The Lobster Dance

Luckily all our bi horror storylines aren’t just coded (The Haunting) or incredibly violent (The Daylight Gate)! “San Junipero,” episode 4 of season 3 of Black Mirror, is the story of Yorkie and Kelly, two queer women who meet in the beach resort town of San Junipero.

Image: Kelly tells Yorkie “Whatever I say, go along with it.”

Moderate spoilers below, but this episode is so complex that the spoilers here aren’t even the major spoilers.

I know Black Mirror is all about the twist ending, but this episode provided not just a sci-fi twist but flipped a lot of tropes about stories about queer women.  After Yorkie helps Kelly get away from a man she isn’t interested in seeing any more, Kelly asks if Yorkie would like to go back to her place. Yorkie demurs, saying she’s engaged to a man named Greg. Queer folks who consume media about queer women know the drill: Yorkie must be a baby bisexual engaged to a man and Kelly must be a cool queer who is going to rock her socks off into gaydom, because bisexuals don’t exist in the narratives of these kind of stories.

However, after Yorkie then seeks out Kelly again at the club and they sleep together, Kelly reveals she’s bisexual. Later, Yorkie reveals she’s gay and coming out other parents (in the past) ended badly, so we already have a shift in the narrative: both women are out! No one “turned” anyone bi or gay!* Bisexuals exist!

Kelly and Yorkie in bed. Yorkie asks Kelly, “When did you know [you liked women]?”

Kelly and Yorkie sitting at the bar of Tucker’s, 1987.

Again, what I love about this episode is that the plot twists just keep twisting–Yorkie’s and Kelly’s sexualities are not the plot twist; San Junipero being a home for uploaded consciousness is also not the twist. I also appreciate the critical eye to U-Hauling, or rather the narrative not turning into “and then they U-Hauled into the sunset.” They have to talk about their emotions and work through major life (and death) decisions that don’t revolve around their being queer. “San Junipero” struck me as the sci-fi answer to films about queer women like Imagine Me and You and I Can’t Think Straight. (Both of which I really needed as a baby bisexual but now seem formulaic; but hey, no one gets hit by a car so there’s that.) If you’re looking for some low-key horror with a heavy dose of sci-fi, positive queer and QPOC representation and trope flipping, watch this episode.

Contains mentions of queerphobia, car accidents, suicidal ideation, euthanasia, hospice care.

*Queer women and nonbinary folks who did come out because they met an out queer people and crushed on them or fell in love, you are lovely and valid. However, this narrative happens ALL THE TIME in film, and I feel like it reinforces the idea that predatory queer women are on their way to steal your girl who previously identified as straight. Sometimes queer folks are already out when we meet new partners. There’s more to our stories than just falling in love.