Black Mirror Season 7: A Review of the Latest Episodes
The seventh season of the popular Netflix series Black Mirror has arrived, and with it, a fresh set of thought-provoking episodes that explore the complexities of technology and its impact on society. According to a review by NPR, the new season has taken a different approach from the classic Black Mirror formula, which often relied on bleak and dystopian themes.
The first episode, "Common People," starring Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones, follows a loving couple whose life is disrupted when the wife lapses into a coma due to an inoperable brain tumor. A sales representative, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, convinces the husband to sign up for a subscription service that uploads his wife’s brain to the cloud, allowing her to survive surgery. As reported by NPR, this episode "riffs on the ways that subscription services trap people and then deteriorate with time," and features good work from the leads, but ultimately feels a bit one-note.
In contrast, "Hotel Reverie," starring Issa Rae, takes a more romantic approach, exploring the use of AI to recreate a classic black-and-white Hollywood romance. The episode follows an actress who, through the use of AI, takes on the lead role in a remake of a film originally played by a man. NPR notes that this episode pairs well with another Black Mirror classic, "San Junipero," which also explores a romance between women in an unreal space.
The episode "Bête Noire," starring [actor’s name], takes a more mysterious approach, following a woman who realizes that a new work colleague is sabotaging her. However, NPR reports that the resolution of the mystery lets this one down, and that it bumps up against the idea that a person or a gizmo is all-powerful, which can be more absurd than unsettling.
"Plaything," starring Peter Capaldi, is a weird and thought-provoking tale that explores the world of video games and virtual reality. The episode follows a scruffy old electronics nerd who creates a video game populated with little yellow beings that threaten to take over humanity. According to NPR, this episode continues to blur the boundary between virtual and real worlds.
The episode "Eulogy," starring Paul Giamatti, is perhaps the most emotionally rich episode of the season. The episode follows a man who explores memories of an old girlfriend with a "guide" gathering information for her memorial. NPR reports that Giamatti is excellent in this episode, and that it is among the best of the warmer and fuzzier Black Mirror episodes.
Finally, "USS Callister: Into Infinity," is a sequel to the fourth season episode "USS Callister," which followed a game designer who imprisoned digital clones of his co-workers in a world based on his favorite old spaceship TV show. The original episode was a pointed examination of a man whose cruelty didn’t prevent him from seeing himself as a good guy and a victim. According to NPR, this sequel feels more comic and not quite as cutting, but the returning cast is still a pleasure.
Overall, the seventh season of Black Mirror offers a fresh set of thought-provoking episodes that explore the complexities of technology and its impact on society. As NPR notes, these episodes are "more ambivalent, suggesting there are threats but also opportunities in a world where your humanity can be moved around like any other file."
