Key Highlights:
Being an anthology series in 2025 is no easy task. Unlike traditional dramas that build on momentum, anthologies must earn our attention from scratch with every episode. One bad instalment and the whole season’s narrative risks being dismissed.
In Season 7 of Black Mirror, creator Charlie Brooker appears to embrace the pressure — and even crack a little under it. For the first time in the show’s run, he returns to old ground with a sequel. But it’s the new stories that truly shine.
USS Callister: Into Infinity – A Familiar Return Without the Thrill
Brooker’s decision to revisit the hit episode USS Callister with a feature-length sequel, Into Infinity, feels like a calculated risk. But in a series built on the tension of the unknown, this familiar revisit lacks the edge and curiosity that defines the anthology. While visually dazzling and narratively polished, it’s the least impactful of the batch — because we already know the universe it’s set in.
Common People – Satirical Tragedy Meets Subscription-Based Survival
Starring Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones, Common People explores a bleak near-future where brain uploads are subscription-based. The satire is heavy-handed at times — as Black Mirror can be — but the episode cuts deep with its honest commentary on modern economic insecurity. It’s tragic, smart, and suffocatingly real — a digital Requiem for a Dream for the gig economy generation.
Hotel Reverie – Romance, Remakes, and a Digital Heartbeat
One of the season’s most tender and inventive episodes, Hotel Reverie stars Issa Rae as an actress inserted into an AI simulation of an old black-and-white movie. As the lines between fiction and emotional truth blur, Brooker offers a rare, touching story about the magic of film, self-perception, and digital immortality. It’s a stunning meditation on what it means to be remembered — and watched.
Eulogy – The Season’s Most Heartfelt Episode
Eulogy is an emotionally rich detour from the show’s tech-saturated obsessions. Featuring a vulnerable performance by Paul Giamatti, the episode allows a man to step back into the memories of his lost love via digitized photographs. The tech is barely the point; instead, it’s a melancholy look at regret, aging, and missed chances. Simple, sentimental, and devastating in the best way.
Bête Noire – A Deranged Workplace Thriller with a Killer Payoff
In Bête Noire, Siena Kelly plays a rising office star who suspects her new colleague (Rosy McEwen) isn’t just unhinged — she’s outright dangerous. The drama unfolds with eerie precision, and the social paranoia is punctuated by a gleefully dark twist. More than just a creepy thriller, it’s a workplace horror story for the LinkedIn era, and one of the season’s sharpest offerings.
Plaything – Great Setup, No Payoff
Featuring the always-compelling Peter Capaldi, Plaything starts strong: a futuristic police interrogation with a darkly immersive gaming past. But then… it ends. Abruptly. The idea fizzles just as it gets interesting, and while the performance holds attention, the episode offers no resolution or revelation. A rare dud in an otherwise confident season.
Black Mirror 7.0 Evolves Into Something Deeper
This season marks an evolution. While early Black Mirror seasons were cold, cerebral, and tech-obsessed, this iteration has found emotional resonance without losing its edge. It may no longer shock as often, but it often moves, haunts, and lingers longer than before.
Yes, Plaything disappoints, and USS Callister: Into Infinity plays it too safe. But the remaining episodes — especially Hotel Reverie, Eulogy, and Bête Noire — showcase Charlie Brooker’s finest writing in years.
Rating: 4.5 / 5
Best Episodes: Eulogy, Hotel Reverie, Bête Noire
Skip It: Plaything
Watch It If You Like: The Truman Show, Her, Inside No. 9, The Leftovers
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