Black Mirror episode 'Arkangel' has a massive plot hole – how did no-one notice? 

By using this site you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.

This website uses cookies. Learn more.

Black Mirror season 4 review: Not a single duff...

Doctor Who video says final goodbye to the...

What \'Black Museum\' means for future of Black...

Some people only just realised what Black Mirror means Some people only just realised what Black Mirror means

Black Mirror trolls Reddit users hunting Easter eggs Black Mirror trolls Reddit users hunting Easter eggs

What does title of Black Mirror\'s ep \'Crocodile\' mean? What does title of Black Mirror\'s ep \'Crocodile\' mean?

Black Mirror episode \'USS Callister\' could get spinoff Black Mirror episode \'USS Callister\' could get spinoff

What \'Black Museum\' means for future of Black Mirror What \'Black Museum\' means for future of Black Mirror

There\'s a massive plot hole in Black Mirror\'s Arkangel There\'s a massive plot hole in Black Mirror\'s Arkangel

8 hit TV shows that almost never made it to the screen 8 hit TV shows that almost never made it to the screen

Westworld season 2: Everything you need to know Westworld season 2: Everything you need to know

Is Apple getting ready to buy Netflix? Is Apple getting ready to buy Netflix?

Gameshow contestant loses money for RIDIC technicality Gameshow contestant loses money for RIDIC technicality

11 TV characters we were meant to love – but didn\'t 11 TV characters we were meant to love – but didn\'t

C5 criticised over "horrific" One Night With My Ex C5 criticised over "horrific" One Night With My Ex

Here\'s what ITV viewers crowned Greatest TV Moment Here\'s what ITV viewers crowned Greatest TV Moment

Meet Celebrity Big Brother 2018\'s all-female lineup Meet Celebrity Big Brother 2018\'s all-female lineup

. And we\'ve enjoyed arguing about it in the office almost as much as watching it in the first place.

One of the most interesting episodes in the series comes from Jodie Foster\'s \'Arkangel\', a story which imagines a world where parents can have a chip implanted into their child\'s brain which allows them to track the child, filter what the child sees and even view the world through their eyes.

style, things don\'t end well for Rosemarie DeWitt\'s Marie, who opts to use this device after a scare with her young daughter.

The thing is, there\'s a major plot hole in the episode. We\'re not talking about the science – this is sci-fi and we\'re down with that. We\'re not talking about the slightly dubious reference to emergency contraception that caused a few complaints either.

No, the plot hole that bothered us is a simple matter of human nature – and in particular, the nature of teenagers.

In the story, DeWitt\'s Marie has opted to switch off the monitoring and filtering device implanted in her daughter Sara\'s brain, having realised that denying her exposure to stressful or troubling images was leaving her confused and desensitised to violence, and that constantly viewing what her daughter could see was an invasion of privacy that also hampered her development.

Without her mother controlling and spying on her, Sara has grown up to be a relatively normal 15-year-old. Like other normal 15-year-olds, then, Sara decides to lie to her mum about where she\'s spending the evening one night so she can go and hang out with a boy and smoke weed.

She tells her mother that she and her best friend Meryl are going over to their girlfriend Riley\'s house to watch

but instead they head down to a lake for frolics.

The same night, Sara\'s mum Marie goes out on a date – the two both say they\'ll be home at about 11.30pm. When Marie gets home, Sara\'s not there, so she rings her mobile. When it goes to voicemail she calls Riley\'s house and then Meryl\'s house, speaks to their parents and discovers the girls aren\'t there.

Frantic with worry, Marie turns to the old monitoring device which she\'s kept up in the attic for years, unfortunately switching it on right when Sara is mid... er... frolic...with her boyfriend Trick.

"My eyes! My eyes!" (or something) says her mum and resolves not to mention to her daughter what she saw, instead gradually getting hooked back into spying on her child – leading to a downward-spiralling chain of events.

. There is absolutely no way if Marie had called the parents of both Meryl and Riley and exposed the big fib, that those parents wouldn\'t have said: "Right, Meryl, you said you were at Riley\'s and you lied, where the devil were you?"

And it\'s highly likely Riley\'s mum would have said: "Right, Riley, why does Sara\'s mum think Sara\'s round our house?"

And having said that to Meryl and Riley (and probably given them a bollocking), there is no way that Meryl and Riley wouldn\'t have mentioned to Sara that their cunning ruse was totally rumbled.

Sara would KNOW that her mum had caught her out in a lie. And given that her mum totally hadn\'t said a word about it, she\'d have to be pretty dumb not to guess that her mum had used the magic monitor.

Some people only just realised what Black Mirror means

Disaster would have easily been averted, then, with Sara confronting her mum about the monitor and her mum talking to her sensibly about shagging, rather than SPIKING HER KID\'S SMOOTHIE WITH A CONTRACEPTIVE PILL and then getting BEATEN UP IN THE FACE BY HER OWN CHILD.

But then that would be more like an episode of

season four is available to stream on Netflix now.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit \'Like\' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and \'Follow\' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you\'re all set.

WWE SmackDown Live results: 4 things we learned as the Royal Rumble gets a massive title match

11 TV characters we were clearly meant to love – but didn\'t

Some people only just realised what Black Mirror...

Black Mirror trolls Reddit users hunting Easter...

What does title of Black Mirror\'s ep \'Crocodile\'...

Black Mirror episode \'USS Callister\' could get...

There\'s a massive plot hole in Black Mirror\'s...

8 hit TV shows that almost never made it to the...

8 hit TV shows that almost never made it to the screen

Pity the networks that rejected these hits...

Gameshow contestant loses money for RIDIC technicality

George RR Martin hints at 2018 release for new GoT book

Those elusive winter winds may FINALLY be coming.

X-Files boss responds to Gillian Anderson exit

Black Mirror hid a Hollywood cameo in \'USS Callister\'

Netflix to show second Ricky Gervais stand-up special

The first one hasn\'t even been released yet.

Watch first clip of Ed Sheeran\'s cameo in The Simpsons

WWE SmackDown: Royal Rumble gets a massive title match

The legendary Jodie Foster will direct a Black Mirror season 4 episode

Jodie Foster\'s Black Mirror episode sounds like an emotional rollercoaster

Jodie Foster premieres a new clip of her Black Mirror episode \'Arkangel\'

This Walking Dead deleted scene resolves a massive plot hole from season 1

Black Mirror season 3 casts Orange Is the New Black\'s Madeline Brewer

Would the stars of Black Mirror season 3 binge-watch all six hours of tech terror?