Smithereens (Black Mirror)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bilorv (talk | contribs) at 00:40, 5 February 2021 (Undid revision 1004897377 by 24.156.78.182 (talk); correct British English). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Smithereens"
Black Mirror episode
A car sits in the middle of a field with 'End of route' written above it and a map in the upper half of the screen.
Promotional poster
Episode no.Series 5
Episode 2
Directed byJames Hawes
Written byCharlie Brooker
Featured musicRyuichi Sakamoto
Original air date5 June 2019 (2019-06-05)
Running time70 minutes
Guest appearances
  • Andrew Scott as Christopher "Chris" Gillhaney
  • Damson Idris as Jaden Tommins
  • Topher Grace as Billy Bauer
  • Monica Dolan as CS Linda Grace
  • Amanda Drew as Hayley Blackwood
  • Daniel Ings as David Gilkes
  • Ruibo Qian as Penelope Wu
  • Ambreen Razia as WPC Najma Haque
  • Calum Callaghan as PC Damien Bullen
  • Quincy Dunn-Baker as Don
  • Mirirai Sithole as Shonelle
  • Laura Morgan as Thalia
  • Caitlin Innes Edwards as Hannah Kent
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Striking Vipers" 		Next →
"Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"
List of episodes

"Smithereens" is the second episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by James Hawes, it premiered on Netflix on 5 June 2019, along with the rest of series five. In the episode, a vehicle for hire driver (Andrew Scott) takes hostage an employee (Damson Idris) of Smithereen, a large social media company, in order to contact the company's CEO (Topher Grace).

When writing the episode, Brooker wanted "Smithereens" to not rely on near-future technology as a reminder that Black Mirror is not solely a science fiction show; rather, the episode is largely a parable on the overactive usage of social media sites and how they distract society from the real world. Filming for the episode began in June 2018 and concluded after two-months in August. The episode was shot in various locations, including in the city of London, in Kent, and in Spain.

Plot

Chris Gillhaney (Andrew Scott) is a rideshare driver in London. He has sex with Hayley (Amanda Drew), a woman from his group therapy. Hayley has been trying to guess the password to her daughter's Persona social media account to find out what led to her suicide. One day, Chris picks up Jaden (Damson Idris), a Smithereen employee. Chris abducts him at gunpoint but is furious upon discovering that he is a newly-joined intern. A police officer sees Jaden in the back seat with a bag over his head and pursues with her partner. In the chase, Chris veers to avoid two teenage cyclists and ends up stalling the car in a field. An additional contingent of police arrive, led by CS Linda Grace (Monica Dolan).

Chris is aiming to speak with Smithereen CEO Billy Bauer (Topher Grace). He sends a picture of Jaden at gunpoint to Jaden's superior, and word gets to COO Penelope Wu (Ruibo Qian) in America. However, Billy is on a solitary retreat. As police visit Chris's listed address, Smithereen glean much more information through his social media profiles. Chris lost his fiancée in a car accident with a drunk driver three years earlier. They see that he is a former teacher and has planned the kidnapping for weeks. The hostage negotiator David Gilkes (Daniel Ings) speaks to Chris, but Chris has researched negotiator tactics and leverages the hostage to get David to leave.

Smithereen are recording Chris while he is on hold. Chris works this out by pretending that the gun is fake and noticing the police's changing behaviour and social media posts from bystanders. He threatens to shoot Jaden in five minutes unless Billy calls him; despite Penelope and the FBI's protestations, Billy does so. Chris reveals that he was checking a Smithereen notification during the car crash and blames himself for the deaths. Chris and Billy agree that Smithereen has been designed to be as addictive as possible and Billy says he was planning to quit. Chris implies he will kill himself after ending the call, but Billy begs Chris to let him help. Chris thinks of a last favour: ask Persona to give Hayley her daughter's password.

Chris tries to release Jaden, who urges Chris not to attempt suicide and then fights to take his gun off him. At Grace's orders, snipers fire into the car as the pair struggle. Around the world, people check their phones, then continue on with their lives.

Production

"Smithereens" was written by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker.
External videos
video icon "Black Mirror: Smithereens"
The trailer for "Smithereens".

