Me and Black Mirror have a kind of strange and sort of strained relationship, upon first hearing about the show from a friend I was told it was amazing, but felt unsure, based on what they told me about. This was back just as the 3rd season was released.
The first thing I heard about the show was that it's an Anthology series - meaning that the episode can be enjoyed in any order - or just about, as there is one episode in season 4 involving a museum of collectibles, which will be recognisable to any fan who has watched everything up to that point. Also, there are little easter eggs in the episodes that call back to other episodes throughout the show, but for the most part, those minor details are only there for keen-eyed fans, and missing any of them wouldn't ruin someone's viewing experience.
Anyway, the first season of Black Mirror, and more so the first episode turned me off the show and didn't make me want to watch it. (The episode in question is about the prime minister's daughter being kidnapped and held hostage, and the only way for her to be safely released is if the prime minister goes on national tele and fucks a pig.)
I'm sure when they were releasing that first season, the creators decided that the shock value of such a story would set the tone of the entire show and what they were going for, but I would have gone with a different one because that concept is just messed up and didn't make me want to watch it. Especially since Tv shows are known to be a serialised story, and for most people, the idea of watching a show based on that story mentioned above isn't something the average viewer would want to watch.
In saying that however, maybe the creators intentionally wanted to scare off the general public and test the endurance of the people who decided to stick around, because this show can tend to get into some deep ideas and places its characters in some intense situations; most episodes can finish with a downbeat ending, which has - on many occasions - left me feeling sad, or anxious. I still come back for more though, because I love it.
How I Got Into This Show
I started this show in the second season and fell in love with it. The first episode is about a couple who get into an accident and the man dies, but the woman hears about this company that will create a tailor-made android of a loved one, and feed it information from that person's social media accounts and it will be exactly like whoever you want it to be.
She finds it hard to believe, but then she gets lost in the excitement of having her partner back, and the episode - in true Black Mirror fashion - has a sour ending and leaves you asking the question, what would I do in that situation?
There are four episodes in season 2, and each of them are good. But, as far as I'm concerned, the peak of this show is season 3. It has a run of 6 episodes and each is as good, or even better than the last, until the final episode.
My favourite of the season is the second episode, 'Play Test,' I thought the character was great and it kind of gave me this empty feeling in the pit of my stomach at the end of it.
The worst episode of season 3 is the final one, called 'Hated In The Nation,' it's boring, and feels like there is no real pay-off and that sad, sick, or empty feeling I tend to get from this show is lost, and was replaced with me shaking my head and wondering how they thought the story of that one fit in with the rest of the seasons run.
The Decline
Season 4 came and went, and each of the episodes were enjoyable, they weren't as good as season 3's line-up, but it was still a good season. Then season 5 was released, and this to me, was where the show completely lost its magic.
See, as far as I'm concerned, Black Mirror is about moral conundrums, set in a futuristic and - sometimes - dystopian world. Typically, it is about human nature, mixed with the fears of the future; in essence, the episodes can tend to pose a question and leave it up to the viewer to decide the answer; they act as a warning of what life may become for us as a species, especially concerning episodes that are very tech-centric.
Season 5 went against this philosophy, or at least, the episodes felt like a far cry from the original show. In a way, they weren't as nuanced, the stories didn't seem refined. I was anticipating the season, so perhaps it was my own fault for hyping its release up, only to be disappointed.
The first episode was kind of interesting but strange, and it felt different than what the show was supposed to be about. Two friends use VR to cheat on their wives with each other.
The only moral questions I can think of in this episode are.
Neither of these questions are that interesting, and the episode itself feels like a waste. The second episode is also pretty boring, and the final episode is a waste too.
The 3rd and final of the season is about a pop icon played by Miley Cyrus, being trapped by her contract and is essentially owned by her label, only to be saved by two teenage fans. In fairness, it's not a bad episode, but I don't understand why they needed to bother with this bit of social commentary. If anyone even has the slightest bit of knowledge about the music industry, they already know that it is toxic, so to dedicate an episode to this idea seems like a waste. The whole season felt like they spent their budget hiring Miley Cyrus, and because of that, they weren't able to experiment.
Redemption of Black Mirror
Season 6 feels like a return to what gave Black Mirror its magic, I have really enjoyed the first 4 episodes, and automatically the show feels like it's back to its original form. I feel like fan disappointment made the creators go back to the drawing board to rediscover what gave the show its spark in the first place.
We started off strong with Joan Is Awful, and the episode seems to poke fun at itself by using the Netflix sound effects and layout while calling itself Streamberry. Straight away, we're thrown into a fun story, although, the one complaint I have about it is the happy ending.
I really liked the lead actor in this one, Annie Murphy, me and my partner were wrecking our heads for the first 10 minutes trying to figure out who she was, then it clicked, she's the main character in a show we found recently called Kevin Can Fuck Himself, which is brilliant and is on Amazon Prime Video if anyone is interested in checking it, you won't be disappointed.
The first four episodes have been good, I especially love the 3rd episode of this season, which has a run time of 1:20 minutes. I liked the characters, situation, and pretty much everything about it, I do think it fell a bit flat for the ending, which left me wanting a bit more. The episode itself didn't feel resolved, it did, however, come across as enjoying the journey rather than the ending, kind of deal.
For anyone who has never gotten into Black Mirror, I think this season would be a good one for a new person to watch, before going back to watch the other seasons, if it turns out to be your cup of tea.
Charlie Broker is a great writer, and I really enjoyed another show he worked on called Dead Set. It's about a zombie outbreak that takes place while a season of Big Brother is running, and while the world is going to hell, the contestants who are separated from the outside world have no idea, until they stop getting a response from Big Brother itself. He also wrote for Brass Eye, which was a satirical take on Crime Call and was very funny.
Really interesting concept for a story and worth watching if anyone hasn't seen it.
