Latest news with #Plaything
Indian Express
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Black Mirror season 7 amazes, but falls short on tech-driven storytelling; did the episodes live up to expectations?
When a sci-fi fan sits down to watch Black Mirror, they expect a certain level of technological intrigue. However, season seven, while rich in psychological depth, did not quite deliver what matters most: groundbreaking technology. Over time, Black Mirror's sharp focus on the dark side of technological development seems to have been dialled down. Instead of showcasing tech evolution, the latest season often felt like a collection of recycled ideas, familiar narratives, and only average innovation. Here's a breakdown of all the episodes of Black Mirror season 7 and why I felt it missed the mark in many places: Episode 1: Common people The season opener Common People had plenty of potential, striking the right emotional chord from the beginning. The premise—a husband using high-tech means to save his wife's life—was intriguing. Yet, the execution felt predictable, echoing themes explored in previous seasons, without enough technological twists to keep it fresh. Chris O'Dowd and Rashida Jones delivered convincing performances, but the climax did not do justice to the setup. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO Siena Kelly and Rosy McEwen's second episode is a psychological thriller about a culinary researcher whose reality shifts after an old schoolmate joins her workplace. However, the story lacked impact and clear explanation. The technological metaphor—hinting at the Mandela effect—felt underdeveloped and unsatisfying. Instead of focusing on a novel tech invention, the episode leaned more heavily into psychological manipulation, missing the essence of Black Mirror's tech-driven storytelling. Episode 3: Hotel Reverie Set in 40s Hollywood, the black-and-white episode explored the use of AI-based virtual production to recreate films in the modern world. Emma Corrin impressed as Dorothy, but Issa Rae's performance as Brandy felt less convincing. While the episode succeeded in evoking emotions, the technology served more as a background detail than a core focus. Compared to the early seasons, the episode lacked the sharp technological commentary that once defined the show. ALSO READ | Episode 4: Plaything This episode offered beautiful storytelling but left me confused by the climax. The ending did not fully justify the episode's emotional buildup. Peter Capaldi's chilling performance brought back memories of Bandersnatch and elevated the narrative. A video game journalist becomes obsessed with an unusual game populated by artificial lifeforms, leading to the end of humanity. If I had to rank all the season seven episodes, Plaything would likely take first place for its storytelling quality, even if its tech innovation was modest. Are the makers running out of fresh ideas? Eulogy felt like a rehash of concepts explored in earlier seasons, similar to Common People. It followed a lonely man revisiting memories and photographs of a deceased ex-girlfriend using a system that allows users to relive moments inside images. Sound familiar? While the emotional angle was powerful, thanks largely to Paul Giamatti's gut-wrenching performance, the technological element took a back seat. Again. Episode 6: USS Callister: Into Infinity The most anticipated episode, USS Callister: Into Infinity, a sequel to the beloved season four episode USS Callister, finally delivered. In my opinion, it had the most satisfying climax out of all the episodes. Revisiting the digital realm adventure of the office peers with even more high stakes to save their lives, the narrative served tech value and character development with a familiar backdrop. The theme of digital consciousness lives up to the expectations in the episode. Black Mirror season 7 shines when it comes to storytelling, emotional depth and character development. But, it surely lacks in presenting new, high-end and fresh technological concepts. It touches the deep psychological string, but leaves you wanting more of the show's sci-fi trademark.