Series 5 of Black Mirror was released on 5 June 2019 and produced by Netflix. Production began with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, an interactive film which grew in scope to the point where it was decided to separate it from the series and release it as a standalone film; it premiered on 28 December 2018.[1] Although previous series of the programme produced under Netflix contained six episodes, series 5 comprises three episodes, as series creator Charlie Brooker viewed this as preferable to making viewers wait longer for the next series.[1]

Netflix released a series 5 trailer on 15 May 2019 and an individual trailer for "Smithereens" on 21 May.[2][3]

Conception and writing

The episode was written by Brooker, who wanted the series to contain an episode without any futuristic technology, to remind viewers that Black Mirror is not solely a science fiction show. Previous episodes without science-fiction concepts include the first episode, "The National Anthem", and season three's "Shut Up and Dance".[4] Billy Bauer was not written to be a "cartoon villain" or resemble any particular social media CEOs, though Brooker did take inspiration from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey taking a ten-day retreat. Executive producer Annabel Jones commented that Billy Bauer is "as lost as" Chris and feels "out of control".[4] Brooker described the episode's ending, in which strangers are seen looking at their phones, as a message about how the characters' lives were "reduced to ephemeral confetti that just passes us by".[4]

Casting and filming

Director James Hawes has previously directed one Black Mirror episode: series 3's "Hated in the Nation".

Having previously talked to Brooker about appearing, Scott joined the cast of "Smithereens", finding himself "really gripped by [the main] character."[5] Per Scott's request, most of the episode was shot in chronological order, so that Scott could "slowly reveal" more of Chris's character. He described himself "as playful as possible" when acting, aiming to perform "in as many different ways as possible".[5] One difficulty in filming was that Scott did not know how to drive a car. Production mounted a car atop a mobile platform and instructed Scott to mimic steering to go along with filming.[6]

Topher Grace—who had recently filmed for BlacKkKlansman—played Billy Bauer. He had been looking to play different roles to his previous credits and was a fan of the show, having particularly enjoyed season two's "Be Right Back" and other episodes which "are more emotional than technology-based".[7] He was surprised while reading the script when he reached Billy's appearance, having built up an expectation that he would be more villainous.[8][7] He said that similar tech company founders had "created their own legend" and that he expected Billy to stand out in a crowd and have a distinctive "relationship with spirituality". For this reason, Grace wanted Billy to be bald but after discussion he ended up with a bun. Grace told an interviewer that he didn't know whether Billy was "as trapped as he says", but that he personally doesn't like "people like this".[8]

Most of the filming took place in England. Urban scenes were filmed in various downtown London locations.[5] Some footage was shot in Harrietsham, Maidstone in Kent and in a field near Gravesend around June 2018. The Fairbourne Reservoir in Kent was used as a location for boardroom scenes.[9] Grace flew to the U.K. to watch Scott's acting and briefly meet him before the filming of his scenes in Spain.[10] To help Grace match the emotional intensity of Scott during the phone call, an actor was hired to read Chris's lines offscreen—usually the person doing such a role is not a professional actor.[7]

Analysis

Easter egg references to previous episodes are made through frames of a character scrolling through contacts in their phone, many of whom share names with previous Black Mirror characters, and trending topics on a phone displaying Twitter include "Saito", part of the company name SaitoGemu from "Playtest", and "Tucker", the company behind simulated reality in "San Junipero".[11]

Reception

Andrew Scott's acting in the episode was praised by critics.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the episode holds an approval rating of 69% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.24/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A slippery moral dilemma and a superb turn from Andrew Scott make 'Smithereens' watchable, even if its familiar story feels more like an early episode of Black Mirror than a fresh futuristic horror story."[12]

Ed Power of The Independent gave the episode three out of five stars, opining that its premise is not substantial enough to warrant its length. Power observed Scott "does his best" as Chris, the only developed character, in contrast to the undeveloped mother whose daughter committed suicide. He praised the ending as "moving" but critiqued the episode as "muted rather than subtle".[13] Frazier Tharpe, writing for Complex, named "Smithereens" the best series 5 episode despite expecting it to be the worst from its trailer. Tharpe wrote that the plot's progression is "tense, well-paced, and perhaps most crucially, casually hilarious".[14] Benji Wilson of The Telegraph rated the episode four out of five stars. He criticized the characterisation of Chris as "both tech-savvy and intelligent, and yet also by turns tech-illiterate and stupid", but praised that the episode was "bailed out" by Scott's "astonishing control and range".[15] David Sims of The Atlantic wrote a negative review of the episode, taking issues with "how thin the plot is, how long it takes for the action to get going, and how simplistic the big mystery turns out to be". Sims identified the central theme as "demanding accountability from the all-consuming apps and all-powerful tech companies that fill our lives", but critiqued that series 1 episode "The National Anthem" addresses the same theme in a better way.[16]

Episode rankings

"Smithereens" ranked poorly on critics' lists of the 23 instalments of Black Mirror, from best to worst:

IndieWire authors ranked the 22 Black Mirror instalments excluding Bandersnatch by quality, giving "Smithereens" a position of 11th.[25] Instead of by quality, Proma Khosla of Mashable ranked the episodes by tone, concluding that "Smithereens" was the 10th-most pessimistic episode of the show.[26]

