A Show Better Than Black Mirror?

having a party I might come along I know where you are [Music] when I tell you to think of a dark British anthology series most likely for a lot of you the Netflix show black mirror would come to mind or if I were to tell you there's another dark British anthology series out there that would have become just as big if it had also been picked up by Netflix in the u.s. a show where each episode is entirely different and only takes place in one room the two main writers whether it be one of them or both appearing every episode plane as different characters most episode starts out as if you're watching a comedy but then towards the end a twist comes out of nowhere and turns the entire episode into a straight-up horror I want you to eat her just a sliver just enough that you can say you devoured your victim creating a much more uncomfortable and disturbing feeling upon the second viewing granted not every episode is amazing but neither is every episode of Black Mirror and since Black Mirror has a required taste to enjoy it I figured the people who are messed up enough to love Black Mirror will most definitely love inside number 9 a show that spends 30 minutes in a room with the number 9 on its whether it be an apartment a mansion or maybe a shoe size either way it somehow always takes place inside the number 9 what's even better about this series is that it isn't afraid to try new things there aren't many shows out there that can keep you entertained for 30 minutes without any dialogue or if that doesn't get your attention how about a Christmas special that was filmed entirely on 1970s cameras or maybe you could watch the story being told through security footage each episode tries to bring you something new to the table and that's why today we're going to analyze their most critically acclaimed episode the 12 days of Christine a fantastic episode and hopefully after you've gone through this with me you'll be convinced enough to find the show yourself and watch the rest of the episodes there is only one place I'm aware of that allows you to watch this show outside of the UK and that is the online service known as Brit box it's basically BBC and ITV scrappy attempt of competing with Netflix but there's a free trial for seven days and there's only 18 episodes each 30 minutes long this is not a sponsor for Brit book so I can happily tell you to just get the free trial and then piss off before you actually have to pay any money for it so now that that's all out of the way sit back and relax and enjoy the next 20 minutes of me stroking the ego of my two favorite writers and point out the small things that may or may not have been intentional but either way make this episode brilliant it opens with a shot of an apartment building followed by sirens going off while a faint beeping sound can be heard in the background we're only three seconds into the episode and it's already foreshadowing future events a door swings open with the number nine on it telling us that this whole story will be taking place in this very apartment this is day one of 12 for Christine's life we see the introduction of our two main characters christine play by Sheridan Smith and Adam play by Tom Reilly entering the room pretty drunk from a New Year's party it's best for you to take note of the costumes and the way Christine is being carried by Adam as these positions and costumes have been very intentionally chosen for this episode to play out this is the first night they met each other and Christine decides to bring Adam back to her apartment your interest is the fact that they're both drunk is a very clever way to introduce the characters to the audience without it feeling too forced it's very believable so the writers get a gold sticker from me very very clever guys while this does sound like a simple Adam and Eve joke this entire episode represents the life of a human in just 12 days and the Adam and Eve story marks the beginning of human life so the fact that this joke is mentioned on the very first day represents the official start of this humans like the phone then rings as the same beeping sound from the opening can be heard faintly in the background [Music] she answers the scene changes today telling us that we are now on the second day of 12 you can hear Adam over the phone asking if she received a Valentine's card yet clearly establishing that we fast forward at least a couple of months into the future before her roommate Fung played by Stacy Louis I think reveals that it's been 13 months since Christine and Adam met like few have been going out with Adam for 13 months song begins explaining to Christine that she's been learning about continuous quantity in maths and begins to explain what that is again this conversation is establishing two things the first is giving us a little character development in what each character is like we're given the impression that Christine doesn't really know too much but doesn't really care but her roommate appears very intelligent and very passionate about the things she studies the second thing is that continuous quantity is probably the best way to explain this particular episode it's a little strange that we just skipped an entire 13 months of this person's life but the fact her roommate mentions continuous quantity straight after