"Striking Vipers" is the first episode of the fifth series of the anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by Owen Harris. The episode was released on Netflix, along with the rest of series five, on 5 June 2019.
The episode follows two old friends, Danny Parker (Anthony Mackie) and Karl Houghton (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), reconnecting over a virtual reality fighting game. They begin having virtual sex in the game, which affects Danny's marriage with Theo (Nicole Beharie). The episode was filmed in Brazil. Its storyline arose from an idea about a workplace affair in virtual reality where neither co-worker knew the other's identity.
Critics identified fluidity of sexuality and gender, infidelity, love and friendship as major themes; the episode raises questions about whether Danny and Karl are gay and whether their relationship is infidelity. Reviewers were divided over whether it addressed these themes in an interesting way, and some found it inferior to series three's "San Junipero", which shows a lesbian relationship in virtual reality. The acting and directing was mostly praised, though some critics found the characterisation lacking.
Plot 27-year-old Danny Parker (Anthony Mackie) and his girlfriend Theo (Nicole Beharie) go to a bar and pretend to be strangers. After they return home and have sex, Danny loudly plays the fictional fighting game Striking Vipers with his friend Karl Houghton (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) as their preferred characters Lance and Roxette, respectively. This wakes Theo up.
Eleven years later, Danny hosts a barbecue at his house with Theo, with whom he is married and has a five-year-old child named Tyler (August Muschett). He has fallen out of contact with Karl, who is currently seeing a younger woman named Mariella (Fola Evans-Akingbola). At the party, Karl gives Danny a birthday present: Striking Vipers X, the series' newest installment, and the virtual reality kit needed to play it. That night, the pair play the game in their respective homes, falling motionless in real life as they fully experience all sensations of Lance (Ludi Lin) and Roxette (Pom Klementieff). After a bout of fighting, which induces real pain, they fall onto each other. Karl (as Roxette) kisses Danny (as Lance), but Danny pulls away after a few seconds and they exit the game.
Over the next few weeks, Danny and Karl regularly have sex in the game in the characters' bodies, and Theo notices that Danny is becoming withdrawn and no longer has sex with her, even though they have been trying to have a baby. Theo confronts him on their wedding anniversary and asks if he is having an affair. Danny says he is not and tells Karl they need to stop playing the game.
At Danny's next birthday, Theo invites Karl to dinner as a surprise. Karl reveals to Danny that he has been unable to recreate the emotions or experiences with computer-controlled characters or other players. That night, the pair enter the game and have passionate sex. Afterwards, Karl says "I love you". Danny arranges for them to meet in real life and kiss in their actual bodies, but both of them agree that there is no feeling there. Karl argues they should continue seeing each other in the game but Danny disagrees, and an ensuing fight is broken up by the police. Theo picks up Danny from the police station and is enraged at his silence about what caused the fight. Danny finally admits the truth.
On July 14, as the three have agreed on an annual tradition, Danny plays Striking Vipers X with Karl while Theo goes to the bar without her wedding ring to meet a stranger.
Production A fifth series of Black Mirror was commissioned by Netflix in March 2018, three months after the release of series four. Initially part of series five's production, the interactive work Black Mirror: Bandersnatch increased in scope to the point where it was separated from the series and released as a standalone film; it premiered on 28 December 2018. Although previous series of the programme produced under Netflix contained six episodes, series five comprises three episodes, as the series creator Charlie Brooker viewed this as preferable to making viewers wait longer for the next series. The three episodes—"Striking Vipers", "Smithereens" and "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"—were released on Netflix simultaneously on 5 June 2019. As Black Mirror is an anthology series, each instalment can be watched in any order. "Striking Vipers" was filmed before Bandersnatch.
Conception and writing The episode was written by Brooker, alongside the executive producer Annabel Jones. The initial concept was for an office cohort to spend time in a virtual reality simulation as part of a team-building exercise, where they would prepare to perform the musical Grease. As part of the exercise, each employee's identity within the simulation would be unknown. The idea was conceived for two of the employees to have an affair within the simulation. This story changed over time, and was informed by another source of inspiration: Brooker was reflecting on his days of playing the fighting game Tekken with flatmates in the 1990s, and thought there was something interesting in the "homoerotic" and "weirdly primal" nature of the situation. He thought that neighbours could confuse their gaming sessions for a sex dungeon based on the noises they made. During the writing of "Striking Vipers", a variety of fighting games were used for reference, including Dead or Alive, a series where the characters have sexually provocative appearances.
