Julien Neaves, Sci Fi Head Writer
My Facebook feed has been flooded with posts about the latest season/series of dystopian Sci Fi series Black Mirror. And that is not surprising as Series 7 is the best the show has been in years. But which of the six episodes is the best of the best?
With a dark and trippy SPOILER ALERT let’s rank them all.
#6 Hotel Reverie
An interracial bisexual romance facilitated by technology. Yeah, “San Junipero” this is not, but it really, really, really wants to be (and yes, I did notice the hard-to-miss visual reference). Now the setup here is decent enough with the ReDream technology of having a modern-day actor super imposed into a classic film sounding like something that we are very close to having. And a sentient AI character is something we have seen before in episodes like “Be Right Back” and “USS Callister“. But unlike those acclaimed episodes, the execution of “Hotel Reverie” is severely lacking.
The biggest issue Issa Rae’s character Brandy Friday. With barely any back story, a surprisingly bland performance by Rae and a complete lack of chemistry with Emma Corrin’s Dorothy Chambers, Brandy drags down every single scene. And because the central relationship does not work (Brandy and Dorothy seem to be in love because that’s what the script says) the whole affair feels bottomless and hollow. There is a hint at an interesting angle when Dorothy goes through the void and achieves sentience but that is quickly undone and goes nowhere. The real-world stuff with Awkwafina and company is moderately entertaining but it is not enough to save this massive misfire.
#5 Bête Noire
Thankfully, other than “Hotel Reverie”, the other five Season 7 episodes range from very good to excellent. I actually had some difficulty choosing the fifth, fourth and third entries, and it was definitely a tight race. Bringing up the rear is “Bête Noire”, a terrific psychological thriller with strong performances by Siena Kelly and Rosy McEwen as food scientist Maria and mysterious former classmate-turned-coworker Verity. The building tension and mental breakdown of Maria had me glued to the screen and I picked up early Verity was doing it with her pendant, though I was not sure exactly what she was doing.
The parallel dimension jumping tech was a bit out there though, and for that reason I could not rank “Bête Noire” higher. The bloody climax was a blast though and I did chuckle when Maria used the tech to become “Empress of the Universe” and got dressed up like Beyoncé. Good times.
#4 USS Callister: Into Infinity
Our next entry is our very first sequel episode, with “USS Callister: Into Infinity” being a direct continuation to award-winning Series 4-episode “USS Callister“. While the original was a send-up of Star Trek this episode was a send-up of video games and gamer culture. And while I was entertained throughout this feature length mini movie with its impressive visual effects and action, the characters felt secondary to the wild plot and therefore their peril felt less impactful this time around.
And the bonkers ending, which felt like a mix of Herman’s Head (you all remember that sitcom?) and Doctor Who just felt odd and somewhat unsatisfying. Shout out to Jimmi Simpson, though, who was hilarious in his dual roles of clone Walt and real-life Walt.
#3 Plaything
Speaking of Doctor Who, Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi was mesmerising as the older version of game reviewer Cameron Walker. It was also cool that this episode as side-quel to the interactive episode Bandersnatch with Will Poulter reprising his role as eccentric programmer Colin Ritman.
Sentient video game characters that continually grow until they subjugate the world is a plot only Black Mirror would come up with and what a fantastic execution. The most memorable scene is when drug dealing slacker “Lump” starts killing the Thronglets, which I actually felt sorry about and disturbed by. It reminded me of a psychological experiment where people’s arms were hidden, and a fake arm was visible. When the fake arm was hit, they would react to the “pain” because their mind registered it as real. Similarly, Plaything convinced us the Thronglets were real, and we were horrified by their deaths. The episode played us, and we were glad to let it. And what a bleak, banger of an ending. I would love to see a sequel episode with a Throng-subjugated world.
#2 Common People
Series 7 came out very strong out of the gates with Common People. Its twisted take on apps and streaming services like Netflix mixed with a husband’s desperate struggle to save and keep his wife was simply terrific. Rashida Jones and Chris O’Dowd have such a warm, beautiful chemistry as teacher Amanda and welder Mike respectively, that it makes their tragic fates all the more soul destroying. And Tracee Ellis Ross was a scene stealer as perky Rivermind agent Gaynor.
There are so many things here that just felt too technologically close for comfort, from Rivermind constantly forcing upgrades to running ads through poor Amanda to altering moods and behaviour via apps. Now that is definitely a black mirror we are peering into, and the reflection is deeply unsettling. And of course, we have the extremely tragic ending that delivers a dual emotional gut punch. This is very classic Black Mirror here and would have been the best of the series if not for our next entry.
#1 Eulogy
I recall years ago reading a review of 1958 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Vertigo in which the reviewer wrote that not one scene is wasted in that film. And I have to say the same for Eulogy — not a single scene is wasted here. I have been a fan of Paul Giamatti since the 2004 film Sideways and he is easily one of the best actors working today. And my goodness, Giamatti delivered an acting master class as Phillip, a man who is contacted by the company Eulogy after his ex-girlfriend Carol’s death to contribute memories for her memorial. The scene of him trying futilely to pick up Carol’s letter in the memory sequence is one of the best performed in the entire Black Mirror franchise. And it would be remiss of me not to give praise to Patsy Ferran for ably supporting Giamatti as The Guide/Carol’s daughter.
From the very first moment to the bittersweet final scene, I was absolutely riveted. Both the exploration of memory and the deconstruction of a relationship are so incredible and so emotionally resonant. Anyone who has ever been a romantic relationship will find something to connect with here and the message of vilifying others while being blind to our own flaws is a universal one. The ending of Phillip finally seeing Carol and that smile which is equal parts happy and heartbroken is one of the greatest in the entire franchise. And this episode, which I expect to pick up a truck load of awards, is not only the best of Series 7 but one of the best of any Black Mirror series. Eulogy is truly a masterpiece.
So, that’s my ranking. Agree? Disagree? And you can check out more Black Mirror rankings below:
Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by the Cryptkeeper, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “13 flavours of awesome sauce”.