Disclaimer: The opinions listed below are merely my own and it is what I MYSELF have taken out of the episode. By no means am I saying that my views are 100% accurate or that anyone who opposes of them are wrong. A discussion is just that...a discussion, and I love that this show is open to such interpretations.
Season 1:
Episode "Fifteen Million Merits"
- Summary
"Fifteen Million Merits" follows the life of Bingham "Bing" Madsen. In his world, citizens earn money in forms of merits. Bing uses his merits for simple daily needs such as food and water but feels like there is nothing beyond the essentials that he desires. That is, until he hears a girl name Abi singing in the bathroom. Bing is moved by Abi's beautiful voice and believes that she has a gift that must be heard. He is willing to spend 15 million merits in order to get her a ticket for a popular singing show called Hot Shot, but results of the competition are not what Bing nor Abi had hoped for. - Discussion
First off, I really like the setting in this episode. For the entire episode, we are being inclosed in a building with Bing and the people in his "building." We are never taken outside to get a glimpse of the surrounding or even given a window to peer through. Even at the beginning of the episode, Bing is woken up by a computer stimulation of a rooster calling on a farm. There is no natural sunlight filtering through a window to wake him up, or a dark night sky to tell him the sun has set. The whole episode made me feel claustrophobic because for these people there is no "going outside," there is no escape. Even something as normal as a sunrise has to be computer programmed, making me wonder if in this future all concept of nature has been destroyed. Maybe there isn't anything left to see because Earth has been destroyed, and the only way these people can have "normal lives" is for these computer screens to display images that they are not able to see in real life.
Without the four wall-like screens stimulating images of day and night, Bing would not be able to know whether it's time to wake up or to go to sleep. This means that the concept of time is extremely hazy, and the only people who know what time it is are the ones who control the monitors. Yet throughout the episode, we never get to see who is really in charge in this world. That was something that I wish was explored more, but like other episodes of Black Mirror, the "how" and "who" are never thoroughly answered.
The fact that the entire episode is set in a huge compound with many floors, makes it difficult for the audience to image just where this all might have taken place. Yet, I do believe that the ambiguity is done purposely. Because the building is just that, a building, it can be imagined to be anywhere in the world and who knows how many of these compounds are there actually placed around the world. There are other people in Bing's compound-as seen when Bing and Abi are talking and the camera zooms outwards to show the rows of people exercising on their bikes-but it is very doubtful that the entire society lives in that one building. Plus Bing sits next to the same people everyday as he cycles, which shows that these people all have their place in this compound and they probably have never stepped outside the line to explore much else.
Speaking of people, what I found the most interesting about this episode is how the people are never actually alone but they still feel empty and hollow. Everyday Bing cycles in a room filled with the same people he has been around for who knows how many years, and yet he doesn't make the slightest effort to get to know them. The young girl who obviously had eyes for Bing, tries to coast him into a conversation when she helps him retrieve his apple from the vending machine but he simply shakes her off. The question is why? It's not like Bing had somewhere to be if he is doing the exact same thing every single day. It's like the need for human communication has been shut off within these people, and any attempt at a normal conversation looks forced and feels awkward. 
It's not until Bing hears Abi sings that something inside of him awakes, and this is the turning point in the story. From a distance, it may seem like Bing is just infatuated by Abi's voice and her beauty. Like most guys, he wants to woo her and since he can't take her out on a proper date, he decides to give her something even better: fifteen million merits.
The fact that the ticket to Hot Shot costs that much is mind blowing because it really shows how unjust this system is. The only reason Bing is able to give Abi that much merit is because he inherited his brother's merits when he passed away. Bing had the extra merits to spend and uses them as he pleases, so his life was actually pretty good compared to other people. Yet many people who may have enough talent to audition for this show, will never save up enough merits in their lifetime just to buy their way in. Also, some of the people who can afford the ticket, aren't talented enough to even win the competition. Hot Shot is suppose to be a satirical representation of the popular show, X-Factor, and despite many people claiming that X-Factor is a rigged and unjust show, there is no denying that Hot Shot is fifteen million times worse.
