Sci-fi anthology seriesBlack Mirrorhas solidified itself as one of the most provocative television shows of the modern era. With season 7 recently dropping on Netflix, it’s evident that the show continues to be an important commentary on society. The sci-fi show blends elements of drama, horror, mystery, and dark comedy to create an intelligent satire on society’s detrimental relationship with technology. Setting the series up as an anthology has allowed for numerous stories surrounding the development of advanced technology and how it impacts everyday life.Black Mirrorexplores dark, unsettling themes reflecting society’s fears and desires involving technology, and season 7 sticks with that concept.
Black Mirror
Season 7 contains six episodes, including a sequel episode to season 4’s beloved “USS Callister.” Similarly to season 6, there is a blend of genres among the episodes. Some lean a bit more into horror, particularly “Bête Noire,” while others have a touch of sadness, like “Hotel Reverie.” The season feels like a return to form forBlack Mirror. The blend of genres with sci-fi, the commentary on capitalism, and the further exploration of how technology continues to consume us all point tothe show going back to basics. With the full season available on Netflix, we are ranking each episode from season 7.
6"Hotel Reverie"
Bringing the Golden Age of Hollywood into aBlack Mirrorepisode was a brilliant idea. The way movies are made now is vastly different from how they were made during that era, and the creative team was able to transition old Hollywood movies into the advanced technological world the show lives in. In this episode, new AI software allows studios to create an AI-generated version of old movies where the characters only exist in the world of that movie and no nothing of the actors who play them. The software also allows current actors to be generated in the movie via a chip that is attached to their head. Once an actor is placed in the AI-generated version of the old movie, they have the exact runtime of the movie to get their lines right and make it to the end of the film to be extracted.
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It’s an intriguing premise that feels quite realistic considering the way Hollywood studio executives view the use of AI in film and television. The cinematography is also gorgeous in this episode, truly capturing the look of movies in the ’40s, right down to the excessive diffusion used to make it look like characters were glowing.
Unfortunately, the episode is bogged down by unconvincing casting decisions and a story that feels just a bit outside theBlack Mirror formula. Emma Corrin shines as the leading lady of the fictional movie the episode is titled after. She embodies the movements and mannerisms of old Hollywood starlets. Issa Rae is a talented creative, but the role seemed noticeably outside of her comfort zone. Despite the talent involved in this episode, there was a lack of chemistry between the leads and the story strayed too far outside the typical commentary on technology.
5"Plaything"
We have seen gaming come into play in other episodes, most notably in the season 3 episode “Playtest” and the interactive special “Bandersnatch.” “Plaything” isset in the same universe as"Bandersnatch," but it takes a different approach to gaming than those episodes. The episode is set in a near-future London where a socially awkward murder suspect is linked to an unusual video game from the ’90s. The game, called Thronglets, was created by Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), the eccentric video game developer from “Bandersnatch.” The unusual game is populated by adorable but evolving artificial lifeforms. Rather than a traditional game, Thronglets is a digital world housing the first-ever beings whose DNA is entirely digital.
The return of Colin Ritman was a welcome one, even if it was only for one scene. Despite it not being a sequel to “Bandersnatch,” it had similar themes of not being able to distinguish reality. The episode is told through flashbacks, where we see young Cameron Walker (Lewis Gribben) becoming increasingly infatuated with Thronglets. He becomes so obsessed with helping them evolve that he keeps buying new equipment to expand their programming. He goes as far as to kill someone who started harming the Throng, thinking it was a regular video game.
The premise of “Plaything” harkens back to the old schoolBlack Mirror, but the episode abruptly ends with no payoff. It has such an interesting concept at play, but the ending is sudden, unfulfilling, and not fleshed out. Ambiguity is fine, but it felt like we were cheated out of an ending.
4"Bête Noire"
“Bête Noire” mostly feels like a trueBlack Mirrorepisode. It revolves around a confectionery whizz named Maria (Siena Kelly) who becomes unnerved when a former classmate named Verity (Rosy McEwen) lands a research assistant job at the snack company she works for. Although no one else seems to realize it, Maria is convinced there is something odd about Verity as unexplainable occurrences continue to happen around Maria. Verity was always excellent with computers in a way no one else in their school was, and Maria tries to convince her co-workers that Verity is using computers to alter her emails, texts, and even the internet itself.
