{"id":3507,"date":"2025-04-10T07:35:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/black-mirror-season-7-review-all-new-episodes-ranked\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T07:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:36:10","slug":"black-mirror-season-7-review-all-new-episodes-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/black-mirror-season-7-review-all-new-episodes-ranked\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Black Mirror\u2019 Season 7 Review: All New Episodes Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
From left: Billy Magnussen, Osy Ikhile, Paul G. Raymond, Cristin Milioti and Milanka Brooks in \u201cUSS Callister: Into Infinity\u201d in Black Mirror<\/em> Season 7. Nick Wall\/Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Charlie Brooker<\/a>\u2019s beloved Black Mirror <\/i>returns this week, boasting six new episodes packed with fantastical technological advances (and their inevitable drawbacks). Compared to Season 6<\/a>, this round of episodes hews more closely to the show\u2019s sci-fi roots, even offering the series\u2019 first-ever direct sequel. As a result, this installment of the anthology is perhaps not as new and exciting as previous iterations, but a few of its episodes dig deep and mine the riches buried in Black Mirror<\/i>. Season 7\u2019s episodes are ranked below from best to worst, starting with a standout star vehicle that you won\u2019t want to miss.<\/p>\n

\n<\/section>\n

1.) Episode 3: \u201cHotel Reverie\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Who doesn\u2019t love a classic romance? So goes the thinking of down-and-out studio exec Judith (Harriet Walter<\/a>) and bright-eyed industry disrupter Kimmy (Awkwafina<\/a>) as they try to revive the Old Hollywood success Hotel Reverie<\/i> for today\u2019s audiences. But rather than make the new version a whole production, they use a technology called ReDream. It creates an alternate, artificial reality based on an existing film, and an actor can project themselves into this world that has to adhere to a certain standard of movie continuity. It\u2019s a shock for leading lady Brandy Friday (Issa Rae<\/a>) when she\u2019s the only person capable of movement or speech until the opening credit roll, not to mention the fact that her world is suddenly in black and white, but she\u2019s soon swept up in the magic of the movie. As the dashing Dr. Alex, Brandy courts the beautifully tragic Clara (Emma Corrin<\/a>), but her growing feelings and a few movie logic flubs jeopardize the whole thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHotel Reverie\u201d almost doesn\u2019t work. When Brandy first enters the world, the episode gets chopped up by constant cuts to Kimmy\u2019s control room, techs exclaiming \u201cnarrative integrity down!\u201d or \u201cromantic attraction rising!\u201d with every story beat. We don\u2019t need to be reminded that this movie dimension is held together precariously; it feels like the show is scared we\u2019ll forget that this episode is technology-related. But as the story begins to come into its own, it turns into one of Black Mirror<\/i>\u2019s better romantic endeavors. Clara grows beyond her scripted nature after a few of Brandy\u2019s narrative missteps, and the pair develop true feelings for one another. It\u2019s a spiritual sequel to the beloved \u201cSan Junipero,\u201d as the focus lands on these two women, their relationship, and their own personal journeys in this artificial reality. Corrin (who\u2019s non-binary and uses they\/them pronouns) does fantastic work as a classic British heroine whose passion and sadness are buttoned up by class and decorum; Clara certainly has some shades of their Princess Di in The Crown<\/i>, but they imbue her with a different kind of longing. While Rae is not as an accomplished dramatic performer, she nails the episode\u2019s emotional swells (especially one absolutely devastating moment that won\u2019t be spoiled here). The pair take you on a ride through a would-be classic, and it\u2019s enchanting.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
From left: Billy Magnussen, Osy Ikhile, Cristin Milioti, Milanka Brooks and Paul G. Raymond in \u201cUSS Callister: Into Infinity\u201d in Black Mirror<\/em> Season 7. Nick Wall\/Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2.) Episode 6: \u201cUSS Callister: Into Infinity\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

The only Black Mirror <\/i>sequel episode, \u201cUSS Callister: Into Infinity\u201d has a lot to live up to. The original is a twisted take on male power fantasies, and the geeky nice guy and incel-adjacent villain (played memorably and menacingly by Jesse Plemons<\/a>) feels all the more relevant today. But \u201cInto Infinity\u201d finds the USS Callister crew struggling to survive in their post-Plemons world; as clones inserted into the game\u2019s servers, they\u2019re not supposed to exist, and they\u2019re easy targets for any of Infinity\u2019s 30 million players. Led by fearless Captain Nanette (Cristin Milioti<\/a>), the crew is robbing players of credits in order to bolster their own resources, and this inevitably draws the attention of people in the real world\u2014including Nanette\u2019s counterpart, who already had a sneaking suspicion about her former co-worker\u2019s extracurricular activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cInto Infinity\u201d expects you to remember its predecessor very well, to its own detriment. It makes use of frequent flashbacks to go over the most important stuff, but there\u2019s definitely a bit of a learning curve if it\u2019s been awhile since you last watched \u201cUSS Callister.\u201d Thankfully, though, the rocky exposition is mostly reserved for the beginning of the episode. Things pick up as the IRL Nanette works to find her clone, helped in part by CEO Walton (Jimmi Simpson<\/a>), who\u2019s now threatened by a potential company scandal. But given that corporate interests rarely overlap with personal well-being, both Nanettes find themselves struggling to find a solution. It\u2019s a great episode of science fiction, where every technological innovation ties back to a thoughtful theme; it sometimes casts its net too wide, but \u201cInto Infinity\u201d follows through on the promise of its premise. And, given its feature length, it does commit to an epic scale that\u2019s just fun to watch (yes there\u2019s a spaceship battle, and I believe I did hear a Star Wars <\/i>scream). It\u2019s less compact and cohesive than the original, but it\u2019s an exciting follow-up nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
Paul Giamatti in \u201cEulogy\u201d in Black Mirror<\/em> Season 7. Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3.) Episode 5: \u201cEulogy\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Sometimes, you just gotta let Paul Giamatti<\/a> do his thing for 45 minutes. \u201cEulogy\u201d sees the actor as Philip, an aging man on his own who gets a call with unfortunate news\u2014his ex-girlfriend from decades ago, Carol, has died. The call comes from a company that handles memorial services with a technological twist, where people can immerse themselves in memories provided by the deceased\u2019s loved ones. Though reluctant to participate given how he and Carol broke up, Philip ends up embracing the idea of a trip down memory lane to try to see his lost love as he did all those years ago. He\u2019s helped by the memorial company\u2019s guide (Patsy Ferran<\/a>), who\u2019s surprisingly willing to challenge him and his unreliable narration of this relationship.<\/p>\n

