Breaking Down Every Episode of ‘Black Mirror’s Seventh Season
It’s been almost two years since Netflix brought us new episodes of Black Mirror, creator Charlie Brooker’s answer to The Twilight Zone. Coming off a season that covered A.I., paparazzi, the ethics of true crime and replica cyborgs loaded with their human originals’ consciousness, what can you expect in Season Seven?
Here’s a minimally spoiler-y sketch of each episode to prepare you…
Episode One: ‘Common People’
What It’s About: Amanda (Rashida Jones) has an inoperable brain tumor, but Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross) tells Amanda’s husband Mike (Chris O’Dowd) about an exciting new technology from her employer, Rivermind: the company can essentially replace the damaged brain tissue with a cloud backup of Amanda’s consciousness, and it only costs $300 a month! That might be nothing to another family, but for a teacher and a welder, it’s a lot, and Mike is forced into extremely unpleasant online gig work to supplement their income. Then come the upsells….
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What It’s Really About: Paying a monthly fee just to be alive, to a company that is constantly “improving” its service by pushing features into ever-pricier tiers? Sounds like the unholy marriage of for-profit health insurance and, well, Netflix.
Funny: You don’t cast these three comedy stars without letting them goof around before things get horrifying. Ross is particularly great as the sunny saleswoman, gamely spinning every bit of bad news as good. Rating on a scale of 1-10: 6
Melancholy: Things wrap up before the viewer spends too much time in a state of grief with the characters. Rating: 3
Paranoid: How outlandish is it to think a company might profit off making customers pay a baseline cost just to be well and functional? Hmm, let’s ask Luigi Mangione. Rating: 2
Triggering: Mike and Amanda are trying to have a “happy accident” following a pregnancy loss; Amanda’s decline shares some features with dementia. Rating: 4
Violent: No spoilers, but certain things do end up in certain places that certain characters would have preferred they not go. Rating: 5
In Conclusion: Definitely in the top half of this season’s episodes, efficiently told and beautifully acted.
Episode Two: ‘Bête Noire’
What It’s About: Food scientist Maria (Siena Kelly) is stunned when former classmate Verity (Rosy McEwen) goes from focus-group tester to lab assistant to workplace tormentor. Her arrival coincides with Maria’s seeming to lose her grasp on reality itself: Is she just experiencing the Mandela effect, or could computer whiz Verity possibly be using her skills to undermine Maria?
What It’s Really About: Though Maria tries to downplay her own part in it, Verity was the school victim, and the episode serves as a convincing argument against bullying.
Funny: The escalation of Maria’s seeming madness is funny at first: Who hasn’t had the unsettling experience of checking a fact you took for granted only to find out you had it wrong? The leads have strong frenemy-to-enemy chemistry; Taskmaster alum Doc Brown adds a droll touch as their manager, Gabe. Rating: 7
Melancholy: Of course there’s something sad about Verity’s backstory, but we don’t see much of it. Rating: 2
Paranoid: Not since Season Four’s “USS Callister” (more on that later) has a character made “good at computer” seem like such a terrifying attribute for a co-worker to have. Rating: 8
Triggering: A death by suicide occurs off-screen; lots of talk about Maria’s latest chocolate bar creation (miso jam? gross). Rating: 5
Violent: Weapons do come into play! Rating: 8
In Conclusion: If what you’re talking about doesn’t rise to the level of what we see in “Bête Noire,” I never want to hear about “gaslighting” again.
Episode Three: ‘Hotel Reverie’
What It’s About: The venerable Keyworth Studios has a rich library of classic films, but almost no new productions on its lot. Then Kimmy (Awkwafina) pitches Judith (Harriet Walter) — daughter of the studio’s founder and its current head — on ReDream: a process by which current stars can be transported into the world of the film, replacing one of its original stars in real time so that even a strapped operation like Keyworth could afford to pay them for the 90 minutes or so that the film is running around them. Brandy Friday (Issa Rae), sick of playing noble victims and action sidekicks, agrees to consider starring in a remake of legendary romance Hotel Reverie if she can play Alex, a role originated by a man, opposite Dorothy Chambers (Emma Corrin) as Clara. Then someone spills a drink on a computer and Rivermind’s best-laid plans go to hell. Or maybe heaven?
What It’s Really About: After last season’s “Joan Is Awful,” I don’t want to believe it’s a pro-A.I. story, so I’ll focus on the queer romance and say it reminds us that there were lesbians in the ‘40s who weren’t permitted to live their lives freely, and that we can’t go back.
Funny: Once Brandy enters the world of the film, the Casablanca-ish Hotel Reverie gets an unintentional screwball twist. Rating: 7
Melancholy: The glimpses of Dorothy’s life off-screen tell a mournful story, but they’re mostly just glimpses. Rating: 3
Paranoid: The vogue for remaking and extending existing IP could get even worse than what we’re seeing now? Should actors get used to getting paid in six-minute increments? Rating: 8
Triggering: Suicides are implied; harm comes to both a long-dead digital animal, and to the aforementioned computer. Rating: 4
Violent: Police are involved in the climax of the film, and you know how that can go. Rating: 3
In Conclusion: At nearly an hour and a half, this already felt long even before a character tells us about a temporal distortion that makes every second in the real world pass like six or seven hours to Brandy in the movie. This is explicitly on a continuum with the beloved “San Junipero” from Season Three, but like so many brand extensions of existing IP, it doesn’t quite capture the magic that made the original so special.
