Photo Credit: Netflix
Andrew Scott’s Chris is a desperate man willing to go to any lengths to speak to the owner of a social media conglomerate in Black Mirror’s take on online addiction.
The second episode of Black Mirror season five is set in London, 2018, where Hitcher ridesharing driver Chris (Andrew Scott) is desperately trying to meditate, but he can’t keep unbidden thoughts at bay. He picks up a passenger from Smithereen, a Facebook-like conglomerate set up by Billy Bauer (Topher Grace). Chris has a personal connection with Smithereen, as we will find out in this episode of Black Mirror.
Chris attends a grief support group session but doesn’t speak about his own experiences. He listens intently to another member, Hayley Blackwood (Amanda Drew), talking about her daughter’s suicide, and the two of them end up going home together. While Hayley enjoys their encounter, Chris seems very distracted and not into it. His heart seemingly breaks when Hayley reveals her attempts at hacking into her daughter’s online Persona account – she wants closure and hopes to find it in her daughter’s inbox, but the company will not let her in as it’s against the policy.
Jaden’s Very Bad Day
Photo: Black Mirror Season 5 production still / Netflix
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Chris’ cab is permanently parked outside Smithereen – he is intent on picking up a passenger who works there. Today is his lucky day, or so he thinks. Jaden (Damson Idris) is headed to the airport for his first-class flight to San Francisco and he doesn’t look up from his phone even once when he gets in the cab.
Chris makes a detour and stops at a pre-designated spot where a getaway car awaits. He’s planned this whole kidnapping to the T and Jaden has fallen straight into Chris’ trap. At gunpoint, Chris orders Jaden to bind his wrists, but then Jaden drops a bomb on him – Jaden is just an intern and this is his first week at Smithereen. He doesn’t know anything or anyone. Chris freaks out. This was not what he had in mind; an intern is apparently no use to him.
When Jaden tries to run, Chris stops him and locks him in the trunk of the getaway car. Jaden is claustrophobic and when he starts having a panic attack, Chris lets him sit in the backseat, head down and covered in a bag. As Chris drives away, leaving his cab behind, Jaden starts panicking and flailing in the backseat. While Chris tries to hide him, WPC Najma Haque (Ambreen Razia) spots Jaden and she and her partner flag down Chris’ car.
Chris fails to evade the cops, and his car gets trapped in a field. He gets out, threatening to shoot Jaden if the cops don’t back away. WPC Haque and her colleague move away from the scene, requesting backup. The two cops also try to keep bystanders out of harm’s way.
Chris attempts to calm himself down, re-thinking his plan of action. He wants to speak to Billy Bauer, and Jaden is the only way he can get Billy on the line. Jaden doesn’t have Billy’s contact number, but he can get in touch with HR at Smithereen – except, Jaden’s phone is still in Chris’ cab. This is the worst kidnapping attempt ever. Chris doesn’t give in so easily though. He Googles Smithereen’s reception desk number and they call HR. Chris demands to speak to Billy while continuing to threaten Jaden’s life.
Photo: Black Mirror Season 5 production still / Stuart Hendry, Netflix
Chris’ Backstory
The ball starts rolling at Smithereen, with the London office contacting Smithereen COO Penelope Wu (Ruibo Qian) in Silicon Valley. While the US team try to assess whether Billy needs to be disturbed by this, the big guns arrive at the scene of the crime in London. CS Linda Grace (Monica Dolan) is hellbent on making sure there are no accidental deaths at this scene – seems like the police department is reeling from some kind of incident recently.
While Wu tries to pacify Chris, Smithereen’s Silicon Valley analyst, Shonelle (Mirirai Sithole), plays Chris his own Spotify playlist and uses their phone link to listen in on everything Chris is saying. Chris keeps whispering to himself ‘This is my last day’, as ‘Can’t Take My Eyes off You’ plays on his phone.
In the meantime, Haque and her partner track down the owner of Chris’ getaway. The woman is dead but is identified as Chris’ mother. Chris moved in with her a few months ago, and they’re deep in the red. Haque relays her background check on Chris to CS Grace. Chris was involved in an accident – a drunk driver hit his car in 2015, killing himself and whoever Chris was with.
