In a world constructed on convenience and unlimited access, what exactly are we paying for? The opening episode of Black Mirror Season 7, “Common People,” poses this question with tense emotional depth and scathing satire. Written by Charlie Brooker, the series has always acted as a mirror to our technology-based world, and now, its streaming services, and the systems they mirror, that are under scrutiny.
A Subscription That Hits Too Close to Home
“Common People” tracks Amanda (Rashida Jones), a middle-school teacher who has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Her husband Mike (Chris O’Dowd), hoping to save her, subscribes to a groundbreaking biotech service called RiverMind. It guarantees to revive Amanda’s consciousness by streaming a digital replica of her brain back into her body. It rings like salvation, but there’s a catch: the service comes with tiered pricing, relentless upsells, and evil side effects. Before long, Amanda finds herself unwittingly repeating ads in the middle of conversation, and Mike is forced to extreme extremes to continue the payments.
Brooker doesn’t merely take a swipe at the expensive fees and complicated jargon of today’s subscriptions; he makes a horrifying comparison to the US healthcare system. In a country where life-saving medications so often depend on budget, Common People offer a haunting analogy: survival is a luxury item.
Satire through Streaming with a Darker Tone
Whereas Black Mirror once taunted Netflix itself in Season 6’s “Joan Is Awful,” “Common People” is more subtle, but no less so. This isn’t simply a complaint about entertainment fatigue or corporate opportunism, it’s a commentary on the loss of personal agency. Amanda and Mike aren’t villains; they’re cringe-worthily real, trapped in a system that turns hope into a weapon.
Director Ally Pankiw and Brooker infuse the episode with a subdued despair that never abates. Jones and O’Dowd’s performances are understated and profoundly human, anchoring the sci-fi premise in emotional reality. Tracee Ellis Ross, as a smooth-talking RiverMind sales rep, brings just the right level of corporate cool to the story.
Echoing a Dark Reality
The genius of “Common People” is its timeliness. It speaks to the universal fear of fine print, autoplay ads, being stuck in contracts, except now the prices are lethal. It’s a satirical exploration of the institutions many Americans move through on a daily basis: not merely streaming, but health care, work, and digital identity. Ultimately, Brooker isn’t mocking technology, he’s challenging the institutions that shape our decisions.
Also read: Ringside Romance: Jake Paul Pops the Question to Speedskating Star Jutta Leerdam
