Targeted ads injected into everyday conversations with your spouse. Technologically controlled gaslighting. Golden era movie stars becoming sentient AI. Drug induced communication with cute video game life forms. Interacting with the past through photographs. USS Callister 2.
Black Mirror is once again making audiences aware of their previously unknown technological fears (and even bigger fears about the evil people using the tech) in its seventh season (but fourth season in the Netflix era of the show). Showcasing an array of talented performers including Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae, Cristin Miloti, Rashida Jones, Awkwafina, and Peter Capaldi, Black Mirror is pulling zero punches with scope and scale, combining the star power on hand with a Netflix budgeted production.
Unfortunately, as can be the case with anthology style series’, episodes differ in quality. Black Mirror season 7 is an example of this, with most of the six episodes failing to be as engaging or interesting as its predecessors, unveiling the possibility that perhaps Charlie Brooker’s dissection of the relationship between humans and technology, in all its facets, has run out of steam.
Episodes like Common People and Eulogy, which take a far more emotional approach to how technology can affect relationships, feel like a new skin on a story already told in earlier seasons of the show (see The Entire History of You from season one or Be Right Back from season two for far better dissections of these themes). Despite having solid performances from Paul Giamatti, Chris O’Dowd, and Rashida Jones to elevate the material, both episodes either do nothing unique enough to differ from previous installments or fizzle out early on with exploring the premise that the story takes some abstract turns into territory that feels too over the top, even for a show like Black Mirror.
Brooker and his collaborators also provide commentary once more on the usage of AI in the film industry, which was touched upon in a far more comedic fashion last season in Joan is Awful. This time around, placing a modern-day actor within a classical film starts Hotel Reverie with a hopeful premise that may explore the impacts of studios finding a middle ground of regurgitating I.P. with a new enough gimmick to keep audiences engaged. The emerging story within this episode doesn’t necessarily explore this theme beyond the surface level, rather leaning more into a romance fueled thriller. This episode is one of the series’ higher points, but the potential of examining a far more interesting subject is left to be desired.
Another highlight, and arguably the one episode that most die-hard Black Mirror fans will be anticipating, is the follow up to USS Callister, which in season four saw Jesse Plemons forcibly trapping his fellow work colleagues within a virtual reality sci-fi video game as a form of coercive control. With Cristin Miloti, along with the majority of the supporting cast, returning in USS Callister: Beyond Infinity, the bootlegging adventures within the game are lively, adventurous fun brought to life by the cinematic quality of filmmaking that a Netflix budget can afford. It almost feels like nothing was spared for this episode specifically, which is not to take away from the design and aesthetics of the other episodes. However, it’s seems that USS Callister: Beyond Infinity was the one Netflix wanted to real nail, and for the most part, they did.
However, one really enjoyable episode doesn’t do enough to smooth over the fact that this is a disappointing season of Black Mirror overall. Top tier performances, immersive direction, and interesting setups are sullied by poor execution and rehashing of themes that have already been explored multiple times (and better) in seasons previous. If this is indeed the end of Black Mirror, then it has unfortunately gone out with a whimper.
All six episodes of Black Mirror are streaming on Netflix from April 10.
