This episode is so much different from your average Black Mirror episode. Much more light hearted than usual. Some complained about its form in their reviews but I didn't have problems with it since the world of USS Callister is a virtual one and the real world is still very much Black Mirror. I always appreciate directors and writers to try something different, regardless the outcome.
Despite the humor and production values I did got annoyed by a few really big writing issues though.
The first one is that in the episode people's DNA is used as a source to create a virtual character with memory and feelings. That is by far not enough information! DNA is 'just' people's building blocks. It doesn't hold up in science fiction, especially 'smart' sci-fi like Black Mirror.
This is even made worse by the fact that DNA needs to be destroyed in order to avoid characters being re-spawned into the virtual world. I would have accepted some sort of weird device secretly 'cloning' an employee at Callister Inc (with some risk to the CTO of being exposed while doing this) and having the protagonist destroying the 'hard copy'.... but not this!
There are some other issues... Why would a software update result in a worm hole being generated in the virtual world? That feels like a typical thing for a writer to do who doesn't know much about software. An update like that wouldn't be visible from the perspective of a user... maybe, just maybe there would be glitches that could be exposed by the users. Let alone the weird idea of flying a ship into a 'patch wormhole'. What is that exactly about?
I also didn't get why the protagonist couldn't 'exit game' despite ending up in a void. Again, this is due a lack of understanding by the writer how software works. 'Exit game' is a command taking place on an operating system level, not an application level. The application might be frozen or rendering a void world, the operating system that runs the application is still very much active. That stuff matters! Especially to this show's audience.
After seeing 'White Christmas' (which provides more emotional impact with fewer 'tricks') this episode is disappointing, despite its best intentions, good acting and great art direction.
Despite the humor and production values I did got annoyed by a few really big writing issues though.
The first one is that in the episode people's DNA is used as a source to create a virtual character with memory and feelings. That is by far not enough information! DNA is 'just' people's building blocks. It doesn't hold up in science fiction, especially 'smart' sci-fi like Black Mirror.
This is even made worse by the fact that DNA needs to be destroyed in order to avoid characters being re-spawned into the virtual world. I would have accepted some sort of weird device secretly 'cloning' an employee at Callister Inc (with some risk to the CTO of being exposed while doing this) and having the protagonist destroying the 'hard copy'.... but not this!
There are some other issues... Why would a software update result in a worm hole being generated in the virtual world? That feels like a typical thing for a writer to do who doesn't know much about software. An update like that wouldn't be visible from the perspective of a user... maybe, just maybe there would be glitches that could be exposed by the users. Let alone the weird idea of flying a ship into a 'patch wormhole'. What is that exactly about?
I also didn't get why the protagonist couldn't 'exit game' despite ending up in a void. Again, this is due a lack of understanding by the writer how software works. 'Exit game' is a command taking place on an operating system level, not an application level. The application might be frozen or rendering a void world, the operating system that runs the application is still very much active. That stuff matters! Especially to this show's audience.
After seeing 'White Christmas' (which provides more emotional impact with fewer 'tricks') this episode is disappointing, despite its best intentions, good acting and great art direction.