Awards

See also: List of awards and nominations received by Black Mirror

As the fifth series of Black Mirror consisted of three episodes that do not tell a complete story, it was not initially clear whether it would compete in TV Movie or Limited Series or Drama Series categories of the Emmy Awards. After Netflix petitioned to allow "Smithereens" as a TV Movie, despite a new rule that entries must be 75 minutes or longer, it was initially reported that it would be nominated in this category. Later, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that the episode would instead be competing as a Drama Series, where performers who appear in less than 50% of a series have the choice to compete in leading, supporting, or guest awards.[27][28] Scott was nominated for the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jeffery, Morgan (23 May 2019). "Exclusive: Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker reveals why season 5 only has 3 episodes". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Black Mirror: Season 5". YouTube. Netflix. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Black Mirror: Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too". YouTube. Netflix. 21 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Hibberd, James (5 June 2019). "Black Mirror creator explains that 'Smithereens' ending". Entertainment Weekly. Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Verini, Bob (25 June 2020). "After Hot Priest and Hamlet, Acclaimed Actor Andrew Scott Takes a Dark Turn in 'Black Mirror'". Variety. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  6. ^ Houghton, Rianne (7 June 2019). "Black Mirror's 'Smithereens' star Andrew Scott reveals how they got around him not being able to drive". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Strauss, Jackie (7 June 2019). "Why Topher Grace Doesn't Need to Tell You How His 'Black Mirror' Episode Ends". The Hollywood Reporter. Valence Media. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b VanArendonk, Kathryn (5 June 2019). "How Topher Grace Became a 'Digital God' for Black Mirror". Vulture. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 24 September 2020 suggested (help)
  9. ^ MacDougal, Lauren (7 June 2019). "The Gravesend and Maidstone locations which feature in Black Mirror's new episode Smithereens". Kent Online. KM Group. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  10. ^ Jacobsen, Kevin (18 June 2020). "Topher Grace ('Black Mirror: Smithereens') on what geniuses have in common with each other [Exclusive Video Interview]". Gold Derby. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  11. ^ Opie, David (6 May 2019). "How 'Smithereens' connects to the Black Mirror expanded universe". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Smithereens - Black Mirror Season 5". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  13. ^ Cumming, Ed (5 June 2019). "Black Mirror, season 5, 'Smithereens' review: A thin premise that doesn't justify the running time". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  14. ^ Tharpe, Frazier (5 June 2019). "Black Mirror Season 5 Goes Back to the Basics For Its Best Netflix Season Yet". Complex. Complex Media Inc. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  15. ^ Wilson, Benji (5 June 2019). "Black Mirror: Smithereens, review: Andrew Scott is astonishing as a grief-stricken taxi driver gone rogue". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  16. ^ Sims, David (5 June 2019). ""Smithereens" Is the Only Flop of the New Black Mirror Season". The Atlantic. Emerson Collective. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  17. ^ Hibberd, James (9 April 2020). "Every Black Mirror episode ranked". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  18. ^ Power, Ed (5 June 2020). "Black Mirror: best and worst episodes ranked, from Striking Vipers to San Junipero". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  19. ^ Atad, Corey; Miller, Matt (5 June 2019). "Every Episode of Black Mirror, Ranked". Esquire. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  20. ^ Clark, Travis (10 June 2019). "All 23 episodes of Netflix's 'Black Mirror,' ranked from worst to best". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  21. ^ Jeffery, Morgan; Fletcher, Rosie (13 June 2019). "Ranking all 23 episodes of Charlie Brooker's chilling Black Mirror". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 11 November 2020 suggested (help)
  22. ^ Page, Aubrey (10 October 2020). "Every 'Black Mirror' Episode Ranked From Worst to Best". Collider. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  23. ^ Molloy, Tim (8 June 2019). "'Striking Vipers' to 'San Junipero': Every 'Black Mirror' Episode Ranked, From Good to Mind-Blowing (Photos)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 13 November 2020 suggested (help)
  24. ^ Bramesco, Charles (5 June 2019). "Every Black Mirror Episode, Ranked". Vulture. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  25. ^ Greene, Steve; Nguyen, Hanh; Miller, Liz Shannon (24 November 2017). "Every 'Black Mirror' Episode Ranked, From Worst to Best". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 3 December 2020 suggested (help)
  26. ^ Khosla, Proma (5 January 2018). "Every 'Black Mirror' episode ever, ranked by overall dread". Mashable. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  27. ^ Feinberg, Scott (14 May 2020). "Emmys: 'Black Mirror' Episode Not Waived in to TV Movie Category (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  28. ^ Sharf, Zack (15 May 2020). "Is 'Black Mirror' Emmy Dominance Over? Series Booted From 2020 TV Movie Race". IndieWire. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  29. ^ Greene, Steve (20 September 2020). "Emmys 2020: All of This Year's Winners and Nominees". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smithereens_(Black_Mirror)&oldid=1004904470"