Episode no. Series 3
Episode 1 Story by Charlie Brooker | Directed by Joe Wright Running time 63 minutes | |
Teleplay by Michael Schur
Rashida Jones Original air date 21 October 2016 (2016-10-21) | ||
"Nosedive" is the first episode of the third series of British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror. Michael Schur and Rashida Jones wrote the teleplay for the episode, based on a story by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker, while Joe Wright acted as director. The first episode of the series to be made for Netflix, it premiered on 21 October 2016, together with the rest of the third series.
Contents
Set in an alternative reality where people can rate one another using their phones, and where your ratings can impact your entire life, it tells the story of Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard), a young woman overly obsessed with her ratings who, after being chosen by her popular childhood friend (Alice Eve) as the maid of honour for her wedding, sees it as an opportunity to improve her ratings and achieve her dreams. Cherry Jones and James Norton co-star as a truck driver and Lacie's brother, respectively.
The episode received positive reception. Howard's performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, a first for the series.
Plot
Lacie Pound (Bryce Dallas Howard) lives in a world where people can rate one's popularity out of five stars, from friends to strangers on the street. Lacie, who is obsessed with being received well, begins the episode with an approval rating around 4.2. She lives with her brother Ryan (James Norton), who has a lower approval rating and does not worry about it. Their lease is expiring, and Lacie is eager to move out to the "luxurious" Pelican Cove, against her brother's advice. In order to be able to afford to live there, she must either pay an exorbitant rent or earn a discount by having a rating of 4.5 or above.
Naomi (Alice Eve), Lacie's childhood friend, asks Lacie to be her maid of honour at her wedding. Naomi has a rating of 4.8 and many "upper class" friends and lives on a private island. Lacie believes if she delivers a perfect maid of honour speech, her rating will be pulled up to the 4.5 she needs. She goes to an airport to travel to the wedding, but is dismayed to learn that her original flight has been cancelled. The airport attendant informs Lacie that there is an available seat on another flight, but she needs a 4.2 rating to get it. Due to an earlier argument with Ryan over Pelican Cove and several unfortunate encounters with random strangers on her way to the airport, Lacie's rating has dropped to 4.1, so she is refused the seat. Out of frustration, Lacie causes a scene and security gives her a 24-hour punishment that temporarily lowers her rating by one whole point to 3.1 and all downvotes she receives will incur a double multiplier. After being asked to leave the airport, Lacie is forced to rent a car to make the nine-hour drive to Naomi's wedding.
Because of her low ranking, Lacie can only rent an old model car with controls that are in Czech. After driving for some time, the car loses power and Lacie cannot charge it as the car is so old the charging station does not carry its adaptor anymore. Lacie then attempts to hitchhike, but passing motorists are shocked at her low rating and refuse to stop, with some even downvoting her for no reason. Eventually she manages to get a ride from a truck driver, Susan (Cherry Jones), who reveals she too was obsessed with ratings until her husband was passed over for vital cancer treatment because he was a 4.3 rather than a 4.4.
Naomi calls Lacie and tells her she is no longer welcome at the wedding, as her rating has now dropped to 2.6. Enraged, Lacie gets drunk and decides to go anyway, breaking into the island and gatecrashing the wedding reception. Lacie drunkenly performs her speech at first calmly, but then starts to embarass herself as she insults Naomi's new husband Paul (Alan Ritchson) by calling him a "jackhole". She then rips into Naomi for sleeping with her boyfriend when they were younger, and all the guests subsequently rank her down until she has a ranking of 0, though she is unfazed by this. When Paul attempts to take away the microphone, Lacie suddenly threatens him with a knife, having lost her sanity after all that's happened to her. As Lacie continues to rant about Naomi, one of the guests deliberately trips her, allowing security to arrest her. She then has the technology to be ranked removed and is jailed for her actions.
While in her cell, Lacie begins to exchange insults with another prisoner (Sope Dirisu), and their mutual anger turns to mutual delight as they realize they are free to speak to each other without fear of being ranked down.
Production
The episode is based on an idea by series creator Charlie Brooker, who wrote a three-page outline, with Schur and Jones encouraged to write a script that was "comedic, darkly".
Critical reception
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian noted that the episode "manages to create a believable and aesthetically impressive mini-universe without the need for tiresome exposition". Furthermore, Adam Chitwood of Collider noted that the "lush world and bitingly hilarious script of 'Nosedive' brings some much-welcomed levity to the Black Mirror universe". Matt Fowler of IGN described the episode as "both fun and frustrating [but] it works well when you consider that the next two episodes get a lot more grounded and grim". Sophie Lee of The Atlantic compared the episode to the controversial mobile application, Peeple. Other reviews compared it to an earlier episode of Community.
For her performance in the episode, Bryce Dallas Howard was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie.