Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Black Mirror, Entertainment, Netflix, TV And Film
Lucy Devine
Earlier this week, Black Mirror returned to Netflix for its seventh season, and it's already left quite an impression on viewers.
The first episode of the new season, titled Common People, stars Chris O'Dowd as Mike and Rashida Jones as Amanda, and tells the story of a young couple who are struggling to get pregnant.
The episode becomes pretty dark pretty quickly, with - spoilers ahead - Amanda being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
The couple end up having to pay a costly subscription fee to Rivermind in order to keep Amanda healthy, and as the price continues to climb, Mike becomes increasingly desperate.
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The dark and frankly quite depressing episode has been called one of the most disturbing yet, but it hasn't stopped viewers throwing heaps of praise its way, with everyone saying the same thing about the opening ep.
People took to social media to say it was reminiscent of the OG 'classic Black Mirror' episodes.
One person wrote: "Me realizing Common People is old Black Mirror levels of depressing and f****d up."
While another said: "Common people black mirror episode was so sad and f****d up but that’s know you know black mirror is actually good again."
And a third added: “Common People is a return to Black Mirror’s purest form: dark, depressing, with a little bit of humor. It’s like watching an episode from the series’ first seasons. Charlie Brooker really took it to a whole ‘nother 'tier' this time."
While a fourth commented: "#BlackMirror’s Common People episode was probably one of the most heartbreaking episodes I’ve ever seen.
"The overall theme of how capitalism puts a strangle hold on common people and prices them out of experiencing life or experiencing life without limitations."
And a fifth added: "This one was my favorite out of the season. It was the one that felt most like classic Black Mirror. It was sad, disturbing, Fantastic acting and chemistry from the two leads, and had an uncomfortable ending."
For those unfamiliar with the concept of the series, Black Mirror is a near-dystopian anthology, created by British writer Charlie Brooker.
Each episode is its own standalone, yet all instalments are somewhat connected by using the themes of technology and media to comment on a particular contemporary social issue.
The series has received mass praise for showing viewers the ways in which seemingly positive technological advances might serve to be a downfall of the human race.
The series also serves as a means implicitly emphasising how dangerous pop culture trends can be, and delve into concepts like morality and human consciousness. The episodes - which can be watched in any order - also touch on harmful social constructs, like social media pressure, virtue signalling, patriarchal and capitalist political systems.