The Crazy Things Humans Do For Love

As discussed in class, when a robot is too human, we become attracted and fond of it at the same time. In Season 2 Episode 1 "Be Right Back" of Black Mirrors  start the season of with a tale about a couple, Margaret and Ash. The episode begins with them enjoying each other's company doing what couples usually do while moving into Ash's house where he was raised as a child. The next day approaches and Ash has to return the rental van, unfortunately he dies on the way there somehow. Just like any normal person, Margaret begins to mourn the sudden loss of her husband. The funeral approaches and Margaret's friend, Sarah, pitches her an idea on how to deal with her tragic loss. Sarah tells her about a program that allows people to converse with the dead online, which she herself used when someone close to her died. Margaret is not intrigued with Sarah's idea, until she gets news she is pregnant with Ash's child. Sarah being the good friend she is, signed Margaret up for the program without her permission, she finds out when she receives a eccentric email from Ash. She finds herself communicating with the program and the more she converse with this fake Ash, the more her feelings begin to get involved and she begins to give it information so it becomes more like Ash. As the episode continues, Margaret becomes very clingy with the program. Her clinginess was obvious when she dropped her phone while talking to fake Ash as she was at the gynecologist. When she dropped her phone, her phone began to have some sort of distortion and she began to panic because she couldn't continue her conversation with fake Ash. Margaret lost all her marbles, and took it upon herself and ordered a android Ash so a situation like that would never happen again. When Margaret got fake Ash delivered she was creeped out, mostly because it looked like the real Ash. Margaret became attracted and fond of fake Ash and proceeds to have sexual relations with android Ash. Suddenly, Margaret begins to see the flaws in android Ash and realizes the difference in the Ash she loves and the android she has received. The only thing beneficial about android Ash is that it has the ability to learn new concepts and adapt to situations like real Ash would. Margaret puts the android to the test and dares it to jump off the cliff. He began imitating real Ash, like he didn't want to jump off the cliff and his ways suddenly becomes more and more human-like. Is android Ash faking his emotions or are they real? Closing the episode, Margaret finally came to her senses.She no longer allowed the program/android to corrupt her mind or life. She put android Ash in the attic and would visit it with her daughter from time to time. In the end she learns the differences between android Ash and real Ash despite their similarities.