Smithereens story
"Smithereens" is the second episode of the fifth series of the anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by Charlie Brooker and directed by James Hawes. The episode first aired on Netflix, along with the rest of series five, on 5 June 2019. It stars Andrew Scott, Damson Idris, and Topher Grace. Directed by: James Hawes. Story by: Charlie Brooker.
18 total · 4 choice · 8 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with suicide | choice | A mother was coping with daughter's suicide. |
| social media addiction | choice | Chris blamed social media addiction for his brief lack of attention to the road which led to a deadly crash. |
| social media in society | choice | Chris blamed social media. A social media boss used his platform in God mode. Much information was shared and found on social media. Kids were almost live streaming the hostage situation. |
| suicide | choice | Chris contemplated killing himself. A mother was living with the aftermath of her daughter having committed suicide. |
| beating one's self up | major | Chris blamed himself for his fiancée's death. A mother blamed herself for her daughter's suicide. |
| coping with the death of a child | major | A mother lost her daughter to suicide. |
| coping with the death of a lover | major | Chris lost fiancée in a drunk driving accident. |
| facing a hostage situation | major | The police were dealing with the hostage situation Chris had engineered. |
| remorse | major | Chris was beating himself up because of his driving accident killing his ex-girlfriend. A mother blamed herself for her daughter's suicide. |
| social inequality | major | We were lead to think that the story had something to do with the contrasting social statuses, but then it turned out to be entirely different. |