What That Final Phone Call Means In Black Mirror Season 7 Episode 3

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Black Mirror season 7, episode 3, “Hotel Reverie.”

Black Mirror season 7, episode 3, “Hotel Reverie” has a bittersweet and memorable ending. While some Black Mirror season 7 episodes focus on characters from previous seasons, “Hotel Reverie” focuses on new characters. The Black Mirror episode revolves around the premise of a technology known as Redream, which allows actors to be inserted into remakes of classic movies. The actor is immersed in the world of the movie and interacts with the other characters, who are AI constructs, but it is imperative that the story remains on-script.

Redream seems like it is poised to solve the problems facing the frustrated actor Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) and Keyworth Pictures’ Judith, who is trying to save her struggling movie studio. However, like all seasons of Black Mirror, things start to go awry when Brandy goes off-script, falls in love with the AI construct of Clara (Emma Corrin), and the team overseeing the production make their own mistakes as well. Brandy ultimately survives, and the Hotel Reverie remake becomes a hit, but it comes at a high personal cost to her and Clara.

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Emma Corin in Black Mirror Season 7, Episode 3, Hotel Reverie

Brandy is not the only one whose choices fundamentally change the story of the original Hotel Reverie. During the movie’s final scene, Clara shoots and kills her husband, Claude (Stanley Weber), along with Inspector Lavigne (Farid Larbi), and this leads to Clara being fatally shot as well. Clara makes this choice to protect Brandy and to exert her free will, which she was previously denied while living as an AI construct having to follow a script.

A composite image of Cristin Milioti sitting in the captain's chair in front of Will Poulter holding up a CD in Black Mirror.

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Earlier in the episode, Brandy questions whether Clara genuinely loves her, or if her feelings are solely a result of her programming. Clara going off-script and sacrificing herself to save Brandy proves that her love was genuine, which answers Brandy’s question in heartbreaking fashion. This sacrifice also ensures that Brandy is able to get to the end of the script, which allows her to return to the real world, instead of dying in both the movie and in reality.

What That Phone Call Means For Brandy & Clara

They May Still Have A Future Together

Brandy (Issa Rae) talking on a red rotary phone in Black Mirror season 7, episode 3, "Hotel Reverie" — Image via Netflix

After some time spent back in the real world, and after the Hotel Reverie remake becomes a streaming hit, Brandy receives an unexpected gift from the Redream representative, Kimmy (Awkwafina). The gift is a Redream device that allows Brandy to see Clara and a rotary phone that enables them to speak with each other. Brandy calls Clara, and they begin to strike up a friendly conversation. However, they are not fully reunited, both in a literal sense and because this version of Clara does not have the memories that Brandy has of their history together.

Brandy and Clara will be essentially trapped in a permanent long-distance relationship.

Rae describes the “Hotel Reverie” ending as “bittersweet” because even if Brandy and Clara do reconnect, it will still be an isolating experience for both characters, and there is a great deal they will still be unable to share. Based on how their conversation starts, and the fact they were still in love after Clara was reset, there is hope for their romantic spark to be revived. It will be a difficult relationship to sustain, though, as Brandy and Clara will be essentially trapped in a permanent long-distance relationship.

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As Kimmy explains, ReDream allows a movie to be remade in real time. The technology builds an environment with AI constructs that directly replicate the sets, characters, visual aesthetic, and other aspects that exist in the original movie. An actor, like Brandy, can then have her consciousness inserted into this environment via a synaptic device Kimmy refers to as a mesmerizer. Brandy’s body stays in reality, but her mind is transported into the world of the movie. Meanwhile, the AI constructs do not see Brandy, but instead see the original protagonist, Dr. Alex Palmer, played by Ralph Redwell (Enzo Cilenti).

Unlike the AI constructs, the audience sees Brandy as Dr. Alex Palmer and understands that the character has been gender-swapped.

Things begin to go wrong when Brandy goes off-script, as each decision has a butterfly effect that alters the future of the story, and the integrity of the fictional world begins to crumble. Going off-script leads to an expansion of Clara’s character, which causes a stack overflow that impedes Brandy’s ability to be safely extracted. She can only be safely pulled out if she reaches the end of the script and says the movie’s final line, “I’ll be yours forevermore.”

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The other major issue is that one of the Redream employees, Jack (Charlie Hiscock), accidentally spills his coffee on one of the servers. This temporarily cuts off communication between Brandy and Kimmy, and Brandy is left without any support or direction. While Kimmy, Jack, Judith, and the rest of the team in the outside world scramble to fix the issue in a matter of minutes, days go by for Brandy and Clara as they fall in love. Meanwhile, all the AI constructs around them are frozen, at least until the Redream connection is restored.

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Everything Works Out For Them

Despite the behind-the-scenes catastrophe and Brandy coming close to dying, the Hotel Reverie remake becomes a massive streaming success. The movie is available on Streamberry, which is a Black Mirror Easter egg, since the streaming platform was previously introduced in season 6. As Kimmy promised, the success of the Hotel Reverie remake saves Keyworth Pictures, meaning Judith is able to keep the studio alive as it carves out a niche in the modern entertainment landscape.

One of the posters in Judith Keyworth’s office is for a movie called The White Bear, which is a reference to an episode of the same name from Black Mirror season 2.

Judith and her company have financially profited from this experience and will likely continue using Redream to create more affordable remakes of Keyworth Pictures’ classic movies. This probably means that Kimmy is financially benefiting as well, which is why she feels the need to send the gift to Brandy, as she knows her success would not have been possible without the emotional devastation Brandy went through. Redream will continue to be used, but more safety issues will surely arise due to the inevitability of human error and the power of free will.

The Real Meaning Of Hotel Reverie’s Ending

Free Will Is A Double-Edged Sword

Brandy (Issa Rae) as Dr. Alex Palmer smiling and holding a newspaper in "Hotel Reverie"

“Hotel Reverie” is a bittersweet love story that explores the beautiful and tragic consequences of free will. The actor who played Clara, Dorothy Chambers, was not able to fully exercise her free will and be with the woman she loved due to social stigma and prejudice. Even though the Redream version of Clara is an AI construct, she eventually accesses Clara’s memories and uses her free will to fall in love with Brandy. Clara’s choices allow her to experience beautiful things, but she also endures the horrific consequences of having these memories wiped from her consciousness.

Black Mirror emphasizes how free will is liberating and empowering, but it also comes with irrevocable consequences, which culminate in a bittersweet reality for everyone.

Brandy experiences genuine love and feels more alive than she has ever felt before, which is why she at one point considers staying even if it means that she will die. Her choices to go off-script make this wonderful discovery possible, but she also has to live with the anguish of not getting to stay with Clara, and to have a bond that no one in the real world can fully understand. Black Mirror emphasizes how free will is liberating and empowering, but it also comes with irrevocable consequences, which culminate in a bittersweet reality for everyone.