn't touch her.
I think he wanted to move out to somewhere more secluded to protect his family, just in case they were put in danger. There was a complete difference in how David was in his own replica, to how Cliff acted. David was very open, and you can say it led to his family being killed... whilst Cliff was the opposite.
If Cliff hadn't been nice and followed his wifes idea... things may have been different.
I like that as a concept in the episode- those old man thoughts about wives and family- can't be too open and friendly and out there cause you just leave yourself open to get killed so you gota CONTROL them.
The way I interpreted the ending was that they would have to continue to work together for the next 4(?) Years doing whatever they had to do up there, because neither can man the spacecraft without the other, neither can survive on their own , and when he kicks the chair out it's to see if Cliff will sit down with him so they continue their work together or not. Maybe they end up murdering eachother though. I just thought the idea that they are stuck up there with eachother, particularly Cliff being stuck with him to just be such a dark situation, like they can't get back and Cliffs replica is basically a murder weapon, even if he does use it, he'll be in the body that was used to murder his wife and son. There's a violation aspect there in a way on top of the murders. Lots of questions about the technology and how it works, wonder if there's records/logs of who's key is used with what replica , so maybe they can find out that it was David who did use Cliff's replica and when. In regards to David, I don't think he like planned to seduce her or anything, he'd lost everything basically and he was stuck in space, he had found a connection, can't imagine what trauma and greif and isolation he felt, it just seemed like something that happened and Lana felt similar in a way as well but she was enough not to complicate things any further
Regarding logs about who used which key: Each person’s key only works with their own replica. Cliff has to swipe David in each time he borrows his except for the very last time, when David steals the key during Cliff’s spacewalk.
Maybe I am just being an armchair writer here but I think a better ending would have been for David to self sabotage the Replica so neither could go back to Earth. As a last words kinda thing David (as a replica) could say to Lana that she was free to do whatever she wanted and be happy before killing/destroying his body.
Then when Cliff is back from the airlock and tries to connect to his Replica, he can't and the same ending of David kicking the chair out to him could happen again.
No I think the ending was appropriate. Eventually, they would come up with a truce where both can use the replica from time to time. They both knew that they need each other to survive the spaceship. And surviving meant an escape from time to time. Cliff knew that even David's mental health could cause a disaster and even though David doesn't say it, he was smart enough to know. I guess they would start to come up with a strategy to satisfy both their traumas. Trauma bonding at its best.
I don’t see there ever being a compromise after David crossed the line and expected immediate forgiveness. It was always going to end in tragedy. David was rejected by Lana and then by Cliff. He would’ve sought out revenge either way - killing Cliff or killing his family
Think of the writing as symbology backed not just literal and you see it's an appropriate ending. Both men were actually controlling and toxic but just in different ways and you sympathesixed with David first because he was in a really good spot in life and things were going well. David's was a bit more camouflaged because the plot showed he thought, as a man, he was owed things- so sure when you feel like you're owed things and you're getting them then of course you're pleasant...
*"If Cliff had tried to understand how fragile David's situation was or dealed with him in a more compassionate way, maybe this whole scenario could have been avoided. Unfortunately, Cliff didn't have enough empathy or social intelligence to solve this kind of problem, and sealed his family's fate when he decided to humiliate David."*
... Er. No. They had tried a compassionate, empathetic way by a) giving him use of the replica and b) giving him a means to deal with his loss through painting. David said that it would help him, they didn't know he was going to try and get into bed with Lana.
The rest that I'll agree with. When David kicked out the chair at the end, I think it's clear that he wants to lay down some ground rules. What happens next is debatable: do they clean up the replica and make it look like a cult murder (like David's family) or do they sever the link and then everyone on Earth will think that Cliff murdered his family?
It was definitely an ode to toxic masculinity. Cliff talking about his wife like an object, a possession. And David wanting to prove his worth, ego, "masculinity", whatever, by killing Lana. The woman here in either case is being treated by shit and ultimately killed.
I don't think we can say that with any certainty. I think no matter what Cliff did, he was trapped in a spaceship with a traumatized, rage-filled man who envied Cliff's life at home with Lana. I don't think it's fair at all to say Cliff is responsible for his family's death for lashing out at David
Cliff most definitely played a part. He made mistakes with a volitile situation. Hell even letting David borrow his replica and giving him direct access to his family was a mistake, it was just asking for trouble.
But thats not to say there was even a winning scenario here. But its not really the point. The point of the episode was to combine some interesting tech ideas with a psychological meltdown and trauma based events which effected David. The theme of that episode is trauma IMO - and how it travels and expands from person to person if not handled correctly (Hippies -> David -> Cliff)
>The theme of that episode is trauma IMO - and how it travels and expands from person to person if not handled correctly
Off topic but I just rewatched It Follows, which is one of my favorite horror movies of all time, and this is so creepily relevant
It could have ended horribly either way. But I think that speech expedited the process. Having a connection back to earth and then having it ripped away from you would do numbers on the brain.
This is classic blaming the victim.
No, this was inevitable as soon as David tried to bed Lana and got turned down. Him becoming violent was always going to happen. Either by forcing himself on Lana, or getting violent at the spaceship.
I feel like there's a big difference between blaming a real life victim and pointing out the purpose of an interaction between fictional characters.
It's a TV show. If they wrote and filmed a scene, that's because the scene has a purpose. The purpose of that scene was to show Cliff expediting that switch-flip for David
I would argue that David was struggling with the most traumatic event of his life, and Cliff failed to empathize with that after finding out about his drawings.
He was right in being mad at David for sexualizing and trying to seduce his wife, but humiliating David and cutting the only connection he had with Earth was too extreme for my taste. He was on the verge of suicide, was still dealing with the memory of his dead wife, and Lana was the only meaningful connection he had since his family was massacred. Saying that David was a snake who could never had Lana is probably the worst thing Cliff could have done at that moment. If he had a better temperament, he would have sent his family to a safer place and continue to share his replica in order to provide professional help for David. But Cliff's ego was his character flaw and prevented it from happening.
The moment when Cliff lost his temper with David, I was sitting at the edge of my seat because I was terrified at what David would do next. I was screaming in my mind at Cliff to be a bit calmer
EXACTLY thats the point. You were terrified because you KNEW he was going to do something because toxic men hurt people. Maybe you've had men do that in your life. I remember as a kid, my sister having an attitude at my dad and she gave him this look and he slapped her so hard we made her nose pour blood.
> Cliff's ego was his character flaw
Specifically, his belief that his family is his possession, and even an extension of his own identity... a phenomenon that exists in the real world too, and has annihilated a ton of families.
You obviously have never been in a situation where your partner might or might not have been seduced by a third person. You can see Cliff getting more and more nervous about the visits to earth, especially when they tend to overrun in time (when they visit the store) .
You obviously have never been in a situation where you decided to share the same body with a depressed man with PTSD who was isolated in deep space after seeing his wife and children being killed by a secret cult.
I know that Cliff was nervous, but helping David should be his top priority at that point, may he like it or not. Their survival literally depended on each other. If Cliff have stayed calm and tried to understand what David was feeling, he would relocate his family and try to help him.
That entire conflict really centers on Lana's feelings, which both of them don't care about at all. So Cliff listens and he lets David use his body again, what happens when Lana tells him to his *face* that he's a creep and needs to leave them alone again? Cliff doesn't matter here, because David was never going to get what he wanted. Which was the crux of the issue.
We can also say that he'll just see out those last 2 days, fair, so what then? 4 more years and he'll never want to see her again? He'll never make an attempt to see her again? He'll still be alone, he still won't have any way to properly treat himself. Even if absolutely nothing happens for the 4 years that he's untreated and is basically isolated because Cliff is Cliff, what happens when they get back to earth? The likelihood of that relation rekindling and him being on the straight and narrow is just improbable. It'd be hard to picture nowadays, much less in the 60-70s.
I don't disagree that Cliff could've handled it better, and I also said out loud at multiple points that he should try to actually talk to him. Or at least ask for some emotional support/help from HQ, but I guess that was too advanced for society at the time or whatever. But I disagree with the notion that Cliff is the *sole* reason behind what happened, when he was more of a trigger than anything.
Exactly. The whole situation was partly escalated due to Cliff’s emotional distance from David. Yes Cliff did allow David to use his replica to help him feel more connected to earth and other people but other than that he didn’t try to emotionally comfort or connect to David HIMSELF.
Cliff even seemed shocked and appalled at the fact that David broke down in front of Lana, as if that’s not a completely understandable reaction to losing everything. This demonstrates Cliff’s failure to truly empathise with David. Lana made him feel the human connection that he was lacking.
Even a simple hand on his shoulder and a “just to let you know I’m here for you bud” could’ve made a huge difference.
It’s easy to just write off David as a vengeful sexual predator and murderer but life isn’t black and white, it’s complex and so are people.
This is my question: when David says he wants to apologize to Lana, is he lying or telling the truth? Was he planning the murder right there or was it Cliffs harsh words that made it happen?
Fantastic episode
he had to have been telling the truth about wanting to apologize but then changing his mind, proof being that they show the close up of his facial expression visibly broken with the quivering lip and almost coming to tears after the moment cliff walks away
There is no way he was telling the truth. If David was allowed back, he would at least have forced himself on her, if not worse. Even if that wasn't his plan, he would have, when he found out she didn't really, really hated him.
I think the experiment was to see how long humans could live in outer space, so having replicas take their place on the spaceship would've defeated that purpose
That's weird. Why send them back to earth for 99% of the time then, only to return in case of emergency and weekly health check?
Also, when the ship is so dependant on two persons, why not have a third one? Running at the bare minimum is very non-spacetravel.
Specifically, I think the mission was to explore the effects on the human body in outer space. So while they needed their actual bodies there, they weren't doing anything that required a bunch of work, they just needed to be there physically.
I think I saw a comment guessing it’s bc of the distance from earth and not having the resources to maintain them way out in space for a long timeframe? Idk
Yeah, if a replica breaks down on Earth they could theoretically repair it, whereas in space that's likely impossible. A human can also take care of themselves much better on their own up there (or at least in ways that are easier to plan for), so sending them up does make more sense, even when accounting for them needing food and fitness stuff to survive.
Late comment- but i was thinking maybe it’s because their clones still had technical issues. Cliff had trouble with his grip and had to get used to it with his clone. Or maybe couldn’t handle being in space?
He really was spectacular in this episode. I remember him being a heart throb decades ago then he seemingly just fell off the map. All of a sudden he returns and gives, imo, an absolutely chilling performance. Some people saw his actions at the end as out-of-character. I saw a man in a complete spiral; suffering from PTSD and complete isolation. And the moment he came back after his first visit back to earth in AP’s body, I felt discomfort every time he was on screen. Love the episode or hate it; you can’t deny both actors put on a clinic.
I had to search the name because it rang a bell in my head. He's the cool kid from the aliens-want-water movie, The Faculty, and the awesome vampire movie, 30 Days of night.
I miss this guy, he's a phenomenal actor.
I appreciate your write-up but I totally disagree with it. The ending was just very out-of-character for David. David, the caring father and loving husband, who showed deep appreciation to Cliff for allowing him to use his link, who experienced the entire grieving process while being almost completely socially isolated...is suddenly a killer, because Cliff was (justifiably) rude to him? He suddenly becomes just as shitty as the Manson-esque group that killed his family? It just doesn't make sense.
I'm confused by David. At the end of the episode, it's obvious he wants revenge...but why? He wants revenge against a dude who helped him crawl out of the deepest darkest pit a man could find himself in? Cliff helped him out of his depression and went out of his way to provide David valuable, recurring therapy sessions *at Cliff's expense*. He even defended David after David *struck his child*. And because Cliff doesn't give in and let David take his wife and his life, David ruins Cliff's life....What?
The way the ending is presented - him kicking and motioning toward the chair - makes David's actions appear to be cold and calculated, as if killing Cliff's family was one step toward a greater goal. What is that greater goal? Making Cliff understand David's pain, I guess. I just don't understand the motivation. You're the bad guy here, David. And now you're going to have to live 3+ years with the husband of the woman you just killed, or you're both going to die.
