TribalScale’s Top Tech TV Shows
By Rachel Hammermueller, Content Writer, with Tina Johnson, HR Coordinator, Ebru Sonmezisik, Senior Product Designer, and Uday Patial, Agile Software Engineer
There’s a lot of TV out there. Whether you’re a historical drama nerd (like me), a science fiction or fantasy geek (“have you seen Stranger Things?”, “yes, obviously”), or a romcom night-in marathon-champion, we can all agree that with the popular streaming services nowadays, the amount of bizarre and awesome TV being pumped out is extensive. The multiple streaming platforms are the newest tech to influence our lives.
Tech is forever changing: adapting, evolving, pursuing, and questioning. TV is a great way to find perspective, educate yourself, analyze the tech sphere and where society’s at in 2020. More importantly, where we’re going. I asked my colleagues here at TribalScale what recommendations they have for TV shows that revolve around, warn, celebrate, or teach us about tech. After many hours of what I call research by watching shows we’ve compiled a list below featuring explanations (and spoilers) from the team on their recommendations. All of them revolve around a tech theme which we deem important for our society to consider in the ’20s. Whether it be AI, social media’s grip on the world, tech’s use in solving crimes or committing crimes, and of course, the adventures of start-ups. The best part, they’re insightful and entertaining. So sit back, relax, and enjoy our overly deep analyses of these great shows. Here’s the list:
It’s a Bit On The Nose: Black Mirror S3 Ep 1 “Nosedive”
Wowza. Lots of drama and intensity. Bryce Dallas Howard has always been good at portraying the chronicled downhill slide of a character losing their mind altogether (have you seen her in The Help?). This specific episode shows Howard in a futuristic, suburban society where everyone can rate each other through a social media app. These ratings decide what one can do whether it’s not being able to enter a building because their rating has slid, to being allowed to rent the best cars because they have a higher rating average. It is incredibly interesting all the while being difficult to watch. You’re waiting for it all to crumble down in flames with spectacular fashion, as it ultimately does. With all Black Mirror episodes, it’s a mirrored story of society, with instances of recognizable truths laced throughout its futuristic portrayals. Without “nose” diving too deep into society’s manipulation of our self-esteem through social media, I want to point out that this is a fantastic, and of course unnerving, illustration of technology having our daily lives in a headlock. It’s a hypothetical of course, but it’s always healthy to wonder what would happen if we depended too much on what people think of us, and used technology to document and regulate it.
Two Faced TV: The Circle (by Tina Johnson, HR Coordinator)
Are you deep in the Bachelor universe right now? Are you chomping at the bit for another slightly trashy reality TV show to sink your teeth into because Peter made a bad choice last episode? Let me introduce you to The Circle. Another Netflix binge-worthy series, The Circle allows contestants to basically catfish each other, communicating solely through the “Circle” platform (it’s a TV). They’re free to update their online facade through profile pictures, presenting whichever persona they like. Basically, The Circle exposes social media’s dark side. Contestants compete to become the most popular “influencer” with a handsome cash prize of $100,000. “How could this not have a down side?” you ask sarcastically. Well of course it does.
The show illustrates just how quick people are to fake genuine kindness or friendliness once they have a screen to hide behind. This attraction to a double life doesn’t need a reality show to exist. As we know, it happens everyday, through smaller screens and multiple social platforms. This show was like a car crash I couldn’t look away from, cringeworthy but nonetheless extremely entertaining. However, there are hints of morality. The majority of top contestant’s present themselves in more genuine ways, and those “catfishing” use scripted sounding communication, and were eventually found out. Also hearing them say out loud descriptions of emojis like “type smiley face” is always hilarious. Even so, it’s chilling to imagine this “Circle” TV platform being incorporated into daily life. Obviously, social media is a fun tool and can be used for good and bad, but how much more affected would we become if these platforms became attached to our TV’s? If they became our sole tool for communication with the outside world? If we have even more free reign to paint a different profile of ourselves? It’s not a far stretch from where we are in 2020. Give it a watch for undeniable entertainment and a pretty scary hypothetical future.
A Killer’s Best Friend: You S1 & S2
The handsome, romanticized serial killer is an age old story. Penn Badgley does it well, but he’s made it clear off screen that his character isn’t one to fall in love with. He’s not his slightly creepy but intriguing Gossip Girl character Dan Humphrey, (bare with me, I’ve only seen the first episode, he just seemed sort of untrustworthy in the pilot). He’s the villain in this Netflix series. One of our Engineers Will told me that You was obscurely about tech and its use in society. You’re thinking, “yes, that’s obvious, Rachel”. Joe uses Twitter to literally stalk Beck’s every movement in Season 1. I binged the first season as soon as it came out and immediately changed my privacy settings on every online profile I have. It’s because You is a psychological thriller, a crime drama, but it’s once again a reflection of how many resources we have at our disposal in 2020.
