Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
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Let me start by saying that I was very late to the Black Mirror party — multiple seasons late. However, I eventually dove into the deep end and haven’t come out since.
Episodic anthology shows are a truly unique viewing experience. They allow audiences to jump in at any moment, and best of all, they don’t require watching every single episode.
To be clear, I have seen every episode of Black Mirror, and all I can say is that the hands behind the series were right to get back to basics with tech stories.
Look, it’s not that the tech-less stories weren’t great. It’s that they didn’t feel like Black Mirror episodes.
It was a nice effort, Netflix, and no one blames you for trying something new, but as my niece’s mother’s mother always says, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The latest season of the anthology series had some heavy hitters, and while not all were slam dunks, they mostly told their stories brilliantly.
Before we get into it, though, this is not a review of the episodes so much as it explores personal preferences of what worked for us as viewers.
If you didn’t like the episodes, let’s discuss them because no one here is getting paid to blow smoke up Netflix‘s skirt.
Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 1 — Common People
In recent years, you may have noticed that Black Mirror likes to kick off every new season with a star-studded first episode.
For Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 1, “Joan is Awful,” we had two hilarious queens with Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek) and Salma Hayek — not to mention that brief but memorable cameo from Michael Cera (Arrested Development).
I still can’t get Salma Hayek (30 Rock) yelling, “Kill that quan-puta!” out of my head.
While that episode was charged with endless humor, Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 1 told a very depressing but captivating story.
It was a clever satire of how tier-based subscriptions have come to dominate people’s lives. You’re probably thinking, “Yes, the themes were unbelievably obvious. How is that clever?”
Let me tell you. It was the ads. That sealed the deal for me because we have become so desensitized to advertisements, commercials, and marketing that the only way to shock a person into paying attention is by having the ad pop out of the person you are talking to.
Seriously. I looked up “Thirst Trap Lube” just to see if it was real because that’s how much it had sunk in while watching.
Plus, I am all for Rashida Jones getting a win after her Apple TV+ show, Sunny, was canceled after one season. To be fair, you can see in my reviews where the shop declined.
Jones and Chris O’Dowd had great chemistry as two actors who are clearly familiar with each other and have a friendly rapport, if not full-on friends in real life.
Tracee Ellis Ross is a caricature of a customer service rep, as she steals every single scene. She sells the hell out of her role as the most dedicated employee ever.
It was a solid start to the series, but you can have one good egg in half a dozen rotten ones.
Also, fair warning that there are spoilers for some episodes, but there are one or two that I couldn’t bring myself to reveal just in case one person wanted to be surprised.
Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 2 — Bête Noire
Okay, I’ll admit that it was probably my favorite episode by the end of it. There were mean girls, frizzy hair, almond milk, and the Queen of the Universe.
While there were no huge names in this episode, it was as close to perfection as the niche themes could get.
Half the fun of the episode is trying to figure out how Rosy McEwen’s (The Alienist) Verity kept changing everything around Siena Kelly’s Maria.
Obviously, we all thought, “Oh, she made a funky little tech-magic necklace that can hack into computers and change whatever she wants.
Then came the hat from Barnie’s — sorry, Bernie’s. Oh, wait, maybe it was Barnie’s. I genuinely cannot remember.
That mandala effect will get you every time. I’m still convinced that the Sinbad genie movie exists somewhere. We can’t all be wrong, right? Is this a simulation? I may need to back off the Black Mirror episodes.
And an episode is only as good as its ending with “Bête Noire” giving us exactly what we wanted.
Having Maria shoot Verity in the head and then use the Quantum Computer to make herself Queen of the Universe was exactly how that needed to end.
Plus, there’s every chance that we could revisit this story since Maria is just getting started.
Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 3 — Hotel Reverie
I would bet money that so many people didn’t watch this episode just because they can’t stand Awkwafina’s (The Simpsons) humor or voice.
You have every right to feel that way because Lord knows there is one tall, long-haired man in Hollywood that everyone loves but that I can’t stand with every fiber of my being.
That said, this is still a fun episode. It’s unlikely to win any awards, but I’ve always loved stories where the main character enters an in-universe movie or show like The Final Girls.
It was a very cut-and-dry, black-and-white episode in which the stakes were sort of there but not really.
