LogFAQs > #882652257

I really like the setup for Hated in the Nation, and the buildup to the mystery was very engaging for me. Even though it has a detective procedural formula, it incorporates Black Mirror's cynical outlook on technology though its death polls.

But the final third definitely hurt it. The idea of a villain using his own system to gather all of the targets of his ideology simultaneously is nice, but it's all very sudden and overly reliant on dumb decisions by our protagonists. And the payoff doesn't really say anything other than "look at how a bad guy manipulated technology," which is a common theme in the lesser Black Mirror episodes. And then you have this disconnect between the robot bees and the twitter polling that the final act just kind of falls together without the tight writing that makes the final moments of the best episodes so powerful.

It doesn't help that the dangers of social media is a topic that's already been well-covered by the show prior to its 3rd season finale. Honestly it might have been better if, instead of making the villain the sudden focus of the final act, instead turn the poll into a Death Note kind of situation where the public actually accepts it as an acceptable means of vigilantism (which the episode teases at only briefly). Or, if you really like the villain's ultimate goal, you could push the poll's reveal earlier, have the public accept it, and then end with a more deserved sense of irony.
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