Pornography was a theme discussed by the writers. Jones said the episode relates to the question of "when porn stops being a healthy distraction and actually becomes an affair". The name "Striking Vipers", which alludes to snakes and perhaps sexual imagery, was chosen by Brooker to sound like a plausible game title. During the writing process, he nicknamed it "Man Junipero", in reference to the series three episode "San Junipero". Brooker was conflicted as to whether the relationship between Danny and Karl is accurately described as a gay relationship, saying that it is also about male friendship and the barriers to communication between men. Jones noted that Danny's character regains a younger physique by entering the game, saying that there was a broader theme about aging and "finding your identity when you don't have those staples that you've grown up with".
In regards to the real-life kiss Danny and Karl share, Brooker thought the characters were telling the truth about experiencing a lack of excitement, but that it was different within the virtual reality game. Jones said that Danny feels relieved by the information he gets from the kiss, as he may be able to retain a stability in his marriage, but Karl feels worried over what implications it has for their virtual reality relationship. The final arrangement Theo, Danny and Karl have occurs once per year. Brooker and Jones saw this ending as both pragmatic and romantic. Jones said that Theo needs "to feel excited and loved", Danny needs "escapism and wish-fulfilment" and that Karl is "quite isolated", though the arrangement is "enough to sustain him". Brooker similarly commented that Karl's predicament is "the most bleak", while Danny and Theo's marriage "has actually been strengthened" by the arrangement—specifically, by their newfound communication about "their fantasies and needs". He saw the ending as ambiguous, rather than unreservedly happy.
Casting and filming
"Striking Vipers" was the third Black Mirror episode to be directed by Owen Harris, after series two's "Be Right Back", and series three's "San Junipero". The episode has an all-black main cast, with Anthony Mackie as Danny, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Karl and Nicole Beharie as Theo. Beharie was a big fan of the show prior to her appearance. Within Striking Vipers X, Danny plays as Lance—portrayed by Ludi Lin—and Karl plays as Roxette—acted by Pom Klementieff. By coincidence, four of the actors played major roles in superhero films—Mackie was Falcon, Klementieff was Mantis, Abdul-Mateen was Black Manta, and Lin was the Black Ranger in Power Rangers. Though the script originally called for a suburban England setting, it is set in America. It was filmed in São Paulo, Brazil, from 18 March to 18 April 2018. The production company registered 19 locations for filming and 150 production staff. For example, the final scene of the episode shows a Striking Vipers X scene on top of a skyscraper, shot near the Edifício Copan, with a former Hilton Hotel made to look disused with computer-generated imagery.
Harris found it interesting that the bromance had not been subverted often in fiction, and enjoyed the question of whether society's views on monogamy and marriage might change, like how attitudes to dating changed with the prevalence of dating apps. Harris said that the episode had a dark humour, and one of the lines which helped him understand it was Karl's "I fucked a polar bear and I still couldn't get you out of my mind", which became oft-repeated by fans. Mackie said that the filming of the scene with that line "took probably an hour longer than it was supposed to" because of how amusing the actors found it. When asked about fans, Mackie said that those who approached him would either be interested in a long conversation about the themes of the episode, or make homophobic and uninformed comments about it.
Mackie said that love was the important idea in the episode, and that the crew spoke about "what it means for people to truly care about each other". The script was written without the race of the male characters in mind. Commenting that masculinity in the black community was a contemporary discussion point, Mackie recalled that Harris talked with him very early on about the relevance of race to the characters. In response to whether Karl was gay, Harris said that sexuality is a spectrum "far broader and more complex" than "black and white". Abdul-Mateen thought that Karl felt "understood and... seen by Danny" and that it was this that he found attractive in the relationship. He said that Karl feels loneliness underneath his external personality. Abdul-Mateen made it ambiguous whether Karl was suppressing his sexuality or was simply finding himself in a new situation, and said that they "didn't want to define exactly" what underpinned Danny and Karl's relationship.
Jones said of Danny and Karl's real-life kiss that both actors aimed to be clear that the excitement from Striking Vipers X was "not being echoed in the real world", and that the characters were relieved by this. Abdul-Mateen thought the scene was important in its depiction of two black men with "a vessel to explore their sexuality and to understand who they are". Describing the filming, he said that "shooting in the rain is never easy" and estimated it took three to four hours. Harris saw the ending as "pragmatic": they considered showing more details about whether the arrangement was succeeding in practice, but chose to leave the ambiguity. Abdul-Mateen noted that Karl has a cat at the end of the episode, which means "he has something to take care of". He thought it could imply that Karl has matured, but is still lonesome.
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