VR life not the best life, again.
VR, AR and all the other something R’s are taking over the world. You’re constantly surrounded by the words ‘Reality’ and ‘Resolution’. It might be how you game, it might be on the phone you use or even the glasses you wear. Virtual Reality is taking over and it’s clearly here to stay and that’s why there are so many shows dabbling with the concept, for example, Black Mirror loves the topic.
Striking Vipers is about two guys who are ended up playing a new version of their favourite fighting game which is now available in VR. Apart from that, all I’m actually allowed to say is that the main character is now thirty-eight and has a wife and child and trying for another kid. I could say that the show is about men and in this case how awkward they can be sometimes.
You can guess where the VR comes into play, it comes in as a way out of the real world, a different way of living outside of the normal world. That’s essentially what VR is about, living and acting in a big playground where you can do whatever you want to do. It’s the same concept for pretty much every VR related show and for Black Mirror it isn’t the first time VR has been used to be somewhere else outside of the natural plains of existence.
Despite some great acting, mainly by Anothy Mackie & Pom Klementieff, and some good subtle set design, Black Mirror always does a great job at adding new technology to a modern shot, Striking Vipers felt a little calm and repetitive. Obviously, the show hasn’t gone into what the episode is really about in terms of VR but as such a relevant technology to today and the future, the show kind of has to keep going with it because that’s what Black Mirror is, our newest and best technology and how it can overtake our lives, time and relationships.
Striking Vipers doesn’t go down as the best episode of the series, in fact, it’s my least favourite of the three. When choosing which episode to watch first I decided to watch Striking Vipers last as it seemed the least interesting to me and I was kind of right with that thought. Surprisingly it is Black Mirror at it’s calmest. Striking Vipers is the first sign of the show just being strange and not inventive like it usually is. The episode is still entertaining, in terms of looking at how our relationships adapt with the introduction of new technologies but it can’t see past it and explore further.