History Series / BlackMirrorSeriesThree

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[[center:[-[[Series/BlackMirror Main Page]]-] -- [-[[Series/BlackMirrorSeriesOne Series One]]-] -- [-[[Series/BlackMirrorSeriesTwo Series Two]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteChristmas Christmas Special]]-] -- [-'''Series Three'''-] -- [-[[Series/BlackMirrorSeriesFour Series Four]]-]]]

'''NOTE:''' Since some episodes contain spoilers beyond the trailers and intro, avoid reading these pages unless you're happy to have things spoiled. '''''Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''''

!!Episodes:
[[index]]
* ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorNosedive Nosedive]]''
* ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorPlaytest Playtest]]''
* ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorShutUpAndDance Shut Up and Dance]]''
* ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero San Junipero]]''
* ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorMenAgainstFire Men Against Fire]]''
* ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorHatedInTheNation Hated in the Nation]]''
[[/index]]

'''NOTE:''' Since some episodes contain spoilers beyond the trailers and intro, avoid opening folders unless you're happy to have things spoiled. '''''Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[/index]]

!!Hated in the Nation

In the near-future, a police detective in London works with a tech-savvy sidekick to investigate mysterious deaths linked to social media.

[[folder:Tropes related to ''Hated in the Nation'']]
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Tom Pickering, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is incredibly unpopular with the public after his decision to slash disability benefits. When the #[=DeathTo=] hashtag gains traction he quickly shoots to the top of the list, three spaces ahead of Lord Farrington, a ''suspected pedophile''.
* AscendedMeme: When Jo Powers checks her feed, the 'trending' article visible under her push notification is titled "What if phones but too much?", referring to a (now-deleted) Mallory Ortberg tweet[[note]]"Next on Black Mirror: What if phones but too much?", meant as a slam against the show's thoughts on technology after describing the first episode as "the stupidest fucking thing I have ever seen"[[/note]], as well as an article she wrote for The Toast [[http://the-toast.net/2015/01/20/next-black-mirror/ spoofing Black Mirror episode concepts]] (which also quoted the tweet.) Doubles as an InspirationNod, given that the original tweet inspired [[spoiler: the final twist in ''Playtest'', where Cooper is killed by his phone going off at the wrong moment]].
* AssholeVictim: All the people targeted by the hashtag: a journalist disrespecting the memory of a disability rights activist, a rapper who insulted a young fan, a hippy who mocked a war memorial and a government official who was cutting welfare benefits for the disabled.
** [[spoiler: Also those who end up dying at the end of the episode for using the hashtag meant to kill others.]]
* AttackDrone: [[spoiler: [=ADIs=] were supposed to pollinate plants after bees die off. Turns out they can attack too.]]
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Scholes's endgame is triggered by the police figuring out at least most of the scheme, and to successfully counter it. Blue realizes the last missing piece, realizing they couldn't rely on the counter Scholes had planned for, but it becomes a moot point.]]
* BeeAfraid: People are attacked by swarms of rogue bee drones.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Garret Scholes, who is the man behind the ADI hacking and the [=#DeathTo=] campaign. By the end of the episode, he's killed hundreds of thousands of people through the [=ADIs=].]]
* BrandX: The social network is clearly intended to be Twitter, but is never called that and certainly [[http://i.imgur.com/ZrLmEjQ.jpg doesn't look like it]]. Posts are referred to as "tweets" a couple times, though. However, the fact the episode is set slightly in the future could just mean it is what the writers assumed Twitter will look like then.
* {{Cameo}}: Broadcaster [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Anand Anita Anand]] features both in voiceover and onscreen as a news reporter.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: [[spoiler:Nick uses the #[=DeathTo=] hashtag to try to get a response from Scholes. Using it just once, however, is enough to put him on the cache and make him a victim of the drone attack at the end.]]
* CellPhonesAreUseless: For added suspense, phones in the countryside suddenly stop working.
* ContinuityNod:
** Michael Callow, the Prime Minister from "The National Anthem", is seen to be trending on social media, suggesting the episode takes place in the same universe. Two of the hashtags the detectives find trending on Powers' computer are #Saitogemu and #MASS.
** Blue mentions that she investigated the Rannoch killings, which Victoria Skillane was punished for in "White Bear". The case is also mentioned on a TV news broadcast at the end of the episode. The hashtag #SAVEWHITEBEARONE is also seen trending on social media. There's also a brief flash of a "#[=DeathTo=] Victoria Skillane" post.
** A company called Reputelligant is stated to have released a program called Nosedive, both references to the episode "Nosedive".
** The cookies featured in "White Christmas" and "Shut Up and Dance" are also mentioned in a news ticker. It reveals that [[spoiler:the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) has ruled that they have human rights, presumably due to the fact they are replications of living people's consciousnesses, who are unaware that the cookies are not real.]]
** The gaming company [=SaitoGemu=], and their new game Harlech Shadow VI from "Playtest", are seen trending as hashtags on social media.
** A UKN news ticker shows that the first edition of MASS, the AR implant system featured in "Men Against Fire", has been announced by the US military.
** Jo Powers was receiving hate online for criticizing an activist who had committed suicide in view of a class full of kids on a school trip. At the end, [[spoiler:one of her online trolls, a teacher, is killed by the [=ADI=]s in front of the class.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: All 387,036 hashtag-users used a real picture of themselves as their Twitter avatar [[spoiler: which is how the [=ADIs=] found and killed them.]]
* CoolCar: The National Crime Agency is issued with state of the art Range Rovers, which are self-driving and look like futuristic concept cars.
* CriminalMindGames: The hacker is always one step ahead of the Police and is actually using them for his endgame.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [=ADIs=] burrow into victims' brains' pain center for maximum agony, often causing them to violently commit suicide to stop the pain before they die of brain damage.
* CutApart: We are made to believe that Police is about to catch the hacker in his hideout. But then it's revealed that he was operating from a different place and [[CriminalMindGames fooled everyone]].
* DeadlyNosebleed: Victims often suffer this when [[spoiler: the [=ADIs=] burrow their way in their noses and make them have their deadly seizures.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Karin initially. By the end of the episode she looks broken though.
* DefectiveDetective: DCI Karin Parke is bitter and unapprehensive about the futuristic world she lives in. She mentions that her attitude is partly due to her divorce.
* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: It turns out the [[RationalizingTheOverkill main reason]] Garrett Scholes programmed the ADI Bees to be able to kill is that a girl he liked attempted suicide due to online harassment (he saved her). Considering that almost ''400,000'' people whose only crime was using a certain hashtag end up dead, it's safe to say the plan was overkill.]]
** It should be noted, if you look at screencaptures of the hashtag being used, that some of the people who used it were just asking what it even WAS. That means they were killed for being curious.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: A swarm of robotic bees that burrow into people's brains is unleashed upon everyone who used a particular hashtag, killing nearly 400,000 people across the UK. The only bright spot is that one of the detectives is presumably about to close in on and kill the man who set off the attack.]]
* DramaticDrop: Shaun Li drops his phone when he sees TheSwarm approaching the house in the countryside.
* DrivenToSuicide: The people attacked by the [=ADIs=] do this or attempt it to stop the pain it causes. [[spoiler: This turns out to be the motive behind the killer's actions too, as his flatmate and crush attempted suicide over online harassment she received. Blue also fakes suicide so she can find him without anyone knowing she's still alive and therefore tipping him to it.]]
* EvilAllAlong: Subverted. When Blue fakes her suicide and is next seen in the same location as the hacker, for a few moments we are left with the idea that she was actually his FriendOnTheForce but then her communication with Karin tells us that she was actually hunting him down.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Blue fakes a suicide and goes off to find Scholes.]]
* FeedbackRule: There is a feedback when Karin first speaks into the mic at the hearing.
* ForYourOwnGood: [[spoiler: Blue calls out Shaun Li on the government's use of [=ADI=]s to spy on the population. He responds that it's in the public interest to do so, since the scheme has prevented several mass murders and terrorist attacks.]]
* GreenAesop: When the bees die off, we will need to replace them with man-made drones. [[spoiler: Unlike bees, drones can be used by the government to spy on their citizens, and by tech-savvy extremists to kill thousands of people overnight.]]
* GrievousBottleyHarm: Jo uses a broken bottle to attack her husband and [[SlashedThroat slit her throat]].
* HopelessWithTech: Karin, who REALLY doesn't like the prospect of anything in the investigation, initially brushes off the notion that social media could be the cause of the deaths, and [[TheWatson has to have anything related to the ADI technology explained by Blue and the others]].