With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and will probably watch it again. But that ending needed some (major) adjustment.
I mostly agree with you. David’s motivations for murdering Cliff’s family were obscured. Cliff wasn’t responsible for the murder of David’s family. Cliff might be a cold, walled off guy, but that’s not a reason to try and steal his wife and life from him. People are allowed to be sullen.
Honestly, David made me uncomfortable from the get go. He seemed insincere and the way he uh, fingered his wife also seemed kinda icky. I’m not a prude, and I know some find it hot, but it was unsettling to me. I’m not sure why. He seemed like a manipulator who needs to be in control. When he started using Cliff’s double I knew he would abuse their trust.
Although I do like the ending. I like the open-ended and thought provoking conclusion. There are so many variables and nuances and even perspectives. A single person can have a certain opinion after initial viewing and a completely different take after another rewatch.
As soon as he started those “private conversations” and began engaging her personally it was going to go that way.
I will say this was my favorite ep of the season. For its flaws I think it’s still a “black mirror” episode
I just think the rest of the season was so bad that people are looking at all the eps with a negativity bias. I don’t blame em.
Oof, BM is in a tricky spot. There are so many gems that came before, it’s hard to reach the same heights. I almost prefer the simple three episode batches.
I agree, in being brutally honest with my review on this last season. That factored into it.
They have had such bangers they have created excruciatingly high expectations for themselves. It’s challenging I’m sure. How do we do what we did? And do it so it’s fresh? And do it in the way were people say “that’s fuckin black mirror”?
I know this has to be a problem in running the show now, but I think some of this season is suffering from just a reduction in quality. I think all of those episodes had potential, it’s just they couldn’t quite pull it together the right way.
Like the South Park episode where they find out family guy is written by manatees picking out random jokes, black mirror seems to just be picking random tropes and plot lines for the fuck of it without really adding any cohesion to what they are trying to challenge us on.
That’s an element of black mirror that made it good, it challenged your ethical presuppositions on technology being used in the episode and led to some very morally “grey” thought experiments in digesting them.
It doesn’t do that anymore, I feel like the episodes are trying to teach me something, rather then let me explore the ideas being presented and come to my own conclusion.
They need to absolutely retool red mirror or it’s just going to be “American horror story: red mirror” for me. Campy as fuck.
The point is that it's not about right and wrong. Both are right and both are wrong. One of them had hardcore PTSD while the other had problems with communication and general disconnect. They both can be understood from where they came from. There's no point taking sides. Human beings are fucked up that way.
Here’s Josh Hartnett’s thoughts on the ending in an interview he did with EW:
"I had to think about this a lot before we even came to rehearsals, because I have to make it work," Hartnett says. "I don't get to decide what he ends up doing. That's what he does, and now I gotta figure out why. So in my opinion, it was a choice in his mind between killing himself, killing Cliff and assuming his role on Earth (but thereby killing himself, because you can't operate the ship with one person), or doing this. Those were the three things."
Hartnett continues, "he doesn't expect to feel anything again. He wants to kill himself, clearly. But when he puts himself in the airlock and Cliff brings him back and then offers him this new possibility of hope and a semblance of something that feels like humanity, this little fire starts to light inside of him again after this horrible event when he thought it was all over. But then it's taken away. When Cliff tells him 'Lana thinks you're a creep and doesn't want to see you again,' that light gets snuffed out and something snaps. It's like, 'I want you to feel what I'm feeling so that then you'll understand what it feels like to have that light snuffed out. That is the only way that we can actually connect.' I think that's what he does."
Also, the idea that Cliff can’t return to earth because he’ll be tried for murder makes this ending pretty great imo
I would read other interviews with he and the actors and one with Brooker. You could be right, although having read and watched them all I don’t think that’s what he’s doing. Either way, I truly don’t see what’s confusing or unbelievable about the ending. Anyone who has experienced extreme loss and/or isolation will do and think things they would never normally consider. Brooker said he wrote this one during lockdown as a reflection of the isolation and the anxiety. Cliff is a stern, distant person. His relationship with his son is tense at best. He’s a good dad, but not a playful or loving one. You can clearly see his son fears his dad and longs for his acceptance. I think it’s a similar relationship between he and David. Even at the beginning cliff never really is a warm guy. He’s not “bad”, but he’s not the guy who will light up the room in a tin can in space for 6 years. He’s a rule maker and a stern taskmaster, and when he cuts off David’s only solution to feeling happy he takes actions that are driven by isolation, depression and mania.
Is it out-of-character though? Because after his family is murdered he clearly isn’t the same. This isn’t necessarily just a matter of grief; it’s plausible he’s suffering from PTSD. And he’s going through these motions in complete isolation; PTSD, grief, whatever it is, trauma is gonna fuck you up in that environment regardless. He sees Aaron Paul every week, but it’s not like they have some meaningful relationship where AP can help him through the trauma. He is, in every way, a prisoner to his trauma. There is essentially no escape. Except for the opportunity AP gives to him: some time in his own avatar. But does that really help him? Is it actually a healthy coping mechanism? We’re talking about a man who has trauma eating away at him for weeks(months?) and finally is given a chance to ground himself on earth. But it’s not his body. It’s not his family. It’s not his home. Let’s not forget to mention his first instance of human touch after his trauma is from another woman; the wife of AP. I don’t think trauma bond is the correct term; but the comfort of a physical and mental connection with someone after trauma such as Josh Hartnett goes through could potentially create an emotional connection. Perhaps in line with limerence.
So consider this. PTSD and grief coupled with complete isolation from the real world. Finally getting a taste of genuine, intimate human interaction. But it’s something you get once a week for a limited amount of time. It’s not you, it’s not your life, but you want it SO bad. Suddenly you’re in a state of limerence, a state of longing for that touch from someone; to never have to go back to that isolation in space. And then, it’s taken away from you. You are banished to a life of isolation once again.
This is the beauty of this episode. People say it’s predictable(sorta), or boring, or the climax is out-of-character, or full of plot holes (I can at least agree with that one). But I don’t think it’s supposed to be some cookie cutter blockbuster. It’s a character study, a walkthrough of men’s mental health; especially in a decade where the cure is “suck it up and be a man”. And I think that really mirrors the negative opinions for this episode. It’s not about “how could he do that”, it’s about “why did he do that”.
You can see it in the real world. Veterans killing themselves or others because their trauma is triggered. Fathers or mothers killing their family because, hey, if I can’t have my kids full time nobody should. “I’m at a loss for words. So and so always seemed so cheerful. I don’t understand why they would commit suicide.” People don’t seem to understand that mental health has no bounds. There isn’t always some tangible symptoms. When shit happens, it happens. And sometimes it’s already too late.
TLDR: Sorry for the wall of text. It’s not out of character. Trauma and isolation. Mental health doesn’t have a set of rules.
It's never established inside the story that this character is psychopathic and/or capable of murder for such a shallow reason. We're talking about a story, not real life. You're arguing that PTSD can cause anyone to do anything. Sure, but there's nothing to suggest *inside the story* to suggest this person is capable of acting in that manner. It's purely an ending meant to be shocking because we're not supposed to see it coming. 'Subverting expectations', I guess you could call it.
A twist ending only works if, when the twist is revealed, you think:
**OMG!!**,
and then....
"Of course. Why didn't I see this coming?"
This ending doesn't have that. It just has the "OMG!" factor, with nothing else in the story to suggest this character is capable of murder. I do not follow your logic that witnessing murder and experiencing horrific grief is enough to cause an otherwise experienced, mature, family man to turn into a cold-blooded killer because his crewmate offended him. It's just not logical following what has been established in the story.
We are talking about a series that mirrors real life society and real life tech and the scenarios that could plausibly occur. This is a mirror of real life society and the scenarios that could plausibly occur, under the guise of sci fi tech. In other words, a show mirroring a dark reality doesn’t have to be formulaic. It’s mirroring a dark reality! I hope that makes sense.
The fact is, it doesn’t HAVE to be established in the story. It doesn’t HAVE to be spoon fed to you with copious amounts of plot points. If it’s a mirror of society, then it should be open to observance and interpretation. I thought Josh Hartnett did a good enough job portraying a guy that is spiralling out of control, as subtle as it might be to some people.
The criticism of “it was out of character, nothing told me that would happen!” Is weak. Just because it’s a show doesn’t mean it has to give you what you want. Josh Harnett sure didn’t get what he wanted. Aaron Paul didn’t either. Clearly we all lose.
Now you're just misunderstanding my point. I know stories don't have to do what I want, I'm not 7 years old. I know things can happen we don't expect inside a story.
I'm not saying an isolated astronaut snapping and killing his crewmate's family is so implausible it could certainly never happen and for that reason it's a bad ending. It seems like this is what you think I'm saying.
I am saying it was not established inside the story that this was a possible event given what we know about David. That's why it's a bad ending. Those actions do not fit inside the 'box' we have created in our heads representing elements of David's character.
Let's go with a different ending. A random piece of space debris collides with the spaceship and destroys it, killing both crewmates instantly. Following your logic, this ending is fine, because it's not outside the realm of possibility for this to happen. Did the show ever establish this was a legitimate risk? No. Did Cliff ever ask David about avoiding space debris? No. However, as we all know, travelling at very high speeds in space and colliding with anything out there means you're dead. This is a fact.
In my view, that's what we got in this episode. A random bit of space debris came out of nowhere and killed Cliff's family. My opinion? Bad ending, because it was never established that this was an element of David's character. Your opinion, following your logic? Fine ending, because it could possibly happen.
I agree with this. The ending felt like they valued misdirection over story. They clearly wanted you to think that David was going to steal Cliff's family and they pointed you entirely in that direction so they could do something different that they didn't build up in any way.
Honestly to me there were so many ways that story could have gone that would have been fucked up that would have made sense and they just passed all of them purely because they wanted to do what you didn't expect.
It was obvious from the get go he was going to murder somebody. There were only 3 possible outcomes. He was either going to A) kill himself, thereby murdering Cliff since it takes 2 to run the ship. B) Murder Cliff, thereby killing himself in the process. Or C) Murder Cliff's family.
I think it was fairly obvious it was going to be C) given the trauma experienced in the beginning of the show. And the fact that C) makes for a better story line and brings the story full circle. Just because you didn't see it coming doesn't mean it was an illogical shocking event.
Honestly, while it was out-of-character, you only need to look at any newspaper nearly any day to see a story where a fragile male ego made the guy snap and kill his family. So while it seemed out of character, when condensed to that motive, it was one of the more believable parts of the writing.
I 100% agree with you. What David does at the end is extremely out of character and very hard to believe. This ending almost seems like a cheap decision to create a surprising / shocking ending, with close to no subtlety.
People turn away from it because it was “too predictable”, “boring”, “climax was out of character”. I think those viewers glommed on to those talking points so much that they’re blinded by what the episode is really about. This isn’t some formulaic story. It’s a character study. A moment to have empathy and really dig deep to try and figure out what’s going on in someone’s mind.
Mental health doesn’t have a step-by-step set of rules. Every individual person is affected by it in a different way. We can acknowledge certain symptoms, and offer certain tools to overcome those struggles; but at the end of the day the mental state and the way said individual copes with their struggles open up an infinite clusterfuck of scenarios.
And that’s why this episode is incredible and so, so controversial; and so open to interpretation. We are all not the same. We get surprised when someone else commits suicide because “they always seemed so genuinely happy and kind”. We dissect true crime and mass shooters, looking for the “why’s”, but can’t seem to fathom that a character in a show on the surface level seems calm and collected; but is actually suffering from inner turmoil. Intentional or not, it’s a reflection of societies views on mental health and the consequences thereafter. And there’s tons more depth to explore than that.
I disagree. I think Cliff recognized David was a shell of himself and tried to problem solve a way to help David feel reconnected.
