When a medical emergency leaves schoolteacher Amanda fighting for her life, her desperate husband Mike signs her up for Rivermind, a high-tech system that will keep her alive.When a medical emergency leaves schoolteacher Amanda fighting for her life, her desperate husband Mike signs her up for Rivermind, a high-tech system that will keep her alive.When a medical emergency leaves schoolteacher Amanda fighting for her life, her desperate husband Mike signs her up for Rivermind, a high-tech system that will keep her alive.
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Featured reviews
Now this is the Black Mirror I've been waiting for!
The first episode of the new season hits all the right notes - a brilliant concept, top-tier acting, and a gripping pace that never lets up. It gave me the same chills and awe I felt watching classics like White Christmas and Black Museum. If this is just the beginning, the rest of the season has some seriously high expectations to meet.
Beyond its gripping story, this episode also serves as a sharp satire on the very technologies we're racing to build. It holds up a mirror to our obsession with progress and forces us to reflect on where those advancements might lead us. Are we enhancing life, or slowly distorting it? The episode doesn't just entertain - it provokes. It subtly raises questions about morality, choice, and the gray areas in between. What do we sacrifice in the name of innovation? And at what cost? That lingering discomfort is exactly what makes classic Black Mirror episodes so memorable - and this one definitely earns its place among the best.
Beyond its gripping story, this episode also serves as a sharp satire on the very technologies we're racing to build. It holds up a mirror to our obsession with progress and forces us to reflect on where those advancements might lead us. Are we enhancing life, or slowly distorting it? The episode doesn't just entertain - it provokes. It subtly raises questions about morality, choice, and the gray areas in between. What do we sacrifice in the name of innovation? And at what cost? That lingering discomfort is exactly what makes classic Black Mirror episodes so memorable - and this one definitely earns its place among the best.
Return to form
I am so glad they put this episode first. It really feels like the old black mirror is back. Amazing concept, well thought out execution, sad and dark but also realistic. The acting was also great. Even though it was based in America it had the British grit feel that I feel was missing in the previous few seasons.
What made it so depressing is the fact it really feels like it could/ would happen this way. This episode touches on many themes such as the subscriptions, the lengths someone would go to make money, healthcare and also at some points could have been a metaphor for addiction.
This episode alone is already better than all of the previous season in my opinion.
What made it so depressing is the fact it really feels like it could/ would happen this way. This episode touches on many themes such as the subscriptions, the lengths someone would go to make money, healthcare and also at some points could have been a metaphor for addiction.
This episode alone is already better than all of the previous season in my opinion.
Brilliant, Emotional, and Unnervingly Real - A Classic Black Mirror Return
Just wow. Black Mirror is back-and with a bang. This episode delivers a brilliant mix of storytelling, emotion, and tech-driven tension. From the opening moments, the pacing pulls you in, layering suspense with a deep emotional core. Every scene adds something unexpected-whether it's a surprise twist, a moment of quiet heartbreak, or a brutal commentary on the direction we're heading.
The performances are top-notch. Rashida Jones and Chris O'Dowd shine in roles that feel raw and real, pulling you into the struggles of everyday people caught in the jaws of high-tech promises. And Tracee Ellis Ross? Chillingly perfect as the face of corporate AI-equal parts charm and menace.
What really hit me was the way the episode tackled modern tech and capitalism. It's not just speculative fiction-it feels uncomfortably close to reality. Streaming consciousness, in-app purchases for memories, ads in your literal afterlife... it's satire, but it's also a warning.
The ending left me surprised and thinking. It wasn't just a twist for shock value-it added a layer of depth that stayed with me long after the credits rolled.
If this is how Season 7 starts, we're in for something truly special. Dark, emotional, provocative-this is Black Mirror at its best.
The performances are top-notch. Rashida Jones and Chris O'Dowd shine in roles that feel raw and real, pulling you into the struggles of everyday people caught in the jaws of high-tech promises. And Tracee Ellis Ross? Chillingly perfect as the face of corporate AI-equal parts charm and menace.
What really hit me was the way the episode tackled modern tech and capitalism. It's not just speculative fiction-it feels uncomfortably close to reality. Streaming consciousness, in-app purchases for memories, ads in your literal afterlife... it's satire, but it's also a warning.
The ending left me surprised and thinking. It wasn't just a twist for shock value-it added a layer of depth that stayed with me long after the credits rolled.
If this is how Season 7 starts, we're in for something truly special. Dark, emotional, provocative-this is Black Mirror at its best.
This was hard to watch
This was hard to watch, like Netflix with its modern prices and ads. It was not hard to watch because its a bad episode, its quiete the opposite. It shows what subscription services always have been about.
I would stop the review here, but somehow I need to use at least sixhoundred characters, which feels like quite similar to what some characters might have to go through in this episode. Its a feeling of helplessness and anger. It is what you get when you experience the unfairness of the system that you are part of, but you can not leave the system because you also dependon it to some degree.
I would stop the review here, but somehow I need to use at least sixhoundred characters, which feels like quite similar to what some characters might have to go through in this episode. Its a feeling of helplessness and anger. It is what you get when you experience the unfairness of the system that you are part of, but you can not leave the system because you also dependon it to some degree.
Finally back to the quality it started out with
The first few seasons of Black Mirror were visionary and quality stories. At one point for a few seasons it had lost everything.
So far I have watch the first two episodes of season seven. And they have hit the mark again. The writing is back to a level that inspires procative thought, with character development creating deeper story telling while exploring the question, where exactly is humanity going. What are the possibilities of the inventions we bring into the world.
I hope the rest of this season continues as the first two episodes have.
This could be a revival of a series that was a season away from being cancelled.
So far I have watch the first two episodes of season seven. And they have hit the mark again. The writing is back to a level that inspires procative thought, with character development creating deeper story telling while exploring the question, where exactly is humanity going. What are the possibilities of the inventions we bring into the world.
I hope the rest of this season continues as the first two episodes have.
This could be a revival of a series that was a season away from being cancelled.
Did you know
- TriviaIn one of her classroom scenes, Amanda was talking about ADI robotic bees used for pollination. The bees were featured in Season 3 episode Hated in the Nation (2016).
- GoofsIn desperate financial straits, not only do Mike and Amanda not sell their large house and downsize, they do not even discuss it.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards (2025)
Details
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