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: The command to "deactivate" the ADI Bee swarm is used against Karin Parke's protests that it will probably trigger the bees to go after everyone who used the [=#DeathTo=] hashtag. At first, it seems the bees truly were deactivated. Then they reactivate and do just what Parke said they would.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler:Garrett Scholes' rationale behind his plot is to force people to face the consequences of their actions. After hundreds of thousands die because of him, he [[DyeOrDie changes his appearance]] and skips the country ''to avoid facing the consequences of his actions''.]]
* IdiotBall: [[spoiler:The cops discover that Garrett Schole's old flatmate, whom he loved, attempted suicide due to online harassment. Ostensibly, his actions would involve getting back at the perpetrators of online harassment, instead of furthering the exact thing that led to the attempted suicide of his crush. Instead, the cops focus on the fact that the victims were considered bullies, and completely miss the fact that those who use the #[=DeathTo=] hashtag may be targets until the last second, when they find the cache of users of the hashtag.]]
* InsultBackfire: Jo, the journalist who wrote an insulting column about an activist's death, receives a cake iced with the message "''Fucking Bitch''" from her internet haters. She's just happy to have a tasty cake to eat.
* InterrogationFlashback: The story unfolds as flashbacks during Karin's hearing at the court.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:A very rare aversion for the series. It would seem that Scholes gets off scot-free for killing ''hundreds of thousands'' of people, but the last sequence shows that Blue has found him.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:{{Invoked}}, as the [=ADIs=] would kill victims by the vote of internet trolls, and the final phase of the plan would use the same means to kill those who engaged in this form of armchair vigilantism.]]
* LatinLand: [[spoiler:Where Blue finally tracks down Garrett Scholes.]]
* ManifestoMakingMalcontent: [[spoiler:Scholes's manifesto being nested in the files of the [=ADIs=] was his signature on the [=ADI=] attacks being an act of sabotage, and for Blue figuring out his real plan right at the very end. Unfortunately for her, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Li had other priorities at the time]].]]
* MathematiciansAnswer: Karin when asked about her visit to the [=ADIs=] headquarters.
-->'''Assistant''': You're after information on our Project Swarm [=ADIs=]?
-->'''Karin''': That's right.
-->'''Assistant''': Any particular reason?
-->'''Karin''': Yes.
* MrExposition: The developer of the [=ADIs=] is very forthcoming with background information on the project.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Shaun Li, more concerned with protecting the chancellor and short on time and options, triggers the "deactivate" function immediately after Blue figures out the plan and warns him not to do it. Just as Parke warned, the trigger sends out [=ADI=]s to kill hundreds of thousands of people. It's implied at the end that he's seriously in for it before the inquiry commission.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
** Jo Powers is an obvious expy of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Hopkins Katie Hopkins]], as both are controversial journalists who write incendiary and bigoted articles simply for the publicity.
*** The title of her article, "'''SPARE ME THE TEARS OVER THIS "MARTYR"'''" is styled after an infamous piece written by Hopkins's ''Daily Mail'' stablemate Richard Littlejohn: [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-423549/Littlejohn-Spare-Peoples-Prostitute-routine-.html ''Spare us the 'People's Prostitute' routine...'']], which was similarly criticised for callousness in regards to the 2006 murder of five women working as prostitutes in Ipswich (Littlejohn himself was repeatedly a target for [[TakeThat take thats]] in series creator Creator/CharlieBrooker's earlier work ''TV Go Home'').
** Chancellor Tom Pickering appears to be based on real life former Health Secretary [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Hunt#Controversies Jeremy Hunt]], who also made the controversial decision to cut health benefits in addition to introducing unpopular junior doctor contracts with the NHS.
* NordicNoir: What the episode was inspired by.
* PhoneTraceRace: They try to trace the hacker's position after another one of the drones goes offline but fail.
* RayOfHopeEnding: [[spoiler:The mass murder happened and Karin became completely broken about it, but Blue was able to track down Scholes and may possible bring justice to him.]]
** Also for White Christmas. [[spoiler:The news declares that cookies have been granted human rights, suggesting an end to cookie!Greta and Cookie!Joe's ordeals.]]
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The plight of Clara Meades is modelled after several real life incidents of an individual being mass-shamed following the release of photographs that portray them performing acts perceived as disrespectful, in particular the [[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/21/internet-shaming-lindsey-stone-jon-ronson case of Lindsey Stone]].
* SelfImmolation: The disabled activist Gwen Marbury did this in protest against cuts to disability benefits, for which Jo Powers harshly criticizes her in her column.
* SinisterSurveillance: [[spoiler:It turns out the [=ADIs=] were secretly being used by the British government to spy on the public. It is also revealed that the National Crime Agency has access to a Citizen Database, where the details of every resident in the UK are stored.]]
* SirSwearsalot: Blue is never short on curse words.
* SleazyPolitician: Tom Pickering, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Upon hearing he is at the top of the #[=DeathTo=] list, he orders an incriminating memo from the 1980's be leaked which would further implicate Lord Farrington (a former member of Parliament, accused pedophile and number four on the #[=DeathTo=] list) as a sex offender. In response to criticism, he simply states that the man is "in his eighties, he has lived his life, so fuck him! Under the bus!"
* SpreadingDisasterMapGraphic: The graphic projection at the ADI headquarters of all drones in the country going rogue.
* SuicideBySea: Blue used this ploy to [[FakingTheDead fake her suicide]]. The attentive audience will have noticed at this point that they NeverFoundTheBody, so the reveal of her still being alive comes less as a surprise.
* SurveillanceDrone: [[spoiler:The only way Granular was able to get permission and funding from the UK government was if they built a backdoor into the [=ADIs=], so in addition to pollination the occasional drone could be requisitioned by the NCA to carry out surveillance work.]]
* TheSwarm: [=ADIs=]. It becomes a plot point that they're tiny enough to get through the cracks of a building, so hiding away the intended victim isn't a plausible option.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture:
** The vast majority of bees have died out, forcing countries (focused only on the UK in this case) to utilize Automated Drone Insects ([=ADIs=]) to carry out pollination. They are also able to self-replicate, build hives on their own, with each of their hives containing a 3D printing device. (They fall just short since they can't make honey.)
*** Granular has a vanity art piece in their foyer composed of [=ADIs=] flying in formation to create a slowly-rotating 3D rendering of the company logo.
** It is mentioned on UKN that the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_crane Siberian crane]] has recently become extinct.
** It is suggested most cars are now either fully electric or hybrid, given the quiet whirring they all seem to make when in motion. Driverless cars are much more common, but still not quite the norm. Blue casually mentions she can't wait until driverless is fully phased in, as she doesn't have a driver's license. Li's agency car is fully autonomous, with the "driver's" seat being a pilot chair facing the other passengers (similar to concept cars from RealLife), and is operated entirely by touch screen.
** London Metropolitan Police vehicles have a much more minimalist design, with the high visibility Battenburg markings having been removed from the police cars.
** The British license plates shown on some newer vehicles are also accurate to the period, with registration numbers dating from around 2017 and 2019.
** Cannabis is now legal in the United Kingdom, with rapper Tusk's friend reassuring him it's "legal over here" when he is caught smoking a joint on CCTV.
** Both computer and phone screens are thinner and more translucent. Keyboards are also translucent and utilize touchscreens instead of actual buttons.
** Given that the cookies that appear in "White Christmas" are referenced in the episode, it can be assumed that digital consciousness replication is now a possible feat.
** While some episodes of Black Mirror use more [[SpeculativeFiction speculative themes]], this episode in particularly scores hard on [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness Moh's SciFi scale]]. While similar {{Cop Show}}s rely on {{Technobabble}} and HollywoodHacking, this one is a faithful PoliceProcedural with most of the concepts and terms Blue uses are drawn from RealLife and used in proper context; there is growing concern about technology being the vector of attack of choice for tech-savvy criminals, and the technology is spot on. The only Science Fiction that this episode really draws on is the aesthetics, and the [=ADIs=], which is a combination emerging technologies from ''today'', but more sophisticated and micronized. See if one of the design features of the [=ADIs=] isn't familiar: pervasive computing (of a sort), autonomous drones, 3D printing, and [[spoiler:mass surveillance]].
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: In trying to stop the ADI bees from targeting people who were "selected" by consensus to die with the [=#DeathTo=] hashtag, the task force ends up triggering Garrett Scholes's real endgame: turning the bees on everyone who used the [=#DeathTo=] hashtag.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Scholes intends to combat online abuse...by killing off a good chunk of people who are guilty of it.]]

