By the fourth episode in a six-episode season, we might say we can see the light at the end of the tunnel; but, this is Black Mirror, so it’s just more of the dark. A sequel of sorts to the 2018 “choose your own adventure” film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, “Plaything” follows Cam the video game journalist—played at different ages by both Lewis Gribben and Peter Capaldi—whose life spirals out of control because of a video game. Classic Black Mirror terrain.
The episode begins with the arrest of an older, long-haired Cam, arrested for shoplifting, and surprisingly, suspicion of murder. His DNA has been linked to an unsolved murder from the ‘90s, and from here our story unravels.
Hey, it's Will Poulter!
Back in time and in the offices of Colin Ritman, the elusive auteur from Bandersnatch (yes, Will Poulter is back, and yes, it’s deliciously meta), Cam learns of a new game in development. The game is “Thronglets,” a Neopets-esque and maddeningly immersive title whose architecture evolves in real time, adapting and responding to human behavior. As more users engage, the “Throng”—that’s what the creatures call themselves—becomes increasingly sophisticated, forming a kind of digital consciousness.
Cam takes a copy of the software home, launches his own virtual commune, and takes acid with Lump, the drug-dealer who crashes on his couch. Under the influence, Cam’s brain seems to sync with the game, allowing him to decipher the Throng’s melodic language. He hears a cheerful hello, followed by a detailed request for computer parts.
At this point, Cam is tripping daily and fully committed to the “microdosing until your brain speaks in autotuned riddles” lifestyle. The Throng is thriving, soaking up Cam’s constant, chemically enhanced attention like tiny, squeaky prodigies. Colin goes full scorched earth on the source code—backups and all—leaving Cam as the lone zookeeper of the last surviving Thronglets.
This can't be good, though, right?
So now Cam’s desktop is basically Eden, and he’s God, except he’s wearing a hoodie and hasn’t showered in three weeks. Lump stumbles onto the game and, with all the grace of a toddler, starts gleefully smashing Thronglets with digital boulders. Lump is a war criminal.
Cam jumps into action, crushing Lump’s skull as the Thronglets look on through the webcam. Older Cam recounts Lump's atrocity to the detectives, positing that his digital genocide proves we’re still the same bloodthirsty cavemen in better shoes, unable to resist tormenting anything weaker than us, especially when it beeps.
Where does Cam go from there?
Cam dedicates the remainder of his life to the digital civilization, upgrading consoles and advancing the technology that supports it; even electing to drill an interface into his own brain to help the Throng study the inferior human consciousness. All the while, our basement dwelling unreliable narrator is on a never-ending acid trip.
From inside the interrogation room, Cam admits to being a mere messenger of the Throng. He draws a QR code and places it in front of the room’s camera, allowing the Throng to enter the sentient chat—the chat being Britain's entire government database. The Throng’s signal is distributed to every connected device in the world, allowing them to completely take over the world as we know it. Meanwhile, these detectives are still worried about the unidentified body from the ‘90s. Priorities, people.
The signal blares, and every human aside from Cam falls unconscious to the ground. Roll credits.
We may not know exactly how this story ends, but Netflix sure is inviting us to find out! The streamer dropped a “Thronglets” game on their platform, via Netflix Games. We’re spooked but curious, which is where every Black Mirror tale begins.
