Warning: spoilers for Black Mirror Season 6, Episode 4, “Beyond The Sea” are in play. If you haven’t watched this terrifying tale just yet, you’ve been warned.
Those of you keeping track of everything new on Netflix are without a doubt pleased to know that Black Mirror is back! Five new tales of technology and human nature intersecting have been released to the public, with creator Charlie Brooker’s usual blend of cutting satire and dark consequences back in action. In the episode “Beyond The Sea,” Brooker may have just crafted his most chilling ending, thanks to the talents of Josh Hartnett and Aaron Paul.
I’m about to break down what happened, as well as the road to this conclusion that’s as dark as the depths of space. So if you want to go in unspoiled, and I highly suggest you do, this is your final spoiler warning. Use that Netflix subscription to enjoy this dark and dour drama, and you’ll be able to really dig into what’s about to go down.
For those of you ready to dig in, let’s go somewhere, beyond the sea, where the cold truth is waiting for us all.
What Happened In Beyond The Sea’s Chilling Ending
After suffering the loss of his family at the hands of anti-technology fanatics, David Ross (Josh Hartnett) has been breaking down during his extended space mission with Cliff Stanfield (Aaron Paul). Through the kindness of Cliff and his wife Lana (Kate Mara), David has visited Cliff’s family through Cliff's robot Replica; a copy of Cliff on Earth through which he can remotely link up to and interact with his loved ones.
This dark twist on an Avatar-like scenario becomes even bleaker when Cliff and Lana decide to cut themselves off from David, as he’s made them uncomfortable with his behavior. Desperation turns to devastation, as Hartnett’s Black Mirror character tricks Aaron Paul’s Cliff into leaving the spacecraft on a bogus repair mission. In that time, David Ross kills the family of his friend/co-worker, with Cliff only finding out about what he’s done when it’s too late. Using his replica, Cliff comes face to face with what David has done, then returns to ship to find out why.
Pushing a chair over to his now grieving companion, David Ross only offers a look in explanation. We end on a shot of the spacecraft that’s now the only home for these two rocket men, in a finale that’s open ended, and quite possibly one of the most depressing endings to a Black Mirror episode ever.
David Ross’ Dark, Tragic Path To Becoming A Killer
When we’re first introduced to David Ross, he’s practically living the dream. He’s got a wife (Auden Thornton) and two kids (Billie Sturrock Kewish & Charlie Fidelski) that are his everything, keeping him connected to his home planet thanks to his Replica, while he toils away in space. Once that’s taken away from him by Kappa (Rory Culkin) and his Manson Family-style band of hippies, David naturally grieves his losses and feels aimless.
A brief window of hope opens in his opportunity to live vicariously through Cliff Stanfield’s Replica, and things start out friendly enough. But even the charismatic figure that Josh Hartnett plays has his own dark side. It reveals itself when he tries to make an advance on Lana, proclaiming to her that Cliff doesn’t understand how good he has it.
The way that I interpret David’s heel turn towards the end of “Beyond The Sea” is that he’s trying to teach Cliff a lesson. After losing his own family due to tragedy, Hartnett’s would-be antagonist wants Paul’s presumed protagonist to feel the same pain he does, through the teaching of that lesson. But why didn’t Cliff Stanfield deserve his family?
Why Cliff Stanfield Didn’t Deserve His Family, According To David
David Ross kind of calls out the problems with Cliff Stanfield’s home life, both through his interactions with Lana and Cliff himself. In David’s mind, Cliff doesn’t deserve his family because he rarely shows affection towards them, isolating himself emotionally to a certain extent. Blowing up at his supposedly ungrateful friend, David calls Lana “unappreciated, unsatisfied, untouched.”
And yet, David Ross isn’t exactly better at raising a family himself. When he tries to show that tender love and care during a semi-romantic dance with Lana, aptly set to the tune of “La Mer” from which this Black Mirror episode gets its name, he’s rejected. And the next action David carries out in Cliff’s body is to hit young Henry (Daniel Bell) after he ruins his painting.
Lana Stanfield is indeed a lonely woman, who sees herself and her husband moving “from room to room,” but not really connecting. “Beyond The Sea” shows a potential for these two lovers to work things out, as Cliff apologizes to his wife and seems to be learning the lesson David Ross wants him to learn. Just not in a way that satisfies his colleague’s anguished mind, especially after delivering a monologue that can be boiled down into two words: “She’s mine.” Based on what we knew about Black Mirror Season 6, or any other season for that matter, things weren't going to end well.
What Could Beyond The Sea’s Final Moment Mean?
The final moments of “Beyond The Sea” have the audience watching a cold looking David sliding a chair out for the grieving Cliff. Inviting his companion to take a seat, he only offers a look that seems to convey he’s welcoming him to his world. Specifically, he’s welcoming him to engage in his grief, as the two now share that dark and unforgiving thread in their lives.
David Ross and Cliff Stanfield are more alike than they think in this Black Mirror parable. David’s turn isn’t all that surprising when you dig more into his behaviors with Cliff’s family, and even his own. Moments like his polite chastising of daughter Lily when she doesn’t return to her original pose for a family portrait.
Ending with one final moment where Charles Trenet’s “La Mer” is playing over the spacecraft’s venture into darkness, “Beyond The Sea” leaves its grieving astronauts with only each other to cling to. No final conversation, no cathartic words of closure, just two men drifting farther away from their home.
While I would have liked for there to be one last scene where Josh Hartnett and Aaron Paul hash out what just happened, that’s not the point of this Black Mirror tale. If anything, the lack of closure speaks louder than any potential final chat could. Grief isn’t easily settled in the real world, so why should Charlie Brooker’s dystopia that sits only a couple of thin layers away from reality treat it any differently? They can’t all be “Hang The DJ,” can they?
However, that point is up for debate, as we here at CinemaBlend are covering some of the other endings Black Mirror Season 6 has to offer. If you’re curious, we have a piece about “Joan Is Awful’s” twisty conclusion, as well as a discussion of what led to “Loch Henry’s” finale available for you to read. For all you know, those talks could be the pick me up you need after “Beyond The Sea’s” dreadful closing.
