USS Callister

I dont care if it had plot holes or if it wasnt scientifically correct, it was a hell of a lot of fun...

When it started I could feel my high expectations fading, I thought I was in for a bad Star Trek spoof, but within minutes I realised that they'd come up with the goods in this episode. The plot is extraordinary, so incredibly imaginative, a wonderfully slick script and great performances all round. In the better episodes of Black Mirror you get absorbed in the crazy world, in this one I truly did buy into it. So imaginative, so good. 9/10

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.

If you're not a techie, you will thoroughly enjoy this episode. Whether or not certain aspects of the show are technically possibly is not what I watch Black Mirror for. I watch it to immerse myself in a different reality that has real, human components to it. This episode had it all and the acting was superb, especially from Jesse Plemons. Jesse is one of those underrated actors who is just so believable in any role he plays. Super talented. Anyway, the story was great, tension kept building throughout and there was a highly satisfying ending. What more could you ask for?! Oh yeah, there's that accuracy problem regarding firewalls, DNA replication, etc. that everyone is complaining about. Who the heck cares?! It's fiction people! I wanted to watch this again as soon as it was over. Super episode!!

USS Callister is biting commentary on 'reboot-culture', gaming, internet trolls and nostalgia as a whole. This episode is almost like a loot-crate for sci-fi fans who grew up on this stuff (show runner Charlie Brooker did); you can see callbacks to things like the original Star Trek (obviously), the 2009 film reboot, Battlefield Earth, The Matrix, Toy Story, Interstellar, and even Guardians of the Galaxy (at least certain images did that for me). It evokes all these classics while telling a memorable tale in this anthology series masterpiece, showing how 'playing-master' over your subjects, even digital ones, is not necessarily a good thing.

For me, this episode is probably the season-best alongside Black Museum and Hang the DJ. Black Mirror is innovative television at its best.