[[/folder]]

!!Men Against Fire

In the future, soldiers must protect frightened villagers from an infestation of vicious, feral mutants.

[[folder:Tropes related to ''Men Against Fire'']]
* ActionGirl: The gender balance within the military unit is fairly equal, with more or less the same number of female and male soldiers. Notable ones are Raiman (Stripe's colleague) and Medina (the unit's commanding officer).
* AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler:Stripe is disgusted and outraged when he sees the recording of himself rather casually consenting to have the MASS implanted. That is, rather casually consenting ''to commit genocide''.]]
* AugmentedReality: The [=MASS=] system. The soldiers are implanted with it, which helps them communicate, plan actions, and aim for targets. [[spoiler: It's also used to make sure soldier's sexual and emotional needs are met through their dreams, which was foreshadowing the way it also distorts what they hear, smell, see, and feel.]]
* BloodKnight: Ray is ''really'' gung ho about killing Roaches, deriving an almost sexual pleasure from doing so.
* BoomHeadshot: How [[spoiler: Medina]] is killed.
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight:
** Anti-social, devoutly religious Parn Heidekker who houses the so-called "Roaches" [[spoiler:is the only one in the story who sees them for what they are, doesn't buy the propaganda, and treats them like human beings. And so, he offers them shelter. Unfortunately, the armed forces raid his home, kill nearly all the "Roaches", capture him, and burn his house down]].
** Likewise, Stripe appears to be losing it after his first encounter with the Roaches [[spoiler:but in reality, thanks to them scrambling the MASS implant, he's able to see, hear, smell and think clearly for the first time in six months. This allows him to see that all this time, he and his squad have been killing innocent people]].
* CallBack:
** The man who harbors the Roaches is called Parn Heidekker. In "Nosedive", Lacy works for a company called Heidekker.
** The "V" logo which appears on all the soldiers' uniforms and gear looks like a rotated version of the logo from National Allied Bank in "Shut Up and Dance".
** After capturing Heidekker, Raiman loudly sings part of the song Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand), from both "Fifteen Million Merits" and "White Christmas", to annoy him.
** When the MASS-implanted soldiers are looking at holographically projected images, their eyes are seen to fade in colour and become pale and lifeless, just like characters watching their past moments during 'redos' in "The Entire History of You".
* ChekhovsSkill: Raiman mentions multiple times that she is part of a hunting family, and grew up tracking deer back in the US. [[spoiler: This later proves useful when she is able to track down Stripe and the two "Roaches" he saves to their hideout in the woods]].
* LesCollaborateurs: Those who take pity on and harbor the Roaches, such as Parn Heidekker, are viewed by both the villagers and soldiers with almost the same level of contempt as the Roaches themselves. After they find Roaches in Heidekker's manor, Raiman wants to execute him on the spot.
* CoolGuns: The soldiers carry FN SCAR rifles with built-in grenade launchers, flashlights and holographic sights (which are aided by the MASS implant for accuracy). The sound they make when fired also suggests they use some kind of supersonic round.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The justification Arquette gives for wiping out the Roaches bears more than a passing resemblance to that of the Nazis, no doubt on purpose. It even makes use of the same dehumanizing terms.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Stripe broke down emotionally and is coerced into agreeing to be reinstated, having his memories erased, and continue service in a genocide campaign; the other option was imprisonment with a lifelong MindRape. The last scene shows him returning home, his [=MASS=] active, with only the audience seeing his beautiful home is actually a rundown house in a bad neighborhood. The girl that had been waiting for him at home was heavily implied to be no more than a [=MASS=] implant illusion.]]
* FantasticRacism: [[spoiler: After realizing the reality of the situation, Stripe becomes confused as to why the villagers hate the "Roaches" so much too, despite seeing them as regular humans (as they don't have the MASS implant). Catarina tells him they view them as subhuman due to the massive amounts of propaganda that demonizes them all as a people. Arquette claims the Roaches' genetics gives them higher rates of genetic diseases and substandard [=IQ=], and criminal and sexually perverse tendencies.]]
** [[spoiler: It is never revealed what nationality/ethnicity the "Roaches" are, only that there is a lot of "shit" in their genetic makeup. References to genetic testing imply that they may not belong to a single race, but are simply those with genetic factors that were deemed undesirable.]]
** [[spoiler: Arquette says they created the genetic tests in the aftermath of a great war, indicating that the "Roaches" are either suffering from radiation poisoning or some sort of condition caused by bioweapons. It's also possible that the tests came for the radiation or toxins and just found genetic deformities along the way, prompting the government to become "proactive".]]
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Arquette suggests Stripe to let him erase his memories about the true nature of the "Roaches", otherwise, Stripe will be locked in prison with the recording of him killing the "Roaches" (but now looking like the way they really are) in the farmhouse, [[MindRape eternally playing on repeat in front of his eyes]].]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Arquette seems to be a nice guy at first, but after the reveal, he shows to be a really cold-blooded sociopath.]]
* FightingDownMemoryLane: [[spoiler: The military psychiatrist uploads the unfiltered sensory stream of the farmhouse action right into Stripe's brain. Instead of showing him killing the disgusting roaches, it instead shows he was killing desperate, terrified regular people deemed to be genetically inferior.]]
* FirstTimeFeeling: When his MASS implant starts to glitch out, Stripe experiences sensory-overload and is stunned in awe of suddenly experiencing the smells (grass and blood) and the ambient noises (wind and birdsong) it normally would filter out from his perception. [[spoiler:Turns out though, it is not the first time he has experienced these things.]]
* FinalSolution: [[spoiler:Stripe and his squaddies are unwittingly engaging in this.]]
* GlamourFailure: {{Inverted}}. [[spoiler:The device the Roaches use on Stripe eventually causes him to see them as they really are - perfectly normal humans.]]
* AGlitchInTheMatrix: The encounter in the farmhouse causes Stripe to experience several, mostly auditory, glitches. [[spoiler: Later, his implant shuts down completely.]]
* GreatOffscreenWar: The episode takes place 10 years after a global conflict which saw the spread of the "Roaches" all across the world. They are said to have been defeated and wiped out in the US, but the country has sent troops abroad to more rural areas of the world to try and take down the remaining ones. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that the "Roaches" are actually humans, and likely refugees who were displaced during the war, not a terrifying mutant species that the war was fought to defeat]].
* HandOrObjectUnderwear: While the naked woman in Stripe's dream has her breasts clearly shown, some careful positioning of her legs is used to keep her vagina hidden.
* HeHadAName: Inverted. [[spoiler:One of the Roaches gives out her and her son's names before they are killed]].
-->'''[[spoiler:Catarina]]''':[[spoiler:Before, my name was Catarina. His name was Alec. Now we are roach]].
* HumansAreGood: Arquette concedes that humans as a species give themselves a bad rep, and that actually deep down [[RousseauWasRight they don't want to hurt and kill each other]] (even on the battlefield), and even when they do, they tend to almost inevitably break psychologically down from the experience. However, he sees this as an impediment instead of a virtue, and praises the [[spoiler: ability of MASS to remove that virtue in the soldiers, stating that if it had existed in the past, many wars would have been won much quicker]].
