The Waldo Moment

"" is the third and final episode of the second series of British science fiction anthology series . It was written by series creator and showrunner and directed by Bryn Higgins, and first aired on on 25 February 2013. The episode originated in an idea for , an earlier TV show by Brooker "The Waldo Moment" and . Black Mirror episode

The episode tells the story of Jamie (Daniel Rigby), a failed comedian who is the voice actor and digital puppeteer of a blue cartoon bear named Waldo, who comically interviews politicians and other authority figures in an insulting manner. Jamie's producer () decides to make Waldo enter the ongoing election to become the town's Member of Parliament, as a way to get public attention; however, the joke takes unexpected proportions. Chloe Pirrie and co-star as the candidates representing the Labour and Conservative parties, respectively.

While the episode received moderate reviews on its first broadcast, journalists saw more relevance in the episode following the events of the 2016 United States presidential election. Jamie (Daniel Rigby) in front of a screen depicting Waldo. Contents Episode no. Series 2 Episode 3 Plot Directed by Bryn Higgins Production Written by Charlie Brooker Reception Featured music Original Score by References Antony Genn External links Martin Slattery Original air date 25 February 2013 Plot Running time 44 minutes Guest appearance(s) Jamie Salter (Daniel Rigby) is a failed comedian who performs the voice and movements (via a remote manipulator called a Waldo) of a vulgar, blue cartoon bear named Waldo, who interviews politicians and other authority figures. The interviewees are fooled into thinking the Waldo interviews are for a children's TV programme, when they're actually for a late- Daniel Rigby as Jamie Salter night, topical comedy show. Waldo the bear is extremely popular with the British public, and a pilot for his own series is commissioned. Despite the character's success, Jamie is Chloe Pirrie as Gwendolyn depressed and unsatisfied with his life. Harris During a brainstorming session for the Waldo pilot, producer Jack Napier (Jason Flemyng), who owns the rights to Waldo, jokingly suggests that Waldo should compete against real Jason Flemyng as Jack Napier politicians in an upcoming by-election in the town of Stentonford, so he can stand against one of his past interviewees, Conservative candidate Liam Monroe (Tobias Menzies). Jamie Tobias Menzies as Liam Monroe reluctantly agrees, worried about entering the world of politics. The production company head off on a campaign trail, projecting Waldo onto a screen on the side of a van and driving to Christina Chong as Tamzin wherever Monroe is campaigning, so Waldo can publicly humiliate him. During the campaign, Jamie meets Gwendolyn Harris (Chloe Pirrie), the by-election's Labour candidate who, James Lance as Connor despite having no chance of winning, is entering the by-election to further her political career. Jamie and Gwendolyn sleep together, but Gwendolyn is warned by her campaign manager to keep away from Jamie during the campaign. Jamie is hurt by her avoidance and develops a disdain for career politicians. Ed Gaughan as Shaun Pip Torrens as Philip Crane Aggravated by Monroe's attempt to mock him on a TV panel, Jamie issues a rant against the artificiality of politicians, exposing Gwendolyn as a career politician in the process. This David Ajala as Jeff Carter rant goes viral on YouTube, and Waldo's following grows while Gwendolyn's campaign quickly falters. Despite Waldo's popularity, Jamie wants to quit, but Napier threatens to take over controlling Waldo if Jamie does not continue. Jamie and Napier meet with Jeff Carter (David Ajala), part of an unidentified American agency who claims that, because Waldo is Michael Shaeffer as Roy not a real person, he has the potential to become a popular face of otherwise unpopular global authority. Jamie resists this idea. He tries to apologise to Gwendolyn, but she angrily turns him away, saying that Waldo has only further secured Monroe's win. On the final day of the campaign trail, Jamie breaks character and begs the public not to vote for Waldo, leaving the van and trying to smash the screen, but Napier takes over Waldo's controls and asks the public to attack Jamie. Jamie watches the by-election's results from a hospital bed; Monroe wins, with Waldo (now voiced by Napier) coming second and Gwendolyn coming third. Waldo prompts the audience to riot.

During the end credits, Jamie is homeless in the future. Waldo is plastered on screens, showing that the American agent's vision of a palatable face on authority has come to fruition. He tries to destroy the screen in anger, and is tased by the police.

Production

The episode originates from an idea by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, conceived when the pair were writing Nathan Barley in 2005. They imagined a politician based on Gorillaz. When Brooker came to write the episode, British politician was "very present in [his] thoughts",[1] and was also an inspiration.[2] Jón Gnarr, a stand-up comedian who became mayor of Reykjavík, was another reference point, and after the episode idea was conceived, a candidate dressed as a penguin and campaigning under the name "Professor Pongoo" beat the Liberal Democrats in the 2012 Scottish local elections.[3]

Reception

The episode aired on Channel 4 at 10 p.m. on 25 February 2013, and was watched by 1.28 million viewers, according to 7 day data from BARB.[4]

