‘Black Mirror’ Season 7: An Explanation of the Grim Conclusion of ‘Common People’
Yep, we’re going to need a while to recover from that one. Black Mirror Season 7 starts off on an impressively depressing note with “Common People”, a story about a woman forced to use a subscription service to stay alive. But what exactly happens at the end? Why did Mike (Chris O’Dowd) do what he did, and what was he planning to do next? Let’s unpack.
What is Black Mirror episode “Common People” about? After schoolteacher Amanda (Rashida Jones) is diagnosed with a brain tumour, her husband Mike signs her up for an experimental procedure called Rivermind in order to keep her alive. “We take an imprint of the affected part of her neural structure and we clone it onto our mainframe,” explains sales rep Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross). “So basically…we make a backup of part of her brain onto our computer.” The catch? While the surgery is free, there’s a monthly subscription fee to keep Amanda’s brain active that the couple can barely afford. She increasingly needs to sleep for longer at night (the company essentially uses Amanda’s brain to power their own servers, putting her in “sleep mode” instead of actually letting her rest). As this is one of those episodes where things just keep getting worse and worse, Amanda’s geographical freedom then vanishes when she’s unable to go beyond her tier’s allowed signal, and ads are eventually played directly through Amanda, with opting out of them only available by upgrading to additional, more expensive Rivermind tiers. Soon Amanda’s job is at risk due to her randomly blurting out commercials to schoolchildren, and Mike decides to sign up for a dubious website called “Dum Dummies”, where internet strangers pay to watch people harm themselves on camera.
And as grim as all that is, it only gets worse in the final act…
Rivermind is able to help, but there are catches.
Credit: Netflix
What happens at the end of “Common People”? Things reach the breaking point when Mike loses his job after a violent altercation. No longer able to afford Rivermind+, the more expensive service that stops Amanda from playing ads and sleeping for 16 hours a day, they return to the company to appeal for help — and are turned away. One year later, Mike and Amanda celebrate their anniversary with a 30-minute booster for Rivermind Lux — an advanced tier of the service that allows users to upgrade different emotions and experiences by tapping into the Rivermind cloud. With her serenity levels turned up to the maximum, Amanda tells Mike, “I think it’s time.” Laying her down on the bed, he tells her that he loves her — and then suffocates her with a pillow as she delivers a final advertisement. The episode’s last shot shows Mike going into the spare bedroom with a scalpel in his hand. In the background, his computer is still open on the Dum Dummies website.
What is Mike planning to do at the end? While some Black Mirror episodes end with major twists or reveals, “Common People” follows a downward spiral structure. Things start off well, deteriorate quickly, and then — just when you think they can’t possibly get any worse — they somehow do! The final sequence of the episode illustrates Mike and Amanda at rock bottom. They feel as though they’ve run out of options — neither of them have jobs, and their only means of paying to keep Amanda alive is by Mike finding increasingly dire methods to hurt himself for the entertainment of internet strangers. With Amanda dead, the implication of the final shot suggests that Mike is planning to take his own life — and given that the computer is still open in the background, it’s hinted that the violence will be livestreamed.
If you’re feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to someone. You can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988; the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text “START” to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email [email protected]. If you prefer not to talk on the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat at crisischat.org. Here is a list of international resources.
