Common People

Common People
Episode information
Season	7
Episode	1
Air date	April 10, 2025
Length	57:40
Writer	Charlie Brooker (teleplay) Charlie Brooker & Bisha K. Ali (story)
Director	Ally Pankiw
Episode guide
Previous	Demon 79
Next	Bête Noire

Common People is the first episode of season seven of Black Mirror. It was written by Charlie Brooker and originally aired on April 10, 2025.

Short Summary

When a teacher is left fighting for her life, her doting husband signs her up for a high-tech system that keeps her alive -- but at a cost.

Full Summary

Amanda, a teacher, and Mike, a welder, are a married couple who are very happy together. The two are very content with their lives, the only sore points being their unsuccessful attempts to have a baby (Mike believing they've been cursed after he bought a crib on sale) and Amanda suffering from headaches that are getting worse. Soon after their wedding anniversary, which they spend at the same hotel they got married in (an annual tradition), Amanda collapses at work. Mike is told that she has a brain tumor which cannot be removed safely, and will almost certainly never wake up from the coma she's currently in. A doctor provides an unofficial referral to an experimental new procedure. Soon afterward, he meets with Gaynor from the start-up Rivermind who tells him of a revolutionary new procedure where the function of the affected piece of Amanda's brain will be downloaded into a computer, then removed completely and replaced with synthetic tissue that then receives a signal of Andrea's consciousness from servers. The surgery itself is free, with only a couple of caveats; Amanda will sleep more to ease strain on the servers, she will initially have to stay within coverage areas, although Gaynor assures her that Rivermind is being rolled out across the US and eventually worldwide, and a subscription charge of $300 a month must be paid. Mike accepts.

Amanda survives and seemingly makes a full recovery. Over the next year the couple are happy, although Mike is forced to take on extra shifts and a lot of overtime in order to pay the subscription. Amanda is unable to work more due to the extra sleep. The couple's anniversary comes around and they prepare to make their usual hotel trip, but when Mike drives out of the county Amanda suddenly falls unconscious. Mike quickly turns around to drive to hospital when Amanda wakes up like nothing happened. The two visit Rivermind and Gaynor informs them that while the service is available across the US, the ability to travel outside their home network is available only on 'Plus', a higher subscription tier which would cost an additional $500 per month.

Soon after this, Amanda starts recommending products and services to people during conversations only to have no memory of doing so afterwards. Going back to Rivermind, Gaynor tells them that advertising is now running on the 'Common' tier and she'll have to upgrade to 'Plus' to get rid of it. This becomes an issue when at school Amanda recommends faith-based counselling to a student suffering from a troubled home life and is told that she cannot advertise at work and will have to be fired if she continues. Barely able to afford their current subscription even with two jobs, Mike is forced to sign up as a masked creator on DumDummies, an internet platform where people humiliate themselves for money by doing outrageous things like drinking urine and pulling out teeth. He doesn't tell Amanda about this, but now can afford the Plus tier.

It soon becomes clear, however, that Amanda is sleeping longer and longer as time goes on. Another trip to Rivermind ensues, where Gaynor tells them that this is normal on the Plus tier, which is no longer considered premium. After Gaynor quips "Who can't use more sleep?," Amanda remarks that the extra sleep that isn't restful. Gaynor nonchalantly reveals that Rivermind is using Amanda's brain for processing power while she's asleep. With this unwelcome news, Gaynor tells of now yet another subscription level; Rivermind Lux, which will not only reduce Amanda's sleep time but will also allow them to enhance her feelings and senses through a phone app, all for the low cost of an additional $1000 per month. When they balk, Gaynor informs them there are also temporary booster packs available. On DumDummies, Mike unmasks himself when offered higher amounts of money to do so, and as an anniversary treat buys Amanda 12 hours on Lux. Travelling to their usual hotel, he dials up her pleasure to maximum allowing her to greatly enjoy the food, surroundings and sex, but to an unnatural level that Mike can't match.

