Black Mirror: 3 new theories for season 5 based on the new trailers

Netflix released three new trailers for Black Mirror season 5. Here’s what we’re predicting now that the individual trailers are out.

Not long after releasing the season 5 trailer for Black Mirror last week, Netflix shared three new trailers for the season today — one per episode.

This season may be on the shorter side, but the episodes are not to be missed. The first episode title, as we learned, is called “Smithereens,” based on an app in the episode. The next episode is titled “Striking Vipers,” which may be named after a fictional video game. And now, with the release of the trailer, we know the final episode is called “Rachel, Jack and Ashely Too.”

If you haven’t seen the trailers, you can watch each of them below. And as you do, read on to see what we’re predicting about each episode now that their trailers are out.

“Smithereens”

Theory: Topher Grace’s character created the Smithereens app.

In the first trailer, there was little context as to who Topher Grace’s character was or which episode he would be in. Now, at least we know he’s in this episode, but his scenes still seem out of place. Amid the chaos following Andrew Scott’s character as he holds his passenger hostage, there’s a brief shot of Grace in a sunlit room somewhere.

Given the lighting in the quick shot is much brighter than the dull lighting at the hostage scene, we could assume that Topher Grace is in a much better place (both physically and emotionally). But, it has us wondering if he’s the person at the center of it all. Was Grace the Mark Zuckerberg of Smithereens, soon becoming like Scott’s character and needing to get away from everythingl? It’s quite possible he could be the key to it all.

“Striking Vipers”

Theory: Anthony Mackie’s character is addicted to video games.

Something’s amiss with Anothy Mackie’s character in this episode, that’s for sure. We could be led to believe that Mackie will fall into this trap of cheating on his wife. Sure, that’s the easy conflict in this situation, but Black Mirror sometimes has a cheeky sense of humor when it comes to its plot twists.

Instead of a mistress being the reason why his character doesn’t spend time with his wife, we could definitely see a gaming addiction being at the center of his absence. Of course, any addiction is no laughing matter, but it’s not what you’d expect from your average storyline.

Plus, all the promotional materials (including the title) seem to indicate that video games will be a part of this episode (just look at the device he uses, which looks similar to the one in “U.S.S. Calister“). On top of that, there’s a cool Easter egg website for the fictional gaming company Tucker Soft (from Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) which references “Striking Vipers.”

“Rachel, Jack and Ashely Too”

Theory: The girls will have to save Ashley.

The previous trailer for Black Mirror didn’t give us a lot of information about the robo-companion spewing out positive affirmations. But now we see that the tiny robot is actually called Ashley Too, based on Miley Cyrus’ pop star character, Ashley.

As positive as Ashley Too may seem, the end of the trailer shows that Ashley Too is more conscious than we thought. Plus, it looks like the real Ashley is putting up a facade. She’s not as happy as she looks, and someone may be running experiments on her that are somehow linked to Ashley Too. Even though Ashley Too should be helping the young girls stay positive, it just may be that girls end up saving the real Ashley and rescuing her from her manipulators.

Black Mirror season 5 will stream on Netflix on June 5.