-->'''Arquette:''' Humans. You know we give ourselves a bad rep, but we're genuinely empathetic as a species. I mean, we don't actually want to kill each other. Which is a good thing, until your future depends on ''wiping out the enemy''.
* ItIsDehumanizing: Arquette is briefly puzzled by Stripe's description of the Roaches by their gender ("he") and Stripe later corrects himself by referring to them as "''it''".
* MadDoctor / PsychoPsychologist: Arquette. He initially seems pleasant and mild mannered, but after [[spoiler: Stripe is detained after his MASS fails, he is shown to be much more sinister. Not only does he actively praise the fact that the system can get rid of the soldiers' pesky emotions and hangups about killing people, but also views the "Roaches" with pure contempt, supporting the eugenics war that is being fought against them. In addition, he is also very manipulative towards Stripe to force him into having his MASS reset]].
* MeaningfulName: The episodes title is derived from the book "Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command". It was written by SLA Marshall, a veteran of World War I and a combat historian during World War II who wrote about soldiers' reluctance, even on the battlefield, to harm their fellow man even if they were the enemy. Arquette talks about this phenomenon in detail to Stripe [[spoiler:after he is detained at the end of the episode]].
-->'''Arquette:''' British army, World War I. The Brigadier would walk the line with a stick and whack them in order to get them to shoot. Even in World War II only 15-20% of men would pull the trigger. Fate of the world at stake and only 15% open fire, now what does that tell you? It tells me those wars would have been over a hell of a lot quicker if the military had got its shit together.
* MildlyMilitary: Although the soldiers in the episode speak with American accents and wear what appears to be ACU combat uniform, they are never explicitly stated to be the US military. Furthermore, the only insignia seen throughout is the mysterious "V" logo on both their uniforms and flags, and their body armor and helmets are different to those issued by the American military, as are their rifles. It is possible they are [[PrivateMilitaryCompany private contractors]] or simply an updated version of the army, given that like most episodes it is set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
* MindRape: Arquette threatens Stripe with this if he doesn't agree to have his memories wiped. [[spoiler: He'll put his memory of killing innocent people on a loop, forever, while he sits in a solitary cell.]]
* MindWipe: [[spoiler: Stripe experiences this. Willingly. Twice.]]
* MindVirus: [[spoiler: The Roaches reverse-engineer the brain implants and create a virus causing them to crash.]]
* NewMediaAreEvil: [[spoiler: One of the Roaches reveals to Stripe that after the war, her people became displaced but nobody wanted to take them in. Then newspapers, TV, and internet networks all began referring to them as "Roaches" to dehumanize them to the rest of the public, thus starting the TraumaCongaLine that culminated with the military planning to wipe them out]].
-->[[spoiler:'''Catarina:''' Soon everyone calls us creatures, filthy creatures. Every voice. The TV. The computer.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the final mission, Stripe is now able to [[spoiler: see the Roaches as the humans they actually are. He sees a woman cowering in the corner and tells her to hurry and get out of the building, because it's dangerous to be in there. He's right- when he finally coaxes her out into the hallway, Ray immediately shoots her, seeing her as a Roach.]]
* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed:
** The episode takes place in a rural area of Europe, but the country or nationality of its citizens is never specified. However, the language spoken by the locals and [[spoiler:the Roaches]] is Danish, implying it takes place in a futuristic, post-war Denmark.
** The soldiers, despite being American, are never stated to be members of the US military. The only symbol that appears on their uniform and vehicles is an ambiguous "V" logo.
* OnceMoreWithClarity: [[spoiler: When Arquette plays an unfiltered version of Stripes' first raid to him, it reveals the wailing mutants were, in reality, unarmed people begging for mercy.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Nobody is able to correctly pronounce the protagonist's surname, Koinange (Co-Nah-Guh), so he is known to everyone as Stripe.
* RousseauWasRight: [[spoiler:An insanely dark example. At their core, people find the thought of hurting and killing each other abhorrent and unnatural, and no matter how much the political systems attempts to train soldiers to kill and try to invent motivations for them to kill, it never takes for long, and the vast majority of people just tends to break mentally down from the stress of it fairly quickly. The only way to turn people into effective, remorseless killers is to remove what arguably makes them human, namely numbing their senses and altering their perception of reality. And since they don't want to know that they're hurting and killing others, they go along with this ''willingly''.]]
* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler: Stripe is presented with one. Either he agrees to undergo a mind wipe and continue to kill innocent people, or he spends the rest of his life reliving his traumatizing memories.]]
* SensoryAbuse: When Stripe's implant fails, he hears a loud, whistling noise.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Name-checked but scrupulously averted. [[spoiler: (Mostly.) The implants are used to make the soldiers think they're killing monsters, not humans, making it much easier for them to avoid feeling regret about what they see and do. Stripe becomes this very briefly after Arquette shows him what he saw in the farmhouse, but without the benefit of the [=MASS=]. It was an effective mean of coercing him into choosing to get mind wiped and reinstate his [=MASS=].]]
-->'''Arquette:''' [[spoiler: It's easier to pull the trigger when you're aiming at the bogeyman]].
** [[spoiler: Arquette does mention shell shock when talking about the Vietnam War, stating that despite the fact that more soldiers willingly fired due to propaganda that dehumanized the Viet Cong back home, the fact they knew they were killing humans in the field still messed them up considerably. He says this is why MASS is so effective, as it dehumanizes the enemy right in front of soldiers so they will know nothing but propaganda from start to finish, and thus won't get PTSD]].
* TemporaryBlindness: [[spoiler: When Stripe tries to attack Arquette, the doctor is able to blind him simply by pressing a handheld button. This is again due to the power of the MASS implant]].
* TraumaCongaLine: [[spoiler:The story of how the Roaches became persecuted. After the GreatOffscreenWar, they became displaced refugees. However, no country wanted to take them in. Then a smear campaign from the international media began, dehumanizing them to the public. Then came a screening program, DNA testing, registration and finally the "emergency measures", which later transformed into them being hunted down and killed by soldiers.]]
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: [[spoiler:Not worth the guilt trip or murdering innocent civilians, apparently...]]
* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: The Roaches are hideously malformed, vicious, mutated beasts and no-one has any problem killing them. [[spoiler: Later it's shown that the Roaches are actually humans who, for one reason or another, are deemed to be "undesirable".]]
* WouldHitAGirl: Raiman and Stripe get into a fairly brutal fistfight when [[spoiler:she tries to kill the "Roaches" that he now sees as their natural human selves]]. It ends with him hitting her in the face with his rifle, knocking her out with a [[DeadlyNosebleed large blood spatter]].
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:After tracking down Stripe and the two Roaches he saves, Ray shoots Catarina's young son in the back before killing her as well]].
[[/folder]]

