Black Mirror Season 5 Episode 1 Recap – Striking Vipers

Danny walks into a bar. He approaches Theo like a typical guy would with a girl in a bar. He asks her if she is alone. She tells him she is. Danny asks her why a pretty girl is alone inside a bar. Theo tells him his approach is corny. He says he will buy her a drink to compensate for his corny tactic. Theo agrees. He orders a vodka sidecar for her. She asks how he knows she likes a vodka sidecar. He is about to answer the question when a couple approaches them — Karl and Daisy. Karl introduces Daisy to them. Danny and Theo are a couple, and they are just having fun role-playing. They dance in the middle of the dance floor. When they get home, they have sex.

Danny wakes up and eats pizza when he hears Karl playing a game in their living room. Karl invites him to play with him. Danny says he has work the following day, but Karl convinces him to play. They are enjoying themselves too much that they make loud noises. Daisy gets awoken. She goes out and tells them to keep their voices low.

Eleven years later — Jemma approaches Danny while he grills his meats. She greets him happy birthday. She asks him his age, so he says 38. She introduces Simon to Danny. Inside the house, Theo is busy in the kitchen. She hears the doorbell ringing, so she opens the door. Karl greets her. She tells him she has not seen him for a long time, so they hug each other. Theo asks him if Daisy is parking the car, but Karl says he and Daisy are not together anymore. She invites Karl inside and tells him that Danny is just outside. Danny is busy with the patties when Karl gets his attention and greets him. Karl gives him Striking Vipers X as a gift. Initially, he refuses, but Karl tells him to accept it because the game is lit. Danny tells him it‘s nostalgic. He reads the box description, and it says the game needs VR. He tells Karl he doesn‘t have VR. Karl tells him he has one; he actually bought him one.

Karl looks at the kids in the backyard and asks if one of the kids is Danny’s son. He tells Karl the kid’s name is Maxwell, one of Tyler’s friends from school. Karl and Danny catch up with life. Karl tells Danny that Theo is looking good and teasingly tells Danny he walks like an old man. Danny defends himself and talks about what happened to his knee. He adds that it‘s fine because he‘s already married, unlike Karl who‘s still “on sale,” referring to the dating scene. Karl shares with Danny that he is meeting Mariella after his party. They are looking at her picture when Theo passes by and asks what they are talking about. She tells Karl he is a lucky man.

That night, Theo tells Danny he should have told her that Karl and Daisy had already broken up. Danny says he didn’t ask about the details. Theo suggests he should invite Karl over dinner so they can catch up with each other. He tells her he is busy with life, work and family. Theo insists. In bed, Theo tells Danny she‘s fertile, but he tells her he can‘t; he thinks he ate too much. Theo understands, so she just goes to sleep. Karl and Mariella are having dinner in a luxurious hotel. He tells her a joke about Dennis Rodman, but Mariella doesn‘t know him, so she Googles him. They end up in bed, but Karl seems unsatisfied.

Danny plays Tetris. Suddenly, Karl invites him to play Striking Vipers X. Danny hesitates again, but Karl convinces him. He instructs Danny on how to set up the game system. They choose their characters in the game. Karl chooses Roxette while Danny chooses Lance. Karl tells Danny to brace himself. They simultaneously press the synch button, and they both see themselves in the game as the characters they chose. Danny cannot believe the game feels so real. They play and fight. Roxette attacks Lance nonstop. She tells him the game resets every round, so it doesn’t harm them. They continue to fight each other. When Roxette gets on top of Lance, she starts to kiss him. They kiss each other until Lance stops Roxette from kissing him and asks how he can get out of the game. Karl exits the game; Danny follows him. Karl and Danny are both surprised about what happened.

The next morning, Danny is still thinking about what happened. He can’t focus on work all day. One night, Theo has to leave Danny and Tyler at home. She tells Tyler to take care of his daddy. Karl plays some old-school games at home that night, but he gets bored of it easily. Danny is playing Tetris again when Karl invites him to play Striking Vipers X again. Danny tells Karl he can’t play a long game. He adds he is drunk the last time they played. They tell each other to be serious in the game and start to play. They choose the same fighters — Roxette for Karl and Lance for Danny. They are about to start fighting when they kiss each other, and they have sex in the game.

