Season 5 Episode 1, Striking Vipers:
This episode is pretty similar to USS Callister in that it revolves around a video game that you play by connecting your mind ot a computer simulation. This technology is just as unrealistic as in that episode but whereas that was a fun adventure, this one is a rather boring love triangle that, just like USS Callister, shifts back and forth between the real world and the virtual one. If you want to see an episode with that premise, Season 4 Episode 1 is a far better choice.

Season 5 Episode 2, Smithereens:
Whereas many episodes of Black Mirror are set in the future, this one is set in an alternate version of our current world and deals with current technologies. This approach has been used in a few earlier episodes, particularly the very first one, which I really liked, but for some reason it doesn’t work this time. The story is about a man who takes an employee of Persona, a popular social media company, hostage in an attempt to get in touch with the company’s CEO. The reason for this (spoilers) is that his wife died in a car accident because he was paying more attention to a notification on his phone than on traffic. He is claiming that the company has deliberately made their app so addictive that it distracts people from real life, and is asking the CEO to take responsibility. Issues related to overuse of social media are real and should definitely be discussed but the creators of this episode have failed to do that in a compelling way. There are articles and documentaries on the subject that are far more interesting than Smithereens.

Season 5 Episode 3, Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too:
Here’s yet another episode focused on technology that allows people to upload their personality to a computer. In this episode it’s a popular musician who has copies of her personality, or at least her stage persona, uploaded to little robots so that her fans can buy robot copies of their idol. The human brain is far too complex and yada yada ya, you already know what I think about this kind of tech. But that doesn’t matter because there are other episodes of Black Mirror that do a better job of exploring this concept. At the same time, there are other technologies that would be suited for a Black Mirror episode but for some reason the creators have decided to just rehash the same one with some slight variation. In fact, I think the entire fifth season is just a rehashing of old ideas, as if the producers had a deal for one more season but couldn’t come up with anything new.

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