10 TV Characters Who Went Through Hell To Win (And Died Anyway)

We’re getting into the anthology episodes because while these may be one-off stories, the characters they feature have gone through enough misery for multiple lifetimes. The poor denizens of the Twilight Zone and in particular The Outer Limits are infamous for suffering ironic fates that are often far worse than whatever misdemeanour prompted the misadventure that lead to them, and many were doomed to cruel hell just for the sheer fun of it.

The contemporary sci fi satire Black Mirror, penned by Charlie Brooker, may be sharper in its condemnation of society and culture than The Outer Limits, but it sure didn’t blunt the edge of the show’s mean sense of humour. Just look at Playtest, wherein a happy-go-lucky slacker played by Channing Tatum’s bromantic foil from 22 Jump Street gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to test out an experimental virtual reality game for a shadowy uber-rich developer.

What follows is a nightmarish odyssey which delves deep into his subconscious as his worst memories and fears come to life in the form of disformed spider monsters, a creaky haunted house, and murderous versions of a former lover. The episode culminates in his scraped-by survival, and ends with him reunited with his ailing mother.

Psyche! He actually died before the test even began—forgot to turn his phone off, didn’t he? Very subtle anti-tech subtext there, Charles.