The idea of having this computer genius digitally alter the phones, computers, and cameras around Maria was a classicBlack Mirrorset up. It effectively builds up tension as the viewer watches Maria’s life spiral out of control when everything she claims to be true is suddenly not. Netflix even released two slightly different versions of the episode to furthermake viewers question realityas Maria was. The acting from Kelly and McEwen is convincing, and you can feel the impending descent into madness from Maria.
The ending slightly enters horror movie territory during the final confrontation between Maria and Verity, which is always appreciated in this show. However, the reveal of how Verity was able to alter reality around Maria to make her unreliable leaned too much into fantasy territory, which doesn’t work for this show. What Maria chooses to do with the power she gets from Verity in the end is rather silly and doesn’t feel aligned with theBlack Mirrorformula.
3"USS Callister: Into Infinity"
The anticipated sequel to the season 4 episode, “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” sees the return of Cristin Milioti as Captain Nanette Cole in the video game where Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) trapped them inside of in the original episode. With Robert dead, the crew of the USS Callister once again find themselves stranded in the infinite virtual universe. However, this time, they are fighting for survival against 30 million players.
Much like the first USS Callister episode, this one feels like it could be a movie rather than an episode. It’s full of fast-paced sci-fi action that feels like it could be straight out of a blockbuster movie. The sound design and visual effects are equally impressive with some emotional moments as well. It’s a bit darker thematically than the original episode and has a final act that may be more shocking than the first. Nevertheless, the opening of the episode runs the risk of turning some viewers off. It may not be quite up to the same level as “USS Callister,” but it is a worthy sequel episode if you stick around.
“Eulogy” stars the incomparable Paul Giamatti in the lead role of the episode, Phillip. A man who lives an isolated life, Philip is introduced to a groundbreaking system that allows its users to physically step inside old photographs. As Philip starts using this new system, it eventually stirs up powerful emotions in the process.
The premise of this episode is rather simple for aBlack Mirrorepisode, but the intrigue and emotional core make ‘Eulogy’ an excellent addition to the series' catalog. It has just the right amount of drama without impeding on the unmistakably unnerving atmosphere that is synonymous with the show. The episode ventures into the passage of time and the evolution of love that we all experience at some point. The technology aspect isn’t complicated in this episode, yet is still efficient in depicting how technology truly can affect every facet of our lives. Giamatti delivers a class-act performance that will certainly tug on the heart strings. The script isn’t the most shocking or complex one in the show’s history, but it is certainly one of the more emotionally charged ones.
1"Common People"
The first episode of season 7 is the only episode that completely embodies everything that aBlack Mirrorepisode is supposed to be. “Common People” follows thelives of married coupleAmanda (Rashida Jones) and Mike (Chris O’Dowd) who live a happy life despite the constant struggle to barely make ends meet. When Amanda suddenly slips into a coma and a brain tumor is found, Mike impulsively signs her up for an experimental procedure to save her life. This procedure makes a copy of her brain to remove the tumor, leaving Amanda’s brain hooked up to the vendor’s servers. To keep Amanda’s newly upgraded brain functioning, they have to pay for a monthly subscription service that gets increasingly more expensive and inconvenient.
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The fact that this episode, which sees a woman’s life reliant on a tiered subscription model, aired on a major streaming service is wild. Especially considering this particular streaming service continues to raise monthly subscription fees. Shortly after starting this subscription service, Amanda starts involuntarily speaking in ads until they are forced to upgrade the subscription so she doesn’t lose her job as a teacher. The subscription tiers keep changing, and the prices keep increasing, forcing Amanda and Mike to choose to pay for that over everything else.
Since Amanda’s brain is synced to the vendor’s computer servers, she has to sleep more to let the servers rest. Which, of course, causes her to sleep more and more as the subscription tiers evolve. Paying for the subscription slowly drains the life out of both Amanda and Mike, and the ending is utterly bleak. “Common People” has one of the most poignant, relevant commentaries on society’s codependency on technology in the entire show.
