‘Black Mirror’: What Is Sea of Tranquility, the Fictional TV Show Within the Show?

It’s an anime about a crew of intergalactic heroes fighting an evil empire. It’s an Emmy-winning HBO sci-fi Western at least 10 seasons long. It’s the most important sci-fi fantasy show ever made. Or, maybe, it’s just another Easter egg. If you’re a fan of the British anthology series Black Mirror, chances are you’re well-acquainted with a little television show named Sea of Tranquility. The title has been brought up many times in various episodes of the series, from Season 1 all the way to Season 6.

But what exactly is Sea of Tranquility? What’s its story, and when did its reign over science fiction begin? The bad news is that there are no definitive answers to these questions: Sea of Tranquility is a show that contains multitudes. It has been both a Japanese animation and an American prestige show. It has been a space western from the early 2000s, and it apparently got a reboot sometime in the future. Still, by putting together the pieces that Black Mirror has given us so far, we can figure out at least a couple of things about the classic, albeit inexistent series created by Charlie Brooker. Sadly, though, we weren’t able to find out when we will be able to watch it.

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How Often Is ‘Sea of Tranquility’ Mentioned in ‘Black Mirror’?

Black Mirror’s first mention of Sea of Tranquility happens right in the show’s first episode, from back when the series was still a Channel 4 original. In “The National Anthem”, the beloved Princess Susannah (Lydia Wilson) is kidnapped by an artist with some very, uh… peculiar demands. In order to ensure the princess’ safe return, her kidnapper wants the British prime minister, Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear), to have unsimulated sex with a pig on live TV. Naturally, the prime minister isn’t ecstatic about the demands. Thus, a significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Callow’s staff trying to find a way to fake the intercourse without the kidnapper taking notice. Their best plan, which eventually fails when someone leaks it online, is to have a porn actor, Rod Senseless (Jay Simpson), have sex with the pig while wearing a green mask. That way, they can have a VFX expert replace Rod’s head with the prime minister’s, or so they hope.

The VFX expert that is tasked with helping the British government in this outlandish plan is none other than a member of the Sea of Tranquility staff. According to one of the prime minister’s men, Noel (Johann Myers), who works for a company called Blue Eye, even won an Emmy for his work in the series, described solely as “that HBO Moon western thing”.

For a long time, that’s all the information fans got on Sea of Tranquility: it’s an HBO original, it’s kind of a western, it takes place on the Moon. For the first two seasons of Black Mirror, there are no other mentions of this sadly non-existent masterpiece. But things get a little more complex when we get to Season 3. In the first episode of the show made for Netflix, “Nosedive”, Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Lacie Pound, a woman desperate to boost her score on social media. In a world in which these apps define how we are treated by others and what opportunities we have access to, this is more than just a stroke to the ego: it’s a matter of life or death. So, when Lacie is invited to an elite influencer wedding, she jumps at the opportunity. Reaching the wedding, however, proves to be harder than she anticipates, and a huge portion of “Nosedive” is dedicated to Lacie trying to secure a ride to her destination.

Some of the people that Lacie asks for help are a group of “Trank Heads” on their way to Tranquility Con. Painted in fantastic tones of silver and purple, and wearing clothes and hats that evoke a sense of alien-ness, the Trank Heads agree to give Lacie a ride believing her to be a fellow fan of the “number one sci-fi fantasy” show in the world, according to their own assertion. Lacie’s plan backfires, of course, but as she’s searching the internet for info to deceive the Trank Heads, we get a glimpse of what Sea of Tranquility is about. Except, in “Nosedive”, Sea of Tranquility is no prestige American series, but a “Japanese sci-fi, fantasy anime”. According to the episode’s version of Wikipedia, it follows former Omega pilot Lieutenant Duster and his crew as they battle the evil Intergalactica Empire.

So perhaps it was an anime and HBO adapted it into a live-action western on the Moon? Or maybe it’s the other way around? We also cannot rule out the possibility that there are not just one, but two Sea of Tranquilities out there. Whatever the case, when the show is brought back in Season 5, it’s a reboot that has fans all excited. In “Smithereens”, the series is mentioned in a Twitter hashtag that either asks for or celebrates the announcement of a Sea of Tranquility reboot. Meanwhile, in “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too”, a TV host informs viewers that the show is indeed getting rebooted.

What Does ‘Black Mirror’ Season 6 Tell Us About ‘Sea of Tranquility’?

Season 6 of Black Mirror brings Sea of Tranquility back into the conversation. In Episode 4, “Mazey Day”, paparazzi Bo (Zazie Beetz) decides to have a career change after one of her photos drives an actor to kill himself. The picture in question unwillingly outed Justin Camley (Charles Hagerty), a former Sea of Tranquility star. Still, nothing of consequence is said about the show or about the role Camley played.

In Episode 1, however, things are a lot different. A rare comedic Black Mirror episode about a woman who finds out there is a streaming show based on her life, “Joan Is Awful” gives us perhaps the best look we’ve gotten so far at what on Earth – or the Moon – Sea of Tranquility is about. Early on in the episode, Joan (Annie Murphy) and her fiancé, Krish (Avi Nash), are sitting together on the couch, trying to pick a new show to watch on their Streamberry app. On the screen, we can see multiple suggestions, almost all of which reference other Black Mirror episodes. Eventually, Krish proposes that they watch Sea of Tranquility, which Joan immediately turns down because her co-worker Eric (Jared Goldstein) said it blows. The show’s banner, however, lingers on the screen for a while, giving us a good look at its synopsis. This version of Sea of Tranquility is described as: “HBO’s seminal sci-fi western returns for a climatic tenth series. Follow our intrepid crew as they manifest destiny far beyond the safety of the Inner Worlds”. The image that accompanies the text is of a circular spaceship near an Earth-like planet.

Since “Mazey Day” takes place in the early 2000s, a time before streaming services existed, it is quite likely that the Sea of Tranquility that Joan refuses to watch on “Joan Is Awful” is actually the reboot announced on “Smithereens” and “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too”. Or maybe “Joan Is Awful” takes place a little before the Season 5 episodes, and the Sea of Tranquility featured on Streamberry is actually a delayed season of an older show. There’s no way of knowing, at least, not so far. However, Sea of Tranquility is becoming more and more important to the Black Mirror lore as the show advances. Maybe in the following seasons, we will get a few more pieces to complete this space western puzzle.