S4E1: USS Callister - The focus of this episode is essentially a virtual toy box where the main character got to play with his work friends in a Star Trek themed environment. It borrowed from an earlier episode where you can make a virtual copy of a person in real life using their DNA. This digital copy identified as a real person and didn't want to be trapped inside the game. In the Christmas episode, we saw Jon Hamm's character torturing one of these digital copies to make it obedient. In this episode, we saw what it would be like if the copies were not obedient.
Since I'm not a huge fan of the original Star Trek episodes, it was difficult getting into the episode, but I started caring about the digital copies and wanted them to win, but also I wanted them to lose because it wouldn't matter because they're not real people, they're just digital. I was hoping for more of twist, but I didn't get one and it was actually semi hopeful for the copies - at least they would be living a better "life" than what was originally tasked of them.
S4E2: Arkangel - This is the first episode of the last series of episodes that I really liked. I understand a mother's desire to keep tabs on their child and I thought the idea of not only tracking them but being able to report on their vitals was very interesting. They could have focused on keeping the child balanced on medication and the effects of big Pharma, but instead the writers focused on the location of the child turned teenager instead. I liked that a mother would want to shield their child from the bad things in the world, but that comes with consequences that could potentially damage a child's mind when he/she becomes aware of what he/she had been censored to. The end was very fitting and I loved how it mirrored the beginning of the episode.
S4E3: Crocodile - I thought the premise was very interesting except I was a little confused on why a claim agency would (a) have such powerful software and (b) have it displayed on a tiny CRT screen. I guess it was supposed to represent the haziness of memory I suppose.
Side note, if I'm sharing a memory of what I think happened, especially getting hit by car, or something quick happening like maybe a soccer player running and scoring a goal, my brain isn't going to store how fast the car was going or how fast the soccer player was running, just that it was "fast" or it happened "so fast" so it seems like the software is only there to try to catch you in a lie. So I suppose the software and person collecting the memories is doing a good job if they catch people lying and reduce the number of claims paid out for the company.
I felt the ending was a little on the shock value side especially since I think the one investigator says the baby was blind making the death even more meaningless.
Out of curiosity, I researched why the episode was called Crocodile because the only thing I could think of was "See you later, Alligator. After while Crocodile." In actuality, according to IMDB, it's called "Crocodile" due to a crocodile's cognitive ability to associate memories with senses such as smell or hearing which is the same technique used to access the memories of the people in the episode. I didn't know crocodiles could do that.
S4E4: Hang the DJ - This is the first episode with a positive ending that I actually enjoyed. When I saw the coaching device it initially reminded me of the Christmas episode where Jon Hamm's character was coaching the guy through the date. I'm glad it was not a person behind the coaching device, but an actual program. It was a really great concept that out of 1000 simulations that they choice each other in 998 of them. I wonder what the difference was in the two outliers, but I guess it doesn't matter because they ended up together in all the other scenarios. The program within a program was a nice touch as it could have gotten very dark and the main characters were living some sort of Groundhog Day scenario, or the program was designed that they would never be together.
S4E5: Metalhead - I think this entire episode is shot in black and white to give it that dystopian feel which it pulled off well. I also thought the main antagonist(s) was convincing and threatening. Sadly, I figured out the ending and when it turned out that 3 people died for what boiled down to nothing, I was left with a feeling of disappoint. I will hopefully never have to experience a kill or be killed situation in real life, but I would think that every move should be clear and calculated before doing anything. In the battle for survival, once I had food, water, shelter, then maybe I would crave some comforts like maybe soap. But to go after something that provides nothing other than emotional comfort/support didn't make sense to me especially when the protagonists had no offence or defense against their enemy.
S4E6: Black Museum - It felt like this episode was trying to be a lot like the Christmas episode in the way it attempted to combine multiple technological elements to tell its story. While it wasn't as good as the Christmas episode, this one did a very good job. First thing that was great was the museum itself and seeing technology from past episodes collected into one place. I also applaud this episode for not relying on past episodes even though it could have and it was kind of what I was expecting. I appreciated the fresh story based on a piece of technology concerning the brain, how it failed, improved, and grew from there constantly building towards the end. There was a small twist that one could possibly see coming towards the end. While it wasn't a total surprise, there were still a few smaller twists to enjoy that pulled at the brain strings (instead of the heart strings). I wouldn't mind seeing a part two to this story with the characters that were still alive at the end. It was a happy ending compared to some of the more dismal endings from prior episodes, but there is definitely more story that could be told.
