"USS Callister" is the first episode of the fourth series of the anthology series Black Mirror. Written by series creator Charlie Brooker and William Bridges and directed by Toby Haynes, it first aired on Netflix, along with the rest of series four, on 29 December 2017.
The episode follows Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), a reclusive but gifted programmer and co-founder of a popular massively multiplayer online game who is bitter over the lack of recognition of his position from his coworkers. He takes out his frustrations by simulating a Star Trek–like space adventure within the game, using his co-workers' DNA to create sentient digital clones of them. Acting as the captain of the USS Callister starship, Daly is able to order his co-workers around, bend them to his will, and mistreat them if they get out of line. When Daly brings newly hired Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) into his game, she encourages the other clones to revolt against Daly.
In contrast to most Black Mirror episodes, "USS Callister" contains overt comedy, and it has many special effects. As a fan of Star Trek, Bridges was keen to introduce many details from the show into "USS Callister", though the episode was conceived mostly with The Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" and Viz character Playtime Fontayne in mind. The episode's reception was overwhelmingly positive, with reviewers praising the allusions to Star Trek, the acting, and the cinematography. Critics saw the episode as being about male abuse of authority, and compared Daly to contemporary events surrounding internet bullies and sexual abuse committed by Harvey Weinstein. In 2018, the episode won four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special, and was nominated for three other Emmy Awards.
Plot
Aboard the spaceship USS Callister, Captain Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) and his crew destroy their arch enemy Valdack's (Billy Magnussen) ship, but he escapes. The crew celebrates, with Daly kissing both female crewmates.
The real-life version of Daly is CTO at Callister Inc. The company was co-founded by Daly and James Walton (Jimmi Simpson), the company's CEO, which produces the multiplayer game Infinity, in which users control a starship in a simulated reality. Daly is treated poorly by his fellow employees, who appear identical to Captain Daly's crewmates. New programmer Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) praises Daly's work on Infinity, but the more assertive Walton interrupts to show her around the office. When Daly returns home, he opens a development build of Infinity which is modded to resemble his favourite television show Space Fleet. As Captain Daly, he berates the crewmates, strangling a subservient Walton.
After employee Shania Lowry (Michaela Coel) warns Nanette to beware of Daly, he takes a discarded coffee cup of Nanette's and uses her DNA to replicate her consciousness within his development build. Nanette awakens aboard the USS Callister, confused and distraught. Lowry explains that they are digital clones of Callister Inc. staff members. Nanette attempts to escape the ship but is teleported back to the bridge. She refuses to obey Daly's commands, so he removes her facial features, suffocating her, until she relents.
The crew embark on a mission in which they apprehend Valdack but spare his life. After Daly leaves, Nanette finds a way to send a game invitation containing a message for help to the real-world Nanette. The real-world Nanette asks the real-world Daly about the message, and he dismisses it as spam. Daly enters the game to interrogate his crew and transforms Lowry into a monster when she defends Nanette. Once Daly departs, Nanette identifies a distant wormhole as an uplink to Infinitys next update; she surmises that by flying into the wormhole, the firewall will delete them and they will die. Walton is very hesitant to help; he explains that Daly has previously recreated his son Tommy within the game, throwing him out of an airlock to punish Walton. He also points out that since Daly still has all their DNA, he can just recreate them and punish them further. Nanette promises the crew that they will recover the lollipop containing Tommy's DNA.