Black Mirror: Season 7

I finished the last episode of season 7 of BLACK MIRROR last night and felt compelled to share some non-spoilery thoughts on it. Overall, it was a fantastic season for a show that had felt like it was both flagging in the last two seasons and diverging significantly from its original premise too.

This season didn’t strike a single duff note for me and all episodes were good-to-excellent. More importantly, it felt 100% Black Mirror-y too and every bit as good as the best parts of series 4 and earlier. Some quick takes on the episodes:

COMMON PEOPLE

A solid cautionary tale about creepy tech, amoral capitalism and the “enshittification” of digital subscription services (as well as the for-profit US healthcare system), this was familiar Black Mirror territory. Chris O’Dowd gives an empathic performance that almost makes you completely forget his comic roots. It feels like they got the bleakest episode out of the way first, the rest are – if not happy endings – then not quite so dark. 6/10

BÊTE NOIRE

Actually, I take it back, this one is pretty dark 🙂 A tremendous sense of dread builds in this one as we see hyper-weaponised gaslighting in effect. The paranoia builds to an excruciating level, until it makes a surprising little turn that left me grinning. Lots of fun (in the end) and definitely worth a rewatch. Memorable. 7/10

HOTEL REVERIE

Loved this one, but then again I am a sentimental sort! It felt like it was trying to be this season’s equivalent to SAN JUNIPERO, though the premise was a lot wackier and probably stretched credulity a bit. But I was blown away by Emma Corrin’s performance, channelling a 1940s English romantic lead, but with a beautifully nuanced undercurrent of a secretive real life hidden from sight. It’s like a Black Mirror take on THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO. A bit of movie magic – literally. 8/10

PLAYTHING

Probably my least favourite of this season, but still decent and I loved the period detail (and revisiting the world of BANDERSNATCH) Loved the raw trippy-ness of it all too. Felt grungy and weird, and I kind of liked it. Also – Peter Capaldi is always fun to watch. He does demented well! 6/10

EULOGY

A beautiful and incredibly moving tale anchored by a top-tier Paul Giamatti performance. This could almost work as a stage play (with clever use of special effects, like light projection). The visuals are immaculately done as we enter memories trying to unearth the truth of a life shared. Like a quiet, thoughtful indie version of INCEPTION. A huge emotional gut-punch of an episode – but joyous too. 9/10

USS CALLISTER: INTO INFINITY

The first actual sequel episode in Black Mirror history, and it’s pretty much everything I hoped it would be. I’d actually recommend re-watching the original before this. There’s a short edited recap of the original (season 4) episode, but even so I’d forgotten a lot of the small details. Anyway, this was a perfect episode to end the season on – a real crowd-pleaser and the closest that Black Mirror has gotten to full-on Hollywood Blockbuster territory. Will there be a third entry? Maaaaaaybe…. I wouldn’t be upset if it became a recurring thing across seasons. Or at least a third one to cap off the trilogy, so to speak! 7/10

So… my personal ranking of episodes for S7:

1. Eulogy
2. Hotel Reverie
3. Bete Noire
4. USS Callister: Into Infiinity
5. Common People
6. Plaything

They’re all good though. A very solid season. Brooker is a damn good writer, working with a very talented team. Here’s hoping Season 8 maintains this level of quality!