Cam (Lewis Gribben) in the ‘Black Mirror’ episode “Plaything.”. Photo:
Netflix
In Black Mirror‘s “Plaything,” video games meet the real world with dire consequences.
Season 4, episode 7 of the Netflix science fiction series follows Cameron (whose younger self is played by Lewis Gribben and the older version is played by Peter Capaldi), a video game journalist who becomes obsessed with “Thronglets” — Black Mirror‘s take on a PC game mixing Tamagotchi, “Lemmings” and “The Sims.”
The digital creatures — a.k.a. the Throng — start speaking to Cameron, and decades later he is finally ready for the mysterious mission they’ve been preparing him for.
So how does “Plaything” end, and how is it connected to the 2018 Black Mirror movie, Bandersnatch? Here’s everything to know about the ending to Black Mirror season 7, episode 4.
Warning: “Plaything” spoilers ahead!
Cam (Lewis Gribben) in the ‘Black Mirror’ episode “Plaything.”. Netflix
In the year 2034, Cameron (Capaldi) is arrested for “suspicion of murder” in the death of his friend Lump (Josh Finan).
While being interrogated by Detective Kano (James Nelson-Joyce) and psychologist Jen Minter (Michele Austin), Cameron asks for a marker and paper so he can deliver a message from the Throng.
Kano and Minter finally relent, supplying Cameron with a pen and sketchpad. He draws a QR code, which he holds up to a security camera. Cameron reveals he got himself arrested intentionally so he could deliver a message from behind the security firewall, permitting the Throng access to every computer and connected device worldwide.
Tired of his mad ramblings, Detective Kano begins to hit Cameron as a high-pitched static noise is heard from every nearby digital device. Upon hearing the noise, everyone falls to the ground unconscious, except for Cameron, who is unaffected.
Cam (Lewis Gribben) and Mohan (Asim Chaudhry) in the ‘Black Mirror’ episode “Plaything.”. Netflix
Cameron seems to be the only human unaffected by the Throng’s static. The final seconds of “Plaything” shows Cameron standing over Detective Kano, smiling and holding out his hand to help him up.
Does Kano — and the rest of the world — ever wake up? The episode’s credits roll before viewers get a definitive answer. But the actors who play Cameron have a few theories.
“It just feels like Cameron’s wiped violence from people. He’s taken their freedom and enslaved everyone to be peaceful and not have any bad tendencies,” Gribben told Tudum. “It’s like a dictatorship regime that he’s just created, that all these people are just mindless and listening to the Thronglets.”
Cam (Lewis Gribben) in the ‘Black Mirror’ episode “Plaything.”. Netflix
The Throng use Cameron to take control because they “wanted to coexist with humans, but to do that they need to study our minds,” he said in the episode.
“Not just psychologically, but physically to work out a means of coexistence,” Cameron added. “Improvement … for both of us.”
The static noise prompts a “singularity event” signal that is transmissible to the human mind.
“They just merged with me like a benign parasite, a living update,” Cameron explained to Kano and Minter. “Symbiotic coexistence.”
Cam (Peter Capaldi) in the ‘Black Mirror’ episode “Plaything.”. Netflix
By the end of the episode, the Throng has taken over humanity. But it’s unclear what, exactly, the consequences are for people.
“I wanted it to be a tad more ambiguous as to whether you thought this was a good thing or a bad thing,” writer Charlie Brooker told Tudum about the ending. “We don’t quite give you that much information.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the “Plaything” writer revealed how an earlier draft of the script was “somewhat different than” the final version.
“You see people waking up and opening their eyes. They’re smiling. We made it clear that [the Throng] had merged with people,” Brooker recalled. “Cameron says that this is not great for all of us. I was channeling the thought of IOS upgrades for humans.”
What happens to the world population at the end of “Plaything” is left for the viewer to decide, but for those intrigued by the Throng, Netflix has released an actual “Thronglets” mobile game. Just be sure to listen for any high-pitched static messages while playing.
Colin (Will Poulter) in the ‘Black Mirror’ episode “Plaything.”. Netflix
Eagle-eyed fans might be wondering how “Plaything” connects to the 2018 Black Mirror film Bandersnatch, since both feature Colin Ritman, the Tuckersoft game designer character played by Will Poulter.
Both “Plaything” and Bandersnatch were directed by David Slade and written by Brooker. Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry), Colin’s boss from Bandersnatch, also returns.
“Plaything” — which starts off 10 years after the events of Bandersnatch, in 1994 — isn’t exactly a sequel, however.
“The story idea was floating around for a little while,” Brooker told Entertainment Weekly. But he “wasn’t thinking of it as a Bandersnatch sequel” at first.
“I knew I wanted Cameron to meet this programmer, but [I thought], wait a minute, I created this character, Colin Ritman, played by Will Poulter in Bandersnatch,” Brooker continued. “I loved that character, and Mohan Thakur, Asim Chaudhry, who played his boss in the original Bandersnatch. I’m going to write the best version of that.”
“I prayed and hoped we can get Will and Asim back to reprise their roles,” he added. “It came about that way.”
As for a proper sequel to Bandersnatch, Brooker revealed the project, with the working title Banderstruck, is one he “might still revisit” in “some way.”
