Be Right Back

Black Mirror touches upon the edges of what is possible and where we are heading. It also raises some warning alarms that might seem esoteric and far fetched at first but they ring so true if we just consider the already psychopathic exchange we have with the available technology. New diseases are now being coined as a result of our obsession with the internet and social media; we do not hesitate at all at denouncing someone at chats and obstinately sticking to our opinion without considering every angle; we are slowly but surely moving away from reality to a contrived virtual reality. More powerful technology is certainly going to cause more egregious side-effects.

This episode is so engrossing. The acting and the scenes are convincing enough in relaying the grief and misery Martha is going through. You can relate to her feelings and actions as she takes several steps in the wrong direction. The episode succeeds in conveying the addicting power of such a tech, and how it may adversely affect the terrified human psyche, that with every ounce of its being opposes the idea of death. It wants to cling on to happy memories and is so fearful of moving past.

A few plot instruments might seem inconceivable, but we are not far from the possibility of a virtual avatar with your voice, personality and behavior based on all the digital storage we have of us. But we need to recognize that there is another side to the veil as well.

At what point do we step over the "uncanny valley" and into a simulation of something so real that, even for a brief moment, we convince ourself that it is real?

In this episode, what technology takes away from us when we are living: our concentration and focus on the here and now, it attempts to reinstate when we are dead, all those lost opportunities and moments spent in the virtual world are returned, with interest.

Only what comes back is merely a simulacrum, a reflection of what once was, and when the grief is over and one opens one's eyes again, one realises the shallowness of that before them and any previous feeling of intimacy and thankfulness is quickly soured into resentment and anger.

IS there a difference between life itself and a simulation, thereof? And if a simulation were of sufficient complexity and sophistication, would it become indistinguishable from life itself?

Hope this is not our future. Insane. Mindblowing. Intense emotions. I love it.

As much as the episode kept me connected throughout the whole story, feeling Martha's pain and jitters with every scene of the episode; it was also a revelation how much we are allowing the technology and different technical giants to control us. Every single movement, every single browsing history is captured somewhere. In this case clone was created for a loved one and the reason, howsoever illogical was genuine ... but doesn't it allow for digital clones that can be created and misused for any person possible. Texture mapping and tons of data floating around definitely make it very much feasible.

Yes, the idea of being connected even after death was very touching and I am sure it pulled in the audience, because only at the moment you lose someone you want them all the much more, you understand their importance in your life. But at the same time i felt really bad for Martha, she was stuck with a robot for life whom she cannot get rid of out of the respect for Ash memories but that will never ever let her move on with life as well. She will keep clinging to the memories and never be able to make new ones.

Also, the part where she yells at the robot to hit her brings out a very interesting aspect of human psychology. As much as we all want perfect and serving people in our lives, what makes them real and lovable is their imperfections. The imperfections in humans is what makes them different from algorithmically programmed robots; by the time we realize this difference it shouldn't be too late that we are living our lives more in control of the robots than ourselves.

Be right Back is a great concept, but there was something missing that I am struggling to put into words here?

Don't get me wrong, it is a good episode that realistically toys with a very chilling concept that, in part, may be somewhere in our future (Scary thought!)

I think the first two thirds of this story played out better than the final third, maybe it went a little too far and became less scary when it could have become terrifying!

As much as I enjoyed this, I was left wanting a little more.

8/10.