Summary:
- Black Mirror Season 7, Common People follows Amanda and Mike as they struggle with a costly tech subscription keeping Amanda alive.
- The finale ends in tragedy as Mike suffocates Amanda and prepares for a livestreamed suicide.
- The episode critiques tech exploitation, monetized grief, and digital autonomy.
What Is Black Mirror Episode Common People About?
Black Mirror Season 7 kicks off with Common People, a grim episode centered around schoolteacher Amanda (played by Rashida Jones), who is diagnosed with a brain tumor. In an effort to preserve her life, her husband Mike (played by Chris O’Dowd) signs her up for an experimental service called Rivermind.
Rivermind offers a free surgical procedure that transfers a copy of Amanda’s brain structure to a digital mainframe. The catch? A monthly subscription fee is required to keep her cognitive functions active. As time progresses, Amanda’s condition worsens under the weight of this system. She must “sleep” for longer periods so her brain can be used as server power. Eventually, ads begin playing through her thoughts, and she is restricted to specific geographic zones unless the couple pays for tier upgrades.
Amanda’s mental and physical autonomy deteriorates. She blurts out commercials while teaching children, risking her job. Meanwhile, Mike, in desperation, turns to a disturbing online platform called Dum Dummies, where users inflict pain on themselves for money via livestreams.
READ MORE: Black Mirror Season 7 Plaything Cast and Character Guide
What Happens at the End of Common People?
The episode’s third act descends into full despair. After Mike is fired following a violent incident, the couple can no longer afford the premium Rivermind+ service. They return to the company for help, only to be coldly rejected.
One year later, Mike and Amanda celebrate their anniversary with a short booster of Rivermind Lux, a high-tier package allowing for temporary emotion tuning. Amanda, now completely worn down, tells Mike, “I think it’s time.” He lays her on the bed, tells her he loves her, and suffocates her with a pillow. Her final words, hauntingly, are a product pitch: “This is Amanda for Dum Dummies, saying I think it’s time.”
The screen cuts to Mike walking into a spare room holding a scalpel. His computer screen remains open on the Dum Dummies website, suggesting that he is preparing to livestream his own death.
READ MORE: Black Mirror Season 7 Bête Noire Twist Ending Explained
Why Did Mike Suffocate Amanda in Common People?
Mike’s action appears to be a desperate attempt to grant Amanda peace. She has been living a half-life—trapped in a monetized, ad-ridden existence with no autonomy. Her suffering under Rivermind‘s degrading tiers had become unbearable.
Amanda’s final statement—”I think it’s time”—was both a farewell and an echo of her conditioning as an ad unit. It reflected the deep blurring between personhood and product. Mike’s act of suffocating her is as much an emotional release as it is a rejection of the system that turned her into a commodity.
What Does the Final Scene in Common People Really Mean?
The last moments of Common People are loaded with implication. As Mike enters the spare room holding a scalpel, with Dum Dummies still active on his computer, the suggestion is clear: he intends to take his own life live on camera.
This disturbing implication aligns with the show’s theme—tech systems exploiting human despair for profit. The Dum Dummies site thrives on suffering as entertainment. Mike, out of options, becomes its latest victim. His tragedy is not just personal—it’s systemic.
The banner on the site reading “Coming Soon: Live Forever Streaming” hints at a future where death itself becomes monetized. The line draws a bleak parallel to Amanda’s digital endurance and suggests that Mike’s livestreamed suicide will be absorbed into the platform as content.
READ MORE: Death Of A Unicorn Final Scene And Cliffhanger
How Does Dum Dummies Reflect Tech Exploitation in Black Mirror?
The app Dum Dummies is central to Common People‘s critique of tech. Initially portrayed as a grotesque underground site, it becomes symbolic of modern platforms that profit off content without limits. In this dystopian future, even pain and death are monetized.
Amanda’s fate mirrors this exploitation. Her consciousness is used as server fuel, then as ad space, and finally as a dying billboard. Mike becomes both consumer and product—first watching, then participating, and finally offering his own demise as content.
The app’s true nature isn’t just to replicate companionship—it turns trauma into currency.
Is Amanda Fully Autonomous or Still Controlled by the App?
There’s a lingering question over Amanda’s consciousness. Has she become truly sentient or is she merely acting out Rivermind‘s scripts? Her ability to express pain, agency, and finally request death suggests some level of autonomy.
However, her final words—so perfectly branded and tonally synced to her original career in advertising—hint that the line between her real self and Rivermind’s programming has fully blurred. The system has either absorbed her identity or trained her digital self to mimic grief and consent in a way that serves its goals.
Black Mirror Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix. Common People is the premiere episode.
Stay updated with the Latest News and Stories, follow us on our social media platforms.
You can follow us on:
Stay Connected!! Join our Whatsapp Channel