As far as Black Mirror <\/i>episodes go, this one is pretty simple. Most of it involves Philip wading through memories that he\u2019s long discarded, with the help of photos that he quite literally defaced. He can\u2019t remember what Carol looked like, only the rush of their first night together, the awe he felt when she played the cello, the petty jealousy stoked by an interested suitor. As an extended dialogue between Philip and the guide, the proceedings feel akin to a small, sentimental work of theater, and Giamatti gives it the gravity of an Off-Broadway play. It gets repetitive and some of the revelations are hokey, but it\u2019s an emotionally affective piece of the greater Black Mirror <\/i>puzzle.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
Chris O\u2019Dowd and Rashida Jones in \u201cCommon People\u201d in Black Mirror<\/em> Season 7. Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4.) Episode 1: \u201cCommon People\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cCommon People\u201d gives you exactly what you\u2019d expect out of a Black Mirror <\/i>episode; it\u2019s quality work, but as the opener to Season 7 it doesn\u2019t offer any real surprises. This episode feels like Black Mirror<\/i>\u2019s bread and butter, with some good ideas, great actors, and perfectly fine execution. Amanda (Rashida Jones<\/a>) and Mike (Chris O\u2019Dowd) are a nice, normal, middle-class couple; they go on semi-ironic anniversary trips and are hoping for a happy accident when it comes to expanding their family. But when Amanda\u2019s chronic headaches turn into a life-altering health scare (and somehow not the only coma this season), she has to opt into a cutting edge neurological medical service called RiverMind. As explained by company rep Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross<\/a>), it\u2019s a brain waves subscription service\u2014Amanda can operate at (almost) full capacity for just $300 a month! It\u2019s a little too good to be true, so it\u2019s no wonder that one year later, Mike and Amanda are faced with a choice: either upgrade their subscription and pay more or stay on the standard tier, which makes Amanda sleep for most of the day and deliver targeted ads to those around her.\u00a0\u201cCommon People\u201d takes place in a world not so unlike our own, the only difference being that subscriptions are for survival. With these subscriptions rolling out endless new tiers, the show does create salient parallels to issues like medical debt and quality of life for those bound by it. However, those threads get frayed when the episode decides to comment about the gig economy, adding a sensationalist subplot that never quite gels with the rest of the story. Jones, O\u2019Dowd and Ross are all solid, but they contribute to an episode that is simply just fine.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
Siena Kelly in \u201cBete Noire\u201d in Black Mirror<\/em> Season 7. Nick Wall\/Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5.) Episode 2: \u201cB\u00eate Noire\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

One of the season\u2019s slighter episodes, \u201cB\u00eate Noire\u201d forces its protagonist to confront her past. Maria (Siena Kelly<\/a>) is a successful figure in the R&D department of a sweets company, churning out new hit flavors and snack ideas. She\u2019s comfortable, living a stable life in every regard until a familiar face from her school days appears at work for a taste test. It\u2019s Verity (Rosy McEwen<\/a>), a nerdy, viciously bullied outcast who seems to have undergone a complete transformation, and soon enough she\u2019s found a job in Maria\u2019s department. The world starts seeming topsy turvy for Maria, as things she\u2019s long held true (like the name of a popular food chain, the existence of her nut allergy) turn out to be false, and she insists to everyone around her that Verity has to be involved. So is Maria just feeling insecure and threatened, or is Verity scary good at the gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss thing?<\/p>\n

The episode plays with its Mandela effect mystery in interesting ways, but it\u2019s a case of the set up being way more exciting than the pay off. Maria understandably starts to lose it as her entire worldview comes into question, and you have to wonder how deep and dark the show will go\u2014is it about to turn into the Bryce Dallas Howard breakdown-fueled \u201cNosedive\u201d? But \u201cB\u00eate Noire\u201d jumps the shark with its explanation and ultimate resolution, and all of the genuine tension that the episode generates seeps out.<\/p>\n