Black Mirror: Why A Season 5 Episode Didn’t Include Any New Technology

Black Mirror is known for its use of new technologies in nearly every episode, but season 5’s “Smithereens” did not include any whatsoever – here’s why. Charlie Brooker’s dystopian series has featured cookie devices, neurological implants to record memories, and even museums curated with the most horrific technological advancements conceived by humankind. Coincidentally, this was the reason the showrunner chose to exclude such devices from “Smithereens” in order to make it more relatable to a current moment in history.

In season 5, episode 2, “Smithereens,” Chris Gillhaney (Andrew Scott) spends his day as a ride share worker, starting work every day with the hope that he’ll encounter an employee of the social media company Smithereen. When he finally achieves his goal, it is only a matter of time before his kidnapping leads him to make contact with the CEO, Billy Bauer (Topher Grace). His goal is derived from the fact that he lost his wife to a vehicular accident after he checked his Smithereen account while driving. Chris blames Billy Bauer for what happened when, in all actuality, it is entirely his fault.

Season 5’s “Smithereens” is the only Black Mirror episode to date that includes technology that currently exists alongside a social discourse that is both relevant and deeply complex. However, the lack of new technologies in “Smithereens” does not actually worsen the plot. Instead, it strengthens the overarching message of Black Mirror that technology will assist in the downfall of humanity. This was part of why it was more important to cut out new technology and highlight a far more important message about society’s increasingly problematic relationship with screens.

No matter how disturbing Black Mirror’s technologies get, there is nothing more unsettling than the harsh reality that they are already in the palm of people’s hands. Nearly every day, every single person uses or encounters social media in some capacity. In “Smithereens,” Brooker showcases the dangers of an over-reliance on and overuse of these apps. More specifically, the showrunner draws from the fact that they’ve left people so disconnected from their surroundings – despite connecting them to friends and family near and far – that they now pose a threat. There are countless news reports about instances of people talking on or checking their phones while driving that lead to deadly car accidents. Given that, the plot of “Smithereens” is not too far off from reality.

Brooker’s series is known for its social and political commentary, but “Smithereens” forces the viewer to recognize that the future they’ve manufactured in their episodes isn’t too far off from where we are now. Black Mirror utilizes new forms of media in order to establish the progression of technology as well as how humanity’s morality will falter. Whether it’s through participation in a “White Bear” prison experiment or relentlessly checking social media scores like “Nosedive”, the human experience will inevitably be dictated by whatever new trend of technology arises. Instead of making this point in “Smithereens”, Brooker alludes to the fact that society is already there. We do not need to progress toward a horrifying world where humanity is lost to technological advances because society has already reached that point.

While “Smithereens” has yet to be regarded as one of Black Mirror’s scariest or most disturbing episodes, its intent is enough to put it in close proximity to “Shut Up and Dance” or “White Christmas.” The fact that the showrunner thought to bring everything back to reality by excluding new technologies in this season 5 episode is jarring, as it may go unnoticed and appear as a public service announcement rather than a horror story. Black Mirror‘s “Smithereens” warns against checking social media while driving while calling attention to how enraptured society is with technology as it exists today.

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