Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The first episode, "The National Anthem", features a Prime Minister blackmailed into a strange and disturbing act. The Prime Minister of the time was rumored to have performed a very similar act as an Oxford boys' club initiation act, in a news event that made "Black Mirror" creator Charlie Brooker "wonder if reality was a simulation, whether it exists only to trick me". Which animal was involved in both acts?
2. In the second episode, "Fifteen Million Merits", the majority of adults in society are made to perform a particular repetitive job. Abi and then Bing both perform in a reality show, "Hot Shot", to escape this tedious labor. The year after the episode's premiere, prisoners in Brazil were offered release one day earlier per 24 hours they spent doing this labor. What was it?
3. An episode of "Black Mirror" follows Martha grieving the sudden loss of her partner Ash in an unhealthy way, as she gets an artificial intelligence replacement for him - first via chat message, then via phone calls, then via a fully realistic android model of his body. She finds the robot cannot replace Ash's unique personality. One AI company co-founder saw the episode and thought, "I should make this reality", creating a chatbot designed to replicate the personality of her recently deceased friend. What is the name of the episode?
4. In "The Waldo Moment", an animated blue bear - known for puerile celebrity pranks on a late-night comedy show - runs for election. His populist rhetoric in absence of real values or clear policies, violation of social norms and vicious attacks on other candidates made Donald Trump an obvious comparison to Waldo. More interesting is a comparison to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whose qualifications were having played the role of Ukrainian president in a satirical comedy. But which British politician was Waldo initially based off?
5. In "Nosedive", Lacie is rated in every social interaction she has on a scale from one to five, giving her an overall rating that determines her social class. She wishes to raise her rating by attending a popular childhood friend's wedding. Based on the episode's title, she doesn't have much hope.
China's Social Credit System subsequently put the episode's dystopian ideas to use. Rolled out differently by each local government, the system gives each citizen a rating based on many actions they take, and even based on their friends' ratings in some cases. In Lacie's rating nosedive, she encounters problems in which of these sectors that the Social Credit System can also bar some citizens access to?
6. "Shut Up and Dance" tells a story of a young man blackmailed by people whose identities are never revealed into completing a series of confusing and increasingly dangerous actions. He is blackmailed over malware that recorded him engaging in indecent behavior. This proved very timely, as similar "webcam blackmail" emails (which do NOT have any incriminating evidence against you!) skyrocketed in the following years. Which of these actions is Kenny made to do by the blackmailers?
7. The most surprising coincidence in the episode "Crocodile" is from a relatively tangential event. The focus is how Mia's accomplice role in a hit-and-run ends up resurfacing and escalating. Shazia works for an insurance company and is led to Mia by investigating an accident. An announcement by Pizza Hut a fortnight later brought to mind what sci-fi concept involved in the accident?
8. It did not take long after "Metalhead" was released for "'Black Mirror' has come true" headlines to start flooding in. The episode is filmed in black and white at the helm of David Slade and features almost no dialogue. Bella flees a robotic killing machine with incredible resilience. Videos of AI Boston Dynamics robots resembling this machine and engaging in some of its very sophisticated behavior are what has led to news about the episode coming true. What animal - also the inspiration for many of Boston Dynamics' robots - is Bella's enemy referred to as?
9. "Striking Vipers" raises questions about what it means to have a relationship with somebody in a way that the adult entertainment company Viro Playspace later decided to mimic. Through what technology do Danny and Karl pursue an affair?
10. The last episode of season five, "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too", is about a singer-songwriter who is put into a coma by her controlling aunt, who micromanages her successful music career and is concerned by the singer's growing independence and unhappiness with her life. The role of singer was played by, surprisingly, Miley Cyrus. Her own life as a bubbly child popstar who later decides to rebel drew comparisons by reviewers. A more astonishing comparison was revealed by later news about Britney Spears and her involuntary conservatorship at the behest of her father and family, who she accused of abuse.
What is the name of Miley's character in the episode?
Source: Author
AdamM7
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
kyleisalive before going online.
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