LOUIS THEROUX: DARK STATES, BBC2, 9pm
I THINK the horror of this series is being revealed in ascending order – in which case I utterly dread the final episode.
This week, Louis investigates human trafficking and goes to Houston, Texas, to meet prostitutes and their pimps, where “the line between choice and force isn’t always clear”, and looks at the troubling link between the sex worker and the man who guards her.
He books into a seedy motel where he has arranged a meeting with a prostitute. He asks her what her working life is like. She says she enjoys it: “I love sex. I love money. So I got the best job in the world!” But she is nonetheless a slave to her pimp – “I update him on every move I make” – and she gives him every single penny. He’s harsh, she admits, but “who wants a weak-ass dude protecting you?”
Women who try to work without pimps are known as “renegades” and often physically attacked by other prostitutes, while another woman says of her pimp: “I couldn’t wait to put that money in his hand cos I knew I was gonna be praised.”
ELECTRIC DREAMS, C4, 9pm
WE’RE half-way through this series of unsettling sci-fi stories so I think it’s now safe to say this is no replacement for Black Mirror – which I suspect Channel 4 were hoping it might be. In fact, when I watch it I just end up wanting to reach for my phone to google “when is black mirror coming back?”
So if it wasn’t for the crushingly superior Black Mirror, would we all be loving Electric Dreams? I suspect not because, being based on short stories by Philip K Dick, it would surely prompt you to pick up that damn phone again and place an online order for the book. The series, although very good, just can’t help being overshadowed by far greater things.
This week’s story stars Anna Paquin and tackles the subject of virtual reality, and what happens when it starts seeming more real than authentic reality, and the madness which occurs when the virtual world starts to invade the original one?
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel