Wired
| Culture | August 30
After five seasons, one Christmas special and one innovative interactive movie,Black Mirrorhas grown into one of the biggestshows on Netflixsince the streaming platform nabbed the rights from UK television networkChannel 4for season three onwards.
The show, created by Charlie Brooker and producer Annabel Jones, is a modern take on classic anthology shows likeThe Twilight Zone, examining the unintended impact of technology on how we live in Brooker’s customary dark, playful and sometimes uplifting manner.
Whether you’ve already blasted through all the episodes or are just looking to catch-up with some classicBlack Mirror, we’ve ranked all the episodes from the first season to the fifth. Here’s our definitive ranking, for you to disagree with.
Despite all its success, one of the best things aboutBlack Mirroris its ability to cast relative unknowns in starring roles. You’ll see plenty of faces you know, but you’re unlikely to know many names. Enter Jon Hamm. A fan of the show from the start, Hamm wanted to congratulate Charlie Brooker in person. As a result of the meeting, Hamm was cast into the starring role for the show’s first (and only) Christmas special. Simply put, Hamm is too famous forBlack Mirror. More irksomely, the episode lacks a good enough idea to hold its plot together. As a result, it feels disjointed and bitty. The brilliant final plot twist simply arrives too late. Though, as a result, it’s better on a second viewing.(JT)
Black Mirror‘s take on a British police drama. ‘Smithereens’ tells the story of Chris (Andrew Scott) – a man who can’t help but blame social media for the most tragic moment in his life. And that’s it. The paper-thin plot is only just enough to keep this episode plodding from scene to scene and despite being based around a hostage situation, the stakes in the episode never feel particularly high. Think an episode ofThe Billbut with a little bit of “social media is bad” added in too.(MR)
Half disturbing zombie thriller and half slamming indictment of society’s hankerings for public punishment, ‘White Bear’ has one of the most unpredictable twists of anyBlack Mirrorepisode. The sparse dialogue and desolate setting create an atmosphere that reflects the isolation felt by the main character, Victoria, played by Lenora Crichlow. For most of its running length, this episode draws heavily on horror films, but the first two-thirds lack the emotional punch and are really just set-up for the film’s devastating final act. Ultimately, ‘White Bear’ ends up an imbalanced episode that has one hand to play but does so in a final burst of violent catharsis.(MR)
Black Mirroris sometimes guilty of getting stuck on an interesting idea or concept without a whole story to support it. ‘Men Against Fire’ is one such episode. Its warning about the potential misuse of technology in warfare is valid and interesting, but it’s hard to cover in the space of a 50-minute TV episode. The final twist is suitably bleak in trueBlack Mirrortradition, but you can’t help but wonder about the wider context of the story and its central character.(AV)
19. The Waldo Moment (Season 2, Episode 3)
As with ‘The National Anthem’, this is anotherBlack Mirrorepisode that took a little while for history to catch up with it. Set in the midst of an election, ‘The Waldo Moment’ tells the story of Jamie (Daniel Rigby), a comedian behind a puerile animated bear who unexpectedly finds himself having an outsized impact on national politics. ImagineBo’ Selecta’s Avid Merrion running for election and you won’t be far off. At the time, this episode felt it lacked a firm footing and tossed a few too many ideas up in the air without developing enough of them, but with the benefit of hindsight – and the election of a certain US president – once again it’s reality, and notBlack Mirrorthat has been found truly wanting.(MR)
18. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (Season 5, Episode 3)
Done right, ‘Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too’ could have been one ofBlack Mirror‘s best episodes yet. Brooker took on an entirely new genre with this teenage-drama tinged rumination on vapid pop music, exploitative managers and impressionable fans. In it, Miley Cyrus plays Ashley, a pop star who – for some reason or another – has her personality downloaded into some futuristic dolls. The episode fails to ever really grapple with the technology in question, however, and is never really sure whether it’s an ironic send-up of teenage films, or just a poor simulacrum of the genre, with some “pop music is bad” argument tacked-on.(VT)
17. Bandersnatch (2018 Interactive Film)
‘Bandersnatch’ is simultaneously brilliant and underwhelming. Charlie Brooker’s take on choose your own adventure TV has five endings dictated by the choices you make. At first, the novelty of controlling the story is exciting and exotic, especially as – in trueBlack Mirrorfashion – it takes numerous dark turns. The 1980s setting is pitch perfect and there’s the kernel of a great story inBandersnatch, but eventually that novelty overtakes the storytelling and proves why TV is a linear format to begin with.(AV)
16. Striking Vipers (Season 5, Episode 1)
