Movies - TV
Why Black Mirror Didn't Dive Into Metalhead's Backstory
By MICHAEL BOYLE
The often overlooked “Metalhead” episode of “Black Mirror” Season 4 is set in a dystopian future where robotic dogs are out to get the characters. This episode raises many questions about this bleak future, but it doesn’t provide many answers, with writer Charlie Brooker explaining, “We sort of deliberately decided not to flesh out a lot of the backstory.”
Brooker described an earlier version of the draft where a person in some far-off country controls the robotic dogs, adding, “There was a bit I liked where he leaves the [control unit] while the robot is watching her while she’s up in the tree and he goes and gives his kids a bath.” It was an interesting piece of world-building and social commentary Brooker felt was “too on-the-nose.”
“Black Mirror” often explores the monstrous side of humanity, but “Metalhead” exemplifies how brave, resilient, and compassionate people can be, as the special box leading to all the characters’ demise is revealed to be full of teddy bears similar to the one lost by a sick child. This message of hope might have been undercut if the robotic dog had been shown to be controlled by a person.