By the time of Black Mirror dropped on Netflix on December 29, 2017, the show had already evolved from a cult British horror-adjacent gem into a global phenomenon. Following the Emmy-winning Season 3, expectations were stratospheric. Creator Charlie Brooker responded not by reinventing the wheel, but by drilling deeper into the show’s core obsession: the nature of consciousness.
This approach was spearheaded by the announcement that Jodie Foster would direct an episode, signaling a new era of auteur-driven installments. The season feels bigger, brighter, and arguably more cinematic than its predecessors. However, this expansion came with a critical debate: had the show lost its edge, or had it simply evolved?
Often cited as the best episode of the season (and arguably one of the top three in the entire series), "USS Callister" is a masterclass in tone balancing. Directed by Toby Haynes, it presents Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), a socially awkward CTO who creates a digital simulation of his favorite space show, populating it with digital clones of his real-world coworkers.