Episode Four: ‘Plaything’
What It’s About: When a troubled man (Peter Capaldi) is detained for attempted shoplifting, a mandatory DNA swab reveals his connection to a cold case from the ‘90s. In the interrogation room with DCI Kano (James Nelson-Joyce) and department psychologist Minter (Michele Austin), we learn his name is Cameron, he’s a former video-game journalist (played in flashbacks by Lewis Gribben), and that there’s a lot more to his story than they can understand. Will Poulter reprises the role of Colin Ritman from Bandersnatch, the interactive Black Mirror film from 2018.
What It’s Really About: The responsible stewardship of all kinds of creatures, even ones that seem to be of a lower order, or that you could never touch.
Funny: Capaldi’s scraggly wig is kind of funny? Rating: 2
Melancholy: Cameron’s life seems limited and lonely even before things really go wrong for him. Rating: 7
Paranoid: Without going into specifics, this is the most “what if phones but too much” episode of the season, but I would have liked a little more A to B storytelling explaining some of the motivation for the ending; I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a world the franchise revisits. Rating: 5
Triggering: Talk of mental-health issues in a character who has recovered by the time we see him; murders. Rating: 5
Violent: Very! Rating: 9
In Conclusion: Even with copious flashbacks, “someone sits still and tells their story” is not a particularly dynamic viewing experience. That plus the fact that this feels like the middle of the story that started in Bandersnatch makes this the flattest episode of the season.
Episode Five: ‘Eulogy’
What It’s About: Phillip (Paul Giamatti) is contacted by a service called Eulogy: a woman he used to know as Carol Hartman has died, and her family is using Eulogy to request memories from her loved ones to share at her memorial service. Since their relationship didn’t end happily, Phillip’s not sure he wants to participate or how useful his recollections will be, but a digital assistant helps walk him through the process, letting him virtually step into his old photos and give context for what they depict, and what they don’t.
What It’s Really About: Physical media is precious — treasure and protect it accordingly!
Funny: There might be better actors than Paul Giamatti to inject prickliness and sarcasm into an episode like this, but I can’t think of one. Rating: 6
Melancholy: There might be better actors than Paul Giamatti to portray loss and regret in an episode like this, but I can’t think of one of those either! Rating: 8
Paranoid: Arguably, it’s paranoid to think a lost love could find a way to continue torturing you after her death, but other than showing us yet another use for the Nubbin that pops up throughout the season, this one isn’t too alarming. Rating: 2
Triggering: An off-screen death, apparently of natural causes. What this will most likely trigger is tears.
Violent: Other than the aftermath of a trashed hotel suite, no. Rating: 1
In Conclusion: With the caveat that I’m generally in the bag for Paul Giamatti — something you may have already surmised — this sweet, heartbreaking episode is Black Mirror at its least dystopian, and most humanistic.
Episode Six: ‘USS Callister: Into Infinity’
What It’s About: The aforementioned Season Four episode “USS Callister” ended with digital clones finding their way to a kind of freedom — but then what happened? We catch back up with the crew as they struggle to survive outside the confines of established gameplay in the virtual Callister universe. At the same time, the real-world Nanette (Cristin Milioti) monitors Walton (Jimmi Simpson) for opportunities to increase her access to the company’s servers. He’s more willing now than he might have been otherwise: Journalists are starting to get curious about players’ reports about getting robbed in the game by avatars who don’t have identifying tags.
What It’s Really About: The original episode was a bit Severance before Severance: what relationship do you have with a version of you that’s been generated to subsist in a limited environment that, nevertheless, feels very real to them? This question persists in the sequel. The question of how to deal with angry, stunted, greedy men also comes up here, with a slightly different spin.
Funny: Billy Magnussen returns as Karl and, as usual, steals all his scenes; Simpson is also hilarious in all his multiple incarnations. But this is Milioti’s show. Between this and The Penguin, few performers have shown more range in half a year than she has. Rating: 9
Melancholy: There’s a point where you might feel surprisingly wistful about someone’s fate, but this is still mostly goofing on Star Trek, and on sci-fi tropes. Rating: 3
Paranoid: A digital person is created for the sole purpose of doubling someone’s capacity to work, so I don’t know: Does that seem like something your employer has discussed doing to you? Rating: 8
Triggering: Physical abuse; violations of labor law; death, both permanent and otherwise. Rating: 6
Violent: Mostly of the video-game variety, but there is one grisly exception. Rating: 7
In Conclusion: The original “USS Callister” could have been a perfect one-off episode; since they didn’t leave well enough alone, I think we’re going to need at least one more to wrap things up properly.