Lance sits down beside Roxette after dressing up. Roxette tells Lance they are now gays, but she immediately takes it back and tells Danny it‘s a joke. Lance feels someone is kicking him, so he exits the game. It‘s Tyler. He tells his dad he‘s thirsty. While in bed, Danny sends Karl a message, apologizing for leaving the game. He hides his phone when he notices Theo is home. What happened between Karl and Danny inside the game gets repeated many times. They enjoy doing it, and it has already affected Theo and Danny‘s sex life. Theo is getting suspicious about what is happening. Karl and Danny are inside the game again. They always choose the same characters. Roxette is lying on Lance’s lap. Roxette tells him she knows if Lance is thinking about something. He asks Roxette about the feeling of being inside a woman’s body. She tells him it‘s crazy and it‘s satisfying. Lance kisses Roxette.

The following day, Danny watches Theo and Tyler playing on the swing. Theo knows something is up with her husband. Theo texts Danny that she got a babysitter that night for Tyler. Danny gets confused about the babysitter, so he asks Theo why. Theo replies, “Wedding anniversary,” and thanks him sarcastically for forgetting. Danny texts Karl that he can’t play that night because it‘s his anniversary with Theo. Theo is waiting for Danny when someone approaches her and asks if he can buy her a drink. She refuses and shows him her wedding ring. Danny arrives, and they eat dinner.

After dinner, Theo talks to Danny. She tells him the problem with Danny is he tends to go away like he is there, but his mind is somewhere. She asks him what‘s going on with him. Danny tells her nothing is going on. Theo tells him they haven‘t had sex for weeks. Danny makes an excuse. Theo knows something is wrong with him, so she insists on asking him. She asks him if he is seeing someone else, but Danny answers no. Theo tells him she knows family life is boring, but she is loyal to him and their family. Danny assures her nothing is going on.

Karl is having sex with Mariella, but he suddenly stops and tells her he can‘t. Mariella tells him she‘ll finish himself off. Karl gets online. Danny keeps the Striking Vipers X game inside a cabinet, somewhere he cannot use. Karl notices that Danny hasn’t joined his invites, so he texts him and asks where he is. Danny calls him. He tells Karl he can’t play with Karl anymore. It is not fair to Theo. Karl says it is not cheating or something because it is not real. Karl tries to convince Danny, but Danny has already made up his mind and bids goodbye to Karl.

Seven months later, Theo gets pregnant. She is watching Danny and Tyler play in their backyard. It is Danny’s birthday again, so Theo gives him chocolate as a birthday gift. Theo shows him what she cooked. Danny tells him she cooked a lot. Theo tells Danny she invited Karl for dinner. Danny is quiet for the whole dinner. Theo gets the dessert. Karl and Danny are left at the table. Danny asks Karl what he is doing. Karl tells Danny he tried to replace what they had with everything he could think of, but he couldn‘t.

Karl teases Danny that Roxette will be waiting for him at midnight, and he knows he wants to come and do it. Danny and Theo is already in bed. Danny can‘t sleep because he‘s still thinking of getting in the game with Karl. He can‘t resist it, so he meets Karl again in the game. Roxette tells Lance she loves him. Lance stops kissing her. Roxette tells him she knows he‘s also feeling it, but Lance asks her where it will end. Roxette says, “Who says it has to end?” Danny tells Karl to meet him at the back of the year club in 30 minutes. Danny tells him they will not fight, but they will kiss to know if they will feel something with each other. It’s the only way Danny thinks to resolve their issue. They kiss in the middle of the rain. After the kiss, they both didn’t feel anything. But Karl tells Danny it‘s different in the game. Danny furiously disagrees. He pushes Karl, and they fight each other. The police get them. Theo bails Danny out. She asks what happened to them, but Danny doesn’t answer her. Theo gets frustrated. Danny is about to answer, but we get fast-forwarded to another year of Danny‘s birthday. They have their second baby. Theo gives Danny a “gift” — the device for playing the game. She tells him he must give it back to her the next morning. They are not together anymore, just staying for the kids. Danny and Karl continue to play Striking Vipers X. Theo takes her wedding ring off every night to meet with other men.

Our Thoughts

Oh, the things technology makes us feel. Do you still believe that technology keeps getting better after this episode? Can you really replace genuine reality, feelings, and emotions with an unbelievably real virtual reality? Apparently, for Karl, it is. He gets so addicted to it that he always tries to convince Danny that he is not cheating. But virtual reality or not, cheating is cheating. The guilt you feel makes it real. Theo and Danny definitely agreed on something after the revelation, but who gets to suffer in such a situation eventually?