**Contains spoilers on Black Mirror season 7**
Black Mirror is back for a seventh series and we're already hooked.
The sci-fi anthology series returned with six new episodes on Thursday 10th April, including 'Plaything', which follows a gaming journalist named Cameron, who merges with characters in a video game in a bid to erase negative emotions and create a more evolved version of himself.
While there are five more episodes in this season, 'Plaything' is already being described as the "best" so far, with one fan writing on X (formerly known as Twitter): "Plaything is the best #BlackMirror episode in years".
The show's creator Charlie Brooker has now spoken about the inspiration behind this episode, and it involves a real life story of his own.
"I remember having a Tamagotchi, and it’s amazing how quickly you get attached to it. I left it in the pocket of some jeans and it went in the washing machine, and it got boiled and died, and I felt genuine remorse and I felt terrible like I had boiled a hamster alive," Brooker explained to Netflix.
"I also read an article once about somebody who had a game, either Civilisation or SimCity, on an old computer in the 90s, but they kept it going for two decades uninterrupted, and it started going bananas basically."
If like us, you had many questions while watching 'Plaything', read on for a full explanation on the episode.
What happens in Plaything?
The episode begins in the near future, where Cameron is portrayed by Peter Capaldi and is arrested while shop lifting. When the police arrive, they DNA swab him and discover that he is wanted for murder and take him to the station where he recounts the events that led to this moment.
Viewers are then taken back to the 90s when Cameron worked as a gaming journalist and is played by Lewis Gribben. Cameron is invited to try out a new video game and is sent by his editor to meet Bandersnatch's Colin Ritman (Will Poulter).
Ritman had recently returned to work at video game company Tuckersoft after having a public mental breakdown, and had been working on a secret new game he wanted to show to Cameron specifically.
However, when Cameron arrived, Ritman revealed that his project wasn’t a game in the traditional sense, and that instead, he had created artificial lifeforms called Thronglets, which together formed a Throng.
In the "game", players could feed the Thronglets, give them water, bathe them, and let them replicate - evolving rapidly as a virtual species. Remarkably, the creatures had developed their own language, entirely independent of Ritman's input.
Intrigued by the game, Cameron stole it while Ritman was out of the room - something he believes the video game creator "wanted" him to do. But things took a turn for the worst, as he became obsessed with the creatures, dedicating his entire existence to helping them grow and thrive.
On one occasion, Cameron's only friend, known as Lump, came to visit and ended up crashing there while he sold his LSD in the city. The duo did drugs together one night and while high, Cameron snuck off to his room where he could hear the Thronglets on the computer screen.
Believing that the LSD was allowing him to understand the creatures, Cameron bought all of Lump's supply and started playing the game even more, purchasing more sophisticated equipment to accommodate their supposed demand for power and computer memory.
Some time later, Lump came back to visit and while Cameron was at work, snuck into his room and saw the game on the screen.
Unaware of the game's importance to Cameron, Lump decided to kill off the Thronglets using virtual fire and bricks to take them out.
When Cameron returned from work and noticed what Lump had done, he was devastated and went crazy on his friend. The pair ended up fighting in front of the Thonglets who were watching through the web cam and Cameron killed Lump.
He then chopped up his body in the bath, put the parts in a suitcase and dumped it in the woods, leaving out his head, hands and any identifying marks.
Cameron spent the following years taking LSD, communicating with the Throng, and guiding their growth and evolution, constantly acquiring new technology as it emerged to enhance their capabilities. He even went so far as to surgically implant a socket into his own body, allowing him to physically merge with the Throng.
How does Plaything end?
'Plaything' ends with Cameron drawing a QR code, which he shows to the security camera while in questioning. This automatically triggers the state computer, which transmits a signal to every device in the world.
It turns out that Cameron wanted to be caught at the beginning of the episode, which is why he stole the bottle. He knew he'd be arrested and that they'd find out that he committed the murder in the past and take him to the station where he'd be able to access the camera connected to the all-powerful state computer.
From the moment he was arrested, Cameron had been asking for a pen, which the psychiatrist finally agreed to.
What else has Charlie Brooker said about Plaything?
Ahead of the season, Brooker was asked if this episode was more personal, given his history in gaming journalism.
"I used to write video game reviews and I used to write for PC Zone magazine, which was a real magazine. When I was doing that, one time I was given a game to review that was about an artificial life form, a game called Creature, and it was about nurturing these creatures," he explained.
"For me this episode is partly a commentary about AI and artificial life and what you as a human project on to that."
Brooker continued: "I was fascinated by the idea of having a form of artificial life which was created for a game in the 90s, and it was designed to evolve and improve and you kept it going and you kept it going, but where would that end up? That was basically what I was channelling there."
Black Mirror season 7 is available to stream on Netflix.
