History Recap / BlackMirrorMenAgainstFire

** Stripe talks Rai down from shooting Heidekker by telling her that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman shooting a civilian is not the same as shooting a Roach]]. Specifically, Stripe points out that shooting a fellow human will have bigger psychological damage to a person than killing a monster. Rai snarks back at Stripe for being a tightass, but it's clear from the fact that she still put her gun down that his words got to her. Later on, when Stripe tries to get Rai to believe that the Roaches are actually regular humans, Rai (who's shown to enjoy killing Roaches) can't accept that, and simply knocks Stripe out to take him back to base.

** Stripe talks Rai down from shooting Heidekker by telling her that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman shooting a civilian is not the same as shooting a Roarch]]. Specifically, Stripe points out that shooting a fellow human will have bigger psychological damage to a person than killing a monster. Rai snarks back at Stripe for being a tightass, but it's clear from the fact that she still put her gun down that his words got to her. Later on, when Stripe tries to get Rai to believe that the Roaches are actually regular humans, Rai (who's shown to enjoy killing Roaches) can't accept that, and simply knocks Stripe out to take him back to base.

* BloodKnight: Rai is ''really'' gung ho about killing Roaches, deriving an almost sexual pleasure from doing so.

* 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 futuristic ammunition.

* 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 after he is detained at the end of the episode.

** 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.

* WouldNotShootACivilian: Both {{Subverted}} and {{PlayedForDrama}}. Stripe is shown to be a highly moral soldier who cautions Raiman against shooting Heidekker and, once his MASS implants fail, goes so far as to knock her out to prevent her killing Catarina. Of course, this means he's hit especially hard by TheReveal.

Starring Creator/MalachiKirby as Stripe and Creator/MadelineBrewer as Raiman.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Nobody is able to correctly pronounce the protagonist's surname, Koinange (Co-Nah-Guh), so he is known to everyone as Stripe.

* BloodKnight: Ray is ''really'' gung ho about killing Roaches, deriving an almost sexual pleasure from doing so.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the final mission, Stripe is now able to 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.

* WouldHurtAChild: After tracking down Stripe and the two Roaches he saves, Ray shoots Catarina's young son in the back before killing her as well.

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Series/BlackMirror Series Three'''\\

[[center:[-'''Series/BlackMirror Series Three'''-]]]
[[center:[-[[Recap/BlackMirrorNosedive Nosedive]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorPlaytest Playtest]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorShutUpAndDance Shut Up and Dance]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero San Junipero]]-] -- [-'''Men Against Fire'''-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorHatedInTheNation Hated in the Nation]]-]]]

[[center:[-'''BlackMirror/SeriesThree'''-]]]

* Foreshadowing: Medina is killed by a Roach sniper with a single shot to the head, something none of them would ever be able to do if they really were the zombie-like monsters they are in the eyes of the MASS-implanted soldiers.

* {{Dehumanization}}: What happens to the "Roaches", not only the [=MASS=] implants makes the soldiers believe they are monsters, there's also an ideological pressure to it, seem when Arquette insists that Stripe call them "it".

* DownerEnding: 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.

* FateWorseThanDeath: 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]].

* 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 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.