I started watching Black Mirror when it was first released back in 2011. Any fan of the show who recalls the very first episode, “The National Anthem” knows how jarring it is, especially for someone who doesn’t understand the show yet. I was left mouth agape wondering what I had just watched. I wanted, needed to continue, to truly understand the essence of the show that was unlike anything else I had ever seen. After a few episodes, it became clear. And I was hooked.
While Black Mirror has always been a series of dark, cautionary tales about the worst-case scenarios should we continue on a path of technological reliance, the show started to divert from its original tone and feel in the later seasons. Once Netflix took over and the cast started to include more familiar Hollywood faces, it was almost like something was missing.
Creator Charlie Brooker promised in interviews leading up to season seven that he was bringing back the “OG Black Mirror,” and he delivered. The season, released April 10, 2025, consists of six jaw-droppingly, mind-bendingly creepy, disturbing, and thought-provoking episodes.
Black Mirror Season 7 Review
As an anthology series, you can watch Black Mirror in any order you want. I chose to watch in the order in which it’s presented. I purposely watched over a series of days because Black Mirror isn’t a bingeable show. You’ll want to take some time to digest what you’ve just witnessed, let the ideas and messaging ruminate, even discuss with others before diving right into the next episode. Every story is emotionally draining, complex, and deeply alarming, as they have been with every other season to date.
The best episodes of this season combine a mix of psychological horror with heartbreaking emotion. The issues the episodes touch on range from gaslighting to corporate greed, rageful keyboard warriors and, of course, AI in everything from the medical industry to movie-making.
Among the most compelling episodes is “Eulogy,” a gripping tale about Phillip (Paul Giamatti) who works with an AI entity called The Guide (Patsy Ferran). It/she helps him literally walk through old memories while trying to help provide insight for an immersive memorial for an old flame who has passed away. In doing so, Phillip comes to terms with his own shortcomings and inability to see his faults in the series of events he claims ruined his life.
“Hotel Reverie” examines the idea of AI in movie making, assisting flailing movie studios and creating (and re-creating) content at a fraction of the price. But the implications of trying to create films without any humanity nor respect for the craft results in a blurring of lines between reality and fiction and leaves you questioning the very concept of existence.
“Common People” is perhaps the most jarring episode of the season, and one I likely wouldn’t have watched first had I known. It begins with the story of a loving couple desperate to conceive and results in a skewering of corporate greed and the medical industry’s manipulation of vulnerable people when stakes are literally life and death. It also touches on twisted online fetish culture and the dirty spin tactics of companies and ever-evolving subscription models.
Some episodes feature the traditional psychological horror flare, like Bête Noire about a once bullied computer nerd who has grown into anything but. Now having come into her own, Verity (Rosy McEwen) exacts revenge by tormenting and gaslighting her victims. She causes them to question their reality until they are ultimately driven mad.
“Plaything,” meanwhile, touches on our desperate need for human connection and cooperation through the lens of former video game journalist Cameron (Peter Capaldi in present day, Lewis Gribben in flashbacks). He’s introduced to groundbreaking software by Colin, played by Will Poulter reprising his role from the interactive movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Colin explains that it isn’t a game but an experience. When Cameron combines this experience with frequent acid trips, he believes the incoherent chirps from the little Tamagotchi-like virtual creatures are messages about how to make human beings better.
Finally, there’s the much anticipated first-ever sequel episode in “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” which picks up where the first Emmy Award-winning episode left off back in season four. Nanette (Cristin Milioti) tries desperately to keep her ship and its crew alive by stealing credits from random players. Meanwhile, James Walton (Jimmi Simpson) learns of a scandal when players start reporting thefts from unauthorized players with no game tags. If he wants to save his company, he’ll have to find them and get rid of them.
What was so great about the first episodes of Black Mirror is that they featured relatively unknown British actors (to North American audiences, at least), lending a level of authenticity to the stories and characters. Once Black Mirror episodes started featuring known American actors, the stories were cheapened to some degree. They also began to divert from the original focus with weaker episodes like “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too,” “Loch Henry,” “Crocodile,” and “Mazey Day.” Season six had a few gems, like “Beyond the Sea” but it relied more heavily on horror. Finally in season seven, we’re back.
The beautiful thing about Black Mirror overall is that every episode is so different from the next, and every fan has their own opinions about the best and worst of the lot.
When it comes to season seven, you’ll get a slightly different tone from the first few seasons along with big-name Hollywood actors in a few of them. But some, like “Bête Noire,” pay homage to the early days of the series with more subtle storytelling and less flashy theatrics. It’s a refreshing return to what made Black Mirror one of the most subversive, mind-bending shows ever on television. There isn’t a bad episode of the bunch: Even though I’d call “Plaything” is the weakest, Capaldi is so darn good, you won’t even care.
