Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Black Mirror is back! The often incredibly grim, often brilliant science fiction horror anthology returns on April 10th with a six episode season including some familiar faces. In fact, more familiar faces than we were expecting. Here’s what Alasdair Stuart spotted in the trailer.

0.06 – The USS Callister

The big news this season is the first sequel in the show’s history. It’s flirted with connectivity before (several episodes happen in the same timeline at different times) but this is our first actual part 2. The original episode is one of the show’s all – time greats and is a unique, and cheerfully nasty, take on Star Trek. If you haven’t seen it, go in cold, it’s great. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do a sequel.

0.07 – Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones

Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones open proceedings as a happy couple activating a distinctly familiar looking temple-mounted device. The show has played with this sort of perception altering device from the start. But as we’ll see this one looks especially rough…

0.09 – Awkwafina

Awkwafina shows up next. We see later that she’s in the same episode as Issa Rae. Unlike Rae, Awkwafina’s character looks like a purely real world presence as opposed to the vintage movie VR we’ll see Rae step into.

0.12 – Peter Capaldi

Capaldi in full long-haired hippy mode is fun. He seems to be in the same episode as O’Dowd and Jones, or at least talking about the technology they’re using.

0.15 – Issa Rae

Issa Rae is the next cast member we meet and she seems to be in the same episode as Awkwafina. Note the fact she’s got a shaved head but there seems to be a wig on the couch behind her. That’s odd.

0.17 – Paul Giamatti

The stacked cast continue with Paul Giamatti. The trailer’s shot to look like Capaldi, O’Dowd, Jones and Giamatti are all in the same episode. Or maybe used the same technology. If so, do we have two sequels here and a continuation?

0.21 – Black and white

Issa Rae entering the black and white VR world of the episode. In a suit too, which is a nice piece of gender fluid clothing, and maybe designed to flag up the fact she’s the only human in an AI recreation of an old movie.

0.26 – Adorable! Terrifying

I have no idea what these are but they’re adorable, and multiplying and break containment on the trailer by the end.

0.30 – ‘You become a receiver’

Capaldi can monologue like no one on Earth and this line is chewy with meaning and implication. Especially if he is in the same episode as Jones, who as we’ll see in a moment, may have been hacked…

0.38 – Inside the Photo

We see Paul Giamatti’s character walk around inside the world of a photo here. It’s a lovely effect, using staging and physicality to give fluidity and depth to a static image. It’s not the only time we’ll see this effect either.

0.45 – Emma Corrin in the void

Emma Corrin makes their debut in the black and white movie we see Issa Rae step into it. The Sapphire and Steel aesthetic of them stepping into nothing is beautiful and so creepy. Also as we see in other scenes, there’s clearly a relationship between the two characters. I wonder if we’re revisiting the same thematic ground as San Junipero and Hang the DJ.

1.00 – ‘Kids love honey’

And here we see Rashida Jones’ character spouting advertising copy and having a seizure. Remember Capaldi’s line about ‘receivers’?

1.16 – Colin Ritman

COLIN RITMAN! Will Poulter’s incredibly creepy, and based on your choices very dead, software developer from interactive Black Mirror movie Bandersnatch! I had no idea he was back! I have no idea how! Let’s find out!

1.34 – Breaking Down Art

Emma Corrin’s character, but in a still from what looks like an old movie. It’s marked ‘Original’ and some of the options on the side bar include ‘Extras’, ‘Narrative Points’ and ‘B Plot Action’. Looks like Black Mirror is tackling the wholesale digestion of culture by LLMs. Good. Get ’em, Charlie.

1.38 – Pier Photo

There are several shots of photos expanded into small worlds here, and this is one of them, with one character’s face covered by magic marker. Given the shots later of a party and how they tally with the first time we see Paul Giamatti in the trailer it looks like these are from the same episode.

2.00 – Joyously Bloody

Cristin Miloti’s Nanette Cole, who has clearly been through hell, in a hospital gown. She’s bloody, wounded and joyous. Has she got out of the game?

2.03 – Pleasure Settings

A brief shot of an app with a bar marked PLEASURE and someone cranking it all the way up.

2.19 – Mohan Thakur

Asim Chaudhry is our second Bandersnatch returnee as software mogul Mohan Thakur. Note the Bandersnatch II poster on the wall too.

2.25 – The Two Nanette Coles

It’s a quick shot but we see Cristin Miloti’s character looking at an identical copy of herself. Along with the earlier shot, it looks like some of the Callister crew either get back to the real world or think they do…

2.35 – The Show Is Coming From Inside The Show

This is the second instance of the logo infecting the world of the series. I’s a nice touch, speaking to the feral nature of technology and innovation.

Black Mirror Season 7 releases on Netflix on April 10th. The entirety of the show’s run to date is up there and judging by this trailer, a rewatch of USS Callister, Bandersnatch and maybe White Christmas is going to be useful homework.