USS Callister

Black Mirror usually isn't funny, but this one is very funny; a spoof of nerdish "Trekkies." The character called "Nannette" is great, and the actress playing her does a great job. As always with Black mirror, the show has fantastic plot tension. Some of the Black Mirror episodes are off-putting but this one was pretty enjoyable all the way through. I don't know why someone criticized it for being political. This episode doesn't really have any political or social commentary at all; it's just a spoof of Trekkies, with a spice of futuristic technology. The humor was a bit cheesy at times, but so what.

The best thing about "Black Mirror" is the originality of the story ideas. "USS Callister" is certainly original! The only real problem is the premise, though very original, is utterly ridiculous. My advice is just suspend your disbelief and go with it!

The show is about a very passive-aggressive man, Robert Daly. Although he's extremely shy and easily pushed around at work, he's developed an ultra-bizarre way of exacting revenge and feeling all-powerful. He's designed a huge multiplayer game but is apparently so brilliant that he's able to create exact copies of his hated co-workers and he torments them in this alternate reality. Here, Daly is the captain of a space ship (VERY MUCH like "Star Trek") and is these co-workers don't do EXACTLY what he wants, he tortures them. Eventually, a new co-worker is recreated in this world...and she's determined to defeat him even though he seems to hold all the cards.

Just ignore the voices in your brain that say "you can't do THAT" and the like. Of course you can't...and it's a fantasy show. So sit back and enjoy...though the show is occasionally tough to watch because Daley is indeed a sadist.

I'll admit, I'd been dodging USS Callister ever since it dropped back in 2017. That poster, all flashy with the Star Trekish vibe, just didn't do it for me. I've never really been into that space adventure aesthetic, so I kept skipping it, assuming it was just Black Mirror having its own little sci-fi parody moment.

But cut to 2025, when its sequel suddenly popped up, I figured, let's take the risk. And wow! Just wow! That one glance I'd cast all those years ago couldn't have been more misleading. Because yes, the Star Trek vibe is there, but only as a wrapping paper. What's inside is something else entirely. A layered, haunting, and mind-bending exploration of ethics, power, identity, and justice, all wrapped up in classic Black Mirror brilliance.

And I do have a soft spot for the "bullied nerd finally takes revenge" kind of arc. There's always something raw and cathartic about watching the underdog flip the script, and Jesse Plemons starts to pull that off in the most unsettling way. But what is amazing is that it doesn't stop at just revenge. It flips that narrative too. As the story progresses, it shifts tone and perspective in a way that I honestly didn't expect. The structure had me hooked.

Technically, as someone who understands the ropes, I know better than to nitpick Black Mirror's science. It's meant to push boundaries with creative liberty, and it does exactly that here. The episode never let go of its grip, keeping me invested with that classic "will they, won't they" escape tension that I secretly love.

In a world where new content keeps disappointing me, Black Mirror somehow always knows how to reel me back in. It's episodes like these that remind me why I still believe in this kind of storytelling.

I'm beginning to think that Black Mirror fans are one of those audiences that are impossible to entirely please (similar to Star Wars or Star Trek fans). Some of the "criticisms" I'm reading are people that don't seem to understand what creative license is, and are nitpicking the episode for not being 100% realistic. This is far and away one of the best episodes of the entire series. The story is perfectly paced and consistently engaging. The characters are all well-acted and compelling. The technical aspects of the episode are perfect; terrific visual style, direction, set design, etc. Jesse Plemmons delivers an absolutely golden performance making this an unforgettable episode. There is little not to like here.

This one isn't really made to make you think and question your life. It's just an extremely entertaining, well made piece of television. It's very good.