The Shrine

Three episodes only. I found this season to be above 4 - which IMO felt too derivative of previous work and too forced into the edgy category for my liking. I also wasn't a massive fan of Bandersnatch.

Season 5 is three solid episodes that are of a different flavour from previous seasons - not edgy and dark for the sake of being dark and edgy. The episodes all explore the psychological relationships of the characters and the technology they use. One of the most satisfying new conventions of this season was showing the aftermath during the closing credits (kind of like old teen movies, though more immediate and connected to the main plot).

Culturally speaking, these reach back into 1990s cultural references and social themes, but with a futuristic take. The two clearest examples deal with a particular Nine Inch Nails song and Street Fighter 2 culture.



Overall, there's no doubt that these episodes are going to be divisive among fans due to the change of flavour: even though they're arguably all better-crafted as standalone episodes than anything in the last season (IMO). I also recommend binging the three at once. My opinion was generally the opposite of most for last season (my favourite was Metalhead, and that was usually the least favourite of most) so the same may be true here; in other words, you may hate these episodes too =)

I liked the new episodes a lot for the most part. In my opinion they all ended well which is often a weakness of the series since Netflix took over.

I agree with you on the happier endings sometimes making the episodes feel weaker. But I only ever found that with some episodes last season (not Hang the DJ, that ended exactly as it should have); this season the endings all felt right.

It makes me wonder if the series is due for a White Christmas caliber of darkness?

White Christmas is still my favorite episode although I think episode two of this last season ended just as well.

White Christmas and San Junipero are my favourites. They deal with very similar tech, both had great plotting, but have two polar opposite endings.

Episode 2 of this season’s ending was arbitrary, but that wasn’t a problem considering the situation. Of all the choices they picked the most impactful one. I loved all the acting in that one, but I felt the acting was all around strong in each episode. Episode 2 was the most straight forward.

Episode 1 of the season is my favourite for the plotting and going into uncomfortable territory and originality. The ending, IMO, didn’t come off as happy even though the characters did get conflict resolution. I can see some in the LGBTQ community not necessarily reacting well to this one due to the “no-homo” element in it. And I can imagine guys who are homophobic and play female characters in games would hate this one too. But aside from that, we’re watching an episode about three very common types of relationships suffering a meltdown, and it’s the weird mind-bending relationship with technology that is to blame for it.

Episode 3 was the least straight forward. If you didn’t grow up without one or both of your parents, it might be difficult to relate to. It’s also their black comedy episode (like 15 million merits, Nosedive, and last year’s finale) and was over the top. Miley was basically a pop star who used drugs that effectively only allowed her to express 4% of her mind (if the doll comparison is the same) making her a happy pop star instead of something like an angry 80s/early 90s punk star. One weird coincidence to for me was I watched this episode on the 20th anniversary of the suicide of one of my best friends from high school, his favourite song was Head Like a Hole; and was similarly, a guy who had a very positive and charismatic exterior, was one of the most popular people in school, but had dark resentful feelings toward certain family members on the inside; it was believed he had bipolar disorder. Not really commentary on the episode, just a gigantic coincidence.

Interesting notes:
In 9 days, Hey I’m a Hoe has nearly as many views as 9 years of Head Like a Hole on youtube (which also benefitted substantially in views). The song was released last week as a single and debuted on several pop charts above above the peak position of Head Like a Hole in multiple countries.