The drink that Abi is forced to drink called "cuppliance" AKA "compliance in a cup" makes her unable to refuse or even defend herself when one of the judges vulgarly suggests that she ditches the dream of being a singer for that of being an adult entertainer. Watching the judges make these disrespect remarks is difficult enough as a female because these remarks are still heard all around the world today. Yet in this world the sexist remarks are not frown upon, instead it is laughed at and egged on. Even the female judge states that she wouldn't mind watching Abi on the big screen, which makes her just as bad as the two male judges, if not worse.
These adult videos are introduced earlier in the episode when a few of them show up on the screens in Bing's room as he is playing video games, and it's assumed that everyone in the compound is seeing the same commercials/ads.
These constant advertisements are seen on popular sites like YouTube. On YouTube, viewers are able to skip the advertisement played in the beginning of most videos a few seconds in or they are forced to watch the whole clip (I'm assuming the ones that aren't skippable pays a lot more money), but either way skipping an advertisement never costs the viewer anything. Yet in this world it will cost you to skip, and this not being able to skip certain programs really comes back into play later on in the episode. The programs that are chosen to be shown in this society, are not chosen at random. The fact that they are being charged to skip commercials that they do not want to watch is a form of punishment. This just goes to show that if the people are compliant and actually watch the whole program (like they are supposed to), then they will not lose any merits and the "government" will be able to infiltrate whatever it is they want into the people's brains as they sit there and watch the commercials. Yet skipping the programs are seen as a small form of resistance (the viewer refusing to watch what the "government" wants them to watch) and to crush this "resistance" the government makes the viewer pay for essentially, not doing what they wanted them to do. It's a clever way for the government to rule with an iron fist while at the same time giving their people the "freedom" to "do what they want." However, the government knows that most of their citizens cannot afford to waste their merits on skipping informercials because they need the merits for essentials such as food and water.
When Abi complies to the judges' wishes (and that of the audience cheering her on), something inside of Bing breaks. He 1. will probably never see Abi again and 2. feels this entire ordeal is his fault because he suggested the show in the first place. It is hard not to sympathize with Bing because he was just trying to help someone out, and in the end his good deed backfired so hard that it burned both him and Abi in the process. This guilt is the starting point of his depression as he realizes that he helped destroy the one thing he actually cared about in this world.
When Abi's "debut" comes on when Bing is in his room, he frantically tries to skip it but then realizes that he cannot because he does not have enough merits. Bing is forced to watch and listen to Abi's demised as she is being broadcast for the entire community to watch. When Bing tries to open the door, it locks him in and forces him to pay for his rebellious action. Although some might argue that Bing helping Abi isn't an act of rebellion, it is still going against the system to be selfless in a world where everyone is selfish. Rebellions are not caused by a single person, they are caused by a group of people coming together, and in this society there is a slim to none chance of that happening. None of these people want to get to know one another which means that none of these people would care to help each other, and Bing's compassionate act for Abi can be seen as dangerous because it threatens the structure of the system that has been so carefully built.
If the audience had any doubts that saving up fifteen million merits is difficult, Bing demonstrates just how hard this is when he conducts a plan to get revenge on the system. After buying Abi's ticket, he is basically scraping the bottom of the barrel for currency and he is seen living a very minimal and harsh life in order to save money. He cycles the majority of his day, and doesn't spend any of his money on food and drinks and survives by eating the leftovers that people trash. He basically had to starve himself in order to save up for these merits, and while I was watching this I realize how sick that all really is because these merits are nothing more than points. To have people slave away day in and day out on these bikes just so they can earn these reward points is just as applauding as people in our society being given monopoly play money for their work, instead of actual currency. Would you work 40+ hours a week just for monopoly money? I mean you can use that money to buy houses and property in the game, but that "money" would be useless to you in real life right? The same goes for the merits in this world-aside from food and drinks everyone in the compound uses their merits to buy clothes and accessories for their avatars. Their avatars...these computer generated icons that are suppose to represent them but are instead a pale comparison of them. The people in the audience of Hot Shot aren't even real people, they are the avatars of the people. These people cannot even physical attend the show, and they are forced to watch it from their rooms while their avatars take their place. It's kind of sad how the humans are pedaling away everyday just so their avatars can have a better life.