The A.V. Club rated the episode a C+, concluding: "There's just not enough there to suggest that Waldo's moment would last much longer than 15 minutes, and the show doesn't help by having all of its characters agree."[5] Den of Geek concurred, stating: "This was a lesser episode of Black Mirror, then, but that's partly because the quality of other entries has been so high. 'The Waldo Moment' was still full of keenly observed scenes (the toe-curling job interview was one highlight, and the gleeful demolition of a disgraced MP on a topical comedy feels like a pointed jab at the humour in his own current affairs show, 10 O'Clock Live)".[6] The Telegraph gave the episode 3/5 stars, and wrote: "Brooker didn't over egg it, at least not until the end, which descended into a hammy dystopian vision of Waldo becoming a means of universal mind control."[7]

Several news reports, including one by Chris Cillizza, political reporter for The Washington Post, compared 's 2016 presidential campaign to the episode.[8][9] In September 2016, episode writer Charlie Brooker also compared the Trump campaign to "The Waldo Moment" and predicted Trump would win the 2016 election.[10][11] Brooker said in an October 2016 interview that at the time of its production, he felt "The Waldo Moment" was "one episode that I didn't really nail, didn't get the stakes right. But if you look at that now, it’s really quite terrifying. It’s more prescient than I realized. He’s an anti-politics candidate who’s raucous and defensive, and that’s all he is, and he offers nothing. He insults everyone and they lap it up because they’re so sick of the status quo. And then you look at Trump..."[12] On the night of the election, at the hour when Trump's victory was becoming clear to the nation, Black Mirror sent out a tweet proclaiming: "This isn't an episode. This isn't marketing. This is reality."[13]

Commentators also found that "Animoji", emoji-style avatars that were animated based on tracking facial movements of the user, introduced in iOS 11 alongside Apple's iPhone X in September 2017 had been predicted by "The Waldo Moment".[14][15]

References

1. Tate, Gabriel (31 January 2013). "Charlie Brooker and Hayley Atwell discuss 'Black Mirror' " (https://www.timeout.com/london/tv-and-radio-guide/charlie-brooker-and-hayley-atwell-discuss-black-mirror). Time Out. Retrieved 16 December 2017. 2. Jones, Emma (21 October 2016). "Black Mirror: Backlash against writer inspired episode" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37714850). BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2017. 3. Kelly, Stephen (11 February 2013). "Charlie Brooker Q&A: the drug of tech has us hooked. What's the side-effect?" (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/charlie-brooker). Wired. Retrieved 16 December 2017. 4. "Weekly top 30 programmes" (http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-30). Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 10 December 2017. 5. "Black Mirror: "The Waldo Moment" " (http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/the-waldo-moment-106539). AV Club. Retrieved 10 December 2014. 6. "Black Mirror series 2 episode 3: The Waldo Moment spoiler-filled review" (http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/24606/black-mirror-series-2-episode-3-the-waldo-moment-spoiler-filled-review). Den of Geek. Retrieved 10 December 2014. 7. "Black Mirror: The Waldo Moment, Channel 4, review" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9893606/Black-Mirror-The-Waldo-Moment-Channel-4-review.html) . The Telegraph. UK. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 8. Cillizza, Chris (8 September 2015). "Donald Trump's troll game of Jeb Bush: A+" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/08/donald-trumps-troll-game-of-jeb-bush-a/). The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 October 2015. 9. O'Keefe, Meghan (7 August 2015). "Why You Must Watch Black Mirror: 'The Waldo Moment' This Weekend" (http://decider.com/2015/08/07/black-mirror-the-waldo-effect-2016-presidential-race/). Decider. Retrieved 24 October 2015. 10. Yamato, Jen (13 September 2016). " 'Black Mirror' Creator Predicts Trump Will Be President: 'I Find It F*cking Terrifying' " (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/13/black-mirror-creator-predicts-tr ump-will-be-president-i-find-it-f-cking-terrifying.html). . Retrieved 8 October 2016. 11. Wampler, Scott (13 September 2016). "Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker Predicts Trump Will Win The Election" (http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/09/13/black-mirrors-charlie-brooker-predicts-that-trump-wil l-win-the-election). BirthMoviesDeath.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016. 12. Ritman, Alex (21 October 2016). " 'Black Mirror' Creator on How He (Unknowingly) Predicted the Rise of Donald Trump, Season 3" (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/black-mirror-creator-charli e-brooker-season-3-donald-trump-940324). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 December 2017. 13. McDermott, Maeve (8 November 2016). "No, this election isn't a 'Black Mirror' episode, tweets 'Black Mirror' " (https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/11/08/black-mirror-tweets-about-20 16-race-donald-trump/93521970/). USA Today. Retrieved 23 November 2016. 14. Strause, Jackie (12 September 2017). "How 'Black Mirror' Predicted New Apple Technology" (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/black-mirror-predicted-new-apple-technology-1038237). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 December 2017. 15. "Black Mirror predicted a new iPhone X feature" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/09/13/black-mirror-predicted-new-iphone-x-feature/). . 13 September 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.

External links

"The Waldo Moment" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2386296/) on IMDb

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Waldo_Moment&oldid=867912922"

This page was last edited on 8 November 2018, at 19:46 (UTC).

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