I’m always surprised by the hate for the first episode, or people telling folks to skip it/start with a different one. It feels like the most Black Mirrory episode they ever made imo. It’s horrifying and grotesque. The visceral disgust we have to the beastiality with relatively little acknowledgment of the fact that the PM is not only being raped, but having to actively participate in it, in front of an audience. The joking disregard it’s treated with as it escalates, and then everyone watches it against the request of the victim. The fact that it was all ultimately pointless anyway. And that after it was over, people just expect things to go back to normal. That it even raised his approval rating. While his psyche and marriage will never recover.

That brief moment of regret everyone has when watching, when it actually happens and the collective realization hits. When they realize they don’t actually want to watch this and it is not a joke. You turn off the screen but that person you are is staring right back at you, ready to consume the next dehumanizing thing to distract. That’s the show, man.

It’s really actually the same theme as White Bear, which I also liked, but imo sadly more plausible.