If one thing is true about Black Mirror, it’s that 27 (+1) episodes, a special, and 13 years later, it still generates great expectation, conversation, and many headlines. For example, the interactive experience that creator Charlie Brooker proposed in Bandersnatch sparked a debate around new narrative styles, the role of the viewer in fiction, and what we could expect from future stories.
Black Mirror achieves what many anthologies aim for: Despite being varied or irregular, its episodes hook the viewer in one way or another. It’s one of the modern anthologies that best takes advantage of the flexibility allowed by the format, exploring different genres, structures, and themes. Whether through intimate drama, apocalyptic action, dark thrillers, psychological horror, or political satire, Black Mirror sparks a debate on the role that technology plays in our lives and society.
In this post, we review all the episodes in order, from the most interesting to the most forgettable, based, of course, on our personal criteria. It’s worth mentioning that the first 12 positions actually correspond to episodes that I rate as good, attractive, or interesting to a greater extent. At the moment, Black Mirror remains 50% fresh.
Be Right Back (2x01)
Many of the series’ most accomplished episodes are its most intimate and emotional. What often sets apart an episode that is conceptually or morally intriguing from a truly impactful and touching one is the specific stories Brooker chooses to convey his ideas.
This particular story revolves around loss, grief, and the recurring theme of “portable” consciousness and personality in the series. It focuses on the reconstruction of someone through their fingerprint, creating an emotionally intense narrative that explicitly showcases the futility of holding on to something that’s already lost. The tale combines the desire for immortality through technology with fundamental concepts of life and its definition. It’s a profound and affecting piece of storytelling.
San Junipero (3x04)
The concept of digital consciousness comes into play again, but San Junipero stands apart from the other stories in the series. It’s characterized by hope and the potential for a happy ending. The episode portrays a love story between the digital avatars of two women who are rethinking their lives and what it truly means to live. Once again, we encounter a story in which the moral and psychological dilemmas arise organically from the characters in an authentic way. The inspiring episode delves into the meaning of life without death, the detrimental effects of guilt, and the importance of hope.
The Entire History of You (1x03)
This story introduces a digital brain implant that records and stores all of the wearer’s actions. The focus is on two characters whose insecurities and jealousy drive them to become fixated on past memories. Human memory is imprecise and unstable, and it significantly influences our personalities based on how we manage and process it. A technology that allows you to analyze every aspect of your life or relationships, recreating traumas and failures, ultimately anchors you in the past. This is another example of how Black Mirror successfully prompts contemplation on personal and intimate matters.
Nosedive (3x01)
Even though Black Mirror is set in a semi-futuristic dystopia, there are episodes whose central idea feels very close to reality. The commentary on “like” culture in Nosedive stands out in this regard. With an Instagram-worthy pastel filter, Nosedive portrays the descent into hell of a woman who is trapped in the vortex of phoniness and keeping up appearances but ultimately finds liberation in the most unexpected way. This episode is filled with raw emotion and leans on dark comedy, resulting in one of the series’ most authentic-feeling universes.
Arkangel (4x02)
In the distressing prologue, the viewer is immediately immersed in the mother’s fear of losing her daughter. This fear causes the mother to become paranoid and overly protective, stemming from an unfounded but deeply ingrained guilt since her daughter’s birth. Arkangel is one of the most comprehensive episodes in the anthology because it explores the repercussions of excessive parental control and overprotection at various stages of a girl’s life. The story delves into the ethical, educational, and vital consequences of these issues from the perspectives of both characters, resulting in a deeply personal and emotional narrative that sparks important moral discussions.
Joan Is Awful (6x01)
After a period where Brooker seemed to have run out of things to criticize, as the lackluster fifth season shows, the series made a strong comeback. It showcased resilience and found new subjects for criticism, moving away from social networks and artificial intelligence to focus on topics such as the commodification of our leisure time and the impact of algorithms on our identities. The first target of Brooker’s critiques in the sixth season is none other than Netflix, where the series is hosted. This move likely didn’t sit well with quite a few of the company’s managers.
This episode portrays a tyrannical boss with a deceptive personal life who stumbles upon a series on a streaming platform similar to Netflix, featuring Salma Hayek replicating her daily life. With elements reminiscent of the bold and provocative style of the early seasons of Black Mirror, Joan Is Awful is fast-paced, humorous, and insightful, marking a return to the series’ prime.
