Ep 2. White Bear
- February 18, 2013
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8.0 (54,989)
In the second episode of the second season of the critically acclaimed series Black Mirror, we are introduced to a world where justice has taken on a whole new meaning. Victoria Skillane (Lenora Crichlow) wakes up in a strange apartment with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She soon discovers that the entire world around her has changed as well - people are ignoring her, and unusual symbols and images are popping up on TV screens and billboards all around her.
Victoria quickly realizes that she is being hunted, and soon finds herself on the run from a group of masked people wielding shotguns. She is eventually captured, however, and taken to a place called White Bear Justice Park. Here, she learns that she has been sentenced to undergo a strange form of punishment for her supposed crimes - she will be chased through a town by the masked hunters every day, and her memory will be erased each night. Her punishment is to repeat this same sequence every day for the foreseeable future.
As Victoria is chased through the town, she sees various scenes of people being tortured, killed, and otherwise terrorized - and she begins to wonder whether her punishment is truly deserved. She also discovers that many of the people around her are actually spectators, watching her punishment as a form of entertainment. Despite her confusion and terror, Victoria remains determined to break free from her tormentors and discover the truth about who she really is.
As the episode progresses, we learn more about the events that led up to Victoria's punishment. We see flashbacks to her life before the punishment, including her relationship with a little girl named Jemima (Tuppence Middleton) who has since disappeared. We also see that there may be more to Victoria's supposed crimes than we were initially led to believe, and that there are people watching over her punishment who may not have her best interests at heart.
As the episode reaches its conclusion, we are left to question whether Victoria deserves her punishment, and whether the society that has created this system of justice is truly just. The episode has a stunning twist ending that is both shocking and thought-provoking, leaving the viewer to grapple with the ethics of justice and punishment in a world where technology has the power to transform our ideas of right and wrong.
Overall, White Bear is a thrilling and thought-provoking episode of Black Mirror that delves into some of the most pressing ethical questions of our time. It challenges viewers to consider what it means to be just, and how our society's ideas of justice may be transformed by technology and other factors. If you are a fan of dark, thought-provoking science fiction, then White Bear is a must-watch episode of the iconic Black Mirror.