Black Mirror even gives us hints about what to expect from the very beginning as Theo tells Danny that she found it very exciting when he pretended to be a stranger picking her up in the bar or when she chastises Danny for not talking more openly and frequently with Karl. At its heart, “Striking Vipers” explores the emotional bonds of friendship, marriage, parenthood, and sex in a way that makes us question our own hangups. It won’t be lost on fans of comic book movies either that “Striking Vipers” has Falcon, Manta, and Mantis all in the same episode.īut all that’s just bonus. Fortunately, Black Mirror uses this technology to frame the story rather than make the episode about the game itself, although the fighting effects, the beautiful backgrounds, and the fighting movements of Roxette (Pom Klementieff) and Lance (Ludi Lin) have the familiar look and feel of Mortal Kombat and other similar games. Striking Vipers X is a fairly typical PVP fighting game complete with special moves and a variety of arenas to battle in, the main difference being the players exist in a virtual reality where they see through the eyes of their chosen champion and feel everything they feel. And second, it implies a desire to reconnect to the past when Danny’s old friend Karl, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, shows up with a new version of a video game he and Danny used to play when they were all roommates. First, it creates a contrast between the party atmosphere of the intro and the mundane backyard barbecue depicting an exhausted life in the suburbs. The sudden eleven year time jump to Danny’s 38th birthday party accomplishes two things.
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In addition to asking the audience the subtextual question, “What would you do?” this episode poses larger questions about identity, love, and sexuality that allow for endless interpretation.īlack Mirror does a nice job of setting up an atmosphere of disillusionment after it briefly introduces us to a young couple, Danny and Theo, played with incredibly natural chemistry by Anthony Mackie and Nikki Beharie. Thanks to some expertly delivered and smartly written dialogue as well as subtle but incredibly important background details, the story transcends the simple plot involving a virtual reality technology that allows the players of the fighting game that gives the episode its name to enter its immersive world. Black Mirror Season 5 Episode 1Īs one of the most thematically complex Black Mirror episodes to date, “Striking Vipers” can be analyzed from many different perspectives and still be equally as rich. This review contains spoilers for Black Mirror season 5.