Black Mirrorhas arguably improved ever since Netflix acquired the series rights at the start of season three. In its fourth season, the show aired one of the most likable stories it’s ever had that was so well-acted, filmed, and edited that it could have easily been abig blockbuster movie hitas a modern reimagining ofStar Trektold through a horror lens. The episodeUSS Callisterfeatures familiar faces for fans ofBreaking Bad.Jesse Plemons (who played Todd inBreaking Bad)is the lead character named Robert Daly, and there is even a cameo “appearance” by Aaron Paul (who played Jesse inBreaking Bad) as a disgruntled video game player.
This episode pays homage not only toStar Trek, but also to one of the most famous and well-liked episodes ofThe Twilight ZonecalledIt’s a Good Life. TheStar Trekreferences areobvious through the special effects, setting, and costuming, butUSS Callistertakes a modern approach to this story and shows what happens to the crew once the metaphorical cameras stop rolling. The episode could be seen as a commentary onmale abuse of power and authority, much likeThe Twilight Zoneepisodeabout the young boy whom everyone told was “so perfect and good” despite his misbehavior and abuse of power, enabling him and giving him a free pass for being a young boy. InIt’s a Good Life,the boy whose name is Anthony is able to control things with his mind and has isolated his hometown so that no one can leave or talk to anyone outside the town.
RELATED:Why Did Frodo Have To Leave Middle Earth At The End Of Return Of The King?
If anyone even slightly steps out of line or disagrees with him, six-year-old Anthony will immediately banish them to “the cornfield” or even turn them into objects like a jack-in-the-box. Out of the fear of setting off his temper tantrum, no one has challenged Anthony, who as a result does not know the difference between right and wrong. This is very similar toUSS Callisteras Daly is seen turning his crew members (who are actually digital clones of his coworkers) into monsters or throwing them out of the airlock to punish them for “misbehaving.” The episode follows Robert Daly who is horribly treated by his coworkers in the real world who see himmore as a creepy monster than a humanthey should treat with respect and kindness (maybe that’s because he is creepy).
Because of this, Daly has developed a hatred for his coworkers and uses their DNA to clone their conscious minds into his modded version of the video game their company makes and runs. This means that although they are living their normal daily lives outside of the game, unaware they’ve been cloned, inside the game they are fully aware of their existence and are trapped in Daly’s sick power fantasy. All they know is that they woke up in Daly’s game and haven’t been able to escape. Because of Daly’s temper that rivals that of the entitled young boy fromThe Twilight Zone,the crewmates have to pretend everything is fine while Daly is in the game with them. The men have to surrender authority to “Captain” Robert Daly, andthe women have to stroke his egoand offer themselves up to Daly romantically whenever he sees fit.
But a new programmer named Nanette Cole shows Daly some kindness and he takes a liking to her, that is until her new coworker Shania Lowrywarns her that he is strange, and he clones her too through a disposed coffee cup. When Cole wakes up in the game, she is determined to escape with her new coworkers. Cole and her friends devise a plan to use the new game update, which will create a wormhole within Daly’s modded game, and allow them to fly through it so they can be deleted or “die.” But they first have to get Daly’s omnicorder, which is a remote that operates the game.
After a devious plan that involves using Cole’s nude photographs to blackmail the real world her into distracting Daly and taking back the objects containing their DNA, the crew is able to escape through the wormhole right before the game updates. Theydon’t die like they had thoughtthey would, but instead, enter into the new game (with their restored human bodies thanks to the removal of Daly’s mod that made them more like Barbie dolls) with Cole as the new captain.
The game updates and the wormhole shuts. The game’s firewall can detect Daly’s modded version of the game and sees it as a threatening virus. So, the game locks all of Robert Daly’s controls, making it to where he can’t even exit the game. He is stuck in a small, broken space ship barely able to move. His surroundings are no more promising, as he is in an empty void of space with nothing but darkness and time (since game versions of the people don’t die). TheBlack Mirrorepisode is all fun and gamesuntil the viewer sees Daly in real life who is still sitting motionless at his computer suggesting that his mind is stuck in the game forever screaming “exit game.”
