This blog is a personal journal of all the movies, Tv-Shows, & Games I consume during a year which enhances my overall experience. The ratings that I give are fully based on my personal preference and enjoyment at the time of watching and I'm writing spoiler-free reviews.
About Black Mirror
Black Mirror is an Anthology Series which means that each episode stands on its own as a small movie always with different actors. The general premisse of the series is that they take the world as it is today and add a new technology to it which always has one or more negative side effects. Oftentimes it gives criticizm on Society and nearly all episodes end in a dark bad way. The name of the series references the black screen of smartphones
This series went into its 7th season with 6 new episodes. Especially in the early seasons, it was something completely new and original which blew me along with many ofters away. However, in the more recent seasons the expectations got a bit too high while the level at times dropped a bit as many of the technomlogies are kind of similar to what has been done already. So I didn't go in with too high expectations.
These are my Spoiler-Free Reviews on all 6 Episodes along with individual scores.
Episode 1: Common People (7.7/10)
This one was a textbook Black Mirror Episode with an interesting new technology, a clear society cryticism on streaming companies and their subscription models that become more expensive over time. There are also somedark twists in this episodes and it very much gives a view how inflation impacts the 'common people' who just work their regular jobs trying to get by. So overall this was a really good and promising start of season 7 with an episode that I enjoyed watching.
At the start of the episode I was a bit distracted by actors Chris O'Dowd (from The It Crowd) who really has gotten old and Rashida Jones (Who used to be in The Office US). However, this quickly went away.
Episode 2: Bête Noire (6.9/10)
This one actually started really well and interesting with some kind of mystery where I didn't really knew where it was going while it certainly intrigued me. What I really liked in this one was that the boss in his office was plating Balatro which was kind of a nerd reference to viewers as I absolutely love that game which came out last year. However, the 'new technology' (which just wasn't believable unlike many of the other technologies in Black Mirror) and the premise conclusion in this episode didn't do it for me and kind of ruined things.
Episode 3: Hotel Reverie (6.8/10)
This one had an interesting new technology based on AI which made it relevant but for me it missed in execution, story and also acting while the episode at a 76 minute runtime just felt too long. Also whenever a series or movie is about a fictional movie it's just something hard to pull off in a believable way. It oftentimes results in the actors speaking highly of it but it just doesn't come over in the right way. This for me was one of the weakest episides where they just could have done more with the entire premise.
Episode 4: Plaything (7.0/10)
The thing that stood out in this episode was that the main character was played by Peter Capaldi which felt a bit strange as I'm a big Doctor Who fan so it was just hard to look passed it even though he put in a great performance. This was a gaming related topic but it kind of failed to fully capture and convince me especially at the end. So an ok episode but also not great.
Episode 5: Eulogy (7.6/10)
I love Paul Giamatti as an actor and he didn't dissapoint in this episode which had great acting, nice visuals and also a touching story. The technology was fine but it kind of felt like something that has been done over and over again. For me the main downside of this episode is that some things about the story needed for the plot come togheter weren't 100% believable. Overall though a solid and worthy Black Mirror episode that I enjoyed.
Episode 6: USS Callister: Into Infinity (7.7/10)
This was the episode I looked forward to the most as it was a Sequal to the USS Callister episode which was an absolute banger from Season 4 back in 2017. This also was the longest episode at close to 90 minutes and if anything it was just a fun watch from start to finish witout anything about it that really stood out. Just a good sequel with quite some comedy worked into it.
Conclusion
While I enjoyed watching the 7th Season of Black Mirror, I can't help but be left a bit underwhelmed as some of the older episodes were just so good that it's impossible to live up to those. None of the episodes now really blew me away while a couple of them had dissapointing conclusions. I rate this season at a combined 7.5/10 which is still solid as I rank the Episodes in the following order...
#1 S07E01 Common People
#2 S07E06 USS Callister: Into Infinity
#3 S07E06 Eulogy
#4 S07E04 Plaything
#5 S07E02 Bête Noire
#6 S07E03 Hotel Reverie
| # | 2025 Watched Tv-Series | Score |
|---|---|---|
| #01 Series | Silo Season 2 | 7.1/10 |
| #02 Anime | Death Note | 8.9/10 |
| #03 Series | Severance Season 2 | 8.9/10 |
| #04 Series | Adolescence | 6.8/10 |
| #05 Anime | Barakamon | 7.6/10 |
| #05 Series | Black Mirror Season 7 | 7.5/10 |