!!San Junipero

When Yorkie and Kelly visit San Junipero, a fun-loving beach town full of surf, sun and sex, their lives are changed.

[[folder:Tropes related to ''San Junipero'']]
* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: The right way to say Junipero can vary throughout California and Spanish speaking countries. The way it's pronounced in the episode is not any kind of correct though.
* AdultFear: [[OutlivingOnesOffspring Outliving your children]] [[spoiler:and being able to achieve digital immortality after they weren't]].
* AnachronismStew: The titular 1987 city is named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junipero_Serra a saint that was only canonized in 2015.]] [[spoiler:But of course the simulation was created well after that.]]
* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: [[spoiler:Craig, the nurse, said that Yorkie was tetraplegia. But, with tetraplegia, she probably would still be able to talk and move her head. Yorkie's condition looks more like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome locked-in syndrome]].]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Yorkie and Kelly are physically dead, but get to spend however long they want together and HappilyMarried in San Junipero, in younger and permanently healthy bodies.]]
* BookEnds: Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" appears momentarily in the opening MisterSandmanSequence, and is played overtop the final scene and credits.
* BrainUploading: People's minds can be uploaded to San Junipero after their bodies die. They can also visit temporarily while they still live.
* BreatherEpisode: Sandwiched between two ''very'' dark and cynical episodes, even by the standards of this series.
* BuryYourGays: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] to hell and back, see deconstruction below for details and is also a subversion as well because of the couple getting a happy ending [[spoiler: despite both of them dying]].
* CaliforniaDoubling: Although meant to represent a Californian beach town, San Junipero was actually shot in Cape Town, South Africa. As was "Nosedive".
* CessationOfExistence: Kelly believes this happens when you die. That's why she was reluctant to upload her mind at first, since she'd never see her husband and daughter again (also why he didn't want to upload). However, eventually she chooses to anyway since she's found new love.
* CommitmentIssues: Kelly refuses to get emotionally involved with anyone because she has no intention of sticking around.
* ContinuityNod: We're not shown it in-episode, but to White Christmas; Kelly mentions that she will 'red-light' Wes if he doesn't leave her alone. Due to [[spoiler:their brain implants, it can be assumed that]] red-lighting works the same as blocking.
* CoolestClubEver: Tucker's, where Yorkie and Kelly meet.
* CostumeTestMontage: Yorkie has one at home when deciding what to wear on her second weekend.
* {{Deconstruction}}: [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/10/27/black_mirror_upends_tv_s_bury_your_gays_trope.html Many]] [[http://www.pride.com/netflix/2016/10/24/black-mirror-episode-san-junipero-gives-middle-finger-dead-lesbian-trope critics]] have pointed out that the episode utterly ''dismantles'' the [[spoiler:BuryYourGays trope]] by the time the credits roll. [[spoiler:Technically, Kelly and Yorkie ''are'' dead by the end of the episode, having both undergone euthanasia... allowing them to literally live forever together in an artificial afterlife in inarguably the series' most uplifting and optimistic ending]].
* FairytaleWeddingDress: Yorkie wears one after [[spoiler:she and Kelly marry, allowing Kelly to authorize Yorkie's euthanasia so that she can be sent to San Junipero forever.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** [[ChekhovsArmoury Little bits and bobs all over the place]], but most telling is [[spoiler:Yorkie's distaste at seeing a car crash in an arcade game and confessions about never being on a dance floor; she was paralyzed at age 21 (the legal age to be in a bar in the United States) after crashing her car, so she may have never been inside of a real club.]] This also explains why her entrances into each bar she visits are apprehensive.
** Likewise, there are subtle hints throughout the first half that [[spoiler:this isn't actually taking place in TheEighties. The most blatant example is probably when Kelly assures Yorkie that society has progressed enough that homophobia isn't really an issue anymore, something that was definitely ''not'' the case in Reagan-era America.]]
** After Kelly has had enough of Wes's advances, she encourages him to go after one of the locals. He says no, saying "they're like corpses". [[spoiler:Turns out he was being semi-literal, as the "locals" are people who died and decided to stay in San Junipero.]]
** The club where Kelly and Yorkie meet is called "Tucker's". At the end we see a facility named TCKR Systems, where [[spoiler:the data comprising the minds of all the people who decided to "pass over" are stored.]]
** When Kelly and Yorkie first meet, Kelly lies that Yorkie is an old friend who has six months left to live in order to get rid of Wes. Wes accepts this without questioning it despite the fact that it would be considered a ''very'' dubious excuse in real life. [[spoiler:His willingness to take the claim at face value is a lot easier to understand after you learn that ''everyone'' in San Junipero is either trying out a digital afterlife because they're in poor health or are already dead and are there permanently. Also, it turns out Kelly has around three months left, and Yorkie plans to be euthanized in a few weeks.]]
* {{Gayngst}}: There's hints of it [[spoiler:with Yorkie's backstory and her continued insecurity with her sexuality in San Junipero]], but ultimately the episode ends as a completely triumphant [[AvertedTrope aversion]] of this trope. [[spoiler:Kelly and Yorkie end up together, happily married, in San Junipero quite literally forever]].
* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:Kelly was married to her husband Richard for 49 years and loved him throughout.]]
** [[spoiler: Yorkie and Kelly by at the end of the episode.]]
* HollywoodDriving: When Kelly drives Yorkie home in her buggy, she is staring at Yorkie for like 8 seconds until an approaching car honks at them because they buggy was straying.
