The second episode of Black Mirror season 5 is titled Smithereens and is a feature-length episode checking in at 70 minutes and telling a story of a real-life technical concern.
Instead of futuristic science fiction tech, this episode deals with a fictional social media network called Smithereens and shows how addiction to social media can cause people’s lives to fall apart.
Black Mirror Smithereens cast
The story takes place in London where a rideshare driver abducts an employee of Smithereens because he has demands to make concerning the social media network.
When the police surround them in a field, bystanders start to record the incident and also share posts on Smithereens about it.
The two main characters are the abductor and abductee.
The abductor is a man named Chris who lost his wife in an accident involving a drunk driver from years before. He also admits that before the accident he was checking his status on Smithereens and blames himself and the social media platform for the accident.
Chris is played by actor Andrew Scott. Fans of BBC television will recognize Scott immediately as the villain Moriarty in the series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
The abductee is Jaden, an intern for Smithereens who only recently started there and is on vacation at the time he was taken.
Damson Idris, who stars as Jaden, is also the lead character in the FX drug series Snowfall. Idris portrays Franklin Saint, the 19-year-old drug dealer in Snowfall who is one of the main members of the cast.
When Chris succeeds in getting the CEO of Smithereens on the phone to talk, the most recognizable face of the Black Mirror episode shows up. Topher Grace from That ’70s Show stars as Billy Bauer, the man who created Smithereens but has grown disenchanted with how social media has grown.
There is also a minor character named Hayley who lost her daughter to suicide and wants to see inside her social media account Persona for clues but the company refused to allow her access.
As a favor before Chris attempted to surrender, Billy got him in touch with the Persona CEO to allow her permission to see what her daughter was doing in her final days.
Hayley is portrayed by Amanda Drew. British fans will recognize her for her role of Dr. May Wright on the BBC One series EastEnders.
Black Mirror Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.