Black Mirror Season 6 is right here in the end, and there is loads of hidden components to unpack — together with the return of a long-running Black Mirror joke about HBO.
Episode 1, “Joan Is Terrible”, a really meta (even by Black Mirror requirements) story a few lady whose life is dramatised on a streaming web site in virtually actual time, has loads of Easter eggs to interrupt down simply by itself — and hidden among the many episode’s huge twists and the exploration of AI in relation to creativity is a dig at considered one of Netflix’s rival streaming companies.
And it is all due to the return of Black Mirror‘s ever-present faux TV present, Sea of Tranquility.
What is the HBO reference in “Joan Is Terrible”?
Earlier than Joan (Annie Murphy) is plunged into her personal meta-nightmare in “Joan Is Terrible”, there is a second when she and her fiancé Krish (Avi Nash) are scrolling by “Streamberry” (the episode’s fictional model of Netflix) to seek out one thing to observe.
Each ‘Black Mirror’ episode ever, ranked by general dread
Krish suggests the present Sea of Tranquility, and the next description seems onscreen:
“HBO’s seminal sci-fi western returns for a climactic tenth collection. Comply with our intrepid crew as they manifest future far past security of the Interior Worlds.”
Joan’s response? “Eric stated it blows.”
Ouch.
This is not only a one-off cheeky jab, although — Sea of Tranquility has truly been popping up in Black Mirror for years.
The place has Sea of Tranquility appeared in Black Mirror?
The fictional present Sea of Tranquility truly seems in Black Mirror‘s first ever episode, “The Nationwide Anthem”, the place it’s mentioned in passing(opens in a new tab) as an “HBO moon western”.
The obvious recognition of the faux collection is made clearer within the Season 3 episode “Nosedive”, when protagonist Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard) hitches a trip to “Tranquility Con” with a bunch of the present’s obsessive followers. In the meantime, information updates within the Season 5 episodes “Smithereens” and “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” allude to a Sea of Tranquility reboot.
And naturally, there’s additionally one other reference to the present in Season 6, in episode 4, “Mazey Day.” Paparazza Bo (Zazie Beetz) takes non-consensual images of former Sea of Tranquility actor Justin Camley and his lover, an motion which ends in tragedy.
Is that this reference to a “climactic tenth collection” the final we’ll hear of Sea of Tranquility? Given how a lot Black Mirror co-creator Charlie Brooker enjoys in-jokes, we’ll guess no.
Learn how to watch: Black Mirror Season 6 is now streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)