* HotterAndSexier: The Quagmire, a nightclub out in the San Junipero desert. It's home to punks, rockers, bikers, weirdos, and fetishists, making it an inverse of the groovy and innocent club where Kelly and Yorkie meet. Yorkie is quite spooked at all the people leering at her when she goes to find Kelly, and flinches at the cage fights taking place for entertainment.
--> '''Kelly''': If you don't already know what the Quagmire is... you probably don't wanna know.
* ICantDance: Yorkie. She really can't dance.
* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: Most of the people in San Junipero, including Yorkie and Kelly, appear to be an age between teens and late 20s.
* LighterAndSofter: By far the most optimistic and hopeful episode in the series so far.
* LipstickAndLoadMontage: Yorkie gets an extended one. [[spoiler:Turns out everyone in San Junipero can change their outfit and makeup just by thinking about it.]]
* LipstickLesbian: Yorkie.
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:San Junipero. Living people are limited to 5 hours a week in San Junipero to avoid this effect.]]
* MarriageOfConvenience: Yorkie is marrying Greg [[spoiler:so he can authorize her euthanasia when her family won't. Discovery of this prompts Kelly to make her own WackyMarriageProposal to Yorkie instead.]]
* MisterSandmanSequence: Each era starts with one of these. [[spoiler: Likely deliberate, in-universe, to help orient tourists to what specific year they're recreating.]]
* NiceGuy: [[spoiler:[[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy Against all expectations]], Greg turns out to be one.]]
* NoSocialSkills: Yorkie, in spades. [[spoiler:She's had nothing of a social life to practice with.]]
-->'''Yorkie''': [trying to chat up Kelly] I... don't know how to do this. Just help me. Can you just... just make this easy for me?
* NothingButHits / PopularHistory: Justified, since it's a purposely nostalgia-filled version of each decade.
* OddCouple: Brash Kelly and nerdy Yorkie become this, SaltAndPepper, TomboyAndGirlyGirl and RedOniBlueOni all rolled into one.
* OlderThanTheyLook: [[spoiler:Pretty much everyone in San Junipero.]]
* RageAgainstTheReflection: Kelly punches a bathroom mirror after Yorkie calls her out. [[spoiler:This reveals that Kelly has InvulnerableKnuckles and, in a seamless cut, that the mirror has repaired itself.]]
* ReallyGetsAround: Kelly is having fun in San Junipero [[spoiler:before she dies and after a lifetime in a loving monogamous relationship. Yorkie wants more from their one-night stand and convinces her to have another loving monogamous relationship.]]
* ResidualSelfImage: [[spoiler:Most people appear to have picked an idealized younger version of themselves.]]
* SecondLove: Yorkie is Kelly's.
* ShoutOut:
** For her second visit to meet Kelly, Yorkie tries changing from her regular {{Adorkable}} getup into stereotypical [[TheEighties '80s]] costumes from ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' and Robert Palmer's ''Addicted to Love'' music video.
** There's probably a reason why the sexy hotspot is called [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy The Quagmire.]]
** [[spoiler:Uploading the minds of dying people to the cloud and calling it Heaven? [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater Didn't Missy try that not too long ago?]]]]
** The [[spoiler:ending scene is Kelly and Yorkie [[VideoGame/OutRun riding a red sports car, cruising through a coast]]]].
* ShrinkingViolet: Yorkie.
* ShutUpKiss: Kelly gives Yorkie one at the beach.
* SittingOnTheRoof: When Kelly looks for Yorkie, she finds her sitting on a roof.
* SocietyMarchesOn: In-universe example. Yorkie is worried that people will react negatively to the sight of two girls dancing, but Kelly assures her that such prejudices aren't really a problem anymore. [[spoiler:This is one of the big hints that the story is actually taking place in the future.]]
* SoundtrackDissonance: Aside from the opening, the light-sounding "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" starts playing [[spoiler:over the ending, where it shows Kelly being euthanized and buried.]]
* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Certainly compared to the rest of the series; Kelly overcomes her fears and grief and joins Yorkie in San Junipero for good to live HappilyEverAfter.]]
* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: [[spoiler:Yorkie's second Saturday starts to the sound of ''Girlfriend in a Coma'' by Music/TheSmiths.]]
** Likewise [[spoiler:Belinda Carlisle's ''Heaven Is a Place on Earth'' over the end credits; San Junipero is designed to be exactly this.]]
** The INXS song "Need You Tonight," the lyric [[spoiler:'twenty-first century's yesterday.']]
* TogetherInDeath: A lighter take on this trope than usual. Yorkie and Kelly both die, but they die happily and their minds are uploaded to San Junipero so they can be happy together.
* TotallyRadical: Only in TheEighties could someone say "bodacious" with a straight face. [[spoiler: Justified in that the space exists specifically as a nostalgic throwback, and people are deliberately trying to recreate their memories of the era.]]
* TrueLoveIsBoring: Mentioned by Kelly as one of the things she remembers about her marriage, but in a suitably impassioned monologue.
* UnusualEuphemism: "Passing over" has become one for [[spoiler:dying and becoming a permanent resident of San Junipero. Non-residents - people who are still alive - are called tourists.]]
* WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture: It's commonplace in the present day, although some places (including the state of California) have harsh restrictions on it.
* WhamLine
** "Try a different time. [I've] seen her in '80, mid-nineties, 2002 one time..."
** "How many of them are dead?"
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: For some reason tourist have to leave the LotusEaterMachine at the strike of midnight.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Part of the reason for Kelly's reservations about whether to remain in San Junipero with Yorkie.
* YourCheatingHeart: Subverted. [[spoiler:Yorkie seemed to be cheating on her fiancé with Kelly, but it's revealed that she's been completely paralyzed the entire time and the marriage was for convenience only.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Shut Up and Dance

