Black Mirror Season 7: Why I’m convinced this was the worst episode of the season

Black Mirror is one of the most popular shows of our times. It's one of those shows that makes you think long after you have finished watching it. It will make you think about the dangers of living in a world that's technology-driven.

Charlie Brooker made sure that he held up a mirror to the society when he created Black Mirror. Each of the episodes is independent and has a new story about how technology can be both a nightmare and a good dream. Some of the stories feel hauntingly real, as it feels like they might actually happen in the future.

Season 7 continues this tradition. It takes us through an emotional and technological journey. But we are not just looking at the gadgets this time. We are exploring people and their complexities. We get six stories about how technology can amplify all of it.

This dark and thought-provoking yet deeply human show may not always hit the mark, though. And that brings me to what I believe might be the biggest miss of Season 7.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinions. Reader discretion is advised.

Black Mirror: A walk down memory lane

Episode 5 of Season 7 centers around an older man. He is living what seems like a worn-down life all alone. He seems like someone who’s long past his prime. The episode does not give us his present background, but if I had to guess, he is retired and perhaps even emotionally done.

Just then an unexpected thing stirs up his world. Little did he know that he would have to confront his past again. He’s asked to contribute some memories for the funeral of a woman he once loved. And that woman was not just any woman. She was the woman who he could not get over for more than a decade, and even after that he could not settle down with anyone else.

The story reveals itself rather slowly. We are taken through the photos step by step. Quite literally. We realize that it's not a mere flashback but a real-time walk-through.

We discover that it was a love story tainted by miscommunication and misplaced resentment. He’s spent years hating her and cursing her for leaving him heartbroken. But his perception of her changes when the episode reveals her side of the story through an AI-generated version of her daughter. The narrative challenges what we think we know about memory and grief. It even makes us question the idea of closure.

But where was the Black Mirror of it all?

Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 5 was genuinely well acted. The premise looked pretty promising too. A man walking through his own memories (photographs) to discover the truth about a love he struggled to let go? Well, that’s the kind of thing that is supposed to move you, and it did. But emotionally driven doesn’t always mean Black Mirror-worthy.

The real problem started when it felt like it was drifting away from what makes the show. It leaned so much into the emotional and psychological journey of the man that it almost forgot the technology. And that, honestly, was a downer because that's a show that literally exists to explore the darker aspects of our relationship with technology.

It is insane that the tech allows the man to walk through his photos and see the face of his past lover. And I just feel they could have explored its intricacies a bit more, which I bet would have been terrifying and beautiful all at once. But the show barely scratched the surface of that. It became more about regret and grief than the gadget that exposed those things.

I kept waiting for the moment where the tension would climb and where the tech would turn on him or we’d realize something horrifying. But the moment never arrived. The twist was good but could have been bigger for all that buildup. The character itself felt a little too one-dimensional at times. He was a bit too much into that grumpy old man with a tragic past trope.

It was still a decent watch. But I believe this was the weakest episode of the season. It had everything but forgot that one thing that makes Black Mirror what it is.

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