In Season 2, Joe (under pseudonym Will Bettelheim), makes an Instagram and Tinder account to become noticed by his love interest, (appropriately named Love). These platforms are how we communicate, how we hunt for love, feed our obsessions, find people to be interested in. Tech and social media make multiple cameos in both seasons. In Season 2, Will uses a “nanny cam” type app to track text messages on his neighbour’s iPhone. Evidence is taken on that unbelievably high quality camera. Joe is able to be a successful serial killer by using social media and tech to keep tabs on people, alter his story, and eventually (spoiler alert), make himself appear innocent and escape any conviction — yet. Technology gives us a large amount of power and opportunity. What type of murderer would Joe be in the 1950s? Without Twitter, he’d have to be a lot more careful and a lot more resourceful. He is full of sloppy misjudgements and tends to act irrationally. Without his phone, there wouldn’t be an upcoming third season of You.
Geek Makes Great TV: Silicon Valley (by Uday Patial, Agile Software Engineer)
If you’re a tech geek and have had questions like “git or jit”, “tabs vs. spaces”, then Silicon Valley is the show for you. It revolves around four engineers and entrepreneurs attempting to make it big by launching their startup in Silicon Valley in California. It covers the challenges they face while building their company, competing with big players in the market, and everything in between. It’s a comedy — so even if you’re not a tech geek it’s still fun to watch. Built around corporate life, the show is inspired by the tech culture that exists in this (in)famous valley in the Bay Region. The show gained so much traction that Google invited the main cast to interact with their Engineers. Touching on relevant technologies like AI, compression algorithms, 3D printing, and mobile tech, the show can catch you up on life in the tech world while making you laugh — it’s a win-win.
Pennsylvania, We Have a Problem: Forensic Files S6 Ep 27 (by Ebru Sonmezisik, Senior Product Designer)
Any TRUE true crime fanatic has seen at least a few episodes of the documentary series Forensic Files (or, if you’re like me, you have watched every single episode at least three times). The show ran from 1996 to 2011 and after taking almost a decade-long break, will return for its 15th season on February 23rd. It focuses on how forensic science and technology is used to solve real crimes and accidents. It can be something as minuscule as a single hair follicle or carpet fibre found in the murderer’s trunk that ties them to the victim, or can get as technologically advanced as using lasers and forensic animation to track the trajectory of a bullet. Whatever it may be, the forensic scientists on the show are constantly using the latest technology to solve these crimes.
Arguably the most notable episode that showcases technology’s role in solving crimes is Season 6 episode 27, titled pointedly as “Cats, Flies, and Snapshots”. In 1989, a 19-year old named Lori Ann Auker went missing in Pennsylvania after driving to her job at a pet shop. Her car was found parked where she worked, but her body was later discovered in a wooded area. The investigators had no leads except some crappy surveillance footage from a nearby ATM. Closer inspection of the footage showed a single frame where Lori is seen getting into an unfamiliar vehicle, but the footage quality was extremely poor and investigators could not identify the license plate or make. One investigator decided to call their contact at NASA who specialized in photo enhancement of Russian rockets. This rocket scientist was able to enhance the image enough to help investigators identify the exact make, model, and colour of the car that Lori was seen getting into — a 1984 Chevy Celebrity. It just so happened to be the exact same car that her ex-husband had been seen driving that day.
Using this single piece of forensic evidence investigators were able to pull apart the ex-husband’s alibi and convict him of murder. The episode also touched on a cat hair that belonged to Lori’s cat found in the ex-husband’s trunk, and some bull fly eggs that helped identify her time of death — but the NASA image enhancement was the key piece! Without the enhanced image, the investigators would have never thought to look for the 1984 Chevy. As ever-evolving as technology is, it’s been an undeniable asset to the field of Forensic Science for decades. What’s interesting is that technology crosses every field of study. A Rocket Scientist applied their use of technology to solving a crime, and found a solution through this shared use.
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Rachel is the Content Writer here at TribalScale. She works to write alluring content that reflects the focus, goals, and values of our workplace. When she’s not writing about tech or culture, she often has her nose in a book or is re-watching British TV shows.
TribalScale is a global innovation firm that helps enterprises adapt and thrive in the digital era. We transform teams and processes, build best-in-class digital products, and create disruptive startups. Learn more about us on our website. Connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook!