Probably the raunchiestBlack Mirrorepisode, Striking Vipers starts with an intriguing premise – what happens when VR sex is as good as the real deal – but fails to explore the tantalizing questions this raises about human sexuality. It gets extra points for the Street Fighter-style VR world, rendered in brilliant video game colour, but falls flat after a very anti-climactic ending that locks this brave new sexy world firmly back in its box.(VT)
This is social media’s predictable fear of those Boston Dynamics clips made real, as ‘Metalhead’ sees humans on the run from murderous robotic dogs roaming the countryside. The episode’s style and direction stands out, shot in black and white and successfully evoking classic horror films. It’s tense, exhilarating and genuinely scary, but the final twist rather undercuts the episode’s menacing tone. A special mention must be made for the moment a robot dog picks up a kitchen knife and spins it menacingly. “OMG, they can pick up knives!”(AV)
14. Playtest (Season 3, Episode 2)
Charlie Brooker likes video games. And ‘Playtest’, as the name suggests, is all about video games. One particular video game, in fact:Resident Evil. There’s the genius Japanese game developer; the haunted house; a character called Redfield (Chris, not Claire) and even covers ofEdgehidden in the background. Brooker’s familiarity with the inspiration for the episode really shows, with cultural nods and winks carefully mixed into a pacy and inventive plot. This is a real love letter to the survival horror game genre, told with a expertly-crafted dollop ofBlack Mirrorgore and fear.(JT)
13. Hang the DJ (Season 4, Episode 4)
‘Hang the DJ’ is nice. It drops us into a tightly controlled world where people date by algorithm. You go on dates decided for you, eat meals chosen for you and stay in relationships for a predetermined period time, which could be mere hours or years, all in the name of finding the perfect match. Georgina Campbell and Joe Cole (ofPeaky Blindersfame) make for likable protagonists, but the ending is somewhat telegraphed. Whereas ‘San Junipero’ touches on the complex morality of death and consent, ‘Hang the DJ’ is a less challenging, but ultimately feel-good 50 minutes.(AV)
12. Fifteen Million Merits (Season 1, Episode 2)
Aired in 2011, at a time whenThe X-Factorwas at its cultural peak, this take on the grim end-game for reality television hasn’t aged too well. Sure, the shrill caricature of Simon Cowell is entertaining, but the whole episode lacks the subtlety of Brooker’s best morality plays.Black Mirroris at its best when you feel complicit in the awful scenes unfolding before you. Unless you’re a huge fan of make-it-or-break-it-style Saturday night entertainment, then the drama of ‘Fifteen Million Merits’ feels a bit overcooked.(JT)
11. Arkangel (Season 4, Episode 2)
The only episode ofBlack Mirror’sfirst four seasons to be directed by a woman (make of that what you will), ‘Arkangel’ is one of the least futuristic and, as a result, most hard-hitting. Directed by Jodie Foster, it tells the simple story of a mother (Marie) who decides to implant a tracking system in her daughter (Sara) to monitor her health, emotional state and also censor things she doesn’t want her young eyes to see. Unlike some episodes that take a bounding leap of faith, ‘Arkangel’ feels like it could happen right now. And that makes its gruesome conclusion all the more chilling.(JT)
10. The Entire History of You (Season 1, Episode 3)
Perhaps the most crushingly negative ofBlack Mirror’s romantic stories – or, well, stories that involve people in a relationship – ‘The Entire History of You’ is a real gut-punch of an episode. As in mostBlack Mirrorepisodes, the world is recognisably our own apart from one crucial detail. In this case, it’s that most humans have been implanted with a ‘grain’ that records everything they see and allows them to play back any memory at will. This does not lead to good things. Written by Jesse Armstrong – the creator ofPeep Show– this is the only episode ofBlack Mirrornot to be written or co-written by Brooker. An unrelenting examination of how technology can help us self-inflict damage to our fragile human egos, things in this episode start bad and end up much, much worse.(MR)
9. Crocodile, Season 4, Episode 3)
An even moodier take on the Scandi noir genre, ‘Crocodile’ is set in a world where insurance companies tap into people’s memories in order to settle claims. Things start off bad – with a hit-and-run accident – and spiral downwards from there. Although the original script had a man in the lead role, Andrea Riseborough stars as Mia who finds her perfect life unravelling when her past misdeeds catch up with her. Shot in Iceland, with stunning shots of vast open roads and lonely homes, this is one of the best-lookingBlack Mirrorepisodes with a plot to match. The very last scene, in classicBlack Mirrorstyle, undercuts the awfulness of it all with just a little bit of on-the-nose bleak comedy.(MR)
8. Shut Up and Dance (Season 3, Episode 3)
When did people start covering up the webcams on their laptops? It was definitely a thing before ‘Shut up and Dance’, but this darkly cynical episode no doubt inspired many to take precautions. The setup is simple enough: a teenager (Alex Lawler) is blackmailed by a hacker who recorded him masturbating. But his path soon crosses with other victims of the hacker, all with their own indiscretions to hide. Events develop at breakneck speed as the increasingly desperate victims dance to the hacker’s tune, culminating in an ending so brutal you’ll end up having nightmares about the things you don’t want your friends and family to know.(AV)
7. Black Museum (Season 4, Episode 6)
This remains the most divisive episode in the history ofBlack Mirror. Directed by Colm McCarthy ofPeaky BlindersandSherlockfame, ‘Black Museum’ is a visceral distillation of Brooker’s obsession with the macabre. It’s also the closest Brooker has gotten toThe Twilight ZoneandHammer House of Horror, both of which were inspirations for its anthology style. And while it’s entertaining to watch a man ruined by technology forced to plunge a drill into a homeless person’s skull in order to org*sm, you can’t help but feel this is relying on shock for the sake of shock.(JT)
6. Be Right Back (Season 2, Episode 1)
The moment when Martha (Hayley Atwell) meets the android version of Ash (Domhnall Gleeson) remains one of the most profoundly sad and brilliantly-acted in the history ofBlack Mirror. This story about grief and love uses a sci-fi leap of faith to wrangle with a very contemporary problem: what to do with someone’s online identity when they die. What starts off as a touching process of prolonged grieving soon, of course, turns ghoulish. The only thing that lets the episode down is an ending that tries to be one twist too clever. Ash, of course, should 100 per cent jump off the cliff.(JT)
5. Hated in the Nation (Season 3, Episode 6)
Although the plot of ‘Hated in the Nation’ is straight out of sci-fi – involving rogue robotic bees that become embroiled in a sad*stic murder plot – the episode plays things straight with a gripping take on your typical British crime drama. At 89 minutes it’s the longestBlack Mirrorepisode but doesn’t feel it, with the plot unfolding neatly and culminating in a delicious twist that adds a depth that some episodes miss. The improbable plot works in the episode’s favour, stopping it feeling too preachy and turning it into something that might make people think twice before piling on the hate the next time social media decides on its enemy for the day.(MR)
4. Nosedive (Season 3, Episode 1)
In one of the standoutBlack Mirrorperformances, Bryce Dallas Howard plays Lacie – a young woman obsessed with her rating in a world people are scored out of five for every interaction. Set in a superficial American suburbia filled with insipid pastel shades, although actually shot in Cape Town, ‘Nosedive’ is a great rebuttal toBlack Mirrornaysayers who deride the show as too bleak or depressing.Black Mirrorepisodes are often riffs on a particular genre and this is Brooker’s spin on a road trip movie, as Lacie’s spiralling rating sends her on a mishap-laden journey across America and sees her cross paths with the excellent Cherry Jones. The penultimate scene – while a little predictable – is one of the most enjoyable closers in the entire series.(MR)
3. The National Anthem (Season 1, Episode 1)
The episode that started it all, ‘The National Anthem’ set the tone of theBlack Mirroruniverse in the first five minutes of the film, when the UK Prime Minister is told he must have sex with a pig live on TV, or else face the execution of a beloved kidnapped princess. At the time, the plot felt so farcical that it was hard to see howBlack Mirrorwould acquire its later reputation for predicting the future. Four years later, when a memoir by former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft alleged that David Cameron put his penis in a dead pig’s mouth during a bizarre university ritual – something which Brooker insists he had no knowledge of – the show’s future-predicting credentials were sealed for good.(MR)
2. USS Callister (Season 4, Episode 1)
Black Mirroris often at its best when it’s scaring you with thought-provoking demonstrations of technology run amok, but ‘USS Callister’ is more grounded in the real world than its sci-fi setting suggests. Yes, antagonist Robert Daly creates a virtual world in which he imprisons and abuses avatars of colleagues who’ve slighted him, but mostly he’s another angry young man who takes his grievances to a virtual space because he’s incapable of confronting them in the real world. The brilliantStar Trek-inspired backdrop lends the story a grander scale, but Daly and his business partner James Walton portray two sides of toxic masculinity and its degrading results. That ‘USS Callister’ tells that story in a morbidly funny, often terrifying manner (with great production values) seals it as one ofBlack Mirror’sfinest.(AV)
1. San Junipero (Season 3, Episode 4)
Quite a few things changed whenBlack Mirrormoved to Netflix. And ‘San Junipero’ probably best captured a subtly different approach from the show’s creators. Here, the grit and the (relatively) low-budget grime of the Channel 4 days is replaced by an American dream sheen. The extra budget, of course, means more elaborate and detailed sets, but it also brings the action closer to Silicon Valley, from where so much ofBlack Mirror’splots draw their inspiration. But what really makes this episode stand out is in its ditching of the show’s trademark ghoulish farce in favour of something more human. In short: it will make you cry with sadness rather than recoil with disgust.(JT)
