Black Mirror: 10 Character Fates Worse Than Death
9. Men Against Fire - Living With Guilt Through A Filter
It's said that ignorance is bliss, and in the case of this season three episode that statement could not be more true.
The technological culprit in this episode is a gizmo referred to as MASS: a military implant that gives soldiers a strategic advantage when out in the field. MASS dilutes the horrors of war, and rewards the gung-ho nature of the users with sexual dreams and emotional gratification.
The episode's hero, Stripe (Malachi Kirby), is a young and idealistic soldier who has fully bought into the glory and freedoms his army buddies flaunt. When his MASS gets disrupted by a "Roach", be begins to see his enemy for what they truly are - namely, innocent human civilians - and the facade of his commanders slips away.
When Stripe tries to fight back against the lie he was sold, he is given two options: a memory wipe, or imprisonment. In the final scene, we see Stripe return to his white picket-fence home, with a beautiful woman waiting for him on the porch - only for the reality to show he actually lives in vandalised squalor with no one at the door waiting for him.
The tear rolling down Stripe's cheek indicates that he knows he is aware of the lie put before him, and that everything before him is a polished lie.