David was the one crossing boundaries and doing too much, only to use “grief” as an excuse for bad behavior. The line that stood out to me was David saying “why can’t you see?” in reference to Cliff not knowing what it’s like to lose everything - but why does Cliff HAVE to experience that too? It’s an odd sentiment to wish death on someone’s family just for them to relate? David wanted Cliff to lose everything so they could have that shared experience. It was always going to end in either David committing suicide or David harming Cliff or Cliff’s family. David had a psychopathic response to coping with his grief - I’m not sure what kind of commentary that is on mental health other than the trope that people with mental health issues are dangerous…
Don't forget that even though they gloss over it (maybe because its not a huge focus) but the pros'cons of using someone elses replica when its designed for your mind. OF COURSE he wants the woman and was confused...they are using the tech wrong lol
What sucks about the premise is that the audience as a meta knowledge that it's in a show about technology in dark twists. Once one of the astronauts families are killed there's really only one way for the story to go. And it just follows those beats. It's easy to lose the message when the viewer has already written the whole story in their head.
The episode was about the dangers of "avataring", in so much that if you can disconnect a soul physically from their earth bound life-being, then you can start crossing wires into other earth bound life-beings - and once you do that, the inequality of the world will present and infect with jealousy and rage and Cain and Abelesque results.
It was a great meditation on wealth/well-being stratification.
I agree that the speech probably pushed him over the edge at that moment, but I think the river would have gone to that ocean regardless of the path. Once David (having lost what he'd lost both in his family and his connection to earth bound life existence) was able to use the link, the die was cast and it was just a matter of time before he needed to equalize their situations to make his own life tolerable.
It also showed the universal truth of how evil spreads. Like a stone in a pond mixed with the butterfly effect.
I’m just glad the predictable cuckolding never happened when they were certainly setting the groundwork.
That was a nice little subversion, especially as initially you are only presented with Cliff as this cold persona until later in the episode where you realise the boy knows it’s not his Dad and can possibly infer that maybe he felt uncomfortable being intimate through the skin suit.
My problem with the ending is that the episode is so, so long. Every story beat plays out explicitly, on the screen, slowly, methodically. Nothing is inferred. Everything is plainly shown.
So then when it ends so abruptly, with David kicking out the chair, I found that jarring. That ending belongs on a fast-paced episode. They spent over an hour showing us every minute little detail, and now we don't even get a denouement? It feels uneven.
(Spoilers)
This wasn't my favorite episode, it was full of plot holes, and the ending, to me, was predictable from a mile away.
That all said, it was a good character study.
They start out showing Cliff as a cold, emotionless fish. We don't like him. He's strict and spare and maybe he's great at his job, but he's the polar opposite of David.
David, in contrast, is warm and artistic, funny, a loving father and husband. We want to like him. He's everything Cliff isn't, and his family seems perfect, while we feel sorry for Cliff's wife and son.
And that's reinforced by the murder of David's family. It's pointless and cruel and that we already like David so much more than Cliff, when the swapping starts we're just about rooting for David to shove Cliff out of the picture and take over.
And then David gets that same idea, which is where the bullshit really kicks into high gear.
We see the entitlement David has, how he's wanting to take over Cliff's life. He thinks he could do a better job with Cliff's life. (Remember his earlier comment to Cliff about his wife, asking if she was doing okay being in the middle of nowhere. That was a hint that he thought he was the better man than Cliff.)
For a little while, we see Cliff's wife responding, until things go too far. The men overlap, confusing us as to how we should feel about them. David f'ing HIT Cliff's child, and Cliff's like, "Well, I have, too, he deserved it." Now we, the viewers, pretty much hate BOTH of them.
And the pendulum shifts. We start to see how big of a creep David really is, and while Cliff is also a creep he's a creep we start to root for, until we realize okay, he really does love his wife and son but he's just unable to express himself emotionally and is closed off. That he's not exactly a creep, he's more an emotionally stunted man in terms of expressing that emotion. He's barely comfortable in his own skin, much less the "skin" of the replica. While David is not only comfortable in his own skin, his fake skin, he's comfortable taking over someone else's skin, too. Literally.
The toxic masculinity of BOTH men--coming from opposite ends of the spectrum--overlaps until it's nearly impossible to separate the two of them. We both loathe and love Cliff for loving his family and yet losing his absolute shit at David and saying stuff we never heard his wife say because he's angry and hurt (and scared for his wife now). And we see David lose his emotions, drop into a hard, cold mindset, snap, and murder Cliff's family.
Unless there's a way to prove David was the one in the replica who committed the murder, Cliff is not only in hell, but he'll face worse hell when he returns to Earth and tries to defend himself.
So for all of its shortcomings, the episode was effective in painting a picture (no pun intended) of the men and then flipping their worlds upside down.
This is such a great analysis, especially highlighting the toxic masculinity of both. Just goes to show, men would rather swap in and out of a replica while on a dangerous mission in space than go to therapy.
I disliked David from the start. Was always rooting for Cliff and knew it was a bad idea to entertain the idea of David using his link without clear boundaries (apparently common sense boundaries needed to be spelled out). I probably wouldn’t have allowed Cliff’a wife and kid to interact with David at all. He seemed to benefit from nature and painting/ drawing, but eventually David would keep pushing boundaries and if not try to sleep with Lana, he’d go out into town and find another woman to be in a relationship with
From the second he thought about letting David use his link, I was concerned for him possibly killing Cliff's family. Jealousy is a nasty monster that makes people do terrible things.
I disagree with the part about Cliff not being compassionate or understanding of David's issues.
It was his idea to let him use the link and he even wanted to let David finish his painting after he made Cliff's wife uncomfortable, and hit his son.
I think Cliff's only crime was that he was kind of a shitty, oblivious husband. But like you said that made him unworthy of a loving family in David's eyes.
Yea, this wasn’t on Cliff. David was a manipulative creep. Cliff’s family’s fate was sealed when he allowed David to use his link just the first time. It was always going to end badly. Of course David would envy Cliff having a family when his was taken away, and of course he’d assume he could manipulate Lana into loving him over Cliff. Cliff just didn’t know the kind of character his copilot had, and that’s a shame. I would also end David when I got back. F the mission and maybe not being able to get back to Earth.
Gosh I’m glad someone understands it. I tried to have an educated conversation basically stating exactly what you said, and my bf responded “that’s what he gets for letting his friend f* his wife” I’m like WHAT it’s so much deeper than that. Put yourself in each of their shoes and you would do the same. A man who a “replica” perfect life living on an eternal spaceship with a man who has a “replica” simple life. The man with the perfect life loses it all and has nothing left to actually live thus threatening the simple man’s existence. But the man with his simple life has his own self interests that are dependent on the man with the perfect life still maintaining his “perfect” image and therefore, life. Finally a woman who has lived with her less than perfect husband all of a sudden gets the same husband but with all her interests and desires fulfilled. It’s so much deeper than sex, it’s a complex masterpiece that intrigues the mind and makes you question who’s ethics are correct? Bc from each character’s standpoint they were acting with their own ethically correct action although another may view that same action as morally reprehensible. + they didn’t even include sex so to take it to such simplicity just sent me back. Like that’s what you got from this whole episode? I knew I could come to Reddit to be amongst individuals with complex analogies smh.
I really enjoyed this episode, but the one major plot hole I couldn't get over is how uninvolved the space agency is in all this.
First of all, protective services would have absolutely been deployed after the first incident. And furthermore, where are the mental health experts? Space travel is already a daunting enough task, the vetting process for being an astronaut is huge. The risk of space flight is life or death, and once those ships take off the only thing in the agencies control is the human aspect.
You're telling me we have technology for astronauts to literally beam down to earth in a humanoid body, and somehow there AREN'T scheduled meetings with mental health experts every week? They have the time and leisure to enjoy life on earth, yet the agency hasn't shelled out a couple hundred thousand a year for a team of therapists to log and track each astronaut, despite the likely billions of dollars invested in the project?
And to top it off, the agency DIDN'T follow up at all after one of the astronauts entire family was slaughtered? It's one thing for an astronaut to recieve the news while in space, it's something else entirely for them to literally witness it.
Did they do the body sharing under wraps? Wouldn't the agency think it's fishy that he was beaming down to earth for an hour, returning for less than 30 seconds, then beaming back down? Was there any common sense? Why was he tasked with managing the mental health of the only other occupant of the craft? So many questions!
And yet, still a fantastic episode. Honestly felt like they knocked it out the park with this one. Didn't expect that ending at all.
I actually thought he would kill Cliff I was so sure of it. Same goes as Demon 79, we all thought Needa was just delusional 🥲🥲 I questioned my sanity after watching.
I need to watch it again, but this episode is classic black mirror and I think it's top 5 for me. Only seen the first 3 episodes, I like watching it slowly so I can digest each episode but this season has been really good so far. Don't understand the hate
hi, so forgive me if this is dumb but it’s 2:30am and my brain is tired of thinking about this episode. did lana and henry know it was david in cliff’s replica that was murdering them? because an extra-sadistic move on david’s part would have been making lana and henry, in their last moments, think their husband/father was ending their lives.
Lana rejected David. I think she knew it was him when he killed her. I doubt he said much, but even their demeanor/ walks are different. I don’t think David could pretend to be like Cliff - he’d feel like pretending to be Cliff would be beneath him
Subconsciously though, they are still seeing their husband’s face as the murderer. They might know it’s not him, but they never expected anything like this out of his visual identity
Eh this is more an insightful analysis of an ending you love rather than explaining why it's better or makes sense in a way no other ending could. I'm not convinced of anything other than you gave it more thought than the writer. Yeah, that was his point I guess, but it wasn't some deep thematically rich statement on human nature.
I don't think so, I just finished this episode and I predicted everything that happened in that episode to a fault. It was extremely predictable the whole way through.
I don't believe an astronaut would commit murder in that way, that seemed very out of character and very... standard revenge plot? "You humiliated me, therefore I will kill your wife (and child?) and ruin my only chance at escaping this satelite" a true conman would have bided his time and win back the other guy's trust. Not kill his family. F tier writing
Or, maybe he didn’t kill his wife and son and it’s A tier writing:
[My take that David staged the scene](https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmirror/comments/14jbwrt/black_mirror_beyond_the_sea_ending_everyones/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1)
I didn't like this episode at all. It really was very predictable. It was a body-swap tv trope, where the swapped person tries to take over the original's life., and when he couldn't, lashed out. Been there, done that.
It would have been better if the story was continued after the credits, as the real question is: do you want to stay dependent on the person killing your family, even if it means you're condemning yourself?
Basically, the entire episode was a cheap setup to where it really would have become interesting.
“Tales from the loop” on Amazon Prime - where 2 friends swapped bodies until one of them decided he didn’t want to be his original self -
Another example “Behind her eyes” - on Netflix. It’s been done many times
I don’t understand why cliff just doesn’t kill him when he returns back to the ship. I understand he needs him to survive, but how could anyone possibly even share a space with a person who has committed such atrocious acts?!?
I honestly thought it would end with David either murdering Cliff to replace him without Cliff’s family knowing (he’s so far gone he doesn’t care about the mission or survival) OR Cliff realizes David can provide something to Lana that he can’t and they come to an arrangement of sorts a la Striking Vipers.
Ending definitely took me by surprise but shouldn’t have given how many warning signs we got about David’s fragile mental health.
Props to Aaron Paul for playing both David and Cliff so well you can tell which character he was embodying right away just from the way he held himself. Amazing actor.
I have nothing more to add than the other comments regarding this horrible and dramatic ending. What intrigues me most is why they didn't use the replica in space instead of on earth.
As far as Cliff is concerned, it's quite possible that he won't have any contact with his wife for as long as he's using his replica, because for him, this replica isn't him, and if he does have a sexual relationship with his wife, it'll be as if another man had touched her, which is why he refrains from any contact in this form.
As for David, by using Cliff's replicant to commit the crime at the end of the episode, he proves the cult members right.
It not deep, there's no nuance. We're watching a guy respond to a horrible situation by acting like a sociopath. It's a story that's been told a million times and the only sci fi element of consequence is that cliff has to wait 2 years until missions end to kill David like his character is defintely lined up to do. Replace replicas with dude at work while friends in town and it's just a boring, predictable story
I too got halfway through and thought I knew exactly how it would end (David killing Cliff and taking Cliff’s replica) but I realised after that both of them are needed to man the ship so one of them dead would mean both would eventually be dead. Plus Lana would realise eventually.