There are no profound metaphors but rather a nostalgia about how human connection can happen in the most unlikely of places. I’m just kidding. It had some heartfelt moments, but nothing groundbreaking.
Also, that must have been an easy paycheck for Issa Rae because she just played herself. She was great, but her acting was borderline. However, I cracked up at the Chopsticks part.
Now, Miss Emma Corrin, on the other hand, gave a memorable performance by bringing us down the road of a tragic star, and she did it promptly.
While Emma can play the hell out of any period piece role, the woman is a straight-up chameleon with how she seamlessly slips into any genre.
That was the same woman giving Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine a run for their money as Charles Xavier’s twin sister.
Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 4 — Plaything
Talk about a return to form with an episode that is practically the flagship back-to-tech story directly linked to Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
Honestly, this one was amazing but also a little of a letdown. This guy was brought in by the police for murder after he was apprehended trying to steal booze from a store.
From there, the main character, Cameron, divulges his life story to the detective and someone else who is, more or less, there to see how crazy the guy likely is.
Everything centers around a game Cameron stole while working as a PC game reviewer for a magazine.
Cameron is sent to retrieve the game copy to preview it from Will Poulter’s Colin Ritman. And let me just say they did a good job making it look like he was never in Guardians of the Galaxy.
By the way, if anyone wants to get the full breadth and scope of Will Poulter‘s glow-up from awkward, dorky character to fine as hell, sound off in the comments. I’ll write that so fast, your head will spin.
Anyway, the game itself is your typical take care of a digital pet game — think Tamagotchi, but as a PC game, but the pet is alive and replicating at an incredible speed.
Supposedly, these things are sentient and are trying to learn about human and their customs, including language. Truthfully, I couldn’t stop thinking about Digimon the whole time.
I won’t give anything away, but suffice it to say, things took a twisty turn during those last few minutes of the episode. All I’ll say is there BETTER be a sequel coming.
Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 5 — Eulogy
Everyone here remembers what I said about personal preferences: Just because you don’t like something doesn’t technically make it bad, right?
Well, here’s mine. Before anyone feels some way, this was an EXCELLENT episode. I just found it boring.
Can you blame me? I watched them in order, and this one went in hard with some seriously emotional moments.
I hate to say it, but does Paul Giamatti ever not play a sad, mad, or irritable character? I cannot think of a single role in which he wasn’t crying or yelling.
Whether this role was in his wheelhouse or if he just brought his years of talent to the episode, he did a remarkable job.
The episode mainly involves him going down memory lane by entering old photographs of the woman he once loved but lost.
Don’t expect anything overly shocking or unexpected. Some things they wanted to be a twist could be seen coming a mile away.
On the other hand, the one thing I thought would happen didn’t. So, there’s that, I guess.
If you’re into sad stories about people who have harbored anger in their hearts for decades, reconciling with their past in a tearful moment of self-realization, grab a box of Kleenex for this tearjerker.
Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 6 — USS Callister: Into Infinity
Listen, there is no judgment here if you jumped the line and went straight to this episode of Black Mirror. Honestly, I almost did the same thing myself.
I watched all of the episodes in the exact order they were presented, and let me tell you — it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t.
I have to say, it’s an enjoyable episode. A number of moments felt like a callback to the Galaxy Quest film starring Tim Allen (Shifting Gears), Sigourney Weaver (The Defenders), and the late Alan Rickman.
I won’t break down what happens because everyone was itching for the next chapter in this ongoing story from Black Mirror Season 4 Episode 1. I don’t need the grief.
At least I can tell you they’re basically stuck in Fortnite. And that’s not a spoiler because it’s right there in the episode description.
There are still plenty of campy moments, and the dire stakes are there from beginning to end — both in the real world and in the game.
I need everyone to watch it because we HAVE to talk about that ending. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how that happened or how it works. If you know, you know.
The only thing is that while there is plenty of room for another episode, that would require the writers to get very creative in figuring out where the characters go from there.
That just makes it even more likely. These people seem to love a challenge. I’d even bet Cristin Milioti would be down to take another crack at it.
I believe this was one of the best seasons of Black Mirror. Again, though, that’s based on personal preferences.
Hopefully, this gave you a good idea of what’s in store if you haven’t seen the whole season yet. If you have questions, you can always find me in the comments.
Which episode do you think was the best?
Are you glad Black Mirror returned to its original type of storytelling?
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