So, saddle up and watch them all. You won’t be disappointed. Just don’t start with “Common People” since it’s one of the heavier episodes. I’d start with Bête Noire, then move on to “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” “Hotel Reverie,” “Common People,” “Plaything,” and end with “Eulogy.”
Other Black Mirror Episodes Worth Checking Out
If you haven’t yet watched Black Mirror and you’re curious to learn more about the show before diving into this new season, here’s a handful of my favourite episodes from seasons past. As an anthology series you can watch in any order, from any season. The only exception for continuity would be the two USS Callister episodes.
Season 1, Episode 3: “The Entire History Of You” (2011)
In a future world, people wear implants behind the ear that allow them to replay memories of their entire life, from birth to present-day, on a big screen. It’s easy to see how this can be a fun party trick but also how things can go awry. When Liam (Toby Kebbell) starts to suspect that his wife Ffion (Jodie Whittaker) is having an affair, he forces access to her memories to discover a truth he doesn’t want to see. The episode is a heartbreaking, cautionary tale.
Season 2, Episode 1: “Be Right Back” (2013)
Exploring the concept of death and the digital footprints we leave behind, when Martha’s (Hayley Atwell) boyfriend Ash (Domhnall Gleeson) tragically dies in an accident, she signs up for a service that mines all the data from his online communications when he was alive, including social media posts, to create an AI version of him she can message, even talk, with. Obsessed with hanging on to her lost love, Martha takes the next step and orders a physical android version of Ash. But while this might be Ash in voice, knowledge, memories, even aspects of his personality and tenderness towards her, the essence of Ash is much more than just his online presence. “Be Right Back” an incredibly moving, eye-opening episode and remains one of my favourites.
Season 2, Episode 2: “White Bear” (2013)
“White Bear” is one of those episodes that keeps you puzzled and intrigued until the “a-ha” moment right at the end. Victoria (Lenora Crichlow) awakens with no recollection of who she is. But she’s being relentlessly chased by masked men while people record her every move, surrounding her such that there’s no escape. She has no idea what’s happening and nor do viewers until you get to the final moments and learn what it’s all about. I won’t reveal spoilers, but it’s a must-watch episode about a technologically driven form of justice.
Season 3, Episode 1: “Nosedive” (2016)
One of the first episodes to feature a name U.S. actor (many actors who appeared in the earlier seasons have since gone on to have success in Hollywood), Bryce Dallas Howard exists in a future world run by social credits. Everything you do, everything you say, earns (or loses) merit points, and these directly tie to your socioeconomic status. Don’t smile at the local coffee shop vendor? They’ll give you a low rating. Perform a good deed for someone or nail a project at work? Earn a higher rating. These ratings can impact your ability to get on a certain flight, be approved for a mortgage, even get invited to social events. You’re constantly fueling the social machine and portraying yourself in the best, but also most disingenuous, light. It’s scathing commentary on social media culture as a personal prison that still rings true, even almost a decade after its release.
Season 3, Episode 5: “Men Against Fire” (2016)
Skewering the idea of ethnic genocide, “Men Against Fire” depicts soldiers who are trained machines, forced to wear augmented reality implants that literally make them see innocent people as mutated monsters called “roaches.” At the end of each session, their memories are wiped so they can do it all over again, with no remorse nor empathy for the defenseless people they kill in cold blood. When one soldier named Stripe (Malachi Kirby) learns the reality of what he’s doing, he is given an impossible choice. The obvious social commentary on military action against immigrants isn’t lost on viewers.
Season 4, Episode 6: “Black Museum” (2017)
“Black Museum” follows Nish (Letitia Wright), a young woman who visits a museum owned by a man who used to recruit people for experimental medical technology. As she is taken through the various relics by owner Rolo Haynes (Douglas Hodge), Nish seems both intrigued and horrified by some of the technologies. Think one that allowed a doctor to feel the pain of his patients to help properly diagnose them. Things went south, however, when the doctor starting deriving pleasure from the pain and killed a man to feel the sensation, rendering himself comatose. The pièce de résistance, however, is the sentient hologram of a man who was executed by electric chair. Like a fun party trick, visitors can pull a lever to execute him over and over, receiving a miniature clone keychain as a souvenir. The episode touches on the sick human practice of deriving pleasure from the pain of others.
Season 6, Episode 3: “Beyond the Sea” (2023)
One of the best episodes from the newer seasons is “Beyond the Sea,” a fascinating story about two astronauts on a mission in space. During the off hours, they can enter personal chambers to transmit their consciousnesses to body replicas back home and spend time with their families. Things go awry, however, when David’s (Josh Hartnett) family faces tragedy and Cliff (Aaron Paul) tries to help give David the occasional reprieve. His kindness backfires in the most horrifying way.