Bandersnatch (5x00)
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Black Mirror’s interactive episode Bandersnatch offers a unique experience by involving the viewer in the narrative. We not only experience the evolution of the characters, but the story also impacts us by creating stress and tension through urgent decisions. At the same time, Bandersnatch delves into the definition of interactivity and the binary nature of its protagonist while engaging in the current debate about the definition of video games.
The accessibility of technology and content creation has led to diverse, indie games and interactive narrative experiments, sparking a discussion on what defines a video game and the role of interactivity. Brooker situates his interactive story in the 1980s, a time when interactivity in games was in its infancy, highlighting the ongoing debate about video game definition. The content and form of Bandersnatch are centered around these ideas.
Hated in the Nation (3x06)
Social networks and the Internet put people in touch with each other as never before. Some individuals take advantage of the anonymity and depersonalization provided by the network to do harm without considering the consequences. This episode, a highly entertaining 90-minute procedural crime drama, focuses on the damaging power of words.
Hated in the Nation sheds light on a social phenomenon that reflects Brooker’s misanthropic perspective. This episode’s exploration of social humanity is reminiscent of previous episodes such as The National Anthem, The Waldo Moment or White Bear. It also delves into the potential implications of government surveillance on citizens, raising questions about the concept of Big Brother and its consequences.
Black Museum (4x06)
This episode references many of the technologies featured in other Black Mirror stories, suggesting that all the episodes are part of the same universe. Black Museum is a collection of related stories in itself, focused on the idea of transferring consciousness and making it easily accessible. Some of the stories in this episode are particularly dark, such as the sad tale of the stuffed monkey. Once again, Brooker explores the lack of empathy in human nature, reaching a level of desperation that borders on sadism.
Hang the DJ (4x04)
In an attempt to recapture the magical tone of San Junipero, this distant cousin of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster returns to the grounds of how we use technology to relate, specifically in the realm of dating. Although it may not seem like it at first glance, it’s one of Brooker’s most trollish episodes, presenting a story that appears to be an optimistic account of relationships and the roles played by spontaneity, chemistry, commitment, and logic, only to give a final twist that reconsiders the role of all these factors in modern app-based romance.
Fifteen Million Merits (1x02)
This episode of Black Mirror presents an extreme dystopian world. Unlike other episodes that focus on specific elements of a universe, this one builds a complete and exciting (and devastating) world in just one hour, slowly but surely. It’s a reality anchored in screens and avatars, with a class system directly related to reality culture and throwaway fame. This episode is eloquent, overflowing with audacity, as we’ve already become accustomed to after so many episodes.
White Christmas (Special Episode)
This Christmas special explores many recurring ideas of the series, such as portable consciousnesses, the torture of “digital people,” access to the “visual feed” of another person, and the ability to pixelate specific faces. In just 90 minutes, it handles certain ideas more skillfully and eloquently than other episodes dedicated entirely to them, such as Man Against Fire or USS Callister. Despite receiving criticism, the episode effectively anchors moral concepts in the emotions of its characters, and I will always defend it.
Metalhead (4x05)
Although technology is present in this episode in a natural way due to the nature of the dystopia depicted, its main focus is suspense and urgency. I found this to be a refreshing change from many other episodes that are so heavy on moral themes. It might be similar to action-packed episodes like White Bear or Shut up and Dance, but the lack of a major twist distinguishes Metalhead as purely post-apocalyptic survival, and highly entertaining with no other motives. However, the final manipulative image on the box felt unnecessary, Mr. Brooker.
Striking Vipers (5x01)
The fifth season’s episodes have a notable and common feature: They bring us closer to identifiable universes that closely resemble today’s technological reality. Even though Striking Vipers depicts a complex virtual reality system, the story doesn’t focus on the effects or consequences of that technology. Instead, it explores fluid gender, sex in virtual environments, and the meaning of concepts such as homosexuality, heterosexuality, and infidelity. Like in other instances, Brooker uses technology as a vehicle to discuss emotions, thoughts, and limiting labels. However, the exploration remains superficial and doesn’t introduce a particularly new or engaging discourse. Overall, it’s a correct, but unremarkable episode.
