Science fiction television series "Black Mirror" kicked off its fourth season with an episode clearly inspired by Star Trek. Titled "USS Callister," the episode is an exploration of how virtual technology can be used to bring the ultimate gaming experience, or create the most punishing environment for the human consciousness.
"USS Callister" starts off with a clip of an old show presented in 4:3 aspect ratio. It is clearly a homage to Star Trek, complete with the campy suits and over-the-top dialogue. If features Captain Robert Daly (played by Jesse Plemons) and the rest of the crew of spaceship USS Callister. They play as members of Space Fleet, an organization of space explorers and peacekeepers.
Later in the episode, it was revealed that the clip was not a show at all, but a virtual simulation. It was created by the real-life Daly, who in actual life is a Chief Technical Officer of Callister, a company that creates a virtual reality simulation called "Infinity."
Daly's "Space Fleet" show was actually his private mod of the "Infinity" game, and he uses it to live out his fantasies.
The darker side is that he can trap anyone's consciousness in the Space Fleet mod if he can get his hands on their DNA. He uses this to punish people in the virtual world if he was slighted by them in real life.
For example, Daly took his business partner Walton (played by Jesse Simpson) and humiliated him repeatedly because Daly felt he was being underappreciated for his real-life work as Chief Technical Officer.
Eventually, new recruit Nanette Cole (played by Cristin Milioti) hatches a plan to defy the Daly's god-like power in the modded virtual reality. The virtual Cole blackmails her real self to help them disable Daly's control of the simulation.
"USS Callister" is the premiere episode of "Black Mirror" season 4. It is the first of six episodes, all of which are available for streaming on Netflix.
