Warning: Spoilers ahead for Black Mirror season 7’s, “Hotel Reverie.“Black Mirrorseason 7’s high-concept “Hotel Reverie” episode takes an unexpected turn when Redream’s groundbreaking technology experiences a severe glitch, but it somehow doesn’t impact all the artificial characters in the simulation. The installment overall is immaculately written, but the fact I don’t rank it among thebestBlack Mirrorepisodesproves how high the standard has been set for Netflix’s sci-fi anthology show. Either way, “Hotel Reverie” helpsBlack Mirrorseason 7 return to form, while also making a case for it being one of thebest shows on Netflix.
“Hotel Reverie” revolves around Redream’s ability to generate a lifelike simulationthanks to data it extracts from existing source material. While remaking the episode’s titular in-universe movie,Issa Rae’s Brandy Friday plays Dr. Alex Palmerand is under orders to provide a beat-for-beat duplication of the original actor’s performance alongside computer-generated versions of the classic cast. However, the simulation halts when coffee is spilled on a key piece of hardware in the outside world and all the digitized doppelgängers freeze in place - apart from Emma Corrin’s Clara.
Clara Doesn’t Freeze Because Her Program Transcends The Redream Technology’s Simulation
It all starts when Brandy calls her “Dorothy” by accident
“Hotel Reverie” is an artful commentary on the concerns surrounding A.I. as well as Hollywood’s ongoing insistence on remaking classic movies rather than creating original stories. The episode manages to address both topics equally while addingBlack Mirror’s dark, sci-fi spin. As one of the episode’s central figures, Emma Corrin plays both the originalHotel Reveriecharacter Clara, and the actress who played her - Dorothy Chambers. When the Redream technology is compromised,Clara manages to avoid being frozen in place because of Brandy’s slip of the tongue.
She becomes a blend of Clara and Dorothy, which means Redream fails to identify her as part of the simulation.
Earlier in the episode, Brandy accidentally addresses the Clara A.I. as “Dorothy.” Using the actress' name rather than the character’s triggers a malfunction in her program that allows her to access the “echoes” of the woman who drew on her own real experiences to bring Clara to life. So, she becomes a blend of Clara and Dorothy, which means Redream fails to identify her as part of the simulation. In short,Clara becomes far more than what she was originally intended to be, which gives her self-awareness and agency beyond Redream’s parameters.
Clara Becoming More Than A Movie Character Allows Her To “Leave” The Simulation Itself
Clara partially resurrects Dorothy by exploring Redream’s data pool
Venturing from the frozen hotel to explore,Clara ends up being “exposed to the full data pool.“This means when she steps through the door into the abyss, Clara can consciously access all the information fed into Redream that was used to create her character.
This was data she had only been unconsciously able to draw upon until that moment, but being addressed as Dorothy by Brandy pushed Corrin’s character to a new level of sentience that ultimately made her a far more advanced A.I. By the one-hour mark of “Hotel Reverie,” Clara is essentially a fully autonomous being after incorporating more parts of Dorothy’s life into her program.
Of course,she isn’t completely free of Redream’s rules, as she is sadly reset along with the rest of the program when those in the outside world rectify the technical glitch. That being said, the mini-simulation of Clara on the phone that is gifted to Brandy by Redream quietly implies that Corrin’s digitalBlack Mirrorcharacter has retained a little of her inherited humanity.
