The main character inside “Nosedive,” Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard), is a likable character. While she starts out as another social media-obsessed fake drone, he is soon confronted with the miserable reality of his situation. The series of bad interactions she goes through makes her more and more sympathetic, and as oppressive as this world is, it’s exciting to see Lacie become bolder and more independent. It’s cathartic to watch her ruin her superficial friend’s wedding, damn her consequences. She might end up in prison eventually, but while she’s enjoying a name-calling contest with her new cellmate, it’s clear that she’s never been happier.
“Dot and Bubble’s” main character, Lindy (Callie Cooke), is given no such story arc. Her addiction to “Bubble”, the social media app that covers her view of everything around her and instructs her on what to do every second of the day, is so strong that she can’t even walk without it her. Lindy is absolutely useless throughout the first half of the episode, and when she finally figures out how to function in the real world, she does so in a cold and selfish way. Her survival is ensured by the betrayal of Ricky (Tom Rhys Harries), the only inhabitant of Finetime whose brain hasn’t been rotted to the core, and she expresses no guilt over killing him. Even in the end, she is following the other Finetime residents’ suicide mission to “The Great Beyond”, unwittingly rejecting the Doctor’s urgent offer to save her life.
Unlike “Nosedive,” this is not a story about rejecting the lies of his world and embracing the truth. It’s a story about how social media can warp people’s brains to the point of no return.
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