Indian Express
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
A hidden scanner in Black Mirror Season 7 episode could haunt you forever, and it's just a click away
Black Mirror Season 7's Plaything rolls out the creepiest tech yet At the end of episode four, Plaything, a QR code flashes on the screen. Scan it, and you're taken straight to the App Store or Google Play, where you can download the actual Thronglets game. And surprisingly, it's not even a watered-down version of what you saw in the show. Instead, it's the real deal, the full-on game played by the protagonist. 'Be warned: the Throng is judging you.' The game kicks off with one little egg. You hatch it, and out pops your first Thronglet. You feed it, take care of it, bathe it, play with it and enjoy the total classic virtual pet vibes. But, living up to the theme of Black Mirror's episode, they soon start multiplying. Fast. And suddenly, you're not just raising pets, you're building a society. You're making homes, setting rules, and making hard choices. 'Hatch and evolve hundreds of cute creatures: Thronglets! Feed, bathe and entertain them to watch them multiply. One becomes two, two becomes four, and so on. Soon there will be so many, you'll call them a throng,' the game's description reads. The best part? You won't need to spend hours figuring stuff out, there are enough directions on-screen to guide you through, even suggesting how to communicate with your Thronglets. There's a moment early on where the game asks if you want to build a bridge the slow, ethical way (chopping wood), or take a shortcut by harvesting the bones of your own dead Thronglets. It's played off as a joke, like the 'bug' in the game is actually a literal insect, but the moral hit is real. And if you go back on your word? They remember. The more your Throng grows, the messier it gets. You're not just playing for fun anymore. The guilt creeps in as you watch your Thronglets die. You're juggling their mental health, housing, work-life balance, and whether the circumstances you have created are actually killing them. That stings. But that's still not the end. The first world is a tutorial, but world two throws you into the deep end. Tons of items, overlapping systems, and the kind of stress that makes you question your in-game morals. By the time you hit the final stage, you're dropped into a cut-scene-heavy finale with multiple dialogue options. And it hits you: the Thronglets have been judging you the whole time. Will they be proud of the leader you became, or horrified? For Netflix users, the game is completely free. The app currently holds a 4.5 rating with over 200 reviews. What is Black Mirror episode Plaything about In episode four of Black Mirror season 7, Scottish actor and director Peter Capaldi steps into the shoes of an old loner, Cameron, who gets arrested by cops for trying to shoplift some alcohol. Soon after, he becomes a suspect in a murder when police take a spit sample under the 'Bio-Identity Act of 2029' — something way beyond understanding for now. But since some of the show's older concepts have already started turning real in today's world, can we even question it? After his arrest, Cameron opens up about his obsessive gaming habits from the '90s, back when he was a young game reviewer. He's later seen stealing a copy of his colleague Colin Ritman's (Will Poulter) game, Colin being a programmer working on something he plans to scrap. And once stolen, the only copy left ends up with Cameron. Cameron recalls taking LSD for the first time while completely hooked on the game. While he's tripping, he starts to believe he's understanding the Thronglets better. Their random chirps? Suddenly sounds like real communication to him. He hears them asking for more power, more speed. So, he upgrades his entire setup to give them exactly that, even takes more drugs just to stay in sync with their voices. Later, Lump (the friend who gave him drugs for the first time) finds the digital world Cameron's built and messes around like it's just a game. He ends up killing a bunch of Thronglets for fun. Cameron snaps, strangles him to death, chops up the body, and dumps it far away. That's the cold case the cops dig up years later. When they confront him, Cameron shows them a port he's surgically installed in his brain. The Thronglets live inside him now. He calls them 'a benign parasite.' And then comes the twist, Cameron actually wanted to get caught.
Irish Daily Star
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Star
Fans all say the same thing about newest series of Netflix's Black Mirror
Netflix's Black Mirror has been stirring up a storm since 2011, with its brain-bending, dystopian themes that have viewers going through a vast range of emotions. The series stands as a thought-provoking, boundary-pushing anthology that delves into technology's shadowy impact on society – yet, reception to the various seasons has been a mixed bag. A dedicated Netflix viewer took to Reddit to gauge opinions on the newest Black Mirror season, questioning whether it's worth a watch – and people all seemed to have the same opinions. They posted: "Is the new Black Mirror season any good? The last maybe like two seasons have been kinda hit or miss (maybe more miss honestly), and strangely, I haven't heard almost anything about the new season at all, good or bad. "Doesn't anyone have any strong opinions on it? Should I give it a shot, or maybe not?". The community responded, giving their honest take on whether the latest instalment is worth watching. One respondent shared: "I found it much better than seasons 5 (which was barely a season, let's be honest) and 6. There were two episodes I didn't love, two I did, but overall I enjoyed it and can say it felt for the most part a lot closer to Black Mirror to me. "Plus, what a surprise on that cast! I went in blind, so I had no idea who was making appearances. Just watch it." Another chimed in with: "I really liked the first episode. It makes you feel different emotions". Someone reflected: "Agreed... that episode had me thinking for was sad and honestly something that could happen to anyone." A dedicated Black Mirror viewer expressed their satisfaction by saying: "I really quite liked all of them, this was one of the best seasons yet for me." They singled out an episode, noting: "Plaything's my personal favorite from the lot, Hotel Reverie is probably the worst but I think that's less of a matter of it being bad and more so disappointing to think about how better it could have been with a different lead. I didn't like Issa Rae's performance very much". Another chimed in: "Better than the last two seasons for sure. The thing I noticed about this season is that there doesn't seem to be a definitive episode that everyone agrees on that is the best." The fan continued: "You either like some episodes or you don't, based on your preferences," highlighting that opinions varied widely based on individual tastes and thoughts on the variety of episodes. Discussing the emotional impact, they commented: "The first one is very sad". They elaborated: "To me, it's unfair to place that in the best of list because it's just a different genre compared to the rest. I'm not a crier, but I cried, so it's very, very good." Concluding with their rundown, the person said: "Episode two is my fave, and episode three is my second best. Four is intriguing to me, but meh. Five is boring in my opinion. "Six is a follow-up to a previous episode, which I thought was boring, but fans of that episode will probably like it".
