As Black Mirror returns for series 7, here's what we're excited about
The Netflix series has long been a hit for the streaming platform, growing in popularity and prestige the longer it runs. Its increased success means the show has also been able to do more risky and intriguing things, and that's what makes it so exciting when new episodes come along.
Season 7 is no exception to this, and there are a number of things that viewers can be excited about when Charlie Brooker's dystopian series returns on Thursday, 10 April.
One of the most beloved Black Mirror episodes of all time is USS Callister, the season 4 episode that followed the exploits of Robert Daley (Jesse Plemons) the apparent captain of the titular spaceship in a pseudo Star Trek parody. Only all is not as it seems because Daley is actually a tech genius who is using a game to torture clones of people he hates in real life — and it's up to Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) and the crew to defeat him.
Black Mirror has always been an anthology series, and there has never been a moment where the show has deliberately returned to an episode's storyline. But fans have been calling for a follow-up to the USS Callister episode ever since it came out and Brooker was happy to oblige.
It's exciting to think of the possibilities that are in store for Nanette and her crew since they were able to free themselves from Robert Daley's grasp. The universe seemed infinite to them, and so exploring the different challenges they could face is an exciting prospect.
The USS Callister sequel isn't the only time season 7 is returning to a beloved character, because Will Poulter is reprising his role as game designer Colin Ritman. The actor first played Colin in Netflix's interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, which gave viewers the chance to make their own choices and enjoy different storylines as a result.
Poulter returns in the new season's fourth episode Plaything, which also stars Peter Capaldi as a murder suspect who has an unexpected link to a game from the '90s designed by Poulter's Colin. The actor's character is a standout not just because of his peroxide-blond hair and nasally accent, but because he was such an eccentric — so it will be interesting to see him once again, however briefly.
Black Mirror can always shock viewers well, but it is also capable of delivering some of the most gut-wrenching, heartbreaking stories ever. Season 7 seems primed to do just that with a number of its episodes, particularly Common People, Hotel Reverie and Eulogy.
Hotel Reverie stars Emma Corrin and Issa Rae, it follows the latter's Hollywood star Brandy Friday who stars in an immersive remake of a British classic that originally starred Corrin's Dorothy Chambers. Over the course of filming the new version and trying to get to the end credits so she can return home, Brandy comes to grow close to the actor's AI likeness and develop a deeper understanding of her sadness.
Meanwhile, Common People sees Chris O'Dowd and Rashida Jones play a couple whose lives are turned upside down when Jones' Amanda is left fighting for her life and they have to sign up to a high-tech medical system known as Rivermind.
Knowing Black Mirror, this event will prove to be an emotional rollercoaster for the characters in the same way that Eulogy's exploration of grief will likely be for viewers. The drama follows a man's (Paul Giamatti) ability to step into pictures to look back at old memories.
Black Mirror season 7 premieres on Netflix on Thursday, 10 April.
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