TV Obsessive
This week, on The TV Obsessive Podcast Episode 97, Caemeron and Ryan discuss Black Mirror S7E1, “Common People.” But first, in the news:
- The Last of Us has been renewed for Season 3
- Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series is officially a go
- Welcome to Wrexham Season 4 is coming May 15
- Murderbot will premiere on Apple TV+ on May 16
- The cast for Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice is great
- Casting news for Sugar Season 2
On Black Mirror, “Common People”
This episode was written by Charlie Brooker & Bisha K. Ali and directed by Ally Pankiw.
Amanda, a teacher, and Mike, a welder, have their world rocked when Amanda suffers from a brain tumor that could possibly kill her. To save her life, Mike agrees to have a company called Rivermind replace part of her brain with synthetic material that is from a copy of her brain stored in one of Rivermind’s servers. While the surgery is free, the trade-off is a $300 monthly subscription, inability to travel outside the coverage zone, and Amanda will require more sleep to allow the servers to catch up.
Later, Amanda begins blacking out and communicating ads, causing problems at home and on her job. Rivermind tries to convince them to upgrade to the Plus service for $800 per month, and then eventually to the Lux service. Unbeknownst to Amanda, Mike makes extra money by allowing people on the internet to pay him to do humiliating things.
This causes Mike to lose his job, and they can no longer afford the Plus subscription, causing Amanda to revert back to becoming miserable and unable to work. When they find out that if they have a baby, they will be charged even more, Mike sells their baby crib and smothers Amanda with a pillow after she tells him she is ready to die.
- Reflections on forced choices
- Connections to other episodes
- Dum Dummies is uncomfortably plausible
Next Time on The TV Obsessive Podcast…
We continue to work through Black Mirror Season 7 with a look at “Bête Noire.”
