Black Mirrorseason seven is finally here, and fans of the series have been eagerly awaiting to dive back into the dark and twisted worlds that have been causing more than a handful of discussions about technology and its integration with humanity. The latest season stands as one of the best, with plenty of standout hits, with some returning elements as well as a few entirely new ones to freshen up the themes. Andwith a star-studded cast full of Hollywood veteransand a few familiar faces, it delivers one of the best experiences the show has given to date for long-time fans and for casual viewers.
Something thatBlack Mirrorhas going for it that few other shows have been able to emulate is the feeling of an interconnected universe or timeline, without ever bridging the gaps much further than a few tiny details and shared technologies. Each episode is littered with Easter eggs from previous seasons and episodes that clearly indicate that there is more afoot than it initially seems. Sneaky posters to songs from the past, the creators clearly had a lot of fun coming up with new and inventive ways to surprise attentive viewers and give diehard fans something to hunt for when watching the latest series.
7Waldo
As Crazy As Ever
An iconic face that leaves a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, viewers were introduced to the loud-mouthed character Waldo all the way back in season two, who was used as a platform to mock political candidates and as a gateway for freedom of speech. Rather than pushing technology to its limit, the episode explored the different perceptions on politics by using a more contemporary approach that felt a lot closer to home when compared to other episodes. The little blue bear pops up more than a few times in the latest season, seen in the office at Tuckersoft on a poster, as well as showing up in the USS Callister sequel on a comic among otherBlack Mirrorcharacters. His inclusion in these moments sparks several questions about how the universe of the show functions and how different episodes intertwine across time.
For one thing, The Waldo Moment was set in the early 2010s and showed a pretty realistic depiction of the world, and yet the flashback scene in Plaything comes from the ’90s, showing a clear generational disparity and a lack of cohesion in terms of a timeline. The same can be said for the comic book, taking the character and putting him into a world far from his time, which raises some eyebrows as to how exactly all of it is possible. The best explanation is that there are certain elements of the show that aren’t limited by time and that possibly played different roles in different episodes. Maybe Waldo was just a space villain in the past, or perhaps he actually did run for a political campaign, just not in the 2000s. In any case, its nice to see a familiar face every now and then, and it gives viewers a little mini-game to play while watching the latest season.
6San Junipero
There It Is Again
One of thebest episodes in the entire series, San Junipero was an unforgettable episode from season three that showed the love of two individuals from different sides of the same coin. It was a nice change from the brutality and bleakness the show had previously shown and instead demonstrated the writer’s abilities to stretch the technology into the realm of romance and drama. It doesn’t take long for the seventh season to call back to the classic episode, with the first and third episodes in particular making several references to locations of a similar name. The Juniper Lodge, as seen in Common People and Juniper Drive with Hotel Reverie, as well as a few extra remarks and hidden mentions to the magical world from the past.
The reasons for the inclusions go far beyond just nice Easter eggs as a sign of respect. Firstly, in Common People, the lodge acts as a getaway for the couple to go to, which removes all the pain and stress from their actual lives and gives them a brief moment of joy in an otherwise painful existence. The same goes for the individuals in the original episode, using San Junipero as an escape from the real world and accessing it as a means to enjoy themselves.
The same can be said for Hotel Reverie, where Brandy lives, a place that is disconnected from the real world by wealth and fame in a similar way that San Junipero is disconnected from reality. In the episode, Brandy enters the movie firstly as an acting role but soon becomes accustomed to the world and the person trapped within it, which perfectly mirrors the season three episode’s focus on escapism and fictional realities.
5Online Users
More Than Just A One-off
Technology is a huge part ofBlack Mirrorfor many reasons. Sometimes the show uses it to demonstrate the future potential if certain companies go unchecked, and in other episodes, it ismerely a device to keep things interestingand compelling whilst the main story does most of the heavy lifting. Throughout the latest season, there are several moments where characters are staring at computer screens, and within each one, there are more than a few hidden details that call back to previous stories in the show. Episode three shows a YouTube video and a sidebar containing references to episodes from season six, like Demon 79, while episode one shows the user I_AM_WALDO in the chat of the twisted site that Mike is forced to use to afford the price of the Rivermind tech.
There’s even a reference that uses the same actor, with one of the players the crew encounters in the USS Callister follow-up being played by Anjana Vasan, who was also the protagonist in Demon 79. It is nice to see universes collide in subtle ways like this, as it isn’t nearly as obvious as the more open references and is only there to satiate the keenest of viewers and biggest of fans. The reasons why there may be these crossovers could be due to the way the internet functions in theBlack Mirroruniverse. Similar to the way Verity can access different dimensions at the click of a button, the online world may be a shared platform between all the episodes that characters from each can all access at the same time. It would explain why the same names and characters are able to pop up time and time again without needing to show onscreen and keeps the continuity of the universe intact in a nice, tidy fashion.
4Companies
Negative Accountability
There are countless money-hungry organizations and companies that are introduced in the world ofBlack Mirror.For a lot of the episodes, these corporations show up when a problem arises as a means to help the problem with new technology and advancements in space. Not all of them have malicious intentions or even cause damage through their own actions, but each opens the door for plenty of questions related to ethics and the integration of technology with the human body. Several companies exist throughout the latest season, notably Ditta from Bête Noire, which is brought up in episode one and becomes the stage for the second in the season. Other examples like Tuckersoft have cropped up a few times, originally in Bandersnatch but now in Plaything, as well as their office being situated just across the street from Ditta.