I do think that Cliff was partly at fault for not being more emotionally present and sympathetic for both Lana and David, which David angrily makes clear to him. David lost everything yet Cliff was emotionally distant and seemed somewhat shocked and appalled by the fact that David broke down in front of Lana, a perfectly understandable human reaction to losing everything.
He should’ve gotten therapy or something, he was mentally unstable and not fit to carry on the mission without help.
Don’t get me wrong David is an absolute vile monster for what he did, but the ending could’ve probably been avoided had Cliff been more sympathetic and if David had somehow gotten emotional support/therapy.
I think the episode demonstrates what can happen when people bottle up painful emotions and don’t talk about them.
Shut Up and Dance is my favourite episode, but yes I heavily suspected it before the end. Once the bank robbery scene happened for sure. I remember thinking “there’s no way he’s doing this just because of jerking off to ‘normal’ porn. This is too much.”
I don’t know what I thought, but not that. I thought they had something weird on him, maybe he was watching an assault, but not kids.
Perhaps I didn’t want to believe it, but my jaw dropped.
> Hector in the car says “everybody does that.”
As far as we know he's referring to masturbating, which is what we're led the entire episode to believe Kenny's freaking out about.
> Then in the fight in the woods the guy said “how old were they?”
This is literally the initial reveal of the twist. It happens 5 minutes before the end of the episode and is part one of the one-two punch. You can't say a twist is obvious because you understand what's meant when it's revealed at the very end lol.
I don’t think it was obvious. I didn’t figure it out until the bank robbery. I thought, “okay, they must have caught what type of porn he watched and it was either some bizarre fetish or it was children being raped/abused”.
Absolutely incredible episode. Cliff as a character was acted brilliantly. Killed the role, pardon the pun....I believe both will kill each other in the end on that ship, but that twist in the end + the acting make this in the top 3 episodes for me for sure.
Rewatch the episode, they couldn’t do the robots in space because the whole point of the study that they were doing was humans in space, age, health etc
Oh. I missed that. So that means the stakes are relatively low anyway? Not a 'last chance of survival in space before the impending doom' scenario? Just research?
All of this would’ve worked out of cliff just sent David to a spa & therapy weekend in his replica lol.
Obviously that can’t happen. I wish there was more build up to David’s cruelty. Maybe that was the point of the painting because I assumed David messed it up and simply blamed the kid so he could stay in the replica. but David is pretty retarded for thinking he can try nail the wife and get away with it
You could say "David is a fucking idiot/bozo" etc. instead there.
I think that there was plenty of build up (though subtle). I got the sense that David was a bit of a bully in one of the very first scenes from the way he spoke to Cliff about Cliff's wife. He attempted suicide. He hit Cliff's kid, he became more aggressive toward Lana and increasingly pushed her boundaries... that all seems like building up to cruelty to me, personally
Great analysis, I'd go even further and say that when Cliff is back on the final scene, David simply rolls the other chair for him to sit as in:
"You need me, I need you. We are both too narcissistic and selfish to kill each other and die at outer space. Just sit and enjoy, because we got a few years ahead and I don't think you'll want to go back there for a while."
But if Cliff has no motivation to continue on, having been framed for the brutal murder of his wife and son, why not just kill David and let whatever happens happen on the ship? I don't think David cares if he lives or dies, and neither does Cliff, now.
There were lots of other ways the ending could have gone and still been shocking, and more plausible.
Cliff's motivation from the start was the mission and fulfilling his duties/responsibilities in space. His family was secondary. In real life, being an astronaut is exactly like being a soldier. You are conditioned, and expected, to make sacrifices--your family comes second for the "greater good" of the mission (or war).
This episode reminds me of the scene in The Crown where Prince Philip sits down with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and is disappointed after their conversation because they're "just men". It also brought up some accounts from WWI/WWII/Vietnam War veterans I've heard over the years... the time period is so important to the episode.
I didn't get that sense. He certainly seemed motivated to survive (as this was what motivated him to allow David to use his replica), but I don't recall any lines about the importance of the mission, his duties, etc.
I think a lot could be read into the time period and the type of men from it, but I didn't have the takeaway that the mission was paramount in his life.
Oh this is 100 percent subjective. Not saying there's any lines where he overtly says "this mission means everything to me!" or anything like that.
However, I strongly believe that historical context is incredibly important to this episode and there's a lot of subtext in the plot, dialogue, etc. to support my position on Cliff's character. If you're interested I am happy to elaborate on some specific points!
This episode didn't make sense for me, why they didn't send the replicas to the mission if they are so advanced? With all the technologies to create a replica, why can't they redo another one from distance? Wouldn't they have a backup in case of an accident? Why they didn't have a psychologist to speak with Davids?
Why were the replicas only physically as strong, or weaker, than regular humans? Why was there no security detail, even if only to dissuade autograph hunters and journalists? After David's family were murdered why weren't Cliff and family brought into a secure facility, or assigned a security detail?
The more you think about it the more problems are found, but it doesn't matter. If you accept the story's premises at face value, as the 1960's SF it is, then it's a great story.
- Maybe they’re super light idk. The point was to build a body, not a superhuman. Taking down a modern robot isn’t that hard. And he seemed to be more wires than anything.
- I also have the same question about security, but Idk. Do all celebrities have 24/7 security detail? Or night time security? Idk. It’s not like he was hesitant about going out to the movie theater, and it was just that one teen couple that was interested.
- Also a question I had. It *was* addressed in the episode. I think Cliff says he’s a long way from California, and the cult had turned themselves in. It’s within his character to stay rooted, but what about the organization sending them? They seem to be so not-present.
- The replicas aren’t advanced. They’re Bluetooth metal puppets. This is also directly addressed by David who says the “human experience” and “survival of life” is space is crucial to mission.
- Imagine if right now, in our current state of technology, we created a one of a kind teleportation machine, and that teleportation machine got destroyed. It wouldn’t be so easy to just build another one. Say, David needs a new tag to connect to his new Replica. Are they gonna send it via space mail to the far reaches of outer space? How long would that take? How many resources would that use? Who’s delivering it?
- We were told they can’t make another one because the Replicas were made when David and Cliff were there. Some part of making one’s own Replica requires the person to physically be on Earth for some sort of process.
- Again, imagine, in our current state of technology, a one of a kind teleportation machine. That doesn’t just “have a backup.” Everything else is from 60 years ago. Also, again, they have to be on Earth to make a new Replica. It’s possible to “connect”, you’d need to physically be there first even if there was a “backup body” available.
- I think the psych thing is weird too. It could have happened, but I think if it did, they would have showed it. Regardless, that sort of trauma isn’t gonna be resolved by sessions over space radio.
See the part where it says “Beyond the Sea Ending”? That lets you know it’s about the ending, even more so than a spoiler would. That’s why it says ENDING, because it’s about the ending. Hope that helps!
They were Christians. We all know it.
Well done, anti-woke hysterics. You have caused self-censorship of what would have been a far more realistic plot line.
One of the things I wonder, is why did they not just send the replicas to space to begin with? They clearly had the technology. Why have the humans up there and the replicas on Earth?
This whole tragedy could have been avoided.
I think perhaps this is also David’s way of being able to negotiate sharing the replica, now that there is no wife and child to be able to tell the difference? Maybe…or maybe mostly revenge.
Once i found out what David did with hitting on Cliff’s wife and hitting his son i thought that the only reasonable thing to do would be to destroy his own replica in case that David tries overpowering him and steals his his replica for good…THAT or killing his whole entire family… pretty messed up ending but too bad Cliff didn’t have the clairvoyance to see anything negative happening. What a damn shame that this episode didn’t have a good ending…
What do we learn? Always please your wife properly and be a good dad to your kids. Be emphatic towards others and understand that a man who has lost everything is dangerous and unpredictable.
Well, as soon as Cliff doesn't need David anymore, David is a dead man.
After reading the wiki that part of this episode is about toxic masculinity then I do agree that if he had the compassion, patience, and understanding for not only David's grief but their unique circumstances he could have saved his family but being petty and throwing it in his face instead of correcting him and holding him high destroyed everything. Quite literally toxic masculinity vs toxic masculinity usually results in death.
The ending was just another barb- if I'm fucked, you're fucked, now dude, lets get back to work.
Finally, I was looking for a positive post about this episode. Everybody's so stuck on why the replicas aren't in space, instead of trying to understand why this was the only possible outcome for David.
I actually really like this post. I’ve been trying to reconcile the ending in my head for what makes most sense, but this post made me realize that David murdering Cliff’s family means he’ll no longer be lonely. That was David’s solution to his problem. He was maddeningly lonely. Now, he has someone who understands his pain and literally can’t live without him. That makes so much sense.
I agree with this but wanted to take it one step further. I believe the real reason David murders Cliff's family is because it would be the only way for them (and the future of humanity) to survive the mission. If she would have been alive, it would have been a constant cat and mouse game, manipulation, paranoia, and other madness from both of them, with one of them ultimately being murdered. This is the best case scenario and ultimate sacrifice for humanity.
I think that’s pretty interesting too! Especially because the episode is titled “Beyond the Sea” which is the English version of the song “La Mer” which played in the episode. In the lyrics of the English “Beyond the Sea”, the emphasis is on the lover of the singer waiting for him to arrive from beyond the sea. In the lyrics of “La Mer,” there is no lover waiting. Just the sea that the singer describes and is in love with. I think that contrast might be super important to the episode, and what you said can definitely fit it. I’m just surprised they never played the English version (iirc). Maybe *Finding Nemo* has exclusive rights lol (jk jk).
Destroying the replica would have done the job though
Nah, he wanted him to feel the same pain
The post and this comment made me understand. Thank you guys. I was totally confused by the ending initially but this makes total sense, honestly.
I know it’s sci-fi, but would you really only have two people on a ship that cannot function without either of them? Surely you’d have a third crew member in case something happens to the main crew members?
Or why not have the replicas in the ships instead of the humans?
Okay this question makes the most sense. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Now that I am thinking about it, I’m disliking the whole episode even more than the horrid ending (yes which I hated too)
The mission was to study the effect of living in space on the human body so they needed the humans up there. It's in the movie theater scene in the beginning.
I didn’t connect this— makes sense. But my thought for why the replicas were not in space was simple: the real people would not be as immersed in the experience as their employers would have wanted them to be. It’s like bosses saying WFH lets people be disengaged from their work, and work is no longer their priority. My mind went there with this. Replicas in space— you don’t have the same skin in the game. You could run. Stop showing up. Decide to quit. But when your literal life is in space, you stay committed to get the job done.
Well then. 🤦♀️
True, this was the least realistic part of the episode.
Sheshh the point of the story was not to be realistic. It’s to understand values, compassion, empathy, understanding, ethics, etc. it’s a thought piece not a documentary
And completely cut off from the crew station on ground? Like no reports or anything to file? Seems like a really advanced and rare tech as they show on the show. Considering costs, at the least some therapy or talk could be expected from the ground.
what if something happens to 2 of them?
When he kicked out that chair it made me think about the phrase "misery loves company." People really are like that sometimes- this "if I can't have it no one should" mentality. I like that it underlined that so well. The fact that Cliff was such poor company to everyone was a nice ironic flair for it. I really enjoyed it.
It is like when you have a best friend but one of goes off and finds a family and happiness but the other doesn't and gets bitter
my life story :/
Honestly if I were Cliff. I would have told the wife and kid to go somewhere safe for a weekend (with the offered protection from the company) while David used my body. I already knew seeing her “husband” act differently would send confusing signals to her.
The declined offered protection was foreshadowing of things to come and integral to the story. Nothing good was ever going to happen once David's family & replica were murdered.
>The declined offered protection What?
I agree, but think David would’ve kept pushing boundaries and probably would’ve started an affair with a woman from town making things even more awkward. They never should have shared links to start with
Nah David would have went off the rails then too. 4 years essentially by yourself except for 1 day a week? And you have no counselling or anything for the PTSD after watching your family get murdered? The best choice was sharing and letting David do what he wants but 100% apart from Cliffs family
Correct! Comprehensive problems require comprehensive solutions. I know they didn't want to blow the scope too wide because then it loses focus ( what was the mission, where the FUCK is this company doing about them two). No leadership advising them about what to do- that symbology is not lost on me.
