Fans of Black Mirror believe the highly revered Netflix show is brilliant at predicting the future. But it appears that the humble NBC programme Friends managed to foresee what creator Charlie Brooker was going to write about.
It's no surprise that Ross was the one behind the prediction, and when you imagine him talking about the San Junipero episode, he's absolutely spot on.
Credit: Friends/NBC
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In the clip, Ross says: "So I've just finished this fascinating book; by the year 2030, there will be computers that can carry out the same amount of functions as an actual human brain. So theoretically, you can download your thoughts and memories into this computer and live forever as a machine."
Chandler doesn't seem too interested in the concept, replying with: "I just realised I can sleep with my eyes open."
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But San Junipero is essentially that exact concept.
Set in 1987, Yorkie, a shy woman, meets Kelly and forms a deep connection with her, and we fall in love with them as a couple. But then the audience finds out that the world the pair is living in is simulated reality, and Yorkie is actually a quadriplegic and wants to permanently reside in the fake beachside city San Junipero.
Credit: Netflix
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Kelly is on the way out as well, but visits the simulated reality most days, much to the dismay of Yorkie, who wants to be with her all the time. It's one of the few, if not the only Black Mirror episode that has a happy ending, which was precisely Charlie Brooker's aim.
He says it was a 'conscious attempt...to blow up what the show was', which at that stage was a consistently bleak look into the future. But Brooker was also looking into the most plausible version of the afterlife. He told the Daily Beast: "It's what I can wrap my head around. I can't quite wrap my head around an actual afterlife, but a technologically-assisted afterlife I could.
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"In my initial thinking of the story it was a heterosexual couple, and then for this season I was keen to not always default to a guy. Because I'm a bloke, quite often when I'm picturing a scenario there will be a bloke in the middle of it, so I thought, 'What if it wasn't?'
Credit: PA
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"It immediately became a much deeper story because they get married in 1987, which wasn't possible then."
It was incredibly well received by fans and critics, with the episode receiving two BAFTAs, as well as awards from IGN, GLAAD, and two Primetime Emmys.
But fans are probably more excited about when season four is going to be released. They can expect six episodes, which have been named as Crocodile, Arkangel, Hang the DJ, USS Callister, Metalhead and Black Museum.
Unfortunately there's no official release date just yet.
Credit: Daily Beast
Topics: Charlie Brooker, black mirror, NBC, Friends