When a teenager falls into an online trap, he is forced into an uneasy alliance.

[[folder:Tropes related to ''Shut Up and Dance'']]
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: Regardless of what actions the blackmail victims are forced to perform, their secrets are released.]]
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Everyone who is being blackmailed, to various degrees - Hector plans on [[YourCheatingHeart cheating on his wife]] with a prostitute; the woman at the start, Wayhaven Hotels CEO (the hotel Hector was found at) Georgina Tarrington, is revealed to have made racist comments about her employees (including calling them "Unqualified black chancers" and "daft brown faces"); both the man in the woods and Kenny are pedophiles. No word on what the black man who delivered the cake with the robbery gun/hat/glasses to Kenny is guilty of, but his wife (?) calls him a "dirty, sick, disgusting pervert" when he is outed, meaning he may have done or seen something very NSFW, to say the least.]]
* AwfulWeddedLife: Hector calls for a hooker because of his boring sex life with his wife.
* {{Blackmail}}: The mysterious hacker(s) use this to get people to do dangerous/crazy things, [[spoiler:which eventually go up to bank robbery and then murder]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Kenny isn't the innocent victim he initially appears to be.]]
* BringMyBrownPants: An anxious Kenny wets himself [[spoiler:when forced to rob a bank.]]
* BungledSuicide: [[spoiler: Kenny attempts to shoot himself before the fight to the death. The gun (which he pointed at the cashier in the robbery) [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets turns out to be empty]].]]
* ContinuityNod:
** The news site the CEO browses [[spoiler: that reveals she's been outed for emailing racist comments]] mentions the Prime Minister from ''The National Anthem'' being divorced, a new talent show called ''Fifteen Million Merits'', the trial of Victoria Skillane in ''White Bear'', and has an advertisement for the "smart cookies" used in ''White Christmas''.
** Kenny works at a restaurant called Barnies, a location briefly mentioned as part of Greta's schedule in ''White Christmas''.
** On Kenny's laptop appears a sticker of ''Waldo''.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: The blackmailers use footage of Kenny masturbating to rope him into doing things for them. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that it's not so much the fact he was masturbating, but what he was ''[[PaedoHunt masturbating to]]'' that causes him to be easily blackmailed]].
* DavidVsGoliath: [[spoiler:The guy that Kenny is supposed to fight against is considerably bigger than him. It's rather surprising to see that Kenny wins the fight, considering how wimpy he looks]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: Kenny is eventually forced to [[spoiler:rob a bank and then ''kill someone'']], [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin all because he got caught masturbating on a webcam.]] At one point Hector even comments that he's surprised that's all they had on him. [[spoiler:Subverted at the end, [[WhamLine when we realize that he was masturbating to child porn.]]]]
** Played straight with the other people getting blackmailed [[spoiler:except the other man being blackmailed for child porn]] as their secrets were Hector attempting to cheat on his wife with a prostitute and the woman who said racist comments on the internet, though their tasks were minor compared to what Kenny had to do, we also don't know what the black guy did. [[spoiler:Yet Hector was also forced to be an accomplice to a bank robbery with Kenny and if the hackers also revealed that along with his secret or if the police find out, this can mean not only is he losing his kids and his wife but he will also be going to prison. Even the others may also end up going to prison too since some of their tasks were also illegal.]]
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Kenny is revealed to have [[PaedoHunt masturbated to child porn]], explaining his extreme feelings of guilt. The blackmailers end up leaking all the secrets anyway, destroying the lives of not only Kenny but the other victims we've seen. Kenny, who has just been forced to kill someone else, staggers out of the woods in shock and ends up getting arrested.]] No wonder the next episode is a BreatherEpisode.
* TheDriver: It's implied that the hacker placed Hector in his situation just to drive Kenny around [[spoiler:and punished him in the end just like everybody else]].
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Hector does this because he is short on time.
* DuelToTheDeath: [[spoiler: This is the final thing Kenny is forced to do with a fellow blackmail victim.]]
* TheEndingChangesEverything: [[spoiler: We assume that Kenny is the unequivocal victim for an innocent act, until we find out in the last few minutes that he was [[BitchInSheepsClothing masturbating to child porn]].]]
* FictionalCounterpart:
** Wayhaven Hotels is a fictional equivalent of mid-tier budget hotels in the UK such as Premier Inn and Travelodge.
** Kenny robs a branch of the fictitious National Allied Bank, which uses green as a principal color similar to the real life Lloyds Bank.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Kenny is shown to be [[spoiler:fond of kids and being altogether friendly with them. As it turned out, [[PaedoHunt it was neither fondness nor friendliness]]]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The twist ending is suggested since the beginning of the episode when Kenny [[FriendToAllChildren interacts with the little girl]] at the restaurant.
* FromBadToWorse: Kenny assumes that he'll only have to do one task for the blackmailers, as the other victims had to do. [[spoiler:He goes from delivering a cake to robbing a bank, driving to the middle of nowhere, and then fighting a stranger to the death. And then the blackmailers out him anyway and send him a trollface, and he's promptly arrested.]]
* IAmOneOfThoseToo: When Kenny invents a fake backstory of being from Birmingham, Hector's friend mentions that her husband is also from Birmingham and asks which part Kenny is from. Kenny is struggling to keep up his masquerade.
* ILied: [[spoiler: The people being led around by the anonymous blackmailers are told that they will be let go at a certain point. They all get a trollface and their secrets leaked when the blackmailers are done though.]]
