I'll admit, I'd been dodging USS Callister ever since it dropped back in 2017. That poster, all flashy with the Star Trekish vibe, just didn't do it for me. I've never really been into that space adventure aesthetic, so I kept skipping it, assuming it was just Black Mirror having its own little sci-fi parody moment.
But cut to 2025, when its sequel suddenly popped up, I figured, let's take the risk. And wow! Just wow! That one glance I'd cast all those years ago couldn't have been more misleading. Because yes, the Star Trek vibe is there, but only as a wrapping paper. What's inside is something else entirely. A layered, haunting, and mind-bending exploration of ethics, power, identity, and justice, all wrapped up in classic Black Mirror brilliance.
And I do have a soft spot for the "bullied nerd finally takes revenge" kind of arc. There's always something raw and cathartic about watching the underdog flip the script, and Jesse Plemons starts to pull that off in the most unsettling way. But what is amazing is that it doesn't stop at just revenge. It flips that narrative too. As the story progresses, it shifts tone and perspective in a way that I honestly didn't expect. The structure had me hooked.
Technically, as someone who understands the ropes, I know better than to nitpick Black Mirror's science. It's meant to push boundaries with creative liberty, and it does exactly that here. The episode never let go of its grip, keeping me invested with that classic "will they, won't they" escape tension that I secretly love.
In a world where new content keeps disappointing me, Black Mirror somehow always knows how to reel me back in. It's episodes like these that remind me why I still believe in this kind of storytelling.