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (5x03)
Similar to Striking Vipers (actually, the three episodes of the fifth season suffer from the same issue), we are once again presented with a story that’s enjoyable but fails to fully explore its ideas and remains on the surface. The portrayal of pop culture products as sanitized and ignoring harsh realities isn’t only evident in this presentation, but Brooker himself has explored it more effectively in other stories.
The series falls short as an adolescent adventure, only scratching the surface of the lonely lives and suppressed emotions of its three main characters, and treating potentially intriguing ideas as mere anecdotes, such as the concept of a facility for eliminating pests in a humane way. I don’t consider the idea of consciousness trapped in hardware/software as having potential, considering it’s one of the most frequently explored themes in Black Mirror, albeit never with a happy ending like this one.
White Bear (2x02) + Shut up and Dance (3x03)
So far, all the episodes mentioned have been successful for different reasons. However, starting from this point, the real disappointments begin.
In some episodes, Brooker switches the initial perceptions of who is the hero and who is the villain, but these twists would be more effective if they didn’t lead to pure confusion with little else to offer besides a final wink. These unexpected plot twists leave the viewer questioning the essence and ethics of The Law of Talion, but ultimately these episodes end up feeling empty and lacking substance.
Smithereens (5x02)
In this episode, our perception aligns with my previous discussions with White Bear and Shut up and Dance. It’s an hour-long episode that effectively maintains interest and tension, thanks in part to the excellent performance by Andrew Scott. Brooker presents his take on a current and relevant topic: the power and information held by technology companies, which surpasses that of the police, the FBI, or any official security body. He also introduces some other potentially interesting ideas, but they’re overshadowed by the lack of daring present in previous stories and universes of the series. As a result, the episode remains somewhat superficial, offering little beyond effective entertainment.
Man Against Fire (3x05)
This essay on the dehumanization of war had the potential to be one of the best episodes in the anthology. However, it’s a good example of how Brooker sometimes gets so engrossed in presenting his ideas that he neglects to fully develop and contextualize them. As a result, the essay lacks perspective and human dimension and comes across as a bit cold. It’s a shame because the episode touches on very interesting and always relevant concepts.
Crocodile (4x03)
We encounter once again the concept of a technology that grants access to human memories, and which can be used by law enforcement to infringe upon privacy during official investigation. I’ll be repeating my arguments about this from now on, given that the weaker episodes of Black Mirror often share a common flaw with Man Against Fire: They waste good ideas due to poor development of the specific stories chosen to convey them. In this case, the story takes far too long to get going (the entire first act lacks stimulation for the universe, characters, and tone). When it does eventually progress, the development seems clumsy and escalates in a way that becomes overwhelming. This is one of those episodes that’s easily forgotten once it’s finished.
The National Anthem (1x01)
For a long time, it was the episode to talk about how extreme Black Mirror can get. I’ve never shared this idea. It’s an episode with great use of tension and a pertinent, pessimistic discourse about politics, democracy, showbiz, and reality TV. However, it also feels too facile to me, considering if it’s provocation for provocation’s sake. Maybe the hype around the episode has slightly radicalized my impression of it, but it’s not as deep or transgressive as it’s made out to be.
USS Callister (4x01)
A lot of people enjoyed the first part of the fourth season of the series, but to us, it feels like it’s just repeating what we’ve already seen. It does have some good points, like exploring the idea of intense fandom (which isn’t really a sci-fi concept) and breaking down the space opera genre. However, overall, it feels like a rehash of ideas seen in other episodes. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table and relies on problematic stereotypes.
Playtest (3x02)
How could anyone be willing to enter a virtual world that uses their deepest fears to create an intense horror experience? In Black Mirror, you often have to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story, but this concept is just too much for me. While some viewers might be drawn to the pure horror aspect of this episode, I personally find it uninteresting, boring, and the characters unappealing.
The Waldo Moment (2x03)
Considering the current political climate, it could be interesting satire to imagine an irreverent animated bear being elected to public office. However, the potential of this premise is wasted in a simplistic, condescending, and tired development. Brooker’s main flaw here is his tendency to generalize and oversimplify, resulting in what I consider to be the only truly mediocre Black Mirror episode. Even if some episodes fail to develop their ideas or tone properly, or come across as too unhinged, condescending, or alarmist, I will always defend the show’s ability to raise thought-provoking issues and spark internal debate about the moral messages conveyed in its episodes.
Besides, any series that encourages viewers to critically analyze society is always welcome.
This article was written by Adriana Izquierdo and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.
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