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Hector empties the hotel mini-bar after the blackmail chain hits him [[spoiler:The man in the woods appears quite drunk due to his ordeal to say the least, which may explain how Kenny beat him in the fight]].
* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife: Kenny gets in a lot of trouble just because he was recorded while masturbating to porn. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when it's revealed [[PaedoHunt the kind of porn it was.]]]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The blackmailers apparently get away with everything they do, including leaking all the secrets anyway.]]
* KickTheDog: Hector didn't even get to cheat on his wife, [[spoiler:but was nevertheless punished for his misdeed; considering what the rest of the blackmailed individuals did, he was the one that did the least sickening thing ([[BlackAndGrayMorality which is not saying that what he did was good by any measure]])]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Deconstructed as you see things from the blackmail victims' perspective and it's hard not to feel sorry for them despite their horrific misdeeds and that they do ultimately deserve their punishment.]]
* MeaningfulName: The malware removal app that allows hackers to take over Kenny's camera is called Shrive. One of the meanings of 'Shrive' is to give confessions to a priest.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Subverted. [[spoiler:Rather wimpy teen Kenny winning the fight (to the death) against a grown man isn't shown, which would be pretty impressive, but considering his life is ruined, it's hard to truly qualify as "awesome."]]
* OhCrap: When Hector tells his story and reveals that the hackers copied his whole hard drive and every bit of correspondence between him and "Mindy", Kenny ''really'' breaks down. At first, it can be seen as just his general shame. [[spoiler:However, considering the pictures he was looking at, it's possible he realized the hackers probably got enough on him to really make the case he was looking at child porn, if he had additional pictures saved onto his hard drive.]]
* PaedoHunt: The man that Kenny [[spoiler: duels with is a paedophile. Kenny himself turns out to be one as well]].
* TheParanoiac: Kenny mounts a padlock on his door to prevent his sister from using his laptop. He also is very reluctant to show his phone to Hector. [[spoiler: Turns out he had a major reason: he had been stashing child pornography on his hard drive.]]
* TheReveal: A rather huge one that changes everything: [[spoiler:it turns out that the pictures Kenny was looking at was child pornography.]]
* RewatchBonus: The huge revelation near the end allows for this through FridgeLogic and FridgeBrilliance.
** In the Google search bar right before Kenny masturbates, it's a bit difficult to see what he entered. On a rewatch after the revelation, it's [[spoiler: the first four letters of the word "child"]].
* SadisticChoice: The people being blackmailed are forced to do whatever the mysterious blackmailer tells them to do or have their secrets revealed.
** This is worse for Kenny since the reveal of what he is hiding is more severe compared to the black guy, Hector and middle-aged business woman and in the end when his choice is to [[spoiler:[[DuelToTheDeath fight a man to the death]] or be revealed as a pedophile to the public, which was also the choice faced by the man.]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: [[spoiler: Thanks to the big revelation near the end that changes everything, people are already calling this a spiritual successor to ''White Bear''.]]
* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Hector explains in great detail to Kenny what would happen if he didn't rob the bank. His scare tactics work.
* ToyotaTripwire: Kenny almost hits one when rushing on his bike to the parkhouse.
* TrojanHorse: After his sister takes his laptop and visits a site that installs malware on it, Kenny downloads a malware removal app called Shrive which hacks into his computer. This is used by the hackers to blackmail him.
* {{Troll}}: The blackmailers use the original trollface to indicate [[spoiler:that everything the victims did [[AllForNothing was in vain]]]], meaning they probably see themselves as such.
* TheUnreveal:
** We never see [[spoiler:who the hacker[s] is/are or where they came from. Although the camera does appear to linger on a sketchy looking young man in the business hotel, so it may be him doing all the texting and hacking.]]
** We never get to see what [[spoiler:the man that delivered the cake to Kenny did. We do see his family calling him a "pervert" at the end, but given how lightly the hackers let him off, whatever he did probably wasn't ''that'' bad]].
** We're not shown whether the info the hacker had on [[spoiler:the man in the woods that Kenny killed was leaked like the rest of the blackmailed people. Considering what happened to the rest of them, it's safe to assume that the hacker did leak it in the end too]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Kenny's sister, Lindsey. If she hadn't used the dodgy free movie software, Kenny wouldn't have installed Shrive to clean it up, he wouldn't have been hacked and none of the events in the episode would've happened.
* WhamLine:
** This exchange been Kenny and the blackmail victim [[spoiler: he is supposed to [[DuelToTheDeath fight to the death:]]]]
--->'''Other Victim''': What'd they get you for?\\
'''Kenny''': (trying not to cry) I just looked at some photos. That's all. I just looked at one or two photos.\\
'''Other Victim''': Yeah. Yeah, Yeah, I just looked at pictures too... [[spoiler: [[PaedoHunt how young were they? In the pictures. How young?]]]]\\
'''Kenny''': [[spoiler: *Breaks down crying*]]\\
'''Other Victim''': [[spoiler: Yeah. Well, me too.]]
** Further cemented after [[spoiler: they have fought, and Kenny has presumably killed him, when he gets a call from his mother]].
--->'''Kenny's Mum''': [[spoiler: What did you do Kenny?! They're saying it's kids! That you've been looking at kids! And Lindsey saw it. There's a video of you. All of her friends have got it! '''''KIDS''', Kenny!'' Tell me it's not...]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Hector is blackmailed for trying to pick up a prostitute; he's married with children, and knows that if it gets out, he'll lose not only his wife but his kids as well. [[spoiler:And since the blackmailers leaked the exchanges to his wife, that's probably ''exactly'' what's going to happen, along with him possibly going to prison for the bank robbery. He said he'd kill himself after losing his kids...]]
[[/folder]]