Season 1 of the British sci-fi anthology show provided some of the best television ever envisioned and executed. I broke down all episodes individually since they were heavy with complexities and morals. However, Black Mirror season 2, while still quality TV, delivers less of these complicated layers in favor of straight-forward storytelling and character work. Fortunately, the 1st episode starts out the season very strong, but that’s the best it gets, with the 3rd episode of the season being definable as borderline-forgettable. With the 1st episode containing most of the philosophical depth, let’s get started on this recap sooner rather than later, and with SPOILERS!

Episode 1: “Be Right Back”

Black Mirror season 2 begins with one of the show’s deepest outings starring Hayley Atwell as Martha and Domhnall Gleeson as Ash. Ash dies early off-screen in an automobile crash, which devastates Martha. At the funeral, Martha’s sister Sarah (played by Sinead Matthews) informs her of an online service that allows its customers to communicate with the deceased. Overwhelmed by grief and unable to cope with her loss, Martha signs up for the service, which compiles all of Ash’s previous social media profile information and communications to create a seamless, automated, almost authentic virtual version of Ash.

First, Martha starts with instant messaging the digital version of Ash, then Martha discovers the company offers another service that allows her to talk to “Ash” on the phone. The program accepts uploads of previous videos and voice messages to emulate Ash’s voice and automate his responses to feel like things Ash would say. Without hesitation, Martha is on board and speaking with “Ash” over the phone non-stop. Martha discovers she’s pregnant in the midst of her lowest point of grieving, which likely drove her to these decisions. The fear of not only being alone (especially with Martha living in a secluded countryside home), but raising a child on her own is completely rational after such a sudden, tragic loss.

Once again, the company up-sells its product to Martha without her recognizing it when “Ash” tells her that they now create artificial bodies that would essentially give Martha her lover back. Of course, she accepts the offer at whatever the economic or psychological cost, and within no time, she’s back with Ash and mildly happy again. Synthetic Ash still remains only fragments of what the real Ash was, so things like sexual intercourse, occasional verbal arguments, or even recognizing Martha’s sister are things this Ash needs explained to him. The more that this artificial Ash asks questions about the Ash on which he’s based, the more disillusioned and depressed Martha becomes. She’s realized she made a giant mistake by not embracing her grief and eventually accepting her loss, but by this point, she can’t turn away from interacting with new Ash, even if he’s a shadow of what the late Ash was.

Martha reaches a breaking point with A.I. Ash’s general inhuman existence (how he doesn’t breathe when he sleeps or even sleeps at all for that matter), and she tries to have a shouting match with him, which he will not reciprocate since he wasn’t programmed for conflict. Martha eventually takes “Ash” out to a cliff and asks him to jump off of it, and he almost does it willingly until she demands that he show an inkling of emotion. When fake Ash manages to flip a switch and plead with her in tears to not make him jump, Martha screams in frustration and then we have a time jump to several years later after Martha gave birth.

The brilliant storytelling from creator Charlie Brooker in this episode of Black Mirror season 2 doesn’t make the flash forward feel unearned. In fact, the entire episode they’re posing very grand, brain-exploding philosophical questions about the A.I. in Ash and his general existence (like Martha saying “you’re not…you” and Ash constantly asking “is that not something I’d say?”). The time jump shows Martha let synthetic Ash hang out in the basement while she lets her daughter occasionally visit and play with him. In her desperation to cope somehow, she gave her daughter some sort of father figure, however artificial, but still never came to terms with losing the living, breathing love of her life. Once again, Mirror hands us a satisfying bummer ending.

Episode 2: “White Bear”

Okay, this will take less paragraphs to explain the second episode of Black Mirror season 2, named “White Bear.” The episode is a through and through a thriller-mystery starring Lenora Crichlow as Victoria and Tuppence Middleton as Jem. Victoria awakens in a room with an odd symbol playing on TV with no memory of who she is and how she got there. She finds a picture of a child as well as another photograph of her with an unfamiliar man. She assumes the man is her lover and the woman is her child. As she leaves the house (and throughout the episode), people are always watching her and filming her with their phones. No matter what happens, these onlookers never stop filming.

