3 lessons we learned from Black Mirror season 5

The fifth season of Charlie Brooker's acclaimed satirical anthology series kicked off June 5 on Netflix. Something fundamentally new was expected from the premiere, because before that Brooker surprised the audience with the interactive film "Bandashmyg". And even earlier, in the finale of the fourth season, Letisha Wright defiantly burned down the Black Mirror Museum.

Did you show anything unusual in the new episodes? More likely no than yes. The show has gone down the beaten path and repeats itself. The new episodes are completely different in terms of stylistic and genre content, but at the same time there is very little distinctiveness in them. But if you want to, valuable lessons can still be learned from them.

1. Striking Vipers. Thanks to technology, you can get to know yourself from an unexpected side

Almost the entire cast of the first episode came from comic book adaptations. Anthony Mackie is best known for his role as Sam Wilson - the superhero nicknamed Falcon - from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yahya Abdul-Matin played Black Manta in DC's Aquaman (2018). Frenchwoman Pom Klementieff is known as Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy. As for the Canadian-Chinese actor Ludy Lin, he was Captain of the Atlantean Army Merck in Aquaman (2018) and played Zach Taylor in the Power Rangers relaunch (2017).

Perhaps this is not a coincidence. The episode revolves around a fighting video game reminiscent of both Mortal Kombat and Tekken.

38-year-old Daniel Parker (Anthony Mackie) and his wife Theo (Nicole Bahari) are trying to have a second child, but the main character is not happy with the sex life in marriage for a long time. Suddenly, his longtime friend Karl (Yahya Abdul-Matin) appears at Daniel's birthday party and presents a VR version of the fighting game they adored in their youth.

Being in the bodies of their avatars - female and male, respectively - Karl and Daniel understand that they are drawn to each other. This forces the heroes to face the difficulties of self-determination and at some point to question their heterosexuality.

The plot seems very familiar. One of the previous episodes of Black Mirror, San Junipero, has already raised a similar issue. The technology shown in it made it possible to load the consciousness of people (including those who have already died) into a system for simulating reality. One of the two main characters of San Junipero was similarly tormented by the problem of self-determination, torn between feelings for her late husband and falling in love with a new girlfriend. The plot parallel can be found with the classic episode "The Story of Your Life", in which technology also intervened in the couple's relationship and put them to the test.

The episode leaves mixed feelings. At first, Brooker actively hints that the heroes in reality are constrained by socio-gender boundaries, and virtual reality serves as an outlet for repressed sexual experiences. However, in the end it turns out that in reality, Danny and Karl are not attracted to each other at all. This is why the first episode is so disappointing. When the characters themselves cannot figure out their feelings, it is difficult to blame the viewer for this.

2. Smithereens. There are situations when no technology will help

Christopher Gelheini (Andrew Scott) works as a taxi driver and takes orders exclusively outside the office of the developers of the Smithereens app, a kind of global social network.

At some point, Gelheini manages to kidnap a Shards employee named Jadan Thomas (Demson Idris). The goal is to speak with the owner of the company Billy Bauer (Topher Grace). But Bauer is located in the US and virtually unavailable. While Oskolkov employees are trying to get in touch with their boss, the police find out that Christopher was once injured in a car accident. But one thing they do not understand - how this fact is connected with "Shards" and why the insane blackmailer needed Bauer?

Smithereens is one of the few episodes of Black Mirror that lacks the bizarre technology that Brooker imagines.

The question of the harm that progress brings is not discussed here either. This is a very simple story about a desperate man, which is also incredibly embellished by the play of Andrew Scott, famous for his role as Moriarty in the television series "Sherlock".

In a brave new world, the young millionaire Billy Bauer - the inventor of the global social network - has become like God. He himself compares himself with the Creator. But even God still has nothing to say in response to Gelheini's agitated monologue: after all, no technology can bring back the dead.

3. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too. Messages from pop stars should not be trusted, because greedy producers are behind them

Uncommunicative schoolgirl Rachel (Angauri Rice) lives with her father and sister named Jack (Madison Davenport) and adores popular singer Ashley O (Miley Cyrus). For her birthday, the girl receives a doll with built-in artificial intelligence, created in the image and likeness of her beloved star.

However, behind the beautiful facade of the singer's stage image, there is a tyrannical aunt Katherine, who decides everything: how Ashley will look, what she will say in an interview. When the young star refuses to obey, the aunt, with the support of accomplices, puts Ashley in a controlled coma. At the same time, a special technology allows you to extract songs directly from the girl's brain.

The series not only touches on the problem of true and false art, but also intersects with the biography of the star of the episode Miley Cyrus.

Like her character Ashley, the singer once rebelled and changed her style, turning from a reference Disney product into a walking provocation.

The episode also criticizes pop stars' questionable messages and their impact on teenagers. Ashley's doll copy, like an endless conveyor, one after another gives out meaningless inspiring parting words-motivators. And at some point, Jack hides the doll in the attic, believing that all this will only harm his sister and prevent her from adequately assessing her abilities.

Another slippery ethical issue that Charlie Brooker brings up: can a live artist be replaced with a hologram? This question concerns both virtual characters like the Japanese singer Hatsune Miku and companies that make money off the images of dead celebrities.

As for the problem of the transfer of human consciousness, it is not new and has already dealt with the series more than once (episodes "White Christmas", "USS Callister", "Hang the DJ", "Black Museum"). Although the concept of "Rachel, Jack and Ashley too" in this sense is more reminiscent of the episode "I'll be back soon", where the human consciousness was reconstructed based on memories and data from social networks.