The Guardian
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Plaything – how Black Mirror took on its scariest ever subject: a 1990s PC games magazine
Out of all the episodes in the excellent seventh season of Black Mirror, it's Plaything that sticks out to me and I suspect to anyone else who played video games in the 1990s. It's the story of socially awkward freelance games journalist, Cameron Walker, who steals the code to a new virtual pet sim named Thronglets from the developer he's meant to be interviewing. When he gets the game home, he realises the cute, intelligent little critters he's caring for on the screen have a darker ambition than simply to perform for his amusement – cue nightmarish exploration of AI and our complicity in its rise. The episode is interesting to me because … well, I was a socially awkward games journalist in the mid-1990s. But more importantly, so was Charlie Brooker. He began his writing career penning satirical features and blistering reviews for PC Zone magazine, one of the two permanently warring PC mags of the era (I shared an office with the other, PC Gamer). In Plaything, it's PC Zone that Cameron Walker writes for, and there are several scenes taking place in its office, which in the programme is depicted as a reasonably grownup office space with tidy computer workstations and huge windows. I do not think the production design team got this vision from Brooker. 'Zone had far less of the corporate workplace feel than the episode showed, and much more of a kids in the basement, youth club-cum-nightclub vibe to it,' says Paul Presley, who worked on PC Zone at the time. 'It was a handful of messy, cluttered desks stuck in a windowless basement office round the back of Oxford Street (later Tottenham Court Road). We'd have killed for floor-to-ceiling windows! Editorial, art and production were all on top of each other, music blasting from the office stereo, usually furnished by the neighbouring Metal Hammer magazine. Desks were personal spaces, overflowing with paper, mags, trinkets, swag and tons and tons of CDs.' In the sake of journalistic thoroughness, I also contacted another PC Zone alumnus Richie Shoemaker for his recollections. 'Although there were windows along one side, they were below street level and smeared with London grime,' he says. 'The sills were piled high with dusty magazines, broken joysticks and likely-empty game boxes. It was perpetual night for the best part of eight years down there.' The episode was more accurate on the games themselves – the first scene in the office shows Cam playing Doom, when the editor comes over, shows him the front cover of the latest issue of the mag with System Shock on the cover, then asks Cameron if he's finished his review of Bullfrog's classic adventure game Magic Carpet. '[Plaything] is good on the timelines,' says Shoemaker. 'Playing Doom in the office was of course standard – although when I joined the team Quake was the lunchtime and afterwork deathmatch of choice. The Magic Carpet review did appear in the issue after System Shock (which was actually Charlie's first cover review), but it got 96%, not 93% and was written by launch editor Paul Lakin – who went on to work at the Foreign Office.' He also reckons the episode's grizzled old editor might have been inspired by then deputy editor, Chris Anderson, who according to Shoemaker was 'quite a vampiric character who seemed to exist on a diet of cigarettes and Ultima Online.' Most fascinating to me though is the inspirational origin of the Thronglets virtual pet game. Most reviewers have been referencing Tamagotchi, the keychain pet toy that took the world by storm int the late 90s. Brooker himself has referenced it in an interview. However, a much more likely candidate was the 1996 title Creatures, in which players cared for generations of cuddly-looking critters. Although it looked like a cutesy pet game it was in fact a highly sophisticated artificial life experiment, created by the distinctly sci-fi-sounding CyberLife Technology. Players needed to try to establish breeding populations of the creatures – called norns – but your control over them was limited as they were coded with advanced neural networks and had functioning internal bodily systems regulating their behaviours and physical abilities. CyberLife made a big deal of the complexity and experimental nature of the game: the box came with a warning sticker stating 'Digital DNA Enclosed' and the blurb on the back cautioned players that they would be unleashing the world's first artificial life-science experiment – which is exactly what Plaything is about. Creatures creator Steve Grand bears similarities to the Plaything (and Bandersnatch) coder Colin Ritman. He was a programmer who got tired of conventional games and wanted to try something extremely new. He