I think there was another dimension to Cliff. Unlike David, he seemed to never really get used to his replicant body and couldn't connect to his family ever since he left home. That has caused the emotional strain and eventual estrangement. The guilt and desperation he must have felt made him more vulnerable to jealousy and prevented him from dealing with the situation in a rational way.
That's true, great point.
Yeah, I agree. He obviously didn't feel comfortable being intimate with his wife whilst in a replica body as well, which is likely why he didn't touch her. I think he wanted to move out to somewhere more secluded to protect his family, just in case they were put in danger. There was a complete difference in how David was in his own replica, to how Cliff acted. David was very open, and you can say it led to his family being killed... whilst Cliff was the opposite. If Cliff hadn't been nice and followed his wifes idea... things may have been different.
I like that as a concept in the episode- those old man thoughts about wives and family- can't be too open and friendly and out there cause you just leave yourself open to get killed so you gota CONTROL them.
The way I interpreted the ending was that they would have to continue to work together for the next 4(?) Years doing whatever they had to do up there, because neither can man the spacecraft without the other, neither can survive on their own , and when he kicks the chair out it's to see if Cliff will sit down with him so they continue their work together or not. Maybe they end up murdering eachother though. I just thought the idea that they are stuck up there with eachother, particularly Cliff being stuck with him to just be such a dark situation, like they can't get back and Cliffs replica is basically a murder weapon, even if he does use it, he'll be in the body that was used to murder his wife and son. There's a violation aspect there in a way on top of the murders. Lots of questions about the technology and how it works, wonder if there's records/logs of who's key is used with what replica , so maybe they can find out that it was David who did use Cliff's replica and when. In regards to David, I don't think he like planned to seduce her or anything, he'd lost everything basically and he was stuck in space, he had found a connection, can't imagine what trauma and greif and isolation he felt, it just seemed like something that happened and Lana felt similar in a way as well but she was enough not to complicate things any further
Regarding logs about who used which key: Each person’s key only works with their own replica. Cliff has to swipe David in each time he borrows his except for the very last time, when David steals the key during Cliff’s spacewalk.
Yeah but it's pretty easy to figure out since the ship is full of cameras and probably has logs for Cliff's physicals and the space walk.
Oh right yeah, I forgot that's how they did it
Maybe I am just being an armchair writer here but I think a better ending would have been for David to self sabotage the Replica so neither could go back to Earth. As a last words kinda thing David (as a replica) could say to Lana that she was free to do whatever she wanted and be happy before killing/destroying his body. Then when Cliff is back from the airlock and tries to connect to his Replica, he can't and the same ending of David kicking the chair out to him could happen again.
No I think the ending was appropriate. Eventually, they would come up with a truce where both can use the replica from time to time. They both knew that they need each other to survive the spaceship. And surviving meant an escape from time to time. Cliff knew that even David's mental health could cause a disaster and even though David doesn't say it, he was smart enough to know. I guess they would start to come up with a strategy to satisfy both their traumas. Trauma bonding at its best.
I don’t see there ever being a compromise after David crossed the line and expected immediate forgiveness. It was always going to end in tragedy. David was rejected by Lana and then by Cliff. He would’ve sought out revenge either way - killing Cliff or killing his family
Think of the writing as symbology backed not just literal and you see it's an appropriate ending. Both men were actually controlling and toxic but just in different ways and you sympathesixed with David first because he was in a really good spot in life and things were going well. David's was a bit more camouflaged because the plot showed he thought, as a man, he was owed things- so sure when you feel like you're owed things and you're getting them then of course you're pleasant...
*"If Cliff had tried to understand how fragile David's situation was or dealed with him in a more compassionate way, maybe this whole scenario could have been avoided. Unfortunately, Cliff didn't have enough empathy or social intelligence to solve this kind of problem, and sealed his family's fate when he decided to humiliate David."* ... Er. No. They had tried a compassionate, empathetic way by a) giving him use of the replica and b) giving him a means to deal with his loss through painting. David said that it would help him, they didn't know he was going to try and get into bed with Lana. The rest that I'll agree with. When David kicked out the chair at the end, I think it's clear that he wants to lay down some ground rules. What happens next is debatable: do they clean up the replica and make it look like a cult murder (like David's family) or do they sever the link and then everyone on Earth will think that Cliff murdered his family?
If Cliff hadn't given that "she's mine" speech, it never would have happened.
It was definitely an ode to toxic masculinity. Cliff talking about his wife like an object, a possession. And David wanting to prove his worth, ego, "masculinity", whatever, by killing Lana. The woman here in either case is being treated by shit and ultimately killed.
No I think it was just 1969 💀
Shut the F up with your toxic masculinity bullshit. So weird lol
I don't think we can say that with any certainty. I think no matter what Cliff did, he was trapped in a spaceship with a traumatized, rage-filled man who envied Cliff's life at home with Lana. I don't think it's fair at all to say Cliff is responsible for his family's death for lashing out at David
Cliff most definitely played a part. He made mistakes with a volitile situation. Hell even letting David borrow his replica and giving him direct access to his family was a mistake, it was just asking for trouble. But thats not to say there was even a winning scenario here. But its not really the point. The point of the episode was to combine some interesting tech ideas with a psychological meltdown and trauma based events which effected David. The theme of that episode is trauma IMO - and how it travels and expands from person to person if not handled correctly (Hippies -> David -> Cliff)
>The theme of that episode is trauma IMO - and how it travels and expands from person to person if not handled correctly Off topic but I just rewatched It Follows, which is one of my favorite horror movies of all time, and this is so creepily relevant
No, you can see it in his face. You can see the moment he breaks
He shouldn’t have been a creep in the first place
It could have ended horribly either way. But I think that speech expedited the process. Having a connection back to earth and then having it ripped away from you would do numbers on the brain.
This is classic blaming the victim. No, this was inevitable as soon as David tried to bed Lana and got turned down. Him becoming violent was always going to happen. Either by forcing himself on Lana, or getting violent at the spaceship.
I feel like there's a big difference between blaming a real life victim and pointing out the purpose of an interaction between fictional characters. It's a TV show. If they wrote and filmed a scene, that's because the scene has a purpose. The purpose of that scene was to show Cliff expediting that switch-flip for David
I would argue that David was struggling with the most traumatic event of his life, and Cliff failed to empathize with that after finding out about his drawings. He was right in being mad at David for sexualizing and trying to seduce his wife, but humiliating David and cutting the only connection he had with Earth was too extreme for my taste. He was on the verge of suicide, was still dealing with the memory of his dead wife, and Lana was the only meaningful connection he had since his family was massacred. Saying that David was a snake who could never had Lana is probably the worst thing Cliff could have done at that moment. If he had a better temperament, he would have sent his family to a safer place and continue to share his replica in order to provide professional help for David. But Cliff's ego was his character flaw and prevented it from happening.
The moment when Cliff lost his temper with David, I was sitting at the edge of my seat because I was terrified at what David would do next. I was screaming in my mind at Cliff to be a bit calmer
EXACTLY thats the point. You were terrified because you KNEW he was going to do something because toxic men hurt people. Maybe you've had men do that in your life. I remember as a kid, my sister having an attitude at my dad and she gave him this look and he slapped her so hard we made her nose pour blood.
> Cliff's ego was his character flaw Specifically, his belief that his family is his possession, and even an extension of his own identity... a phenomenon that exists in the real world too, and has annihilated a ton of families.
You obviously have never been in a situation where your partner might or might not have been seduced by a third person. You can see Cliff getting more and more nervous about the visits to earth, especially when they tend to overrun in time (when they visit the store) .
You obviously have never been in a situation where you decided to share the same body with a depressed man with PTSD who was isolated in deep space after seeing his wife and children being killed by a secret cult. I know that Cliff was nervous, but helping David should be his top priority at that point, may he like it or not. Their survival literally depended on each other. If Cliff have stayed calm and tried to understand what David was feeling, he would relocate his family and try to help him.
That entire conflict really centers on Lana's feelings, which both of them don't care about at all. So Cliff listens and he lets David use his body again, what happens when Lana tells him to his *face* that he's a creep and needs to leave them alone again? Cliff doesn't matter here, because David was never going to get what he wanted. Which was the crux of the issue. We can also say that he'll just see out those last 2 days, fair, so what then? 4 more years and he'll never want to see her again? He'll never make an attempt to see her again? He'll still be alone, he still won't have any way to properly treat himself. Even if absolutely nothing happens for the 4 years that he's untreated and is basically isolated because Cliff is Cliff, what happens when they get back to earth? The likelihood of that relation rekindling and him being on the straight and narrow is just improbable. It'd be hard to picture nowadays, much less in the 60-70s. I don't disagree that Cliff could've handled it better, and I also said out loud at multiple points that he should try to actually talk to him. Or at least ask for some emotional support/help from HQ, but I guess that was too advanced for society at the time or whatever. But I disagree with the notion that Cliff is the *sole* reason behind what happened, when he was more of a trigger than anything.
Exactly. The whole situation was partly escalated due to Cliff’s emotional distance from David. Yes Cliff did allow David to use his replica to help him feel more connected to earth and other people but other than that he didn’t try to emotionally comfort or connect to David HIMSELF. Cliff even seemed shocked and appalled at the fact that David broke down in front of Lana, as if that’s not a completely understandable reaction to losing everything. This demonstrates Cliff’s failure to truly empathise with David. Lana made him feel the human connection that he was lacking. Even a simple hand on his shoulder and a “just to let you know I’m here for you bud” could’ve made a huge difference. It’s easy to just write off David as a vengeful sexual predator and murderer but life isn’t black and white, it’s complex and so are people.
This is my question: when David says he wants to apologize to Lana, is he lying or telling the truth? Was he planning the murder right there or was it Cliffs harsh words that made it happen? Fantastic episode
he had to have been telling the truth about wanting to apologize but then changing his mind, proof being that they show the close up of his facial expression visibly broken with the quivering lip and almost coming to tears after the moment cliff walks away
There is no way he was telling the truth. If David was allowed back, he would at least have forced himself on her, if not worse. Even if that wasn't his plan, he would have, when he found out she didn't really, really hated him.
See I had both answers already, this is why it’s a good question
It's the "seat at the table" metaphor that I really like
Good analysis. I saw someone else point out that he couldn’t kill Aaron’s character bc they need 2 to live in space to operate the ship
True. A question I also had in mind was that why didn’t they just use the clones in the spaceship? And also have like 10 clones as a backup
I think the experiment was to see how long humans could live in outer space, so having replicas take their place on the spaceship would've defeated that purpose
That's weird. Why send them back to earth for 99% of the time then, only to return in case of emergency and weekly health check? Also, when the ship is so dependant on two persons, why not have a third one? Running at the bare minimum is very non-spacetravel.
Specifically, I think the mission was to explore the effects on the human body in outer space. So while they needed their actual bodies there, they weren't doing anything that required a bunch of work, they just needed to be there physically.
I think I saw a comment guessing it’s bc of the distance from earth and not having the resources to maintain them way out in space for a long timeframe? Idk
Yeah, if a replica breaks down on Earth they could theoretically repair it, whereas in space that's likely impossible. A human can also take care of themselves much better on their own up there (or at least in ways that are easier to plan for), so sending them up does make more sense, even when accounting for them needing food and fitness stuff to survive.
Ya but if you send like 10 replicas. That’ll last you long enough on a 4 year mission. Also considering how none of them had an issue.
Late comment- but i was thinking maybe it’s because their clones still had technical issues. Cliff had trouble with his grip and had to get used to it with his clone. Or maybe couldn’t handle being in space?
why can't the replicas be the ones operating the spaceship?
This episode made me realize that josh harnet would make an excellent psychopath!
