The latest season of “Black Mirror” shifts its focus somewhat, exploring how technology and capitalism impact our lives. Overall, this iconic series is steadily returning to the higher standards of its first three seasons.
“Black Mirror” is back with a vengeance.
first season, the show experienced a decline in both critical acclaim and ratings in its fifth and sixth seasons. This led many to question whether the series, once known for dissecting the essence of technology and sounding cautionary alarms, had reached its end.
However, the arrival of “Black Mirror” Season 7 directly refutes this notion.
(Spoiler alert: Please proceed with caution.)
Immersed in Reality: A Review of Episode One
This season of “Black Mirror” places a significant emphasis on revealing the impact of technology and capitalism on people’s lives. For example, the sixth episode, “Infinite,” features players complaining about the high prices in the game. However, the standout episode is undoubtedly the first.
The first episode tells the story of an ordinary couple, aptly titled “Ordinary People.”
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 1)
Amanda and Michael are an average couple. Amanda works as a primary school teacher, while Michael is a blue-collar worker in a factory. They aren’t wealthy, but they are deeply in love. The baby crib they’ve bought in advance reveals their anticipation for a new chapter in their lives.
However, their peaceful existence is shattered when Amanda is diagnosed with a tumor.
Faced with his unconscious wife in the hospital bed, Michael is at a loss. That’s when Gena, a sales representative from Rivermind, introduces Michael to the company’s new technology: backing up a portion of Amanda’s brain to a mainframe. After the pathological part is removed, it will be replaced with synthetic tissue. She assures Michael that Amanda will live as before, with the only differences being an extra one or two hours of sleep each day and the inability to leave areas with signal coverage. The cost seems reasonable at $300 per month, and Michael agrees without much hesitation.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 1)
From the moment they accept the medical company’s proposal, their lives begin to change.
Initially, their lives seem normal. However, during a drive, Michael inadvertently takes the car out of the signal coverage area, and Amanda immediately falls unconscious. In response, the sales representative explains that their destination uses the company’s new bandwidth. To enjoy wider coverage, they need to purchase the company’s new enhanced service, which costs an additional $500 per month, bringing the total to $800. Otherwise, they can only operate within a limited area.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 1)
The couple temporarily refuses the upgrade. However, Amanda soon discovers that she triggers advertising slogans in specific scenarios without being conscious of it. For example, she automatically says “Grande Espresso” when her husband makes coffee in the morning. When students confide in her about family conflicts, she recites a recommendation for Christian family counseling. Over time, Amanda receives more and more work complaints.
The couple returns to Rivermind to demand an explanation. They discover that to remove the ads, they must subscribe to the enhanced version for $800 per month. Otherwise, Amanda will continue to live as a “human billboard.” At the same time, Rivermind launches a new version, the “Premium Edition,” which allows members to adjust their sensory sensitivity, calmness, and other aspects for a better experience.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 1)
After upgrading the service, Michael works overtime, but his extra pay still can’t cover his wife’s membership fees and household expenses. Desperate, Michael starts live-streaming on a website, earning tips from viewers through bizarre acts. Initially, he puts a bear trap on his tongue, but it gradually evolves into more shocking and cruel acts of self-harm.
It’s worth noting that, in contrast to the couple’s exhaustion, sales representative Gena and her work environment are constantly improving. When she first makes the sales pitch, Gena wears braids, and her pink suit is wrinkled. Her words are polite and caring. The second time she appears, Gena is sitting in her office, but the work environment is relatively simple. With each subsequent appearance, Gena’s office decor increases, designer bags appear behind her, and her makeup and clothing become more sophisticated.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 1)
Capital seems to give people the right to choose, but in reality, it leaves no room for choice. It places consumers in an uncomfortable environment and then offers a paid option to improve it. Refusing further consumption means accepting the discomfort and interference.
What’s most chilling about this episode is that, after watching it, people realize that their lives in reality are no different from the story: slow loading times for video software, limited storage space, frequent pop-up ads. The only solution is to pay, upgrade, and enjoy better service.
Each increase is layered on top of the other, making the burden on ordinary people heavier and heavier. Human life experiences become paid nodes along the price gradient set by large companies. And what ordinary people want is simply to reclaim their lives.
When AI Develops the Capacity to Love
If the first episode vividly portrays the encroachment of capital on the lives of ordinary people, then the third episode infuses “Black Mirror” with a rare warmth. This warmth comes not only from humans but also from artificial intelligence, as exemplified by the highly praised “Dream Hotel.”
Contemporary star Brandy is invited to participate in a remake of the classic film “Dream Hotel,” replaying the part of the original male lead. Actress Dorothy once played the female lead, Clara, in the film, but died early amidst rumors and gossip.
Brandy needs to enter a virtual dimension similar to a movie set to perform the entire story. After delivering the last line, she can return to reality. In this virtual world, everyone except Brandy is a computer-generated NPC, but everyone believes that this world is real.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 3)
However, a small filming accident causes the story to deviate from the script. Brandy panics due to a sudden disconnection from the outside world. In desperation, she tells Clara that everyone present is a virtual consciousness, and that even Clara herself is just a character created and played by an actress.
At this point, according to “Black Mirror’s” past style, viewers might expect a story in which an artificial intelligence consciousness steals a human consciousness and takes control of the body. However, the director presents a warmer and more proactive story.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 3)
When Clara realizes that she is a virtual character first played by an actress and then recreated by a computer, her subjective initiative is established. After a brief shock, she unhesitatingly chooses to find a way to escape this world. During this time, she slowly remembers her life outside the play. She sees Dorothy’s subtle, unspoken emotions in that era, as well as the depression caused by the rumors.
Like Barbie in “Barbie” when she first opens her senses, feeling the touch of her fingertips and the breeze on her skin, Dorothy’s life is clearly seen and felt by Clara.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 3)
Clara and Brandy fall in love in the virtual world. In the last scene of the story, Brandy tries to save Clara from being murdered by her fiancé, putting herself in danger. Clara shoots and hits the fiancé.
“I was born in a cage, and I should die in a cage,” Clara says to Brandy, facing the fact that she is about to be arrested. “Remember me” becomes Clara’s last wish to Brandy.
(Image: “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 3)
Whether ending her life outside the play or dying in the play to protect her loved one, Dorothy or Clara acts according to her own will. Even a virtual consciousness created in the process of interacting with people gains the ability and courage to love.
Overall, “Black Mirror” Season 7 has gradually returned to the higher standards of its first three seasons. The first episode uses cruel realism to show that capital and technology, under the banner of “a better life,” are essentially exploitative. The second episode allows viewers to see the truth gradually buried under the “Mandela effect.” The fourth episode uses a virtual game to make people reflect: When you have power, how will you use it?
Whether this revival of “Black Mirror” can last and whether the quality can rebound again in the next season remains to be seen. Time and the audience will tell.