Black Mirror fans call Common People the "most f---ed up" episode ever

14 April 2025, 17:51

By Sam Prance

"I’m only on episode one and HAD to pause because WTF."

Black Mirror season 7 is here and the new episode 'Common People' is being hailed as one of the show's best.

Ever since Black Mirror debuted in 2011, the show has found increasingly inventive ways to disturb viewers with its dystopian take on the future of technology. From the emotional 'Be Right Back' to the gripping 'Nosedive', every season of Black Mirror has at least one episode that will blow your mind with how chilling it is.

Now, Black Mirror is upping the ante and fans are praising 'Common People' for its 'f----ed up' take on subscription service tiers and fees.

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In 'Common People', Rashida Jones (Amanda) and Chris O'Dowd (Mike) play a married couple who struggle to make ends meet. Amanda is a teacher and Mike is a welder. Their lives are turned upside down when Amanda finds out she has a brain tumour and Mike subscribes to a service called Rivermind to save her.

Rivermind replaces Amanda's brain tissue with synthetic brain tissue free of charge. Then, for an initial cost of $300 a month, Rivermind powers Amanda's brain tissue with computer servers. However, the catch is that Amanda has to sleep more and can't go outside of locations covered by Rivermind.

After a while, Amanda suddenly begins uttering advertisement messages out loud at random and the couple find out the only way to stop this from happening is by subscribing to Rivermind Plus for an extra $500 a month. To afford this, Mike begins humiliating himself online for money.

However, Mike later loses his job when someone discovers his new source of income and Mike and Amanda realise they can no longer afford Rivermind Plus. They also learn that they will have to pay even more if Amanda gets pregnant.

The episode ends with Mike smothering Amanda to death after she asks him to. He returns to humiliating himself for money as a widow.

Reacting to the episode online, a person tweeted: "common people black mirror episode was so sad and f---ed up but that’s know you know black mirror is actually good again." Another fan wrote: "I’m only on episode one and HAD to pause because WTF."

Someone also tweeted: "Black Mirror’s ‘Common People’ just emotionally destroyed me. The way Rivermind turns saving your wife into a subscription service is peak late-stage capitalism horror. Not okay."

One viewer added: "The Common People of Black Mirror is actually good. It's just sooooo ironic that Netflix made it lol."

Which episode of Black Mirror season 7 shocked you the most?

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