Technology. It’s hard to overstate the way in which society has portrayed both its capacity for good and avalanche of flaws; it’s what inspired the likes of “Her” and “Ex Machina, ” with “Black Mirror” entering the conversation in 2011 laser-focused on examining the ways tech could just as quickly go from nothing more than an everyday assistant to the villain of each episode comprising the show’s now-seven seasons. The brainchild of mastermind Charlie Brooker, the “Twilight Zone” approach of “Black Mirror” never pulled its punches when it came to skewering such first-season topics as livestreaming and early dives into artificial intelligence, in the process producing landmark television and a noticeable smattering of stumbles in quality. Though this sort of sentiment sits hardly dissimilar from the majority of small-screen content, recent seasons have, unfortunately, tended to lean in the direction of the latter, with the jabs at technological danger progressively less and less subtle in their approach. Chances are, the latest trend will wind up on Brooker’s bullseye eventually, and whether it causes someone to turn away from their smartphone or social media, even if for but a moment, or roll one’s eyes at the aggressively heavy-handed messaging present throughout, it’s all subjective. Through it all, were we entertained?
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That is why we’re here, after all; cautionary tales be damned, this is nevertheless another microcosm of streaming media, and an argument could be made that when Netflix took the reins-and provided the funding-from the then three-year-old program in 2016 that a shift in quality occurred. To be fair, quality still lay in wake with the virtual reality romance “San Junipero” and classic “Star Trek“-meets-internet tormentors for “USS Callister, ” but for many, the show had fallen into a formulaic loop, oftentimes somewhat lagging behind the very subjects at the center of each episode. Just as “Black Mirror” began to poke at the ribs of whatever may have been in the public consciousness yesterday, tomorrow’s innovation was ready to go. A victim of poor timing, perhaps?
It’s here that season seven finds “Black Mirror, ” with all the issues above still present, even as genuine excellence shines when least expected. As with every season, it’s a mix, and nowhere is that more evident than in season opener “Common People,” following married couple Amanda (Rashida Jones) and Mike (Chris O’Dowd) as they embark on their annual anniversary getaway. Unfortunately, their lives would soon take a horrific turn as Amanda’s persistent headaches culminate in a sudden coma; upon the discovery of a fatal tumor and with no hope of recovery, Mike turns to an unexpected, cutting-edge surgical procedure designed to replace the affected portion of Amanda’s brain with a synthetic device, one that comes with a literal price. Accepting the offer with little hesitation and following the successful operation, resumption of normal life soon reveals side effects, such as restricting Amanda to a “coverage area” and an increased need for more sleep. When Amanda begins verbally spouting ad copy, it’s clear that none of this is working the way they’d hoped, but there’s a solution-an upgrade to a higher “subscription tier” that will not only eliminate the ads, but also allow the couple to move outside the limitations of the coverage area and hopefully enjoy their next anniversary celebration out of town. All of this is, sadly, short-lived, and all the extra shifts at work and penny-pinching the two have found themselves forced to embrace have done little to abate the increased frequency of ads and Amanda’s overall quality of life. It’s easy to see the analogy to streaming services and subscription models scattered about various apps nowadays, but a reminder every several minutes quickly wears out its welcome.
It’s not hard to predict where all of this is heading, and it’s as devastating as one might expect. Kudos to Jones and O’Dowd for two committed performances hardly shy of tearjerking emotion, but in terms of starting the season off with a bang, it’s a devastating wallop.
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“Bête Noire” is an odd one. Maria (Siena Kelly) works in food R&D when an old classmate, Verity (Rosy McEwen), turns up as part of a focus group before landing a job alongside Maria as a research assistant. There’s clearly tension, largely emanating from Maria, as her disdain surrounding Verity’s employment begins to bleed into her day-to-day life, with possible bullying from when the women were children the likely source, but it’s around this time that Maria begins to notice irregularities manifesting as she attempts to recall various pieces of information, ranging from the name of a restaurant to the verbiage of an email. When footage captured on a security camera shows the two involved in an altercation entirely different from what Maria experienced firsthand, it’s clear that something might be happening to the very fabric of Maria’s reality, with Verity suspected as the cause. In a conclusion more over-the-top than one might expect, “Black Mirror” decides it’s time to cash in on the multiverse trend littering many a film occupying the motion picture zeitgeist, and from there, it only gets worse.
“Hotel Reverie” attempts to resurrect the “San Junipero” concept as it focuses on Brandy Friday (Issa Rae), Hollywood A-lister with a deep desire to break away from the trappings of her current career and take on a role in the vein of many a forgotten black-and-white classic from a century prior. Enter Kimmy (Awkwafina), an ambitious director who might just have an idea to, quite literally, blend the old with the new by inserting a star of today into one such film via a variant of deepfake/AI technology, a process that the studio needs to see in order to believe. The plan is to run the movie, an ancient melodrama from the golden era of film, in a live format while the newly cast Brandy is placed within, where she’s able to interact with the onscreen action and deliver an updated version of a classic performance; this, by the way, is done via a device attached to the temple, where, in a fashion any fan of “The Thirteenth Floor” will find amusing, takes the wearer’s consciousness and puts them inside “Hotel Reverie.” What could go wrong?
As attempts to stay on script while exploring the dynamic between herself and onscreen partner Clara (Emma Corrin), an accident in the control room traps Brandy within the film, with Clara the only other person with whom she’s able to interact. As Brandy’s sense of time becomes distorted and months pass in minutes, a loving relationship between the two women forms as they come to terms with their cinematic prison, but as anyone who’s seen “Somewhere in Time” knows, it can all end in an instant. Clearly designed to tug at the heartstrings of many a “San Junipero” fan, it’s a failed grasp at several concepts, with the rapport between Rae and Corrin the only saving grace. It’s surprisingly easy to overlook the tech angle, but far too many side quests clog the narrative.
“Plaything” is where the season truly begins to live up to the cracks seen in every opening sequence, opening on a man named Cameron (Peter Capaldi) committing a petty theft, ostensibly on purpose; after being taken into police custody as it’s revealed he’s suspected of murder, the episode largely unfolds in flashback as we see how, thirty years prior, his job as PC game critic saw him come into possession of “Thronglets, ” a game of sorts with the purpose being the creation of digital life. All comparisons to “Tron: Legacy” or forgotten ’90s platformer “Lemmings” aside, “Thronglets” possesses more of a “Sims” atmosphere, and as Cameron becomes obsessed with his growing horde, his eventual descent into drug use sets in motion the sinister event central to the episode’s plot. As the years pass and more computing power becomes needed to feed his pseudo-pets with information, it all culminates in a moment ripped right from “The Lawnmower Man, ” and this is, in no way, a compliment. It even remains unclear if Capaldi ever fully landed on how his character is supposed to behave; bordering on fidgety mania, the unkempt locks of his grey wig do far more of the heavy lifting than the “Doctor Who” veteran, and this is indeed a shame. Though the episode seems to serve as a prequel of sorts to 2018’s interactive “Bandersnatch” via the use of Will Poulter‘s character Colin, it does little to give “Plaything” any added weight.
“Eulogy, ” from the jump, makes the wise choice to cast Paul Giamatti as the lead, a man named Philip who’s received a phone call with news of someone’s passing, a woman named Carol. The call is from someone representing Eulogy, a company hired by Carol’s family in an effort to provide her upcoming funeral with memories befitting of that perfect speech meant to be read during the service; it’s Eulogy that will soon provide Philip with a kit containing yet another adhesive-backed gadget meant to be worn on the temple; as a voice prompt asks him to recall Carol, and with his memory of the woman shaky at best, all it takes is a look at several old photos for the device to transport him into the photos themselves; as he walks around, with the now-personified prompt (Patsy Ferran) at his side, and as he uncovers additional photos he attempts to reconstruct via recollection of the moment captured on film, one of the most low-key episodes of “Black Mirror” soon emerges. The gentle tone never picks up speed, and that seems to be just the way the show likes it. Giamatti’s perfect inclusion in “Eulogy” drives a simple story about lost love; there’s shades of the still-excellent “Be Right Back” from time to time, but it consistently stands on its own feet successfully, a nice detour that’s exactly what this season needed.
Finally, what’s this? With one episode remaining, it’s time for the first true follow-up to a previous “Black Mirror” storyline by boldly going back on board the USS Callister for “Into Infinity, ” another trip into one of the finest episodes of the entire series. As we last saw in 2017, the ensigns aboard the vessel have adapted to life as sentient beings within the endless landscape that is Infinity, the online gaming universe created by Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) and who themselves have similarly been created by as digital clones of real-world Infinity employees. With the USS Callister a world where Daly could escape the awkwardness and difficulty of life, his team of clones represent a form of control; it’s a world where the only limit is his own imagination, coupled with any vindictiveness carried over from his daily frustrations.
Though the preceding jaunt saw Daly meet his end as a form of revenge from his oppressed crew and a potentially limitless future unfolded as they’re now able to explore the cosmos free of Daly’s reign, the time since has revealed they need credits to survive, something with which any “Fortnite” gamer will undoubtedly sympathize. With the online community their target for credit acquisition, by force if needed, these credits are a genuine necessity, needed to purchase such essentials as fuel for the ship, while in the vast offices that is Infinity HQ, a journalist just may have discovered Daly’s inhumane cloning activity. Company co-founder James Walton (Jimmi Simpson), meanwhile, not only finds himself wrestling with the possibility that the entire company could wind up implicated were these cloning claims to go public, but he very well may need to get to the bottom of these mysterious in-game credit hunters, prompting him to enlist the help of programmer Nanette (Cristin Milioti) to take them down. At 90 minutes, it’s a longer trip than the 76 of the original, and the graph of momentum plateaus early on, especially when comparing the two, but the humor, a well-placed backstory and several earned twists support the foundation of what is, ultimately, an acceptable sci-fi romp as opposed to the core of what makes “Black Mirror. ” If you liked “USS Callister, ” you’ll enjoy this return.
With 14 years having passed since its auspicious debut, “Black Mirror” seems poised to exist as little more than a show mostly adrift, quickly forgotten, until another season materializes with a barrage of stories plucked from the tree of technological spite. It doesn’t seem shy in its thinly-veiled attempts to replicate what happened before, recycling story after story with an ever-present struggle to balance the humanity with the tech; the winner, in each instance, remains left to the viewer, and it’s in this that the divide between those who continue to support Brooker’s latest season and those who left the party long ago continues to stay put. Technology is bad. Still interested in a watch? [C+]
“Black Mirror” is streaming on Netflix now.
