(Before reading this review, please watch 'Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea' on Netflix first.) Although I usually find Black Mirror content average, 'Beyond the Sea' gives us the best performance in the entire show, thanks to Josh Harnett and Aaron Paul. The show starts off slow, getting into the two leads' lives, and it is implied and later explained that the leads we are seeing on Earth are actually replicas of astronauts out on a mission in deep space. Ross's family is shown living in the city, and Cliff'sfamily are shown in a countryside All is peaceful until Ross's life takes a turn for the worst. After his cyborg replica and his entire family is slayed and burned by a cult (that believes replicas go against the intended way of life) on Earth, Ross (Josh Harnett) is left alone, isolated, and broken in a two-man spacecraft with Cliff (Aaron Paul) as he copes with the fact that he will never be able to return to the Earth's surface again for over four years. Because of this, Cliff and Lana have a talk on how to improve the current broken Ross, as if he ever takes his own life or does anything stupid, Cliff would not be able to operate the two-man ship on his own. They eventually agree upon the conditions that Ross would be able to use Cliff's replica once a week for an hour or two. All goes well and Ross draws paintings using the time in Cliff's replica until he finds himself falling for Lana. Eventually, he attempts to get with Lana but she rejects him and the next week, Ross finds Lana leaving and escaping from the house, leaving Ross all by himself. After Cliff re-enters, he promises Lana that the next visit would be Ross's last. He reassures her for her safety, and the next week comes along. As Ross enters, Cliff discovers a collection of erotic drawings of Lana in Ross's quarters. As he threatens and questions both Ross and Lana (of course Ross in the spacecraft and Lana using the replica), he has a fallout with Ross and insults him for having fantasies with his wife when Ross attempts to apologize. In a fit of rage, he lies to Cliff and tells him that a coolant is leaking, sends him out of the spacecraft and uses his tag to enter Cliff's replica. As Ross lets Cliff return back, Cliff catches on and quickly enters his replica, only to find blood on his hands, leading to his dead son and wife. The movie ends with Ross pushing a chair out for Cliff, and the two have now gone through even pain. Cliff cannot kill him due to the spacecraft being a two-man ship. Apart from the predictable ending and the unexplained importance of the mission itslef, the two leads and sides make the episode a very memorable one. Definitely don't check out if you don't enjoy themes of child abuse.
Review of Beyond the Sea
