Be Right Back
| "Be Right Back" | |
|---|---|
| Black Mirror episode | |
| Episode no. |
Series 2 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Owen Harris |
| Written by | Charlie Brooker |
| Original air date | 1 February 2013 |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Be Right Back", starring Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson, is the first episode of the second series of Black Mirror. It was written by series creator Charlie Brooker and first aired on Channel 4 on 11 February 2013.
Martha (Hayley Atwell) and Ash (Domhnall Gleeson) are a young couple who move to a remote house in the countryside. The day after moving into the house, Ash is killed while returning the hire van. After discovering she is pregnant, Martha reluctantly tries out a new online service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased. By using all of his past online communications and social media profiles, a new "Ash" can be created virtually. After starting out with instant messaging, Martha uploads videos and photos of Ash to the service's database, so that it can duplicate Ash's voice to talk to Martha over the phone. Martha allows herself to believe that she is talking to her dead partner, and over the following weeks she talks to the artificial Ash almost non-stop, keeping him updated regarding the pregnancy. After Martha accidentally damages her phone and has a panic attack when she temporarily loses contact with the service, the artificial Ash tells her about the service's next stage, which is still in its experimental phase: a body made of synthetic flesh that the program can be uploaded onto.
Following the artificial Ash's instructions, Martha turns a blank, synthetic body into an android that looks almost exactly like Ash and is only missing minor characteristics, such as his facial hair and a mole on his chest. From the moment the android is activated, Martha is uncomfortable and struggles to accept its existence. Despite the android's satisfying her sexually, she quickly becomes frustrated by its constantly doing what she says without question, its lack of emotion (it only expresses emotions when she tells it to do so), and the absence of certain habits and personality traits which the real Ash had but the service did not have information on. Upon taking the artificial Ash to a cliff, she orders it to jump off. Taking a cue from her, the android begs for its own life.
The scene cuts to several years later, and Martha is shown to have raised her now seven-year-old daughter Ash (Indira Ainger) in the country house, keeping the Ash android locked in the attic. She allows her daughter to see the android on weekends, but Martha's daughter convinces her to allow her into the attic on her birthday. While her daughter is in the attic with the android, Martha waits at the bottom of the attic steps, close to tears, before joining them.
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