The forest appears to be real and not on a screen, as a parallax effect can clearly be seen as the camera zooms out. He hides them both under his bed, and spends the next several months aggressively earning Merits on his bike, as well as being extremely frugal with what he purchases, even occasionally resorting to theft, in order to re-earn 15,000,000 more Merits and buy anotherPrior to his audition, Bing hides the shard of glass in his pants and stands patiently in the waiting room every day without expression, until he is called in due to the judges wanting an 'ethnic' contestant. Bing eyes one of the larger pieces, and the empty Cuppliance container Abi drank earlier, and gets an idea. When Bing meets, Abi, a woman with a talent for singing, he believes she can win the competition and earn a better life. This story is called "Fifteen Million Merits", it's an alternative world in which people ride cycles to gather credits, to buy items for their avatars, to buy sustenance, and basic needs. Overweight people are second-class citizens who either work as cleaners around the bikes (where they are verbally abused) or are humiliated on game shows which others pay to watch. However, after he makes sacrifice upon sacrifice to get her to the show, she is degraded and harassed by the judges and audience, who offer her a choice: start a career in pornography...or go back to being a slave. Bing tries to use the water closet, but since he cannot leave his cell until the ad finishes, he finally loses his temper and proceeds to bash one of the screens until the glass shatters in shards.
Charlie Brooker return to Channel 4 with three stand-alone dramas that are sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales with a techno-paranoia bent. Her choice inspires a revelation in Bing, who begins to see the cruel injustice of the world in which he lives, and he is determined to change it...no matter what the cost. "Fifteen Million Merits" simply affects me as a person a lot more than the previous episode "The National Anthem," which contained more shock value than anything as far as I saw it.Looking for something to watch? He now lives in a penthouse-like cell that is much bigger than his original, and the episode ends as Bing pours himself a glass of orange juice and stands staring out of the side of his room onto a green forest stretching into the distance.
Wraith encourages him to kill himself (so long as he doesn't get any blood on Wraith), but the other judges decide to hear him out. Lacking enough Merits to skip the ad, Bing tries to look away, but the automated systems emit an increasingly high pitched and louder beeping noise that only stops when he opens his eyes. He feigns to the stagehands that he already drank his Cuppliance using Abi's empty container, and walks onstage. It's a world where each individual is forced to watch commercials or pay fees to mute or get rid of them. Check out our list of the month's most anticipated films and shows to stream from home.Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? In a world where people's lives consist of riding exercise bikes to gain credits, Bing tries to help a woman get on to a singing competition show. Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show.Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Was this review helpful to you? Bing starts with a dance number that impresses the judges and crowd, but stops his performance suddenly and draws the shard of glass pressing it against his neck, threatening to kill himself live on the show if he does not get a chance to speak. Bing accepts the offer and, sometime later, is shown finishing one of his rants via his livestream while holding the shard of glass to his neck, having turned it into a gimmick. Although Abi's rendition of "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is" impresses the three judges, Hope, Charity, and Wraith (Rupert Everett, Julia Davis, Ashley Thomas) and the crowd, they state they have no more room for a merely "Above Average Singer". “15 Million Merits” is structured like a classic underdog tale. distraction set in a dystopian version of a future reality.
Bing proceeds to take the offer of getting a stream to display his rage, which is pretty ironic given what he argued so passionately about. They are surrounded by televisions playing mindless entertainment all day long, including TV shows that mock the odd overweight citizen who cannot work, a lot of pornography...and a talent show similar to the real-world Got Talent franchise.