Black Mirror season 7 to reprise USS Calister episode - Decoding the most popular mini-film in the series

While Black Mirror on Netflix has various memorable moments, one that has stuck back is the USS Calister episode. The Star Trek-inspired episode in the series has caught everybody’s attention over the years. Jesse Plemons’ Robert Daly, especially, has been tagged as the greatest villain to exist in that world. Black Mirror maker Charlie Brooker has now hinted at the sequel with a ‘really cool twist’ and something that the show hasn’t explored before. The episode, a part of season 4, released in the pre-pandemic times (in 2017), and thus, a lot changed. Brooker was not sure whether it can be reprised but just as hopes were down, there came a way and here it is, in the season 7 of the show. The maker spilled more details in a recent interview.

What Brooker said

While talking to Hollywood Reporter, Brooker compared the show to his satirical mockumentary, Cunk On Earth. In what is described as the mini-film, Jesse Plemons’ Robert Daly, who created the world, has died (in real life). Brooker asked people not to make assumptions about the character, while also hinting that Daly might not make a comeback, since new characters will be introduced this time, along with the returning ones.

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Decoding the USS Calister episode

Daly is a daily office worker who feels neglected from his colleagues. Many do not harm him in particular in any way and are just too stressed out about their own lives to care about his, but their behaviour irks him. Now, none of the people associated with him are aware that Daly is a geek who has created a game in which he can trap all the people who wronged him (according to his own thoughts), and get his revenge on them. He does this by getting the people’s DNA, rather than talking to them in the real world. Since Daly has everybody trapped inside of their game, they are frustrated and try to find ways to get out, only to realize there is no getting out. What’s worse, is that Daly has died in real life. Cristin Milioti’s Nanette Cole was the latest entrant in the game and unlike others, she happened to be the biggest and smartest rebel. Of course, she couldn’t have done it alone, and Daly almost always ensured she obeyed all he wanted from her, by punishing her. In a moment, he possessed God-like power, when he took away her nose, eyes, mouth and ears, thus making breathing impossible for Cole, probably for eternity (which of course did not happen since he died and the gang escaped from Robert’s private server into the public domain).

The open-ending leads to newer challenges?

There are many twisted minds out there and everybody has access to the public domain (it is public for the very reason). This sets the stage for a character similar to or worse than Daly coming to life in the game. There is little to no escape for anybody in the game, till somebody finds traces of their DNA in the real world. Whether that happens or not, will be seen in the one particular episode of Black Mirror season 7.