<P> This episode is considered the best of series 3 in a ranking by The Independent; Christopher Hooton writes that "the pacing is breakneck and it's impossible to take your eyes off the screen ." Hooton says "it's what initially seems a gripe with the episode that ends up flooring you" when the twist ending "leaves you feeling as though all your entrails just dropped out". Paul Tassi of Forbes believes the episode to be second best of the series, as it "does not carry an overt message like so many of these other episodes" but has "one of the best twists in the entire season", and "even if the rest of the episode is merely good, the ending elevates it to great ." </P> <P> Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter praised Alex Lawther's performance in the episode, calling it "one of the best things of 2016"; Goodman says the episode "unapologetically--and frantically--punches you right in the face, proving how nimble Brooker is at storytelling ." Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph rated the episode 5 out of 5, describing it as "soul - scorching (and) relentlessly riveting". Collin says that director James Watkins "outdoes himself here, immediately establishing a mood of barely suppressed panic, then tightening every screw and ratchet at his disposal", and notes that the episode is "the most nihilistic episode of Black Mirror so far ." Matt Fowler of IGN similarly praised the episode, saying that it may leave the viewer "utterly shaken", and that it was a "remarkably heart - pounding episode". In the Daily Mirror, Suchandrika Chakrabarti gave the episode 5 out of 5 stars, summarising that the episode is "very simple, but incredibly effective" and "the least - technical episode of Black Mirror on Netflix, but among the very scariest". </P> <P> Pat Stacey of Irish Independent gives the episode four stars out of five, commenting that the episode is the first in series 3 to be set in England and "feels most like the old Black Mirror". Stacey summarises that it is a "fantastically tense, blackly funny tale with a shock, rug - pulling ending that packs a terrific wallop ." An article in TheWrap ranks the episode sixth best of the first 13, with the authors saying "it's brilliantly plotted" and "no episode of "Black Mirror" will leave you feeling worse about humanity than this one ." Another review in which the episode is sixth of the 13 in the first three series is Corey Atad's, for Esquire; Atad opines that it is "the most purely disturbing episode" and that "as with many of the most disturbing stories, the fact that they touch such a nerve speaks their human insight ." Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ rating, complimenting Black Mirror's "willingness to force moral questions that make everyone feel awful", and saying that the episode was "never boring, but (...) not all that engaging, either". </P> <P> Josh Dzieza of The Verge gave the episode a mixed review, criticising the twist ending as a "letdown". Dzieza comments that the episode is "a clammy hour of sustained anxiety" which "does a fine job driving home hacking's humiliating invasiveness", but says the twist reveals that "the episode is more interested in turning gadgets into weapons of maximum humiliation than in saying anything more interesting about how digital humiliation works". Dzieza writes of the aesthetics that "the episode takes place in a series of cramped spaces shot with a cool tint" and of the actors that Lawther has an aura of "adolescent desperation" while Flynn "switches between gruffness and utilitarian friendliness". Alex Mullane of Digital Spy gives "Shut Up and Dance" a mixed review, writing that it is a "progressively and particularly nasty hour of television". Mullane praises that Lawther is "superb in the main role" and Flynn is "suitably sleazy, without ever being a caricature". However, Mullane critiques that the episode "feels a bit thin" as it does not have "much to say" and is simply "a story in which bad people do bad things and then get punished for it", though Mullane concedes that "the closing sequence as the trollfaces come through to the various sinners is fantastic ." Adam Chitwood of Collider stated that although it wasn't a "bad episode", it was a "frustratingly tense one (...) (and) a bit too long and has one of the darkest throughlines of the season". </P>

Shut up and dance black mirror title meaning