The chaos of this Black Mirror season 2 episode begins at this point, where masked individuals start shooting at Victoria until Jem arrives to assist her. Jem explains there’s a transmitter that needs destroying in order to stop whatever’s brainwashing the lazy onlookers. There are various twists and much perceived violence, but none of it matters because it’s all a ruse. That’s the major rug pull of a twist in this episode, and probably the biggest surprise in the entire series. Our confused protagonist Victoria actually filmed her boyfriend (from the picture) as he tortured and killed a 6-year-old girl they kidnapped (also the same little girl from the picture), and the distress she’s experiencing is a twisted form of role-play justice the entire town participates in and films.

A ridiculously heavy, dark twist, right? Victoria, still suffering from Jason Bourne brain, is in shock at her past actions. This creates an entire debate about what corrupts our minds. As a clean slate, characters like Victoria or Bourne are genuinely good people capable of empathy, but when they were your average member of society, they were awful human beings. Also, you have an accomplice to child murder being painted as a victim in the show, and the rest of society are our villains. Only Black Mirror and its showrunner Brooker can blend such subversive schools of thought and characters satisfactorily.

This Black Mirror season 2 episode ends with Victoria being carted back to the same house she started in, and she’s brainwashed to forget all the truths she just learned so the role-play scenario can start again with a new audience. This is yet another addition to the odd sense of justice this town delivers: it’s practically like a theme park that runs every day, with some characters like Jem played by park actors and the attendees are the onlookers that nonchalantly film the scenario with their phones. Before the twist, part of my careless thinking during this episode consisted of “those bystanders filming: that’s just a metaphor for how our society needs to capture everything with their phones at any cost, even at the cost of human decency.” I was partially right, but I’m glad Brooker kept it really complex, shocking, and way darker than that.

Episode 3: “The Waldo Moment”

The more I think about the Black Mirror season 2 finale, “The Waldo Moment,” the more I just don’t care for it, despite some of the stellar monologue writing. Daniel Rigby plays Jamie Salter, a failed comedian who resorts to voicing and controlling (via hand motion capture) a vulgar cartoon character named Waldo. The people adore Waldo for lacking a filter and he’s a character that producer Jack Napier (played by Jason Flemyng, and not The Joker) wants to monetize at every opportunity. Jamie isn’t really left with an option since he lacks success in his field otherwise, so they take Waldo on various late night talk shows where he verbally decimates whoever’s in the vicinity, especially a Conservative candidate running for local office named Liam Monroe (played by Tobias Menzies).

Things get carried away when Jack enters Jamie (or Waldo, rather) into the local election, but this does create a really great monologue delivered by Jamie through Waldo where he tears down the establishment and politicians on a talk show with Liam as the guest. The outburst catches fire on the Internet and Waldo’s poll numbers rise immensely. However, Jamie’s friendships are already compromised by this point after a falling out with a one-night-stand-turned-friend Gwendolyn (played by Chloe Pirrie). She opts to run for 3rd party office herself, but outs Waldo’s identity as Jamie and proceeds to bash him and his failing career on live public television. Naturally, Jamie is furious and starts caring less and less about the campaign, more convinced that Waldo has become as much of a danger as your run-of-the-mill politician.

There’s definitely a parallel to reality in this episode of Black Mirror season 2, as an argument could be made that a vulgar cartoon character is running for U.S. President right now. Real politics far, far aside, Jamie tries his hardest to convince the public to not listen to Waldo anymore, but they refuse to listen, even after he confirms his identity as Waldo. Instead, his producer Jack takes the reins on Waldo and continues voicing the cartoon, which is one way to interpret the current state of politics. You look like the same character and start out with convictions, but ultimately someone behind the scenes will always be there to pull your strings and be your voice for you. Obvious messages aside, the execution of this episode was just not the standard we’re used to from the show. We’re entertained for 45 minutes, but then we struggle to remember which episode ended season 2 after a few months.

Final Thoughts

Black Mirror season 2 started at the highest of peaks with an intricate study of grief and A.I., and ended with a cartoon character delivering fart and sex jokes which was sufficient enough to qualify for public office. It’s definitely an uneven ride, but still one of the finer pieces of television you’ll ever encounter. The Christmas Special certainly makes up for some of the unmemorable moments of Black Mirror season 2, and that recap is coming next, just before season 3 drops on Netflix!

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