Summary:

Black Mirror itself is a show that dives into the numerous “what ifs” the future may hold with the exceeding advancement of technology. This episode specifically centers around the idea of a dystopian future in London where people are forced to pedal on exercising bikes in order to not only provide energy for the city, but it is their way of providing for themselves as they earn currency in the form of merits for how much they pedal. This currency can be used to buy anything from food to adult shows and even a spot on a singing competition, which one woman with the help of her newly friend, Bing, and his merits, decides to do. However, she ultimately fails such competition, and instead, to the Bing’s enragement, ends up on one of the adult shows which they are forced to watch at certain times of the day, (unless they pay to skip them). Bing then goes on such show himself to try to get people to know the truth about their failed society.

Conditioning and Consumerism:

The commentary on conditioning and consumerism through the way of media is interesting focus in this episode. The bikers are trained to work harder in order to buy more. The entertainment they want to buy is constantly put in front of their faces while biking in the form of commercial-like promotion. The tv shows they buy in return also conditions them. For example, there's a show surrounding the humiliation of obese people which in return makes the desire to exercise on their bikes stronger in fear of being humiliated as well. Similarly, they are conditioned in their desires as they have forced programming of the same shows which they must pay to watch any other time. Such conditioning of desires becomes an illusion of a release of repression, for example, the adult shows a seemingly release of sexual desire, but in reality are only a part of the circular trap of extreme consumerism. The product of this becomes what appear to be "soulless" individuals who only work and consume. Such result becomes a social commentary on present society's heavy focus on consumerism and unawareness of conditioning through advertisment, and what it could become in its most extreme form.