No seriously. I watched Plaything days ago and it won’t leave my brain. Which is, honestly, very on theme for anything Black Mirror-related.
The spoiler-free bit
Set in 2034, Plaything is a classic Black Mirror slow-burn: unsettling, sad, clever, and entirely too relatable.
It stars Peter Capaldi as Cameron, a former game reviewer turned half-cancelled weirdo whose past obsession with a 90s Tamagotchi-style game called Thronglets might have changed the fate of humanity.
There’s even a Netflix Thronglets game:
It jumps between timelines: Capaldi in the present, unravelling in a strange interrogation room. And young Cameron in the 90s, played by Lewis Gribben, descending into game dev madness.
The game (in the episode, not the Netflix game) was built by Bandersnatch’s very own Colin Ritman (yes, Will Poulter is back in top cryptic form).
The whole thing feels like a spiritual sequel to that episode.
The episode touches on loneliness, digital consciousness, obsessive creativity, and what happens when you talk to the void long enough for it to talk back.
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Is it connected to other ‘Black Mirror’ episodes?
Possibly.
Someone on Reddit pointed out that Fifteen Million Merits (S1E2) could be set in the post-Plaything world, where humanity has already been… upgraded.
And honestly? That tracks.
Okay, spoilers now. You’ve been warned.
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He did what to his own head?
I did not expect DIY brain surgery.
But Cameron, bless his little broken soul, slices open his scalp and implants ports to directly interface with the Thronglets.
He doesn’t just believe they exist. Oh no. He wants to become the vessel for their upgrade. He wants to become one with them.
And when he shows it off? When he says, deadpan and proud, “I did the surgery myself,” I’m not going to lie… I felt that.
Deep in my chaotic tech-loving soul.
My cyborg dreams….
It’s not the same, okay, but I do want an NFC implant. I’ve fantasised about tapping my wrist to unlock doors, share contact info, launch apps.
I’ve watched way too many YouTube videos about it.
So when Cameron beams with pride, showing off his USB skull mod, I was like: oh no. He’s me. I’m him. We are not the same. But we are.
‘Plaything’ ending…
Did the thronglets kill humanity? Are they really peace-loving creatures looking out for the best interest? Here’s the fun part: We don’t know!
Cameron uploads a Thronglet payload via QR code (which, side note, was the most quietly terrifying moment of the entire episode).
SPOILER WARNING:
You see people passed out all over the place. The screen cuts to black. Then we see Cameron extending his hand to the interrogator, who had just seconds before been thronglets-ified.
- Did the Thronglets assimilate peacefully?
- Did they erase us and start over?
- Did they suppress our violent tendencies like they said they would?
- Or did they just turn us all into docile NPCs?
- Will we ever know??
There’s no answer. But the ambiguity is equal parts perfect as it is infuriating.
Plaything is less about what happened and more about what we’d choose if offered the same path.
Would I integrate?
Would I trust the upgrade?
I don’t know.
But I can’t stop thinking about it.
