Black Mirror Season 7 Review: Pessimistically Optimistic, Yet Relatable, Stories Create a Mixed Bag

There’s something about the rise of technology in today’s world that feels very inline with what Black Mirror showcased in the past. Creator Charlie Brooker and his ever-changing team of writers and directors have consistently delivered such thrilling pocket stories. Though Black Mirror Season 7 continues that, there’s a little more light that shines through this bleak sci-fi anthology series.

Yet, at its core, Black Mirror has maintained this eerie intensity through its various presentations of how we interact and manipulate technology.

Of course, you have that mix of heartfelt episodes, starting with Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 1 “Common People” and extremely absurd episodes, like Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 4 “Playthings”. 

However, Season 7 also marks a new turn as it also contains the first sequel episode with Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 6 “USS Calister: Into Infinity”.

With all these episodes, it truly feels like Brooker and company want to present a more optimistic outlook, albeit while maintaining that dystopian tone. However, while some of these episodes work, others play up to the absurdity, tone-wise.

Black Mirror Season 7 opens up with “Common People”, which begs what would happen if you could save a loved one at a capitalistic cost. Chris O’Dowd’s Mike and Rashida Jones’ Amanda are a working-class couple in a small town trying to make the most of it. However, when they have to put up the money, they try to live with the costs, for better and worse.

While we’ve had commentary on capitalism through other episodes like Black Mirror Season 1 Episode 2 “Fifteen Million Merits”, “Common People” tackles it from a different perspective. Here, the way it represents the classist nature of subscription services through the lens of the medical industry lends for a well-balanced blend of comedy and tragedy.

While the humor can be a little off-handed, Jones’ performance range makes this more entertaining than it should be. Additionally, O’Dowd’s desperate compassion really helps emphasize that idea even more, with this unhinged factor being integrated into his character.

Following after this is “Bête Noire”, which feels more self-contained in the sense that it doesn’t feel too extreme until the very end. Yet, it simply takes the idea of “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” to a new extreme while still feeling somewhat appropriate for a one-off.

This episode sees former schoolmates Maria and Verity incidentally reuniting at a food company Maria works at. With Maria gradually noticing the little details changing around her, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it has that technological edge to it. Moreso, it feels like a fine episode that keeps you on your toes as a poofy thriller.

However, after this episode is perhaps one of my personal top three episodes of Season 7: “Hotel Reverie”.

This episode brings a very timely concept to it, utilizing artificial intelligence to recreate a vintage film. However, it doesn’t dive into how it can be used for malicious intent (much like how it actually is being used in real life.) Rather, “Hotel Reverie” is more emotionally charged as it centers around a kind of empathetic connectivity that most Black Mirror episodes lack.

This is one of Season 7’s strongest thanks to Issa Rae and Emma Corrin’s performances, which ultimately help to form this heartfelt story. The “human” side of things, which includes Awkwafina, is mostly there for comic relief or expositional pacing. However, the visual and auditory tones really mesh well enough to immerse you deeply.

While Black Mirror Season 7 offers some really good episodes, there are some that try to be too on the nose or do too much. While “Bête Noire” played it safe, “Plaything” goes absolutely crazy and it’s not just because of its 4:3 aspect ratio and grainy hues.

This whole episode, mostly set during a police interrogation, finds a journalist engrossed by these digital creatures designed for a “game”. However, when he decides to take some drugs thanks to his friend, it becomes a wickedly messed up scenario. Even though the concept does fit the bleakness Black Mirror is meant to have, the execution feels somewhat questionable.

It feels really weird when it gets into the flashbacks, where we’re supposed to feel sympathetic for this digital race of creatures. Unfortunately, the destabilizing crash-outs have this awkwardness to them due to how it’s abrasively shot.

Whenever the episode isn’t looking into those moments, Peter Capaldi delivers an intense performance, having that slight innocence covered by his Machiavellian confidence.

Fortunately, the next episode, “Eulogy”, seems to rectify things by offering a more grounded scenario. Here, a man is introduced to a system that’s used to look into photos, which leads him into his own journey of self-reflection. Paul Giamatti is channelling his inner Hunham from The Holdovers, which adds this layer of depth to his understanding of grief.

The chemistry between Giamatti and Patsy Ferran, who serves as the Guide to Giamatti’s character, is incredibly sweet as she tries to comprehend all these pieces to the puzzle.

As each new piece gets uncovered, you’re constantly hoping that Giamatti’s character gets a good ending despite being reprimanded for his misjudgments. However, it would be better if he didn’t constantly keep finding what he needed in his house. It would’ve made for a much more compelling adventure for his character to uncover things in-person.

Last but not least is the sequel episode to Black Mirror Season 4 Episode 1 with “USS Callister: Into Infinity”. Since that episode, there are a few changes that have been made: Tulaska’s reverted to her previous Space Fleet appearance, Shania has been written out, and Walton surprisingly has a bigger presence.

As such, it makes the Callister’s crew much more hardened as they have to deal with facing a galaxy filled with sociopaths. In its nearly hour-thirty runtime, “Into Infinity” pulls on several tropes, like the double trouble archetype, to really put the crew’s circumstances into perspective. However, we don’t spend as much time with each of them individually whereas “USS Callister” previously did.

In fact, most of the focus is placed on the clone Nanette trying to deal with surviving and fighting for her crew’s life. It makes for some thrilling action fight/chase sequences, which are mostly contained within the first act. However, once it really gets the ball rolling later on, it gets very intense.

While I can’t speak fully on “USS Callister: Into Infinity”, it’s a solid follow-up to “USS Callister” as we get more depth into Walton and Robert Daly’s connection as well as understanding if digital (or as digital as cloning can get) life can have the same value as human life. However, the ending of “Into Infinity” is definitely something that feels conclusive, but I would be happy if they do decide to go out with one more episode.

Overall, Black Mirror Season 7 is a satisfying bag of stories with a mix of eye-popping and brash episodes to relatable ones that may hit closer to home. Sure, it has its odd peculiarities that may stick out like sore thumbs, but it has more good than not that not just keeps Season 7 entertaining, but captivating as well.

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Black Mirror Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.

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