Note: The following Kate Mara and Josh Hartnett interview discusses major spoilers for “Black Mirror” Season 6, Episode 3: “Beyond the Sea.”
Season 6 of “Black Mirror” introduces an alternate 1969 in “Beyond the Sea,” in which two astronauts, Cliff (Aaron Paul) and David (Josh Hartnett), experience the best of both worlds by spending time with their families. Are. Earth in replicas of their likenesses while their bodies remain on a multi-year space mission.
Although the two men spend limited time together on missions, when a cult leader kills David’s family and burns his replica, David has no choice but to spend all of his time alone on the spaceship. After Cliff worries that David may not survive in his isolation, Cliff’s wife Lana (Kate Mara) suggests that David use a replica of Cliff to tour their picturesque home and its surrounding woods in Cliff’s likeness. Can do to do.
“It’s exploring how isolation affects us on such a deep level, and how human connection is vital to our survival, happiness, and health,” Mara told TheWrap. “That’s really a lot of what this episode is about… so I wanted to be a part of it.”
When David works on painting Cliff and Lana’s house, all is well with David’s trip to Earth, however things begin to change when David (in Cliff’s replica) starts hitting on Lana. . In space, Cliff becomes suspicious of David’s intentions and forbids David from using his replica again – bringing David to return to Earth in Cliff’s replica once more and play against Cliff’s son. to level the playing field.
“David has gone through an extraordinary trauma: he can be isolated, literally in space, with no one to talk to except one person who is reticent and won’t talk anything meaningful with him,” Hartnett said. “Beyond any expectation that he ever had, he finds that tiny glimmer of hope, and that tiny possibility of love and connection with the character of Lana, and taking that trauma away to endure again , would be too much. So she does something terrible, and thus creates the potential for a relationship between her and Cliff.
By the end of the episode, Cliff returns to space with his wife and child, finding himself in the exact same state of grief and isolation David felt several months earlier – although Cliff must spend time with the man who left his family. Eliminated the Twisted complexity level.
As David motions for Cliff to take a seat at the table, Hartnett notes that the conclusion of the installment leaves Cliff with a choice as to how the rest of his mission – and his life – will continue.
“Does he sit down and join David and their mutual isolation and mutual grief and find a mate, or do they both die right there?” Hartnett said. It won’t be easy for Cliff to return to Earth. Everyone thinks he killed his wife – it’s terrible.
‘Black Mirror’ Season 6 is now streaming on Netflix.