it happened kind of explains right under your nose how exactly this episode is being presented a continuous quantity is when there is no limit to the smallness of parts into which it could be divided so for example if I had a starting point titled a and an ending point titled B with a straight line in between one another this will be classed as a continuous quantity because no matter how much I split it up it will always be a straight line and there will always be something to measure no matter how small I split it this is easily referencing Christine's life being cherry picked and split up into 12 sections let's say this line A to B represents all of Christine's life let's say a represents the day she was born and B being the day she dies during continuous quantity you can take different lines anywhere between a and B and place them together to make them a continuous quantity as long as the ending this and starting points are the same the whole show does this egg's exact thing with its transitions from each day let's say day one is this new straight line that I just picked from a and B but I'll label it one and two and let's say day two is this straight line two and three the number two represents points in time when Chrissy was answering the phone so they ended day one with Chrissy answering a phone and then skipped ahead to some time in the future where she once again was answering the phone which instantly creates a continuous quantity as these two days are now able to connect together and move smoothly along this continues with the rest of the days to come as well I'll be it less obvious but still connects in some way anyway as Christine is looking through the mail she finds a Valentine's card from her very first boyfriend the problem is though she is 23 and hasn't seen this boy since she was 12 oh my god so getting a letter from him now is incredibly strange to make it even stranger the Valentine's card sounds like it was written by a young kid around the age of 12 roses are red violets are blue what is that smell I need a poop a sense of humor Sanchez mode the beeping noise is heard faintly in the background once again as Chrissy rips the card in half and it switched to Adam looking through photos with Chrissy's mom played by Michele dotrice I apologize if i butchered any of these names [Music] this is day three of 12 seems like a happy day until Adam holds up one of the photos asking who is this guy the mother replies saying it was Christine's first boyfriend who died aged 16 christine has no knowledge of him dying and finds it incredibly suspicious as she got a Valentine's letter from him when she was 23 such a shame he died when he was just 16 that is eventually swept under the rug when her mother starts to talk about marriage and starts asking when Adam is going to put a ring on her when are you going to marry yeah Christine brings up the fact that she doesn't know if he wants to move in before we once again hear the beeping sound okay we are now on day four of 12 and Adam has decided to finally move in with Christine surprise for you when you get back she decides to turn on the stereo while Adam is out and begins to hide mini chocolate eggs around the house she places one under her pillow though she gets this she enters the kitchen to find eggs splattered all over the floor we're now starting to realize something else is going on in this episode [Music] and here were introduced to Rhys sheis myth one of the main writers of the show anyway Christine suddenly wakes up as if it was some crazy dream we're now on day five of 12 and the camera pans to a wedding photo of Christine and Adam followed by another shot of Christine getting out of bed and pregnant she then mentions to Adam to get up out of bed or else he'll be late for work but he reminds her that it's the holidays another indication that Christine keeps forgetting things just like she did with her first boyfriend dying at the age of 16 they spend this day building a cot for the baby that is soon to arrive shortly after though Christine begins to cry and express her concern that the baby may spoil everything Adam reassures her that that won't be the case and it will never happen but shortly after the transition then happens once again and now we hear a baby crying on the baby monitor in front of us clearly showing us that the baby has not surprisingly become a tougher job than they first thought in the previous scene this is day 6 of 12 as you can hear Adam singing on the monitor as the baby stops crying Chrissy gets out a card frame and begins to write in it as she pleases it under the pillow though we hear a different voice on the baby monitor she runs to the baby's room to find that Adam was there all along and he never saw a strange man as she starts to think she's going insane she turns out the light switch then switches to a pair of hands moving away from Chrissy's face open your eyes everyone's here on her 30th birthday the man holding the cake is Chrissy's best friend who is also played by none other than Steve Pemberton the second writer one people we're introduced to Chrissy's father played by Paul Copley whose memory seems to be going and doesn't seem to be very aware of his surroundings he didn't know he was coming but I think it's got again a theme of memories and having them scrambled is slowly