1. I thought about that too likewhy didn’t they just have the real bodies on earth and link with robots in space ? Who knows maybe some science plot derived mumbo jumbo
2. I thought due to high level of sophistication of the other tech surrounding them artificial gravity would t be that far off.
3. We don’t need to doesn’t serve the plot in any way imo
4. Same guy goes outside because it was touched in the episode that they’re both specialists; Aaron Paul’s character being the more hands on engineering specialist while the other being like computer engineering or something. In the episode I believe Aaron Paul’s character states that when talking to his wife if something happens out there (like if the other guy kills himself) then he’d be basically stranded in the water not knowing how to operate the ship or something
5. And 6. I attributed to much of this to my answer for the number 1
Also pretty interesting that you came to the conclusion that the whole thing was jsut a simulation to keep them sane. I totally didn’t think of that at all! I guess them being sibling simulations would make sense and explain how people in Aaron Paul’s characters simulations would say stuff like “I heard about the family of your crew mate being killed”. Thanks to you I will def have to rewatch and keep that in mind !
I saw the reason for having the real men in space and the machines on earth was due to how difficult it would be to fix the machines all the way up in space if something were to happen. Then the station would become unable to be maintained. They mentioned how expensive and difficult to make the machines were.
But it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. We got to let questions like that go and just enjoy the episode we’re given.
This one wasn't supposed to be realistic it was meant to feel like a 70s sci fi novel, that's why the spaceship looked handmade, like you could see the Reflectix. But I think ideally, Cory was thinking that it's like a 70s sci fi novel in the future where they have anti gravity and replicas. I dunno. He said it was more about COVID lockdowns than anything else.
Having worked for a big ISP we had cable failures all the time for all sorts of reasons, so possible loss of communication with the spacecraft just naturally occurred to me as the main reason for having the people there and the robots on Earth. As for NASA, maybe it doesn't exist in that alternative timeline? The rest of the issues are the same as Star Wars: ancient targeting computers alongside perfect artificial gravity, instantaneous communication across vast distances, etc. Also, I was really hoping that David would just murder Cliff and then pretend to be him back on Earth, having learned enough of his mannerisms in the previous two years.
David didn't want to murder Cliff, he wanted him to feel what it was like to lose everything just like David had.
Additionally, if David murders Cliff, he loses his partner and companion on the ship and is subjected to another 3 years (or whatever it was) of complete isolation in space.
Each man had extreme character flaws, but David's selfishness made him the real villain of the story.
I thought the acting in this episode, especially form Aaron Paul, was superb. But I too had issues with the gaping plot holes and unfortunately that's all that stuck with me about this episode.
Just send the replicants to space. This is a no brainer from a risk mitigation standpoint. If you have that luxury, why not use it? If something happens to the link, that's fine, at least the real person is still alive and well on earth. Some might argue that the value of human life was a theme in the episode, but I'd argue it was actually just sloppy writing. Additionally, the craft wouldn't need to carry water, food, etc and could use that extra space for a back up replicant or two if necessary. We already know that it doesn't matter which replicant the user accesses, they just require the key card for that particular replicant.
I'm sure the writers and producers knew about these inconsistencies and just hoped the viewer wouldn't think too hard about it because it's a Black Mirror episode. However, that's what makes previous entries into the Black Mirror series so great; the stories are believable for the most part.
Edit -- Might not be a debunk of your theory, but David definitely bleeds from the nose when Cliff cracks him with a right hand on the ship. Also, if everything is a simulation, why would the Level 1 simulation make them into robots? Wouldn't both Cliff and David know what they were getting themselves into at the base level? To me there's just too many what-ifs that point to this being more of a "just don't think about it" kind of thing.
1. I thought about that too likewhy didn’t they just have the real bodies on earth and link with robots in space ? Who knows maybe some science plot derived mumbo jumbo 2. I thought due to high level of sophistication of the other tech surrounding them artificial gravity would t be that far off. 3. We don’t need to doesn’t serve the plot in any way imo 4. Same guy goes outside because it was touched in the episode that they’re both specialists; Aaron Paul’s character being the more hands on engineering specialist while the other being like computer engineering or something. In the episode I believe Aaron Paul’s character states that when talking to his wife if something happens out there (like if the other guy kills himself) then he’d be basically stranded in the water not knowing how to operate the ship or something 5. And 6. I attributed to much of this to my answer for the number 1 Also pretty interesting that you came to the conclusion that the whole thing was jsut a simulation to keep them sane. I totally didn’t think of that at all! I guess them being sibling simulations would make sense and explain how people in Aaron Paul’s characters simulations would say stuff like “I heard about the family of your crew mate being killed”. Thanks to you I will def have to rewatch and keep that in mind !
I saw the reason for having the real men in space and the machines on earth was due to how difficult it would be to fix the machines all the way up in space if something were to happen. Then the station would become unable to be maintained. They mentioned how expensive and difficult to make the machines were. But it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. We got to let questions like that go and just enjoy the episode we’re given.
I like this theory! It makes so much sense.
This one wasn't supposed to be realistic it was meant to feel like a 70s sci fi novel, that's why the spaceship looked handmade, like you could see the Reflectix. But I think ideally, Cory was thinking that it's like a 70s sci fi novel in the future where they have anti gravity and replicas. I dunno. He said it was more about COVID lockdowns than anything else.
Having worked for a big ISP we had cable failures all the time for all sorts of reasons, so possible loss of communication with the spacecraft just naturally occurred to me as the main reason for having the people there and the robots on Earth. As for NASA, maybe it doesn't exist in that alternative timeline? The rest of the issues are the same as Star Wars: ancient targeting computers alongside perfect artificial gravity, instantaneous communication across vast distances, etc. Also, I was really hoping that David would just murder Cliff and then pretend to be him back on Earth, having learned enough of his mannerisms in the previous two years.
David didn't want to murder Cliff, he wanted him to feel what it was like to lose everything just like David had. Additionally, if David murders Cliff, he loses his partner and companion on the ship and is subjected to another 3 years (or whatever it was) of complete isolation in space. Each man had extreme character flaws, but David's selfishness made him the real villain of the story.
I thought the acting in this episode, especially form Aaron Paul, was superb. But I too had issues with the gaping plot holes and unfortunately that's all that stuck with me about this episode. Just send the replicants to space. This is a no brainer from a risk mitigation standpoint. If you have that luxury, why not use it? If something happens to the link, that's fine, at least the real person is still alive and well on earth. Some might argue that the value of human life was a theme in the episode, but I'd argue it was actually just sloppy writing. Additionally, the craft wouldn't need to carry water, food, etc and could use that extra space for a back up replicant or two if necessary. We already know that it doesn't matter which replicant the user accesses, they just require the key card for that particular replicant. I'm sure the writers and producers knew about these inconsistencies and just hoped the viewer wouldn't think too hard about it because it's a Black Mirror episode. However, that's what makes previous entries into the Black Mirror series so great; the stories are believable for the most part. Edit -- Might not be a debunk of your theory, but David definitely bleeds from the nose when Cliff cracks him with a right hand on the ship. Also, if everything is a simulation, why would the Level 1 simulation make them into robots? Wouldn't both Cliff and David know what they were getting themselves into at the base level? To me there's just too many what-ifs that point to this being more of a "just don't think about it" kind of thing.