The London police only have part of the information. When Wu gets in touch with CS Grace through the FBI, she comes with a wealth of knowledge gleaned from Chris’ social media activity. In 2015, Chris’ fiancée was killed in the accident, and he became reclusive ever since. Through Chris’ digital imprint, Wu and team know that Chris has only been parked outside Smithereen with the precise intent to capture someone from the company.
The hostage negotiator, David Gilkes (Daniel Ings) thinks he’s hit upon a plan to de-escalate the situation. And, of course, he ends up escalating it! Chris is on to Gilkes’ methods and refuses to back down if Gilkes doesn’t leave. All the while, a police sniper has his gun trained on Chris but is unable to take the shot without risking Jaden’s safety. CS Grace orders Gilkes out of the crime scene when neither Gilkes nor the sniper succeeds.
Photo: Black Mirror Season 5 production still / Netflix
Where’s Billy?
After negotiations fail, the Silicon Valley staff realize that they have to contact Billy. Billy is currently in Utah on a 10-day tech detox, and though Wu is reluctant to disturb him, they do not really have a choice.
Billy’s desert ‘detox’ takes place in a beautiful glass house that is so far removed from nature it’s almost laughable. Billy doesn’t take kindly to being interrupted but insists on talking to Chris despite the FBI and his team warning him against it.
Back in England, Jaden keeps talking to Chris, but Chris is assaulted by images of his fiancée – he’s still reeling from her death and finally calms Jaden down by explaining that his gun isn’t real. Is he telling the truth? Everyone has heard Chris’ declaration but the gun and they begin making a move to confront Chris. Billy, as well, is relieved.
The two bystanders who have been posting about the scene online also reveal that the gun isn’t real. And that is a huge mistake. Chris is checking social feeds and the gun was his yardstick. As CS Grace makes a move to apprehend Chris, he fires the gun, threatening to escalate the situation further if he isn’t allowed to speak to Billy.
Despite every single person insisting Billy stay out of this, Billy cuts them off and invokes ‘God-mode’ to get Chris’ contact details. Does Zuckerberg have that option in real life? When Billy is finally on the line, it takes Chris a moment to formulate his thoughts about he needs to say.
Photo: Black Mirror Season 5 production still / Stuart Hendry, Netflix
Blown to Smithereens
Like everyone else, Chris was attached to his phone, looking at it all the time. In 2015, he was driving home with Tamsin, his fiancée, when he picked up his phone to look at a Smithereen notification. In that split-second, he rammed his car into another. It took Tamsin two months to die, and Chris became ‘Mr. Tragic’, while the other driver, who was also killed, got the blame because he was drunk. Chris has been living with the guilt of killing Tamsin for all these years.
Having said his piece, Chris accuses Billy of creating a platform designed to become addictive. Well, it did its job and now Tamsin is dead. Billy has nothing to say to Chris, except that Smithereen wasn’t meant to be this monster and he has little control over what the tech people do to the platform. Billy claims to be a front man now. Chris doesn’t care about all this. He’s going to end his life, that was always his plan. Billy tries to talk him out of it, but Chris refuses.
When Billy asks if there’s anything he can do for Chris, Chris makes one simple request – he wants Billy to get the owner of Persona to give Hayley the password to her daughter’s account. Hayley gets a call from the Persona office, not knowing who her guardian angel is.
Chris unties Jaden and tells him to exit the car slowly. Jaden doesn’t leave. He tells Chris about how his uncle’s suicide affected his whole family, but Chris doesn’t want to listen – he simply doesn’t want to live anymore.
A struggle ensues when Chris puts his gun down and Jaden makes a grab for it to save Chris. On CS Grace’s command, the snipers are cleared to take a shot when the target is clear. They try once, and miss, they try again and succeed. But who do they hit?
We don’t see the final outcome of this scenario because this entire episode is a reflection of the digital environment that we live in – and no one cares about the final result, as long as the headline catches our eyes. The episode ends with everyone going back to business, heads buried in their phones. Whoever was killed in this encounter – be it Chris or Jaden – is just another click-bait title. I won’t say this episode is a critique of the user though, rather it is an indictment of how large conglomerates feel the need to homogenize experiences into condensed timelines. Was Chris at fault? Absolutely. And he took the blame for it and suffers the consequences. Yet, his speech to Billy was powerful, though simplified one which will certainly be memorable.
What did you think of this episode of Black Mirror? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!