becoming more and more apparent with this reveal Adam arrives a little late to her birthday with a new secretary from his work this is Zahra she's just started under me Chrissy sees the two later go off to her bedroom after being blindfolded and told to play blind man's buff it's tradition since she was six we've played blind man's buff as she wanders around she manages to get closer to her bedroom and begins to hear the springs on her bed becoming incredibly louder as she walks towards her door she opens it and we now move on to day eight of 12 and Adam is trying to pack a suitcase for a holiday away with her and their kid as we can see Adam still has a wedding ring on meaning the affair he had during the last scene we saw was possibly pushed to the side and may be forgiven by Christine however this holiday was supposed to be just him and her but unfortunately Christine's dad died right before they were about to leave charts get away from this we measured before my dad died meaning she couldn't ask for her mom to take care of the baby I just wanted it to be fun well that's just life as Adam walks off in a rage he then pulls out the passports and looks at her child and it suddenly switches to Christine recording his first day at school day nine of 12 notice her left hand no longer has a wedding ring the fact that she's crying and upset almost implies that this can't have been very long since this happened as Jack the kid leaves for his first day at school Christine decides to look back at an old album cover while her dad sits behind her clearly he's only a part of her imagination as her father was said to have passed away in the previous scene or day whichever you want to call it one of the key things he mentions though is that this is supposed to be a happy memory it's hardly the Cinderella story you know for that nonsense he's Jack's first day of school this is meant to be a happy memory shortly after a buzzer is heard and we now see her answering it in a wicked witch costume for Halloween it's Adam and he's here to pick up jack but he's apparently late were in day 10 of 12 or almost there she's getting ready for a party to potentially meet a new guy as she has a conversation with her best friend your new fella gonna be there he's not the new fella the quiets but while she's saying this to Bobby someone enters the apartment and walks into Jack's room she believes it was Adam until she actually answers the door she runs inside to see the same man she saw earlier in her life holding her child yelling I've got him we then transition into day 11 with Christine running into the apartment in the same position the man was holding jack it appears Jack has burned his hand with a sparkler and she's called her mum around to help her with the wound my mum said okay but when her mum arrives she finds out there's nothing there as Christine is try to process in her mind it gets even weirder when her mum turns around and says that Christine actually burned her hand with a sparkler when she was Jack's age she looks down to her hand to see a scar from where it burned the scene then transitions to Christmas time the twelfth day everyone is there her father mother best friend and Adam currently saying they're back together now something doesn't seem right though but her mother ignores and decides to give Christine her Christmas present she asked where Jack is and Adam just replies saying that he's putting on his nativity costume she eventually opens up the present and finds that it's a book of all her memories Oh God do you remember the half and I kid you not what follows is the best line from the whole episode just like my whole life is flashing [Music] I think I know what this is [Music] [Applause] a car crash eggs splattered on the walls the song on the stereo playing the beeping noise of the indicators and a man in a raincoat accidentally stepping out into the road when he shouldn't have all memories flashed before her eyes it happened so fast even some of them ended up getting mixed into others like the Valentine's Day card getting posted to her when she was 23 but the boyfriend died aged 16 and she hasn't seen him since he was 12 all over the fact when she thought her son burnt his hand when in fact it was her when she was a kid Adam also mentioned that Jack was putting on his Nativity costume after the twist is revealed he finally enters the room dressed as an angel to take her away one of the final shots of the episode is of a fireman carrying her away just like the opening scene when Adam is dressed in a fireman's outfit and she is dressed as a nun almost as if to imply she's off to heaven now and that is just one of many incredible episodes of inside number 9 this episode isn't a spooky or funny as some of the other episodes but by far has the greatest twist but there are tons more episodes that do better at other things and I personally believe you should go watch them all they're highly addictive I really do hope more people outside of the UK do come across this show in the future as it does deserve a lot more attention but I guess we'll have to wait and see it's time Christine [Music]

Channel: Inside A Mind

Views: 1,130,589

Rating: 4.9500284 out of 5

Keywords: Inside A Mind

Id: 71YO8veX7wM

Length: 18min 20sec (1100 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 05 2017