he latest edition of Black Mirror, its seventh, takes on the question of morality when it comes to artificial intelligence. It is the question that humans need to ask themselves when they believe they have become gods. Certainly giving birth to something that increasingly seems to take on lifelike attributes and, at least to the layperson, seems to be self-conscious, raises questions that people previously just assumed they would never need to ask themselves.

Hardly anyone was in a better position to give this question a palpable dimension than showrunner Charlie Brooker. One feels that some episodes of Black Mirrordo a better job of eliciting strong reactions and provoking deep consideration. There is something in the season to make every type of person ponder the key question.

Eulogy, co-written by Brooker and playwright/ screenwriter, Ella Road stands out. The episode does not take on this question thematically. It stands out for more profound reasons than the change of subject matter.

What gives the episode its potency is its emotional valence. Anyone who has been in a deeply passionate relationship that ended without closure can appreciate the profound lingering pain it can bring back even decades later. This and the tech-enabled vivid recall give the episode the power to break viewers’ hearts.

This episode that is reminiscent of one of my all-time favourite episodes from the first season: titled The History of You. There are some parallels between the two episodes, the first being the ability to go back into the past. The reason for this is grappling with the very human fact of inaccurate recall. What we are quite certain of can be a figment of imagination. This is the theme this episode takes on, adding to it the delicious context of an old love story that has left residual bitterness in both lovers. The episode starts off with a punch in the gut when the viewers find out that one of them has only recently passed away.

The episode stars Paul Giamatti, one of the best actors alive, who possesses the rare ability to single-handedly carry a story, which indeed he does. The episode involves a small chip-like device that one can attach to one’s temple (inspired by Musk’s neuralink?), a piece of tech that makes an appearance on other episodes in the season as well. In this episode this chip enables users to access memories sitting dormant in the deep recesses of their minds. As users visit these memories visually, more details are remembered and the process of untangling layer after layer commences.

And what would it mean for us to discover that we did not have to lose the love of our life all those years ago? 

Eulogy very neatly highlights the role of music in bringing back memories by eliciting strong emotions (neuroscience tells us that the more emotional an experience, the higher probability it has of being recalled).

What gives the episode its potency is its emotional valence. Anyone who has been in a deeply passionate relationship that ended without closure can appreciate the profound lingering pain it can bring back decades later. This and the tech-enabled vivid recall give the episode the power to break viewers’ hearts. At the core, it is a story of how even the most passionate resentment can pale in the face of death. Once one sees things from a different perspective, as one typically does following a death, there can be empathy in places where life seems impotent.

Contextually unique, Eulogy takes on a non-dystopian angle. The story makes one consider how technology might challenge our perception of the past, those who were part of it and ourselves, as we remember ourselves being.

If we were given the chance to revisit the most emotionally charged moments of our youth without the angst of youth, what would we find? Would we cease to villainise those we have long considered villains; would we be able to see how we participated in a heartbreak; and what would it mean for us to discover that we did not have to lose the love of our life all those years ago?

The author is a writer, actor and visual artist. He can be followed on instagram.com/un.eeb