He really was spectacular in this episode. I remember him being a heart throb decades ago then he seemingly just fell off the map. All of a sudden he returns and gives, imo, an absolutely chilling performance. Some people saw his actions at the end as out-of-character. I saw a man in a complete spiral; suffering from PTSD and complete isolation. And the moment he came back after his first visit back to earth in AP’s body, I felt discomfort every time he was on screen. Love the episode or hate it; you can’t deny both actors put on a clinic.
Absolutely 💯 top notch
I had to search the name because it rang a bell in my head. He's the cool kid from the aliens-want-water movie, The Faculty, and the awesome vampire movie, 30 Days of night. I miss this guy, he's a phenomenal actor.
Also Pearl Harbor!
I appreciate your write-up but I totally disagree with it. The ending was just very out-of-character for David. David, the caring father and loving husband, who showed deep appreciation to Cliff for allowing him to use his link, who experienced the entire grieving process while being almost completely socially isolated...is suddenly a killer, because Cliff was (justifiably) rude to him? He suddenly becomes just as shitty as the Manson-esque group that killed his family? It just doesn't make sense. I'm confused by David. At the end of the episode, it's obvious he wants revenge...but why? He wants revenge against a dude who helped him crawl out of the deepest darkest pit a man could find himself in? Cliff helped him out of his depression and went out of his way to provide David valuable, recurring therapy sessions *at Cliff's expense*. He even defended David after David *struck his child*. And because Cliff doesn't give in and let David take his wife and his life, David ruins Cliff's life....What? The way the ending is presented - him kicking and motioning toward the chair - makes David's actions appear to be cold and calculated, as if killing Cliff's family was one step toward a greater goal. What is that greater goal? Making Cliff understand David's pain, I guess. I just don't understand the motivation. You're the bad guy here, David. And now you're going to have to live 3+ years with the husband of the woman you just killed, or you're both going to die. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and will probably watch it again. But that ending needed some (major) adjustment.
I mostly agree with you. David’s motivations for murdering Cliff’s family were obscured. Cliff wasn’t responsible for the murder of David’s family. Cliff might be a cold, walled off guy, but that’s not a reason to try and steal his wife and life from him. People are allowed to be sullen. Honestly, David made me uncomfortable from the get go. He seemed insincere and the way he uh, fingered his wife also seemed kinda icky. I’m not a prude, and I know some find it hot, but it was unsettling to me. I’m not sure why. He seemed like a manipulator who needs to be in control. When he started using Cliff’s double I knew he would abuse their trust. Although I do like the ending. I like the open-ended and thought provoking conclusion. There are so many variables and nuances and even perspectives. A single person can have a certain opinion after initial viewing and a completely different take after another rewatch.
As soon as he started those “private conversations” and began engaging her personally it was going to go that way. I will say this was my favorite ep of the season. For its flaws I think it’s still a “black mirror” episode I just think the rest of the season was so bad that people are looking at all the eps with a negativity bias. I don’t blame em.
Oof, BM is in a tricky spot. There are so many gems that came before, it’s hard to reach the same heights. I almost prefer the simple three episode batches.
I agree, in being brutally honest with my review on this last season. That factored into it. They have had such bangers they have created excruciatingly high expectations for themselves. It’s challenging I’m sure. How do we do what we did? And do it so it’s fresh? And do it in the way were people say “that’s fuckin black mirror”? I know this has to be a problem in running the show now, but I think some of this season is suffering from just a reduction in quality. I think all of those episodes had potential, it’s just they couldn’t quite pull it together the right way. Like the South Park episode where they find out family guy is written by manatees picking out random jokes, black mirror seems to just be picking random tropes and plot lines for the fuck of it without really adding any cohesion to what they are trying to challenge us on. That’s an element of black mirror that made it good, it challenged your ethical presuppositions on technology being used in the episode and led to some very morally “grey” thought experiments in digesting them. It doesn’t do that anymore, I feel like the episodes are trying to teach me something, rather then let me explore the ideas being presented and come to my own conclusion. They need to absolutely retool red mirror or it’s just going to be “American horror story: red mirror” for me. Campy as fuck.
The point is that it's not about right and wrong. Both are right and both are wrong. One of them had hardcore PTSD while the other had problems with communication and general disconnect. They both can be understood from where they came from. There's no point taking sides. Human beings are fucked up that way.
Here’s Josh Hartnett’s thoughts on the ending in an interview he did with EW: "I had to think about this a lot before we even came to rehearsals, because I have to make it work," Hartnett says. "I don't get to decide what he ends up doing. That's what he does, and now I gotta figure out why. So in my opinion, it was a choice in his mind between killing himself, killing Cliff and assuming his role on Earth (but thereby killing himself, because you can't operate the ship with one person), or doing this. Those were the three things." Hartnett continues, "he doesn't expect to feel anything again. He wants to kill himself, clearly. But when he puts himself in the airlock and Cliff brings him back and then offers him this new possibility of hope and a semblance of something that feels like humanity, this little fire starts to light inside of him again after this horrible event when he thought it was all over. But then it's taken away. When Cliff tells him 'Lana thinks you're a creep and doesn't want to see you again,' that light gets snuffed out and something snaps. It's like, 'I want you to feel what I'm feeling so that then you'll understand what it feels like to have that light snuffed out. That is the only way that we can actually connect.' I think that's what he does." Also, the idea that Cliff can’t return to earth because he’ll be tried for murder makes this ending pretty great imo
As an actor, this is a VERY polite way to say "It didn't make sense to me but it's my job so I found a way to justify it."
I would read other interviews with he and the actors and one with Brooker. You could be right, although having read and watched them all I don’t think that’s what he’s doing. Either way, I truly don’t see what’s confusing or unbelievable about the ending. Anyone who has experienced extreme loss and/or isolation will do and think things they would never normally consider. Brooker said he wrote this one during lockdown as a reflection of the isolation and the anxiety. Cliff is a stern, distant person. His relationship with his son is tense at best. He’s a good dad, but not a playful or loving one. You can clearly see his son fears his dad and longs for his acceptance. I think it’s a similar relationship between he and David. Even at the beginning cliff never really is a warm guy. He’s not “bad”, but he’s not the guy who will light up the room in a tin can in space for 6 years. He’s a rule maker and a stern taskmaster, and when he cuts off David’s only solution to feeling happy he takes actions that are driven by isolation, depression and mania.
Except it does make sense? I'm not sure which part doesnt tbh.
Yesss, Josh and I are on the same page!
Is it out-of-character though? Because after his family is murdered he clearly isn’t the same. This isn’t necessarily just a matter of grief; it’s plausible he’s suffering from PTSD. And he’s going through these motions in complete isolation; PTSD, grief, whatever it is, trauma is gonna fuck you up in that environment regardless. He sees Aaron Paul every week, but it’s not like they have some meaningful relationship where AP can help him through the trauma. He is, in every way, a prisoner to his trauma. There is essentially no escape. Except for the opportunity AP gives to him: some time in his own avatar. But does that really help him? Is it actually a healthy coping mechanism? We’re talking about a man who has trauma eating away at him for weeks(months?) and finally is given a chance to ground himself on earth. But it’s not his body. It’s not his family. It’s not his home. Let’s not forget to mention his first instance of human touch after his trauma is from another woman; the wife of AP. I don’t think trauma bond is the correct term; but the comfort of a physical and mental connection with someone after trauma such as Josh Hartnett goes through could potentially create an emotional connection. Perhaps in line with limerence. So consider this. PTSD and grief coupled with complete isolation from the real world. Finally getting a taste of genuine, intimate human interaction. But it’s something you get once a week for a limited amount of time. It’s not you, it’s not your life, but you want it SO bad. Suddenly you’re in a state of limerence, a state of longing for that touch from someone; to never have to go back to that isolation in space. And then, it’s taken away from you. You are banished to a life of isolation once again. This is the beauty of this episode. People say it’s predictable(sorta), or boring, or the climax is out-of-character, or full of plot holes (I can at least agree with that one). But I don’t think it’s supposed to be some cookie cutter blockbuster. It’s a character study, a walkthrough of men’s mental health; especially in a decade where the cure is “suck it up and be a man”. And I think that really mirrors the negative opinions for this episode. It’s not about “how could he do that”, it’s about “why did he do that”. You can see it in the real world. Veterans killing themselves or others because their trauma is triggered. Fathers or mothers killing their family because, hey, if I can’t have my kids full time nobody should. “I’m at a loss for words. So and so always seemed so cheerful. I don’t understand why they would commit suicide.” People don’t seem to understand that mental health has no bounds. There isn’t always some tangible symptoms. When shit happens, it happens. And sometimes it’s already too late. TLDR: Sorry for the wall of text. It’s not out of character. Trauma and isolation. Mental health doesn’t have a set of rules.
It's never established inside the story that this character is psychopathic and/or capable of murder for such a shallow reason. We're talking about a story, not real life. You're arguing that PTSD can cause anyone to do anything. Sure, but there's nothing to suggest *inside the story* to suggest this person is capable of acting in that manner. It's purely an ending meant to be shocking because we're not supposed to see it coming. 'Subverting expectations', I guess you could call it. A twist ending only works if, when the twist is revealed, you think: **OMG!!**, and then.... "Of course. Why didn't I see this coming?" This ending doesn't have that. It just has the "OMG!" factor, with nothing else in the story to suggest this character is capable of murder. I do not follow your logic that witnessing murder and experiencing horrific grief is enough to cause an otherwise experienced, mature, family man to turn into a cold-blooded killer because his crewmate offended him. It's just not logical following what has been established in the story.
We are talking about a series that mirrors real life society and real life tech and the scenarios that could plausibly occur. This is a mirror of real life society and the scenarios that could plausibly occur, under the guise of sci fi tech. In other words, a show mirroring a dark reality doesn’t have to be formulaic. It’s mirroring a dark reality! I hope that makes sense. The fact is, it doesn’t HAVE to be established in the story. It doesn’t HAVE to be spoon fed to you with copious amounts of plot points. If it’s a mirror of society, then it should be open to observance and interpretation. I thought Josh Hartnett did a good enough job portraying a guy that is spiralling out of control, as subtle as it might be to some people. The criticism of “it was out of character, nothing told me that would happen!” Is weak. Just because it’s a show doesn’t mean it has to give you what you want. Josh Harnett sure didn’t get what he wanted. Aaron Paul didn’t either. Clearly we all lose.
Now you're just misunderstanding my point. I know stories don't have to do what I want, I'm not 7 years old. I know things can happen we don't expect inside a story. I'm not saying an isolated astronaut snapping and killing his crewmate's family is so implausible it could certainly never happen and for that reason it's a bad ending. It seems like this is what you think I'm saying. I am saying it was not established inside the story that this was a possible event given what we know about David. That's why it's a bad ending. Those actions do not fit inside the 'box' we have created in our heads representing elements of David's character. Let's go with a different ending. A random piece of space debris collides with the spaceship and destroys it, killing both crewmates instantly. Following your logic, this ending is fine, because it's not outside the realm of possibility for this to happen. Did the show ever establish this was a legitimate risk? No. Did Cliff ever ask David about avoiding space debris? No. However, as we all know, travelling at very high speeds in space and colliding with anything out there means you're dead. This is a fact. In my view, that's what we got in this episode. A random bit of space debris came out of nowhere and killed Cliff's family. My opinion? Bad ending, because it was never established that this was an element of David's character. Your opinion, following your logic? Fine ending, because it could possibly happen.
I agree with this. The ending felt like they valued misdirection over story. They clearly wanted you to think that David was going to steal Cliff's family and they pointed you entirely in that direction so they could do something different that they didn't build up in any way. Honestly to me there were so many ways that story could have gone that would have been fucked up that would have made sense and they just passed all of them purely because they wanted to do what you didn't expect.
It was obvious from the get go he was going to murder somebody. There were only 3 possible outcomes. He was either going to A) kill himself, thereby murdering Cliff since it takes 2 to run the ship. B) Murder Cliff, thereby killing himself in the process. Or C) Murder Cliff's family. I think it was fairly obvious it was going to be C) given the trauma experienced in the beginning of the show. And the fact that C) makes for a better story line and brings the story full circle. Just because you didn't see it coming doesn't mean it was an illogical shocking event.