After returning, Mike finds out that everyone at work knows about him being on DumDummies after pictures of him debasing himself start to appear. Mike violently confronts Shane, the person responsible, with the ensuing confrontation leading to Shane's legs getting crushed under a vehicle. Mike is fired, putting Amanda's job also under threat as the two can now no longer afford the Plus tier. They decide to go to Rivermind to plead their case, but Gaynor is unmoving. Mike tells Amanda they still have money in their baby fund they can use to get by, only for Gaynor to interject and tell them that if Amanda gets pregnant it will add yet more cost onto the subscription. After the two storm out, Gaynor adjusts the "Nonchalance" setting on her Rivermind app to maximum.

Over the next year the couple's lives decline significantly. Amanda is forced to downgrade back to Common, and as a result loses her job and can now barely function due to her increased sleep time and is also running advertisements again. The two sell most of their possessions, ending with the baby crib Amanda bought years ago and was never used. Mike, who is now missing a tooth, commemorates the couple's anniversary by buying Amanda thirty minutes on Rivertime Lux. He dials her serenity up to maximum, and as she enjoys her surroundings Amanda tells Mike it's time and asks him to do it "when I'm not here." Mike is devastated, but agrees.

Mike lies her down in bed as their timed booster runs out and immediately after it does Amanda starts reeling off an ad, at which point Mike smothers her with a pillow. After she dies, Mike goes into the next room where DumDummies is activated while taking a box cutter with him, although what he does with it is left unrevealed.

Cast

• Chris O'Dowd as Mike
• Rashida Jones as Amanda
• Tracee Ellis Ross as Gaynor
• Nicholas Cirillo as Shane
• Donald Sales as Kyle
• Lucy Turnbull as Eva
• Milana Wan and Tisha
• Sofia Hodsoni as Mickey
• Sabrina Jalees as Angie
• Carolyn Taylor as Penelope
• Huxley Fisher as Oscar
• JP McInnis as Bobby
• Peter Hall as Crooner
• Flo Lawrence as Keyboardist
• Jennifer Khoe as Dr. Hoi
• Moheb Jindran as Surgeon
• Glynis Davies as Waiter
• Nevin Burkholder as Dum Dummy
• Lisa Gilroy as Mom
• Luca Chutskoff as Commercial Kid 1
• Coralee Wood as Commercial Kid 2
• Nicco Del Rio as Goth Dude
• Olga Petsa as Goth Chick

Notes and Trivia

• As well as appearing in this episode Rashida Jones co-wrote Nosedive.
• A film listed as playing at the cinema Mike and Amanda walk past is I Used to Be Funny, which was also written and directed by episode director Ally Pankiw.

References to other Black Mirror episodes

• The 7G cell phone carrier on various characters phones is TCKR.
• The lodge where Mike and Amanda stay at during their anniversary is the Juniper Lodge, a reference to San Junipero. There are also White Bear/Bandersnatch glyphs briefly seen on the hotel's flag, as well as illustrations of a white bear.
• Juniper Lodge is located in Palmer County, a reference to the character Dr. Alex Palmer in Hotel Reverie.
• The first song the singing couple are heard performing at the Juniper Lodge is Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand), a recurring song throughout the series.
• Amanda works at a school named Cooper Elementary and is seen teaching a science lesson on Autonomous Drone Insects, seen first in Hated in the Nation.
• One of the users on DumDummies is named I_AM_Waldo, and another is urAWFUL. There is also SnoutMan44, a possible reference to Michael Callow in The National Anthem.
• Shane is seen drinking a Ditta brand Polar Ice drink (whose logo is polar bear). A vending machine selling Ditta products is also seen in the hospital, and Amanda later recites a commercia for their cereal Honey Nugs.
• A branch of Skillane Legal is seen operating in the same office block as Rivermind. The firm previously appeared in Joan Is Awful and is itself a reference to Victoria Skillane from White Bear.
• Hotel Reverie is playing at a cinema Mike and Amanda walk past.