Put a piece of tape over your webcam before you watch this next episode of Black Mirror. Blackmailers have you. Spoilers ahead.
A woman in a hoodie walks up to a car, sticking something under the rear tire well. She communicates something via her phone, and leaves.
Cut to the interior of a diner. Its the midday rush. A young man is cleaning dishes into the trash. He notices a child has left a toy. He returns it to the child, offers a small smile, and returns to his duties.
Meet Kenny
This teenager, Kenny (Alex Lawther) returns from his job and wants to relax. His sister, however, has managed to freeze his computer by installing a torrenting software. Alex installs Shrive Antivirus to clear his computer. Once his computer is functioning again, Kenny sits in front of his laptop to masturbate. He washes his hands. He returns to his computer. An anonymous email shows up on his computer.
“We saw what you did” the text reads. Kenny panics as he sees a video of himself in the attachments. He locks his bedroom door and sticks something over the camera, but the damage is done. A few seconds later, another anonymous message demands his phone number or the video will be leaked. He sends the anonymous person his number. He receives a text telling him to keep his phone charged so he can be “activated”.
Activation
The next day, while on his way to work, Kenny is “activated” via text. He is sent a location and given an impossibly small amount of time to get there.
He arrives within the time limit on the roof of a carpark. A man on a motorcycle meets him, and hands him a white box. The man on the motorcycle takes Kenny’s picture as “proof”. Kenny asks why the man is doing what he is. The man replies they will stop when he does what they say. Kenny takes the box the man described as fragile, and receives a notice asking him to confirm the number. He sends a confirmation of the number. Kenny is instructed to deliver it to another address. He has to leave his bike behind, or risk damaging the box.
Hector
He arrives at a hotel and knocks on the door for room 121. The occupant will not accept the delivery. Kenny asks the blackmailer what to do. The blackmailer says to tell the occupant “Mindy sent you”. This gets him access to the room. Hector (Jerome Flynn (Bronn on Game of Thrones)) asks how Kenny knows Mindy. Kenny says the people on the phone told him to say that. Hector asks why Kenny is working for them. Hector’s phone starts ringing notifications. He takes it into the bathroom.
Kenny asks the hacker if he can go. The blackmailer responds “NO”. The hacker instructs Kenny to take Hector’s photo. Kenny takes his photo. Kenny is then told to accompany Hector to take the package to its next location.
Hector was sent a picture of a license plate. It is the car from the beginning of the episode. They find the key under the rear tire well and get in the car, headed to a location on Hector’s phone.
The Car
On the way to the next location, Hector reveals he was waiting for a prostitute in the hotel. Hector is married. The hacker contacted him through the website he used to find the prostitute, like they used the anti-virus software for Kenny. They have photographs and chat records of Hector. Kenny says he was caught masturbating and they have the film.
They stop to get gas. A woman at the gas station asks Hector to be taken somewhere. She works for the PTA at Hector’s children’s school. Hector agrees to take her to her destination. As they are driving, Kenny receives texts that he is going the wrong way. They are warned to be at the new location in 20 minutes.
They arrive at the bank, their next location. Hector and Kenny look inside the cake and find a gun. They are told to rob the bank with the gun. They rob the bank, and Hector and Kenny are told to split up. Hector takes the car and Kenny is told to take the money into nearby woods.
Finale
In the woods, Kenny runs into another victim. The hacker has targeted this man for child pornography. This man sets up a drone to watch them in the woods. He tells Kenny they are going to fight to the death. The money Kenny brought is the prize. This victim asks Kenny what kind of pictures he looked at and how young they were. Kenny starts crying. Kenny aims his gun from the bank job at himself. He pulls the trigger and nothing happens.
Hector, meanwhile, has arrived at home. He receives a final message from the hacker, a trollface meme. His wife already knows.
The woman from the beginning, who sent racist emails, also receives a trollface. Kenny’s mother calls him, frantic as he walks home from the woods. She says “Tell me its not kids”.
Kenny walks, in shock, to the police car that arrives to take him.
Blackout.
- Teas Your Favorite Characters Probably Drink: AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER - November 6, 2024
- Season 2 of DUST: Flight 008 Is a DELIGHT! - April 30, 2020
- TALES FROM THE GAS STATION: VOLUME THREE Ebook Now Available on Amazon - April 19, 2020