Black Mirror Season 3 Episode 3 - Shut Up and Dance

Black Mirror (2011-)
Season 3  - 6 episodes (2016)

Watch Black Mirror Season 3 on Netflix
Written by: Charlie Brooker & William Bridges
Directed by: James Watkins
Starring: Alex Lawther, Jerome Flynn

Plot 
Black Mirror examines the pitfalls when technology and society intersect. What happens when technology goes off the rails, creating a horrifying situation? Ultimately the questions are, does technology make us happier, is being connected at all times beneficial, and does it do more harm than good?
Black Mirror is an anthology. Each episode is self contained with completely different actors.

The third episode of season three is Shut Up and Dance, where an unseen entity blackmails various people through text messages, threatening to reveal their secrets unless they comply. How far do you go to keep your secrets hidden?

Verdict
Shut Up and Dance is a hostage situation. This unseen group or person has created a network of operatives that will do anything to keep their secrets hidden. It's only at the end with the big reveal that we realize they were never promised any refuge for compliance. I never questioned why they would trust someone obviously unscrupulous. We knew they were thinking, "I can't let anybody find out." Their thoughts never went past that.
Watch it.

Review
This episode may convince you to never get a web cam or at last tape over the lens. We've seen web sites that allow you to access unsecure web cams. There are a lot of them.
Embarrassment is control. Think about the power the NSA has. They have everything.  All of our technology makes us the perfect agents to be controlled. It's easy to grab our data, issue orders, and track us with GPS. Phones are the perfect device to blackmail unsuspecting victims.

Episode 3 - Shut Up and Dance

Teenager Kenny (Alex Lawther) is thrust under the control of an unseen group after trying to get rid of the malware his sister accidentally installed on his laptop. He's put in a situation with Hector (Jerome Flynn), someone he doesn't know as the demands get increasingly more absurd. The fear of being exposed trumps even illegal activities. The time limit the faceless entity puts on each task, creates an incredible amount of tension as this episode feels shorter than it's hour run time.

Despite the threats and impediments, Hector, Kenny, and the nameless accomplices complete their tasks only to find out that the faceless group exposed their secrets anyway despite full compliance. The terrorist send them a trollface "feels good man" image through text message just to spite them.

Each of the targets had no reason to trust the terrorist, but did so out of fear. They hoped compliance would stop the threat and it did nothing. This episode has a bite to it. All too often entertainment fools us into thinking the villain will let characters off the hook if they comply, but there is no reason for it.

The reason these people could be black mailed is that they did something wrong. Even Kenny, who you think is innocent, it turns out his misdeed wasn't as innocuous as we guessed. Kenny was looking at images of under aged girls. The show even dropped a big clue that we refused to believe. We felt bad for the victims, but why? They didn't deserve our pity. This episode targeted what we accept as standard. Terrorists have no reason to keep their word after the victims have complied. The victims did everything asked of them, but never stopped to wonder if doing so would actually stop the threat. The terrorist could have used the blackmail indefinitely, at least this way it stops.

It's implied Kenny is on the verge of  being arrested at the end of the episode, likely for his bank robbery. He, and the rest of the victims, would rather be in jail than have their secrets exposed.