User reviews

Why cast someone who's clearly 20+, as a 15-year-old? I couldn't suspend my disbelief on that one.

Other than that, decent episode that, while failing to stick the landing, should provide an adequate cautionary tale.

The initial premise of this episode had me filled with great anticipation for another thought provoking gem. However as the story rolled on it became as predictable as spinning a 50 pence piece on a table. It never quite got to the edge and inevitability spun to a flat and foreseen ending.

I had really high hopes for this episode. Its premise is fantastic. A service that lets you see your child's exact location and even see through their eyes? But it just didn't deliver. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad episode. But it doesn't stack up to Black Mirror's other episodes. The ending was also predictable and somewhat bland. 7/10

I'll admit to being initially underwhelmed by this one, but as it went on it got better and better, with the story becoming more and more compelling and the agenda of Sara's overbearing mum Maria becoming more controlling. With all the enhancements in technology and society's craving for more and more technical integration the real scare here is this felt like something that could perhaps be a reality one day. The arguments for and against the implant device are well balanced, you see things from viewpoints of Sara and Maria. Superb performances from Rosemarie DeWitt and Brenna Harding, and wonderfully directed, bravo Jodie Foster. Another sizzling episode. 9/10

The topic is civil, if somewhat predictable and boring. There's really nothing interesting or beyond average in this episode. It's not bad, just average. However, in terms of real-life it's very disturbing because the things displayed in the episode (overprotection, developmental issues as a result of overusing digital technolgoies) are already happening today.

In this episode, a mom gets the power she thinks she wants. A chip embedded in her daughter's head allows her -- mom -- to see everything her child sees, and even pixilate out anything disturbing her daughter might encounter, like blood, or an argument.

This is the kind of power tech is actually close to giving parents today. Already there are apps that let you watch on a map where your child is walking, see what they're looking at online, read their texts, scan their photos and even tell their temperature and blood pressure from afar. A new app being developed by a company called Kiddo promises to compare the food your child eats with the exercise their Fitbit shows them getting. If calories consumed are greater than calories burned, the app then lets the parent prescribe a certain amount of extra exertion: "That sundae means you have to do 23 more jumping jacks, Olivia!" We are told we can and must control everything our children do/see/think/worry about and, apparently, eat.

Parents are just starting to understand that with great power -- in fact, with superpowers never before afforded to human beings -- comes great angst. After all, if we CAN watch everything our kids do -- must we? What about our relationship to the child? What about trust? Privacy? Our own happy memories of time we spent far beyond our parents' eyes and ears? Are our kids our prisoners, to be constantly supervised? Our patients, to be constantly monitored? Or are they our pets -- beloved, but wholly dependent on us? That all feels bad. And yet: What if something "bad" happens and we could have prevented it with more vigilance?

That's the push the marketers are giving parents: Now that you CAN see all and prevent all -- why wouldn't you?

Kudos to Arkangel for showing us, in Gothic detail, exactly where that could lead.

And let's hear it for trust.

Arkangel's episode from the black mirror should be an eye-opener for parents and future parenting. Children should experience all incidents from a young age. However, stopping them from making mistakes might be the biggest problem. This episode is not only for parents but also for couples, we should trust our partners and don't spy and expect explanations for everything. My takeaway will be not to care about anyone too much.

The second episode in the fourth run of Black Mirror was already known to me on the strength of Jodie Foster directing it; quite something for a British guy I knew from his scathing takedowns of Big Brother episodes in The Guardian all those years ago. Putting the gender milestone (first episode directed by a woman) to one side, Arkangel is surprisingly run-of-the-mill, even though it has a lot of potential. The concept is easily within reach in many ways, and as a parent my first feeling is to protect my child from anything that might upset them, and to want to know where they are at all times. At the same time though, I see that stopping them being exposed to anything in the real world will probably do more harm than good in most situations.

As a result, most of us should be easily hooked into the dilemma posed by this technology and the extended version we see here. The episode though, doesn't really make the viewer feel that conflict; it is very clear wat is felt and it plays out in a way that is far too on the nose for the most part, and doesn't really cause conflict, or the shivers - in fact it does just what you know it will. This in itself is a weakness since, we know overprotection will go bad, but yet I didn't connect to that challenge from it - it let me off the hook with the way it is straightforward in its narrative. The production standards, ideas, cast, etc are all of high quality, but in the end it is too simplistic in what it does and the message it is delivering.

A surprisingly disappointing episode considering the potential in the material, and the talent behind it.

Hmm! This episode is really brilliant and definitely recommendable to all the parents. It's gives us lessons and I also support over-protection or Over-Parenting is not that effective for a small child to be self-empowerment especially during his/her growth period. Child can go in a wrong path, but that's our duty to teach them properly what's right and what's wrong in this world and it's consequences. And for God sake plz Teach every small kid about Spirituality. Tell them it's importance and Be a Good mentor for Yoga and Satsang for them as early as possible.

Overall a Good episode indeed. It will directly affect into your brain and for sometimes you'll have to thing what's right and what's wrong in this storyline. Because you have to consider Both (Mom and Child's) Point of views and intentions. Anyway 7 Out of 10 Stars from my side. It have some violence and mild reference to sexual activities, So better to avoid watching it with family.

Ok so, this story is all about an over protective mother, who since the beggining is shown how scared she is that her little girl gets hurt in anyway , her mother is way too f-up . AND i love it! It's realistic, there are real overprotective parents all around the world and that's ot the kids fault ,its the parents where they invade their childs privacy.the mother doesn't let her daughter make her own mistakes ( cause well thats called evolving amd learning) and ultimately makes her child have issues ( as is shown in the chapter as how she wants to see and taste and touch everything, cause for so long it was denied to her) leading up to a perfect ending, where you can see the value of this episode " if you pull too hard on a leash, it will eventually break"

I'm only a little way in to this episode, maybe it wont bother anyone else but it's irritating me that when the girl goes from being little to maybe around 11 or so, she apparently changes from being right handed to left handed, that's a careless mistake to me.

Arkangel is directed by Jodie Foster, and all credit to the location manager for giving Hamilton, Ontario, a special spot in the annals of Black Mirror. Here this episode presents helicopter parenting to the extreme (parents with prams screaming "EXCUSE ME!!!!!"). It's not a pretty sight, with the mother, Marie Sambrell (Rosemarie DeWitt) realizing she can see everything her daughter Sara (the wild teenage version played by Australian actress Brenna Harding).

The ending is sad but inevitable.

How far should parents let go of their kids?