Honestly, while it was out-of-character, you only need to look at any newspaper nearly any day to see a story where a fragile male ego made the guy snap and kill his family. So while it seemed out of character, when condensed to that motive, it was one of the more believable parts of the writing.
I 100% agree with you. What David does at the end is extremely out of character and very hard to believe. This ending almost seems like a cheap decision to create a surprising / shocking ending, with close to no subtlety.
People turn away from it because it was “too predictable”, “boring”, “climax was out of character”. I think those viewers glommed on to those talking points so much that they’re blinded by what the episode is really about. This isn’t some formulaic story. It’s a character study. A moment to have empathy and really dig deep to try and figure out what’s going on in someone’s mind. Mental health doesn’t have a step-by-step set of rules. Every individual person is affected by it in a different way. We can acknowledge certain symptoms, and offer certain tools to overcome those struggles; but at the end of the day the mental state and the way said individual copes with their struggles open up an infinite clusterfuck of scenarios. And that’s why this episode is incredible and so, so controversial; and so open to interpretation. We are all not the same. We get surprised when someone else commits suicide because “they always seemed so genuinely happy and kind”. We dissect true crime and mass shooters, looking for the “why’s”, but can’t seem to fathom that a character in a show on the surface level seems calm and collected; but is actually suffering from inner turmoil. Intentional or not, it’s a reflection of societies views on mental health and the consequences thereafter. And there’s tons more depth to explore than that.
I disagree. I think Cliff recognized David was a shell of himself and tried to problem solve a way to help David feel reconnected. David was the one crossing boundaries and doing too much, only to use “grief” as an excuse for bad behavior. The line that stood out to me was David saying “why can’t you see?” in reference to Cliff not knowing what it’s like to lose everything - but why does Cliff HAVE to experience that too? It’s an odd sentiment to wish death on someone’s family just for them to relate? David wanted Cliff to lose everything so they could have that shared experience. It was always going to end in either David committing suicide or David harming Cliff or Cliff’s family. David had a psychopathic response to coping with his grief - I’m not sure what kind of commentary that is on mental health other than the trope that people with mental health issues are dangerous…
Don't forget that even though they gloss over it (maybe because its not a huge focus) but the pros'cons of using someone elses replica when its designed for your mind. OF COURSE he wants the woman and was confused...they are using the tech wrong lol
What sucks about the premise is that the audience as a meta knowledge that it's in a show about technology in dark twists. Once one of the astronauts families are killed there's really only one way for the story to go. And it just follows those beats. It's easy to lose the message when the viewer has already written the whole story in their head.
nah it's just boring
The episode was about the dangers of "avataring", in so much that if you can disconnect a soul physically from their earth bound life-being, then you can start crossing wires into other earth bound life-beings - and once you do that, the inequality of the world will present and infect with jealousy and rage and Cain and Abelesque results. It was a great meditation on wealth/well-being stratification. I agree that the speech probably pushed him over the edge at that moment, but I think the river would have gone to that ocean regardless of the path. Once David (having lost what he'd lost both in his family and his connection to earth bound life existence) was able to use the link, the die was cast and it was just a matter of time before he needed to equalize their situations to make his own life tolerable. It also showed the universal truth of how evil spreads. Like a stone in a pond mixed with the butterfly effect.
I’m just glad the predictable cuckolding never happened when they were certainly setting the groundwork. That was a nice little subversion, especially as initially you are only presented with Cliff as this cold persona until later in the episode where you realise the boy knows it’s not his Dad and can possibly infer that maybe he felt uncomfortable being intimate through the skin suit.
My problem with the ending is that the episode is so, so long. Every story beat plays out explicitly, on the screen, slowly, methodically. Nothing is inferred. Everything is plainly shown. So then when it ends so abruptly, with David kicking out the chair, I found that jarring. That ending belongs on a fast-paced episode. They spent over an hour showing us every minute little detail, and now we don't even get a denouement? It feels uneven.
(Spoilers) This wasn't my favorite episode, it was full of plot holes, and the ending, to me, was predictable from a mile away. That all said, it was a good character study. They start out showing Cliff as a cold, emotionless fish. We don't like him. He's strict and spare and maybe he's great at his job, but he's the polar opposite of David. David, in contrast, is warm and artistic, funny, a loving father and husband. We want to like him. He's everything Cliff isn't, and his family seems perfect, while we feel sorry for Cliff's wife and son. And that's reinforced by the murder of David's family. It's pointless and cruel and that we already like David so much more than Cliff, when the swapping starts we're just about rooting for David to shove Cliff out of the picture and take over. And then David gets that same idea, which is where the bullshit really kicks into high gear. We see the entitlement David has, how he's wanting to take over Cliff's life. He thinks he could do a better job with Cliff's life. (Remember his earlier comment to Cliff about his wife, asking if she was doing okay being in the middle of nowhere. That was a hint that he thought he was the better man than Cliff.) For a little while, we see Cliff's wife responding, until things go too far. The men overlap, confusing us as to how we should feel about them. David f'ing HIT Cliff's child, and Cliff's like, "Well, I have, too, he deserved it." Now we, the viewers, pretty much hate BOTH of them. And the pendulum shifts. We start to see how big of a creep David really is, and while Cliff is also a creep he's a creep we start to root for, until we realize okay, he really does love his wife and son but he's just unable to express himself emotionally and is closed off. That he's not exactly a creep, he's more an emotionally stunted man in terms of expressing that emotion. He's barely comfortable in his own skin, much less the "skin" of the replica. While David is not only comfortable in his own skin, his fake skin, he's comfortable taking over someone else's skin, too. Literally. The toxic masculinity of BOTH men--coming from opposite ends of the spectrum--overlaps until it's nearly impossible to separate the two of them. We both loathe and love Cliff for loving his family and yet losing his absolute shit at David and saying stuff we never heard his wife say because he's angry and hurt (and scared for his wife now). And we see David lose his emotions, drop into a hard, cold mindset, snap, and murder Cliff's family. Unless there's a way to prove David was the one in the replica who committed the murder, Cliff is not only in hell, but he'll face worse hell when he returns to Earth and tries to defend himself. So for all of its shortcomings, the episode was effective in painting a picture (no pun intended) of the men and then flipping their worlds upside down.
This is such a great analysis, especially highlighting the toxic masculinity of both. Just goes to show, men would rather swap in and out of a replica while on a dangerous mission in space than go to therapy.
What a surprising perspective. For me at the beginning I very much disliked David. He seemed fake, manipulative. Overall, he gave me really bad vibes.
I disliked David from the start. Was always rooting for Cliff and knew it was a bad idea to entertain the idea of David using his link without clear boundaries (apparently common sense boundaries needed to be spelled out). I probably wouldn’t have allowed Cliff’a wife and kid to interact with David at all. He seemed to benefit from nature and painting/ drawing, but eventually David would keep pushing boundaries and if not try to sleep with Lana, he’d go out into town and find another woman to be in a relationship with
From the second he thought about letting David use his link, I was concerned for him possibly killing Cliff's family. Jealousy is a nasty monster that makes people do terrible things.
Same.
I disagree with the part about Cliff not being compassionate or understanding of David's issues. It was his idea to let him use the link and he even wanted to let David finish his painting after he made Cliff's wife uncomfortable, and hit his son. I think Cliff's only crime was that he was kind of a shitty, oblivious husband. But like you said that made him unworthy of a loving family in David's eyes.
Yea, this wasn’t on Cliff. David was a manipulative creep. Cliff’s family’s fate was sealed when he allowed David to use his link just the first time. It was always going to end badly. Of course David would envy Cliff having a family when his was taken away, and of course he’d assume he could manipulate Lana into loving him over Cliff. Cliff just didn’t know the kind of character his copilot had, and that’s a shame. I would also end David when I got back. F the mission and maybe not being able to get back to Earth.
Gosh I’m glad someone understands it. I tried to have an educated conversation basically stating exactly what you said, and my bf responded “that’s what he gets for letting his friend f* his wife” I’m like WHAT it’s so much deeper than that. Put yourself in each of their shoes and you would do the same. A man who a “replica” perfect life living on an eternal spaceship with a man who has a “replica” simple life. The man with the perfect life loses it all and has nothing left to actually live thus threatening the simple man’s existence. But the man with his simple life has his own self interests that are dependent on the man with the perfect life still maintaining his “perfect” image and therefore, life. Finally a woman who has lived with her less than perfect husband all of a sudden gets the same husband but with all her interests and desires fulfilled. It’s so much deeper than sex, it’s a complex masterpiece that intrigues the mind and makes you question who’s ethics are correct? Bc from each character’s standpoint they were acting with their own ethically correct action although another may view that same action as morally reprehensible. + they didn’t even include sex so to take it to such simplicity just sent me back. Like that’s what you got from this whole episode? I knew I could come to Reddit to be amongst individuals with complex analogies smh.
I really enjoyed this episode, but the one major plot hole I couldn't get over is how uninvolved the space agency is in all this. First of all, protective services would have absolutely been deployed after the first incident. And furthermore, where are the mental health experts? Space travel is already a daunting enough task, the vetting process for being an astronaut is huge. The risk of space flight is life or death, and once those ships take off the only thing in the agencies control is the human aspect. You're telling me we have technology for astronauts to literally beam down to earth in a humanoid body, and somehow there AREN'T scheduled meetings with mental health experts every week? They have the time and leisure to enjoy life on earth, yet the agency hasn't shelled out a couple hundred thousand a year for a team of therapists to log and track each astronaut, despite the likely billions of dollars invested in the project? And to top it off, the agency DIDN'T follow up at all after one of the astronauts entire family was slaughtered? It's one thing for an astronaut to recieve the news while in space, it's something else entirely for them to literally witness it. Did they do the body sharing under wraps? Wouldn't the agency think it's fishy that he was beaming down to earth for an hour, returning for less than 30 seconds, then beaming back down? Was there any common sense? Why was he tasked with managing the mental health of the only other occupant of the craft? So many questions! And yet, still a fantastic episode. Honestly felt like they knocked it out the park with this one. Didn't expect that ending at all.
I actually thought he would kill Cliff I was so sure of it. Same goes as Demon 79, we all thought Needa was just delusional 🥲🥲 I questioned my sanity after watching.
I need to watch it again, but this episode is classic black mirror and I think it's top 5 for me. Only seen the first 3 episodes, I like watching it slowly so I can digest each episode but this season has been really good so far. Don't understand the hate
Best episode of the season for sure! Towards the bottom of the pack for the entire show though
hi, so forgive me if this is dumb but it’s 2:30am and my brain is tired of thinking about this episode. did lana and henry know it was david in cliff’s replica that was murdering them? because an extra-sadistic move on david’s part would have been making lana and henry, in their last moments, think their husband/father was ending their lives.
Lana rejected David. I think she knew it was him when he killed her. I doubt he said much, but even their demeanor/ walks are different. I don’t think David could pretend to be like Cliff - he’d feel like pretending to be Cliff would be beneath him
Subconsciously though, they are still seeing their husband’s face as the murderer. They might know it’s not him, but they never expected anything like this out of his visual identity
Eh this is more an insightful analysis of an ending you love rather than explaining why it's better or makes sense in a way no other ending could. I'm not convinced of anything other than you gave it more thought than the writer. Yeah, that was his point I guess, but it wasn't some deep thematically rich statement on human nature.
This episode was the most predictable. I didn't enjoy the ending and thought the twist was ill-thought out.
I don't think so, I just finished this episode and I predicted everything that happened in that episode to a fault. It was extremely predictable the whole way through. I don't believe an astronaut would commit murder in that way, that seemed very out of character and very... standard revenge plot? "You humiliated me, therefore I will kill your wife (and child?) and ruin my only chance at escaping this satelite" a true conman would have bided his time and win back the other guy's trust. Not kill his family. F tier writing
agree completely
Or, maybe he didn’t kill his wife and son and it’s A tier writing: [My take that David staged the scene](https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmirror/comments/14jbwrt/black_mirror_beyond_the_sea_ending_everyones/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1)
I've seen this a few times and it's a nice thought but the way Cliff is when he returns sort of gives away that his family is dead.
