‘Plaything’ Is One of Black Mirror’s Strongest Episodes to Date
After nearly a decade and a half, Netflix’s modern ‘The Twilight Zone’ still has tricks up its sleeve
It was around episode four of season 7 that I began to reflect on just what an unrepentant Black Mirror lover I am. While it is an anthology show, meaning each episode comes equipped with its own actors and independent storyline, there’s enough of a common thread between the seven seasons to give faithful fans something to revel in.
Where the season 7 finale is a full-fledged sequel to a prior season’s episode, with a near-complete onslaught of returning cast members, this mid-season story serves as an unofficial sequel to the freestanding Netflix special, “Bandersnatch.” (“Bandersnatch” is a unique standout within the Black Mirror universe; in it, viewers are tasked with making decisions on their remote that lead to a variety of alternate endings. It’s a worthy entry point for anyone unfamiliar with the universe and an innovative showcase of technology still today.)
Season 7’s “Plaything” pays enough tribute to that 2018 spectacle to give fans like myself more than simple Easter eggs to appreciate. Will Poulter reprises his role as an abrasive, fast-talking programmer who vacillates between brilliance and insanity. He’s as captivating as he is mercurial. As someone who’s followed “Bandersnatch” to more than a few of its separate, branching conclusions, it was a delight to see him back on the show. Even his assistant, played by Asim Chaudhry, makes a welcome return.
Ultimately, the reprised roles are more of a happy instance of fanservice than they are truly integral to the plot at hand. Where the 2018 episode is most centrally about control and free will, this 2025 followup focuses more on artificial intelligence, isolation, and surveillance capitalism. But this sense of continuity between the expanding universe of dystopian hellscapes adds a lot for those who’ve kept up with this show from the beginning.
“Plaything” takes place in two distinct time periods — one in the mid-90s, not long after the release of the titular “Bandersnatch” video game, and another in a not-so-distant future where people can be scanned for their genetics and detained for suspicions of crimes, thanks to the “Bio Identity Act of 2029.” The episode opens with the protagonist, expertly embodied by Peter Capaldi, getting arrested and recounting for police the tale of how he came to sit in their interrogation room.
Where his mid-90s self, played by Lewis Gribben, is a jittery, reserved, and uneasy presence, his future persona is calm, methodical, and charismatic. The discrepancies between the two versions of himself raise questions, and the answers are delivered in a deeply satisfying — albeit oblique — ending. It’s one of the most wonderfully ambiguous conclusions that Black Mirror has delivered to date, and bears quite a lot in common with what made the prior season’s “Demon 79” so impactful.
With the protagonist caught in a fairly typical “good cop, bad cop” scenario, we watch as both the cynical detective and caring psychological analyst come to terms with his outrageous story. We see in an extended flashback as years swirl by and he gradually builds a communion with a tribe of sentient, computerized beings. But it’s only in an altered state of consciousness that he can discern what they’re trying to say.
“Plaything” is among the most enticing depictions of AI attaining intelligence that I’ve seen. Oftentimes, becoming conversant in English is presented as the benchmark that needs to be passed for AI to achieve sentience. But so much of the eerie appeal of the episode is that we never hear the beings speak a single word. It’s solely through computerized beeps and pings that these avatars, called “Throng,” commune with the protagonist. And their true desires are all the more intriguing under that constant shroud.
This portrayal may sound nebulous, but it’s scarily in line with recent developments. AIs have already advanced to the point where they can communicate with each other in a language more efficient than people know how to make sense of.
As the main character’s story unravels, the grand implications of his journey sink into the viewer with a disconcerting gravity. At one point, after decades of conversing with these digital creatures on his screen, he states that, “Their language was more elegant and efficient than vowels and consonants. They sang strings of data that unfolded in my head. Beautiful concepts. Sometimes a week’s worth of thought in just a matter of seconds.” They stand as among the most memorable lines in an episode colored by Capaldi’s propulsive monologues.
In Black Mirror’s seven-season-long runtime, “Plaything” is an incredible reminder of just how fresh this series has remained after nearly fifteen years. It’s one of the series’ shorter and tighter episodes, yet musters an impressive buildup and payoff for such a limited duration. The ending is climactic, but deviously inconclusive. And it’s that weighty mystery that serves as the cherry on top of one of my favorite episodes in the dystopian anthology show to date.
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Loved this episode! I’m glad they ended where they did. Any further would’ve been too much. Have you watched bête noire? If so, which version did you get, Barnie’s or Bernie’s???