Aaron Paul's Best Effort Couldn't Salvage Black Mirror Season 6's Weakest Episode

The third episode of Black Mirror's new season, 'Beyond the Sea,' is dividing audiences. You can literally find opposing fan opinions on social media saying it is the best episode of the season and the worst. But who is right? It seems that fans are just looking at the episode from different perspectives.

'Beyond the Sea' certainly has its merits, and many of them. The cinematography is stunning. The episode is set in an alternate 1969, featuring the early 70s vibe that is a perfect mix of nostalgia and beautiful visuals. Also, the acting is exceptional in this episode — Kate Mara, Josh Hartnett, and especially Aaron Paul give the performances of their lives. But even their best efforts can't patch up the episode's plot holes.

With two opposing protagonists, a moral issue, and an imaginative technology that transfers the consciousness of astronauts into replica bodies on Earth, the story is clearly inspired by popular sci-fi novels of the period. But after the initial charm of the established world wears off, the plot becomes increasingly implausible.

Hartnett's David and Paul's Cliff are on a six-year mission in space. The mission goes awry when David's family is killed by fanatics who also destroy his replica body. After experiencing the horrible tragedy and being stuck in complete isolation for 167 hours a week, David goes off the rails, leading to another tragedy.

And this brings us to the main question and the biggest plot hole of 'Beyond the Sea' — why didn't NASA or whoever was in charge of the mission take care of David and his emotional state? Think about it for a second. David is a stand-up guy, on a dangerous mission for the benefit of mankind, and nothing is done to support him.

It is briefly explained that the replica bodies were made while David and Cliff were still on Earth, and it's impossible to make a new body for David now that he is in space. But how realistic is that? They can make flawless replicas and project someone's consciousness across millions of miles, but they don't have a spare or a prototype lying around for David to use? Really?

David could hop on Cliff's replica on a whim, so it was definitely not an issue with individual settings. The company could at least move the last remaining synthetic body to a place where it could be shared by both astronauts. But instead, they just abandoned David with his problems.

It seems that the individual rating of the episode depends on whether a viewer is able to see through this huge flaw in logic. If you can't, 'Beyond the Sea' will definitely feel like the weakest episode of the season, despite all its perks.