went on to write a book about Creatures and its development, Creation: Life and How to Make It, and later became an internationally renowned roboticist, famously developing a robot orangutan. Surely the most Black Mirror career trajectory ever. In 2011, he started work on a spiritual follow-up to Creatures named Grandroids, which like Thronglets was about developing a race of intelligent AI aliens – Grand launched a Kickstarter for it in 2016. The project has yet to surface although Grand has a new website for it under the name Phantasia. All very intriguing. This is one of the things I love about Black Mirror, and indeed the use of technology and video games in conventional drama: this is an arcane world full of eccentric people no one outside the industry has heard of, yet the toys they make have massive ramifications. Personally, I wanted to see a lot more of the PC Zone as imagined by the programme, but I understand that the sinister Thronglets were the real focus. Maybe one day there will be a full Silicon Valley-style drama series about the games industry in the 1990s – it was a hell of a time. For now, it's interesting to see the world both Brooker and I inhabited being used as the venue for dystopian fiction – even if they really did get it completely wrong about those windows.
The National
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Black Mirror review: All of season seven episodes ranked from worst to best
Black Mirror is back. Charlie Brooker's award-winning sci-fi anthology series has returned for its seventh season with six new episodes (including one sequel). The latest installment delivers a compelling mix of tech nightmares and emotionally driven stories that are well worth watching. While we previously shared IMDb's ranking of all previous 28 episodes, this time, The National has ranked the six new episodes from season seven, from worst to best. Though largely filled with strong episodes, there's not a significant gap between the bottom and top choices. So for those who have already binged the new season, here are the episodes listed from worst to best: Note: Spoilers below. Cameron (Capaldi) is a reclusive loner who is investigated by the police, tying him to a 1994 cold case involving a murdered acquaintance. Going between the present and past, younger Cameron (Gribben), who was a video game reviewer, falls into an obsession with a game called Thronglets that has a digital lifeform called the Throng, inspired by a mysterious programme created by Bandersnatch's 'genius programmer' Colin Ritman (Poulter). Cameron's fascination intensifies under the influence of drugs, leading him to believe he can communicate with the Throng. This obsession culminates in a violent act when he murders his roommate, Lump, who mistreats the digital beings. As present-day Cameron explains his belief that humanity must merge with the Throng to overcome violence, he activates a signal intended to trigger a digital singularity, potentially ushering in a new era of human evolution. The National's take: There isn't anything actually wrong with Plaything, it's just that season seven had many other stronger episodes. Including references to Bandersnatch is a nice touch. The ambiguous, eerie ending also leaves the door open for sequels or deeper implications within the Black Mirror universe. A successful food researcher Maria (Kelly) finds her life unravelling when Verity (McEwen), a former classmate she once bullied, joins her company under mysterious circumstances. As Maria's reality distorts – she misremembers the names of places and sends an email in which she swears she wrote one thing, but is proven to have written something else – she suspects Verity is somehow manipulating events. Her fears are confirmed when she discovers Verity can distort memories and events as she has developed a quantum device that alters reality, seeking revenge for past traumas. In a climactic confrontation, Maria kills Verity and seizes control of the device, ultimately declaring herself "empress of the universe" (which Verity also previously admitted to doing). The National's take: The gaslighting in this episode made my anxiety spike — which is probably exactly what Brooker intended. The first half of Bete Noire was brilliant, but the final minutes felt a bit underwhelming. Sure, you could call it a happy ending since Maria ends up with the quantum device, but I couldn't help wishing she had used her newfound power differently. Actor Brandy Friday (Rae) is inserted into a simulated remake of a classic Hollywood film, where she falls in love with Clara Ryce-Lechere (Corrin), a version of the movie's heroine created by artificial intelligence. As technical glitches expose the artificiality of her world, Clara becomes self-aware and discovers she was modeled after the repressed actor Dorothy Chambers. Clara chooses to pursue her own happiness with Brandy, but their romance is cut short when the simulation resets and everyone's memories revert to where the film had paused. In a tragic twist, Clara is fatally shot, diverging from the original movie's ending. After returning to the real world, Brandy receives a device that allows her to speak to a simulation of Dorothy during one of her old screen tests. The National's take: It's a beautiful love story that gives off San Junipero vibes. Corrin is mesmerising as an old Hollywood starlet. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives, the story feels less like science fiction and more like a near-future possibility. A devoted husband named Mike (O'Dowd) turns to a futuristic subscription service called Rivermind to save his wife Amanda (Jones), a schoolteacher who collapses from a sudden medical emergency. The service promises to keep her brain alive for $300 a month, but what begins as a lifeline, soon spirals into a dystopian nightmare as the couple is forced to navigate escalating costs and manipulative tiered upgrades. As Amanda is moved through different Rivermind tiers, her behaviour shifts drastically, from confusion and emotional withdrawal to temporary clarity and peace in premium levels, but each upgrade comes at an unbearable financial and psychological cost. With mounting pressure and no clear path forward, Mike faces the impossible decision – keep paying to preserve a fragmented version of Amanda or let her go. The National's take: It's a chilling critique of healthcare, capitalism and the tech industry's commodification of survival. There's also some pointed digs at platforms and their constantly expanding tier systems, Netflix included (which does make you wonder how Brooker got away with it). The first sequel in Black Mirror history, the story picks up months after the digital clones of the USS Callister crew escape their tyrannical creator, Robert Daly (Plemons), and enter the expansive virtual universe of the game Infinity. Now operating as space pirates to survive, the crew, led by digital Nanette (Milioti), seeks to carve out a haven within the game. Their plan involves accessing the "Heart of Infinity", a central server that could grant them autonomy. Meanwhile, in the real world, the original Nanette discovers the existence of these digital clones and collaborates with James Walton (Simpson), chief executive of Callister Inc, to track them down. As events unfold, Nanette becomes brain-dead after a car accident, prompting her digital counterpart to confront a clone of Robert Daly within the Heart of Infinity. Faced with a moral dilemma, digital Nanette chooses to merge the consciousness of the Callister crew with her own, allowing them to experience the real world through her senses and communicate via her cellphone. The episode ends with Walton's arrest for his involvement in illegal digital cloning, and Nanette and the crew adapting to their new shared existence. The National's take: Despite the long gap between episodes, USS Callister: Into Infinity delivers a satisfying conclusion. It's a strong reminder that if Brooker ever decided to make a full-length Black Mirror film (non-interactive, that is), it would probably be a hit. Given how well this sequel worked, perhaps Black Mirror should consider exploring more follow-ups? Phillip (Giamatti), a solitary middle-aged man, is approached by a tech company called Eulogy to contribute memories of his late ex-girlfriend Carol for an immersive memorial. Initially hesitant as they had a rocky relationship, he agrees and uses a device to enter old photographs that allow him to revisit moments from their strained relationship. But he finds he can't picture her face – and discovers he had defaced any remaining images of her out of lingering bitterness. As he delves deeper, guided by a digital assistant who later reveals herself to be Carol's daughter Kelly (Ferran), Phillip learns painful truths about their past, including Carol's pregnancy from a retaliatory affair. A rediscovered letter reveals that despite the pregnancy, Carol had wanted to stay together, but in an angry state, Phillip never saw it – and therefore never read or responded to it. The discovery brings a wave of regret but also clarity – she hadn't simply walked away. The episode ends with Phillip attending Carol's funeral, watching Kelly perform a cello piece, and finally being able to remember Carol's face. The National's take: Sweet and poignant, Eulogy avoids the crushing despair the series is known for, instead going for a tender and reflective resolution. While not exactly a happy ending, it's a realistic one about missed opportunities and lost love. Exploring regret, it shows how technology can also help someone process pain rather than deepen it.
