In a time that doesn’t seem too far in the future from our own, Chris Gillhaney (Andrew Scott) works as a taxi driver for the app Hitcher, which is basically the same as Lyft and Uber. Chris regularly listens to a meditation segment and attends group therapy sessions. Though Chris is clearly dealing with some things, we don’t know how far gone his sanity is until he picks up Jaden Tommins (Damson Idris), an employee of social media company Smithereen, and takes him hostage at gunpoint.
Of course, this is far enough in the future that police immediately notice the suspicious car activity and give chase to Chris until they are in the middle of a field. It is here that we finally know Chris’s motive, he demands Jaden contact Smithereen CEO, Billy Bauer (Topher Grace). But the question remains, why?
Well, if you watch ‘Smithereens’, you’ll find out why. I’m not going to tell you. What I will tell you is that I found it a bit cliché, because I’ve seen the movie Seven Pounds, I’ve seen this episode of Law & Order, of Psych, of pretty much every modern time detective show where someone is troubled by the death they caused on accident, but actually it was kind of someone else’s fault, but actually-actually it was just their own fault and they are going through the process of coming to terms/accepting it.
Now, that isn’t to say ‘Smithereens’ is bad. It’s just predictable, and frankly, a little preachy. What I was most satisfied with was the acting. Ever since I saw Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty in the BBC TV series, Sherlock Holmes, I loved him. He is an absolutely phenomenal actor and the unstable, confused, angry, depressed, Chris Gillhaney was captivating to watch. Then, in most of the scenes with him, you have Damson Idris, who isn’t a huge name in the acting game (yet) but I honestly hope we start seeing me of him. He’s clearly a talent.
Finally, towards the end of the episode, Topher Grace makes his appearance. And his character is just…a gem. Grace’s character, Billy Bauer, is the unpredictable aspect that made this episode unique among the other comparisons I mentioned. While he is a high and mighty CEO, Billy is dealing with his own guilt and hatred over his own creation – he isn’t the stereotypical, uncaring, conceited CEO, and despite police advice and that of his team, he talks to Chris and he talks to him like a person. This ties in to a common big theme of Black Mirror, tech interaction vs that of person to person.
I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that it ends, well, predictably. Bleak and not very well tied together. I really like Black Mirror, but I really dislike those kind of endings. I know they’re supposed to make you think or whatever, and sometimes they do, but often times they feel either lazy or like they’re trying too hard to be deep and ominous. Which is how this ending sadly felt, despite the incredible acting displays.
