Retro Spectacles continues its Black Mirror deep dive with the compact three-episode fifth season. Striking Vipers, Smithereens, and Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too tackle virtual intimacy, addictive technology, and artificial companionship, but Teddy and Mitcz find the season increasingly more interesting on paper than what ultimately makes it to the screen.

Striking Vipers stars Anthony Mackie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Beharie in a story about longtime friends whose reunion inside an immersive VR fighting game complicates friendship, sexuality, and marriage. Smithereens follows Andrew Scott as a desperate man trying to reach a social media CEO played by Topher Grace, while Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too casts Miley Cyrus as a pop star whose personality becomes the foundation for an AI companion.

Mitcz and Teddy debate whether virtual sex counts as cheating, social media addiction and tech CEO accountability, AI companions, digital relationships, and the increasingly blurry line between personality and code.

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