The merit system is another way for the "government" to control its people. Sure they earn money, and like our system they have the whole "the more you work the more you have, the more you save the richer you'll be" motto down but what are these people really working towards? They use their merits to buy food but the food shown in the episode come from vending machines, and it looks like (from the few times we see Bing stand in front of it) it is the same selection everyday. They can use the merits to buy clothes and accessories for their avatars but aside from having fashionable avatars, how do these fancier items benefit or better them as people? This world is so obsessed with image that the people are willingly to spend their hard earn merits on useless things, and are actually happy about it. The same can be said for people in our society who would drop thousands of dollars on a nice purse or a sporty car while they are barely able to pay their bills on time. Those who might argue that Bing was foolish to spend so much on a random girl, are missing a very crucial point. Aside from keeping him alive through the purchase of food and water, the merits do nothing for Bing. He wanted more than the life he was given, and he felt that helping another person elevate to a better life is worth more than a hundred new shirts for his avatar. It's this selfless deed that helps him understand what is really important in life, and it finally gave him something worth fighting for. 
His speech at the end when he was on stage and finally had everyone's attention, was amazing. Despite the shard of glass being held against his throat so close that he could split his throat open if he just moved the wrong way, I was more allured by his words. In the majority of the episode Bing is seen as a shell of a person-not interacting with anyone, following the rules, rinse and repeat-and now at the end he is finally able to speak his mind and it was powerful. It was so raw and honest, and you can just feel his pain radiate off of him. Bing talks about how selfish people have become and how they tear down one another without even thinking twice about it, and how angry he is with not only the judges but with this world. They took the one happiness in his life, the one selfless act that he did, and turned it into a joke. Abi is forced to live her life being an entertainer which in his society is almost as degrading as those who are too overweight to cycle and are forced to spend the rest of their lives cleaning up after the cyclists. What is worse is that Abi didn't have the chance to refuse because of the compliance juice that she drank in the beginning. Even this competition that is pitched as being a way out of this cruel society isn't really fair because whatever decision the judges make, the contestant has to obey.
Instead of relating to Bing's pain or even trying to comprehend it, the judges view his passionate cry for help as a source of entertainment that they could use. They offer him a chance to run his own talk show where he can talk about all these things that he is so passionate about, and the audience goes wild encouraging Bing to take the offer as they do with other contestants.
What strikes me a strange and also really heartbreaking is the fact that unlike others that have taken the stage before him, Bing didn't drink the cuppliance. He needed his mind to be clear and he wanted to make sure that he was able to say his peace before they try to "persuade" him off the stage. Yet, like the others before him, he accepts the offer. Maybe the judges or the "government" thinks that they were able to persuade Bing into taking the offer because they believed he drank the cuppliance, but the fact that he made this decision out of his of own free will, is a victory for him no matter how small that victory may be.
I kind of wanted a sort of reunion between Bing and Abi-I wanted to hear what she had to say about his speech and I wanted to hear his apology to her-and it didn't even have to be a happy one because let's face it, it's hard to be truly happy in a place like that. The ending was that hopeless kind of sorrow where you can feel it long after the screen goes blank. Bing's speech was meant to open the eyes of these zombie like people, but instead they use his speech and turn it into some new social media craze. There is even an avatar of Bing-someone holding a glass shard to their throats-that one of the guys on the bike wanted to buy because it's "hip" and "trendy."
It almost seems as if Bing's attempt to be heard and rebel was a lost cause because despite the ending where he is shown in a much nicer room than before, he is last seen staring out at what looks like a forest on a foggy day. Despite this being a picture on three screens, it's the closest thing we've seen to the outside world throughout the whole show. All other pictures are just icons or cartoon-like images, and this could represent Bing's need to break free out of this world. However, despite his new living quarters being bigger there is no window to look through or no door for him to walk out into the real world. His room may have gotten bigger but he is still living inside a cell nonetheless.
I thought this episode was a really powerful one and it is also one of the scariest episodes because this world is so like that of our world. There are so many people who spend their money on useless things, have their head glues to their computer screens or televisions, ignore other people in order to scroll through their phones, and idolize reality television shows. Like I mentioned before, the lack of doors and windows and any mention of the outside world made me feel claustrophobic just watching this episode, and I think that's how Bing felt too. He needed to breathe, he needed to get out, and that is something that I can definitely relate to. I do wish the ending was bit more define in a sense where it would have left me feeling satisfied but other than that, there's not much to complain about with this one.
★ ★ ★.5 /5
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