Black Mirror (Striking Vipers)

“I was waiting for an opponent like you.” -Sagat, “Street Fighter IV”

There’s plenty about this that reads well, from its central premise to its ending to the people behind the camera (Owen Harris also directed series standouts “Be Right Back” and “San Junipero”). Once the first act is complete, though, the episode relies more on its striking imagery to conjure emotion than the writing, and the episode feels like it is building to a bigger twist that never comes. The actors are game and I can’t say I wasn’t invested, but what could have been a classic just isn’t.

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