There are even a few less obvious mentions, like Barnie’s being the same chicken shop that Kenny works at in Shut Up And Dance and the brand of almond milk in Bête Noire being called Raiman, the main character from Men Against Fire. Perhaps the biggest of all, and the one that is in the viewer’s face the whole time, is the Nubbins that are found in many of the episodes across all the seasons. The piece of tech varies in its utility, from memories to video games, but it retains the same shape and signature eye color change that signifies that the magic is working. It is unclear whether it is the same parent company that developed from the grain all the way back in season one, or if it was just a nice simple way to show characters to enter these other worlds without the means of fancy graphics or absurd tech. If that is the case, then one organization has a lot of influence and control over millions of users across all kinds of media and only time will tell whether they will come to use it for even more good or bad down the line.
3Music
Catchy Tunes No Matter The Setting
The sound design is a very important component of what makesBlack Mirrorfeel so amazing to watch. Every detail and every song choice is perfect, and the music selection varies across all kinds of genres and musicians and plays a different role in every episode, from backing tracks toimportant story elementsthat are pivotal in the outcome of the episode. Season seven shows that several music tracks are still relevant no matter the circumstances. “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” is a song that appeared all the way back in season one and has popped up numerous times across the show, and once again in Common People. There’s also a song by Ashley O, the singer from season five, in the final episode and, of course, the use of “Clair De Lune” on more than one occasion, specifically in an unsettling scene from Beyond the Sea in season six.
The reuse of these songs doesn’t come just from a love of the music, but there is a much deeper meaning behind their inclusions. For “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)”, the purpose behind its use lies within the song itself. The song is about how love can make a person blind to flaws and that even if someone is hurtful or has done wrong, the love will remain in the end. This sentiment resonates with the plot of Common People well, as Mike does everything he can to help his love, and no matter what she or he does to the other or for the other, their love stays right until the end. And for “Clair De Lune”, the song literally means moonlight and is often used to describe whitey-gray colors, which correspond perfectly to the black and white filter used in Hotel Reverie. In both cases, the song is a representation of a feeling and a mood, bridging the gap between people of different kinds through the medium of sound, turning all shades of gray into one single tone.
2Headlines
Not Any Ordinary News
Media references are abundant throughBlack Mirror,as public perception and media coverage play important roles in several episodes, as well as sitting in the background with a few sneaky references. The best example of this is in the final episode of season seven, where, after the adventure has come to its fairly happy end, the crew sits down to watch the news as James Walton is arrested for his actions just a few months after the events of the episode. Below the main broadcast is a ticker tape full of Easter eggs to other episodes and moments that are both amusing and chilling to think about. Hotel Reverie reboot hits Streamberry, Rivermind CTO stands down, Thronglets 2 launches to critical acclaim, all references to episodes from the same season, but the best among them all is the headline that states: Former UK PM Michael Callow enters Celebrity Vet School, calling back to the very first episode in a hilarious but also rather grim manner.
The headlines themselves stand as a nice hidden inclusion to please attentive viewers, but there are several questions it leaves unanswered about the nature of the universe as a whole, as well as the timeline for the events within it. Several of the mentions come from completely different moments in time, some from the near present and some distant into the future. It is reasonable to suggest that the events of USS Calister: Into Infinity take place significantly further ahead of time than the majority of the show’s present-day episodes, and the confusing inter-universal broadcasting may indicate a similar phenomenon to the internet theory where the universes are connected by narrow threads that run through the media. Either way, it is a funny detail that delivers a few laughs for those who caught it and also continues the story for many episodes and implies several differences between the actual episodes and these minor references.
1Modernity
Never Too Far From Reality
As it is a show about technological awareness and the foresight to avoid it taking over lives,Black Mirrorlikes to make it clear at times that theshow is very aware of the kinds of messagesit is sending and the closeness to reality that a lot of the elements within it share. This goes a step further when looking closely at a few scenes from the latest season. In Common People, there is a short video played showcasing the latest and greatest tech from Rivermind, and at the end, there is some small fine print that speaks of the use of AI language models being trained to take over mankind. It is clearly a reference to the rapid expansion of AI tools that have already begun to take over plenty of roles and positions, offering a comedic take on what is a very real and topical issue.
The modern-day references don’t end there, with the YouTube page in Hotel Reverie showing off some conspiracy-style content that has become immensely popular in the online world, particularly in reference to cults, religion, and hidden organizations. This small inclusion could be poking a bit of fun at fans of particular pieces of media that go a little overboard in terms of the speculation and studying of every minor aspect of a show that could potentially have a deeper meaning, maybe even referring to fans ofBlack Mirroritself. As if things couldn’t get more up to date, there’s even a scene where a character is seen playingBalatro, which was released just a year prior to the show. As the game is shown multiple times in the same scene, the creators clearly wanted the audience to take something from it, perhaps that the film industry, which the episode is centralized around, is as much of a gamble for everyone involved as a card game involving poker hands. Or it could be Charlie Brooker is simply showing his love for a game he has enjoyed playing in recent history. At the end of the day, modernity is an important aspect of the show, and keeping up to date with the current trends in pop culture and the world as a whole is what makes the show so great and keeps the commentary feeling modern time and time again.
