YMMV / Black Mirror: Arkangel

Black Mirror YMMVSeries FourUSS Callister — ArkAngel — Crocodile — Hang the DJ — Metalhead — Black Museum

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Marie simply a well-meaning, if overprotective, parent who ended up going too far in her attempts to protect her daughter? Or is she a Control Freak who was obsessed with micromanaging every aspect of Sara's life and refused to let her daughter grow up? Or even some mixture of both?
  • Is Trick really a bad influence who should be rejected, or does he have redeeming qualities?
  • Was Sara nearly beating her mother to unconsciousness fueled completely by her anger, or was she unable to feel empathy for her or see the damage she was causing due to the filter flickering on and off while she did it?
• Crosses the Line Twice: After Trick learns that Sara's filter has been disabled, he proceeds to make up for lost time and show her all sorts of inappropriate content in short order, becoming a Corrupt the Cutie Running Gag.
• Fanfic Fuel: An idea that fans have come up with — what if, when Sara destroyed the tablet by beating Marie with it, it caused the chip to glitch and the blur filter to become permanent?
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Marie is an emotionally abusive and controlling mom who blackmails one teen, spies on her daughter to disturbing levels, and tricks her daughter into aborting her pregnancy but some feel it's hard not to feel sorry for her by the end.
  • Trick may be a drug dealer and cocaine user but he was a genuinely nice guy to Sara and it's easy to feel a little sorry for him when Marie blackmails him into not seeing Sara again. Also, his reactions to Sara's constant texting and their final meeting show that he really doesn't want to leave Sara but is forced to do so.
• Memetic Mutation: Most British universities have a meme community. Cambridge's created "CHARLIE BROOKER: wot if eduroam was your mum??!" Eduroam being the UK & USA college-based wifi system that has confusing parental controls (e.g. can access porn, but not educational papers about gender/children/etc.) and is randomly unreliable and universally despised.
• Moral Event Horizon: Marie may have meant to protect her daughter, but she ends up crossing this once she slips crushed abortion-inducment pills into her daughter's smoothie in order to abort Sara's pregnancy without her knowledge or consent. Sara understandably feels betrayed once she learns this from her school's doctor, leading to the fight that results in Sara ultimately running away.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Sara can come across as this for some. While it’s clear that she’s meant to be a victim of her mother’s lack of respect for her privacy and independence, the fact is the reason Marie even starts monitoring her again is because she found out the story that her daughter told her about seeing a movie with her friends was false, which would’ve put Marie’s trust in her daughter in question regardless of how big of a helicopter mom she is. Furthermore, while Sara’s fury at her mom’s invasion of her privacy and for slipping her abortion pills is very understandable, her nearly beating her mother to a pulp seems a lot more extreme than say, simply smashing the tablet.
• The Woobie: Sara is implied to have had a lonely and isolated childhood due to her mother's constant monitoring, to the point where her curiosity and frustration lead her to harm herself as a preteen. As a teenager, after her mother stopped monitoring her, she got better, being able to develop a healthy social life and even get a boyfriend. But then her mother starts monitoring her again without her knowledge and consent, leading to her losing her boyfriend and eventually, her mother. She ends the story as The Runaway after having beaten her mother unconscious with the tablet.