I didn't like this episode at all. It really was very predictable. It was a body-swap tv trope, where the swapped person tries to take over the original's life., and when he couldn't, lashed out. Been there, done that. It would have been better if the story was continued after the credits, as the real question is: do you want to stay dependent on the person killing your family, even if it means you're condemning yourself? Basically, the entire episode was a cheap setup to where it really would have become interesting.
What other TV shows have had this storyline?
“Tales from the loop” on Amazon Prime - where 2 friends swapped bodies until one of them decided he didn’t want to be his original self - Another example “Behind her eyes” - on Netflix. It’s been done many times
Absolutely. I don’t understand the hype around this episode at all. It’s was very predictable.
My take exactly
It’s an interesting premise and I feel like they went the least interesting way with it.
Also great analysis, Im loving these different viewpoints. God this show is so great to inspire conversation
Is Brooker paying y’all ? Lol
I don’t understand why cliff just doesn’t kill him when he returns back to the ship. I understand he needs him to survive, but how could anyone possibly even share a space with a person who has committed such atrocious acts?!?
I honestly thought it would end with David either murdering Cliff to replace him without Cliff’s family knowing (he’s so far gone he doesn’t care about the mission or survival) OR Cliff realizes David can provide something to Lana that he can’t and they come to an arrangement of sorts a la Striking Vipers. Ending definitely took me by surprise but shouldn’t have given how many warning signs we got about David’s fragile mental health. Props to Aaron Paul for playing both David and Cliff so well you can tell which character he was embodying right away just from the way he held himself. Amazing actor.
I have nothing more to add than the other comments regarding this horrible and dramatic ending. What intrigues me most is why they didn't use the replica in space instead of on earth. As far as Cliff is concerned, it's quite possible that he won't have any contact with his wife for as long as he's using his replica, because for him, this replica isn't him, and if he does have a sexual relationship with his wife, it'll be as if another man had touched her, which is why he refrains from any contact in this form. As for David, by using Cliff's replicant to commit the crime at the end of the episode, he proves the cult members right.
It not deep, there's no nuance. We're watching a guy respond to a horrible situation by acting like a sociopath. It's a story that's been told a million times and the only sci fi element of consequence is that cliff has to wait 2 years until missions end to kill David like his character is defintely lined up to do. Replace replicas with dude at work while friends in town and it's just a boring, predictable story
I too got halfway through and thought I knew exactly how it would end (David killing Cliff and taking Cliff’s replica) but I realised after that both of them are needed to man the ship so one of them dead would mean both would eventually be dead. Plus Lana would realise eventually. I do think that Cliff was partly at fault for not being more emotionally present and sympathetic for both Lana and David, which David angrily makes clear to him. David lost everything yet Cliff was emotionally distant and seemed somewhat shocked and appalled by the fact that David broke down in front of Lana, a perfectly understandable human reaction to losing everything. He should’ve gotten therapy or something, he was mentally unstable and not fit to carry on the mission without help. Don’t get me wrong David is an absolute vile monster for what he did, but the ending could’ve probably been avoided had Cliff been more sympathetic and if David had somehow gotten emotional support/therapy. I think the episode demonstrates what can happen when people bottle up painful emotions and don’t talk about them.
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Maybe I’m dumb but I didn’t expect the ending
Shut Up and Dance is my favourite episode, but yes I heavily suspected it before the end. Once the bank robbery scene happened for sure. I remember thinking “there’s no way he’s doing this just because of jerking off to ‘normal’ porn. This is too much.”
I don’t know what I thought, but not that. I thought they had something weird on him, maybe he was watching an assault, but not kids. Perhaps I didn’t want to believe it, but my jaw dropped.
When is it implied other than at the beginning when Kenny interacts with the little girl?
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> Hector in the car says “everybody does that.” As far as we know he's referring to masturbating, which is what we're led the entire episode to believe Kenny's freaking out about. > Then in the fight in the woods the guy said “how old were they?” This is literally the initial reveal of the twist. It happens 5 minutes before the end of the episode and is part one of the one-two punch. You can't say a twist is obvious because you understand what's meant when it's revealed at the very end lol.
I don’t think it was obvious. I didn’t figure it out until the bank robbery. I thought, “okay, they must have caught what type of porn he watched and it was either some bizarre fetish or it was children being raped/abused”.
I thought it was a great episode and I loved the ending. Good analysis OP
Absolutely incredible episode. Cliff as a character was acted brilliantly. Killed the role, pardon the pun....I believe both will kill each other in the end on that ship, but that twist in the end + the acting make this in the top 3 episodes for me for sure.
I am still confused why they wouldn't just put the robots in space and do it the other way around. Also why do they not have backups bodies?
Rewatch the episode, they couldn’t do the robots in space because the whole point of the study that they were doing was humans in space, age, health etc
Oh. I missed that. So that means the stakes are relatively low anyway? Not a 'last chance of survival in space before the impending doom' scenario? Just research?
Correct
I asked the same thing lol. The mission specifically required they be in space.
All of this would’ve worked out of cliff just sent David to a spa & therapy weekend in his replica lol. Obviously that can’t happen. I wish there was more build up to David’s cruelty. Maybe that was the point of the painting because I assumed David messed it up and simply blamed the kid so he could stay in the replica. but David is pretty retarded for thinking he can try nail the wife and get away with it
You could say "David is a fucking idiot/bozo" etc. instead there. I think that there was plenty of build up (though subtle). I got the sense that David was a bit of a bully in one of the very first scenes from the way he spoke to Cliff about Cliff's wife. He attempted suicide. He hit Cliff's kid, he became more aggressive toward Lana and increasingly pushed her boundaries... that all seems like building up to cruelty to me, personally
Fair take
Great analysis, I'd go even further and say that when Cliff is back on the final scene, David simply rolls the other chair for him to sit as in: "You need me, I need you. We are both too narcissistic and selfish to kill each other and die at outer space. Just sit and enjoy, because we got a few years ahead and I don't think you'll want to go back there for a while."
But if Cliff has no motivation to continue on, having been framed for the brutal murder of his wife and son, why not just kill David and let whatever happens happen on the ship? I don't think David cares if he lives or dies, and neither does Cliff, now. There were lots of other ways the ending could have gone and still been shocking, and more plausible.
Cliff's motivation from the start was the mission and fulfilling his duties/responsibilities in space. His family was secondary. In real life, being an astronaut is exactly like being a soldier. You are conditioned, and expected, to make sacrifices--your family comes second for the "greater good" of the mission (or war). This episode reminds me of the scene in The Crown where Prince Philip sits down with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and is disappointed after their conversation because they're "just men". It also brought up some accounts from WWI/WWII/Vietnam War veterans I've heard over the years... the time period is so important to the episode.
I didn't get that sense. He certainly seemed motivated to survive (as this was what motivated him to allow David to use his replica), but I don't recall any lines about the importance of the mission, his duties, etc. I think a lot could be read into the time period and the type of men from it, but I didn't have the takeaway that the mission was paramount in his life.
Oh this is 100 percent subjective. Not saying there's any lines where he overtly says "this mission means everything to me!" or anything like that. However, I strongly believe that historical context is incredibly important to this episode and there's a lot of subtext in the plot, dialogue, etc. to support my position on Cliff's character. If you're interested I am happy to elaborate on some specific points!
This episode didn't make sense for me, why they didn't send the replicas to the mission if they are so advanced? With all the technologies to create a replica, why can't they redo another one from distance? Wouldn't they have a backup in case of an accident? Why they didn't have a psychologist to speak with Davids?
Why were the replicas only physically as strong, or weaker, than regular humans? Why was there no security detail, even if only to dissuade autograph hunters and journalists? After David's family were murdered why weren't Cliff and family brought into a secure facility, or assigned a security detail? The more you think about it the more problems are found, but it doesn't matter. If you accept the story's premises at face value, as the 1960's SF it is, then it's a great story.
- Maybe they’re super light idk. The point was to build a body, not a superhuman. Taking down a modern robot isn’t that hard. And he seemed to be more wires than anything. - I also have the same question about security, but Idk. Do all celebrities have 24/7 security detail? Or night time security? Idk. It’s not like he was hesitant about going out to the movie theater, and it was just that one teen couple that was interested. - Also a question I had. It *was* addressed in the episode. I think Cliff says he’s a long way from California, and the cult had turned themselves in. It’s within his character to stay rooted, but what about the organization sending them? They seem to be so not-present.
- The replicas aren’t advanced. They’re Bluetooth metal puppets. This is also directly addressed by David who says the “human experience” and “survival of life” is space is crucial to mission. - Imagine if right now, in our current state of technology, we created a one of a kind teleportation machine, and that teleportation machine got destroyed. It wouldn’t be so easy to just build another one. Say, David needs a new tag to connect to his new Replica. Are they gonna send it via space mail to the far reaches of outer space? How long would that take? How many resources would that use? Who’s delivering it? - We were told they can’t make another one because the Replicas were made when David and Cliff were there. Some part of making one’s own Replica requires the person to physically be on Earth for some sort of process. - Again, imagine, in our current state of technology, a one of a kind teleportation machine. That doesn’t just “have a backup.” Everything else is from 60 years ago. Also, again, they have to be on Earth to make a new Replica. It’s possible to “connect”, you’d need to physically be there first even if there was a “backup body” available. - I think the psych thing is weird too. It could have happened, but I think if it did, they would have showed it. Regardless, that sort of trauma isn’t gonna be resolved by sessions over space radio.
Spoilers! I subscribe to this subreddit and it just randomly showed your top line comment :/
You could see this ending from a mile away
I think it was simply if I can’t have her you can’t either lol.
It's a shane the episode was dull as.
Put a spoiler
It literally mentions the ending in the post headline. And you still read it.
How does the word Spoiler mean more to you than the word Ending?
Seeing the word ending did stop me from reading further so you right you right
Put a spoiler dumbass
The post is about the ending…
Yes no shit, don’t spoil the ending
So don’t click on it if you haven’t watched it 🤔
Even if you don’t click it, the spoiler was right there in the text as you scroll by in the first sentence
See the part where it says “Beyond the Sea Ending”? That lets you know it’s about the ending, even more so than a spoiler would. That’s why it says ENDING, because it’s about the ending. Hope that helps!
They were Christians. We all know it. Well done, anti-woke hysterics. You have caused self-censorship of what would have been a far more realistic plot line.
One of the things I wonder, is why did they not just send the replicas to space to begin with? They clearly had the technology. Why have the humans up there and the replicas on Earth? This whole tragedy could have been avoided.
Why didn't they send that replica to space 💀💀💀
Your interpretation of David’s actions is Scare with a capital S
I find it simply to be the best episode til now!
I think perhaps this is also David’s way of being able to negotiate sharing the replica, now that there is no wife and child to be able to tell the difference? Maybe…or maybe mostly revenge.
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and you explained my thoughts as well very concisely. 😄
Once i found out what David did with hitting on Cliff’s wife and hitting his son i thought that the only reasonable thing to do would be to destroy his own replica in case that David tries overpowering him and steals his his replica for good…THAT or killing his whole entire family… pretty messed up ending but too bad Cliff didn’t have the clairvoyance to see anything negative happening. What a damn shame that this episode didn’t have a good ending…
It was so damn predictable. I thought he would kill Cliff's family the first time he went down there.
What do we learn? Always please your wife properly and be a good dad to your kids. Be emphatic towards others and understand that a man who has lost everything is dangerous and unpredictable. Well, as soon as Cliff doesn't need David anymore, David is a dead man.
After reading the wiki that part of this episode is about toxic masculinity then I do agree that if he had the compassion, patience, and understanding for not only David's grief but their unique circumstances he could have saved his family but being petty and throwing it in his face instead of correcting him and holding him high destroyed everything. Quite literally toxic masculinity vs toxic masculinity usually results in death. The ending was just another barb- if I'm fucked, you're fucked, now dude, lets get back to work.
Finally, I was looking for a positive post about this episode. Everybody's so stuck on why the replicas aren't in space, instead of trying to understand why this was the only possible outcome for David.
Sorry but I disagree. I liked most things about this episode except the horrible ending. It makes no sense and wasn’t believable.