Black Mirror Dog Names

Metalhead is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Black Mirror. It follows the struggles of Bella, a person who is trying to escape from robotic "dogs" after humanity has collapsed for some reason. This is a tired premise in the sci-fi genre. The evil robots have taken over and work for a shadowy organization that has somehow caused the downfall of humanity. We have seen it done many times over, and most people were skeptical about the episode. True Black Mirror fans watched with anticipation. Their excitement was rewarded because, in true Black Mirror fashion, the rug was pulled from underneath viewers. 

For starters, the show was shot in black and white and deviated slightly from the usual tone of the show. There were fewer gimmicks, everything was toned down and bare. As usual, you really had to concentrate on what was going on, but you almost never felt lost. 

In the episode, three people are trying to find help for their dying friend. They go to a warehouse, braving the danger because they want to help their friend, but are attacked by vicious metalheads. These 'dogs' were loosely based on the robotic dogs created by Boston Dynamic. The real dogs aren't weaponized, but after the episode, they were regarded with a little more suspicion.

Only one of the four people, Bella, manages to escape. We are then treated to desperate chase, in which Bella does her best to outwit the creature. She outsmarts it and manages to get away a few times, but the 'dog' learns as it goes. At one point it arms itself with a knife to replace one of its limbs. We felt Bella's horror as we realized what humans had created. Eventually, she manages to destroy the robot and we think she is about to get away to her loved ones. Unfortunately, she was fatally wounded in the battle, and as the other dogs approach, she has no choice but to end it. 

It is hard to imagine that dogs, even robotic dogs, would turn on humans like that. The creators of these metalheads took the best traits from dogs, like their determination and intelligence and put them into a robotic being. If they had added their love and kindness, we would have had a very different episode. So, hold your dog close, after all, our loving pets would never be the inspiration for such horrible machines.