Greetings, reader!
I finally caught up on the newest seasons of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror recently. It's an amazing show, with episodes that feel even more ranking-prone than in other shows (there's just something about the anthology format, and how each episode has its own distinctive personality). So, here's my ranking of all 33 episodes across the show's seven-season run!
33. Mazey Day (Season 6 Episode 4)
As a sucker for all things different, I wanted to like Mazey Day from the moment that the "RED MIRROR" title card let us know that this is going to be something different. Having read many of the reviews for this generally disliked episode, I disagree with some of them, as they feel like they didn't give it a chance and hated it simply because it was so different.
Not to sound like an "I'm not like other wannabe critics" pick-me blogger, but - but I disliked the episode simply because it wasn't very good TV. I kept expecting another shoe to drop in terms of the underwhelming plot, and when it finally did, the big twist felt abrupt, unearned and wrong. If there was some deeper point behind the episode, I missed it, as it seemed very random and incohesive to me.
32. Arkangel (Season 4 Episode 2)
A lot of people dislike the newer seasons of Black Mirror, and especially the more far-out concept episodes that they feel to have strayed too far from the show's core premise. I disagree; I'm big on creative and groundbreaking storytelling, so the weird and imaginative episodes in the later seasons are among my big favorites. This also means that for me, the worst thing that a Black Mirror episode can be is unremarkable, predictable and too similar to previous episodes.
Thankfully, there aren't very many such cases, as Charlie Brooker found new innovations with each seasons. But one such misfore is Arkangel, where the premise is woefully similar to many we've seen before. It's one of the very few episodes in the show that don't really bring any new ideas to the table. The acting and story are alright, but even there it pales in comparison to most of the show's episodes.
31. White Bear (Season 2 Episode 2)
For whatever reason, this generally appreciated instalment from the show's early days never really spoke to me. It's not bad, but by Black Mirror standards, it's very subpar. Maybe it's because I don't feel as strongly about the subject matter as I do with many of the show's episodes, even though I do agree with the premise and see the story's point. At its best, this series can move me and cause some deeply resonating thought processes, but with an episode like White Bear, all I get is a semi-intrigued shrug or two.
30. Demon 79 (Season 6 Episode 5)
For the most part, Demon 79 just isn't all that special. I love the idea that Charlie Brooker wanted to try branching out from sci-fi to fantasy for a few episodes, but it just becomes painfully clear that he isn't nearly as good in the genre. The main story doesn't feel like it's really saying anything, and that's an immediate red flag when it comes to Black Mirror.
However, extra points for the storyline with the anti-immigration politician. While the main storyline didn't really have anything to say about society, that subplot certainly did, and hit very hard with the rapid rise of fascism we're seeing in the world. The scene where he convinces the racist voter to vote for him via charismatic innuendos is absolutely bone-chilling.
29. Bête Noire (Season 7 Episode 2)
The weakest episode of the newest season starts out pretty strong, with a premise that'll keep you guessing. Even when accepting the premise that you're watching a far-fetched dystopian sci-fi series, there's still a feeling of "WHAT, HOW IS THIS HAPPENING, I CAN'T THINK OF AN EXPLANATION" that you can't shake and that's pretty great. However, as is often the case with too-good-to-be-true mysteries, the eventual conclusion falls a bit flat. The last five minutes don't exactly ruin the episode (although several reviewers clearly think so), but they do drag the end result down a bit. Still, points for the strong first act and initially fascinating premise!
28. Loch Henry (Season 6 Episode 2)
Black Mirror is such a good show that we're already now getting to the ones that may be subpar by Black Mirror standards, but still very immersive television. Loch Henry tackles the ethical issues that come with the true crime genre and the broader themes around the conversation, and does so via a grounded yet imaginative story. While not as creative and/or powerful as most of the show's instalments, it's still a compelling story, with that one plot twist in particular being unforgettable in its sheer brutality.
27. White Christmas (2014 Christmas Special)
To this day, White Christmas remains the highest-rated Black Mirror episode on IMDB, which just goes to show what bullshit popular opinion can be. Don't get me wrong, it's an alright episode - but so, so far from the show's best offerings in my view. But, yeah, everything good I can say about this episode has been said a thousand times already - Jon Hamm's performance is admittedly excellent (though the series has a dozen even better ones that have found less acclaim), the contrast of a 'Christmas special' being so dark is kinda neat, and some of the fictional tech is quite imaginative.
Still, while there is potential to the anthological stories-within-stories premise, I personally found that a certain later attempt (more on that further down the list) nailed that idea much better, with this one feeling like it's still in training-wheels mode.
26. Playtest (Season 3 Episode 2)
Playtest is a decent episode by pretty much all merits, but not an especially remarkable one by hardly any. The directing in the horror sequences is skillful, Wyatt Russell's lead performance is solid, and the themes are semi-poignant while not hitting as hard as in the show's best hours. Your enjoyment of Playtest will likely depend on how strongly you feel about thrillseeking culture, and how much you enjoy watching horror.
25. Crocodile (Season 4 Episode 3)
The premise here isn't all that fresh (the eye implants are definitely the most used, and arguably over-used plot device in Black Mirror), but they still made it work. In the convoluted Black Mirror timeline, this one takes place in a time where footage from eye implants isn't yet available to everyone (like in The Entire History of You), but it has become available for the authorities to use. Essentially working as a sci-fi metaphor for the surveillance debate, Crocodile shows us what might happen when the police can access everything you've ever seen when investigating a crime.
At the same time, it's a psychologically interesting slippery-slope tale for the protagonist, as she tries to cover up her initial crime and it keeps getting worse. I like how the morals of the episode aren't as black-and-white as in some; whose side you're on depends on what part of the episode you're on, the blame lies partially with the main character but partially with the flawed system who is out to get her in bad faith, and the exact lesson is up for interpretation and discussion.
24. Hotel Reverie (Season 7 Episode 3)
Honestly, this one here is cool as shit. I'd like to rank it higher, but the bar is high with Black Mirror episodes, and Hotel Reverie isn't among the most flawless - the plot struggles with its pacing and conclusion, and the story isn't as powerful as many in the series ("Hollywood is remaking too many movies too fast, and cinema isn't what it used to be with all this new tech" is an interesting theme but doesn't hit as hard as "Social media is ruining us" or "AI is destroying us" or "What if there was fuck-bunch of mechanical killer bees sent to kill people?").
But still - I love the premise, where a clasisc old-time movie is remade using technology that inserts the modern actor right into the world of the film and the characters she interacts with are not-very-sentient projections who don't know they are fictional characters in a film. The concept is cool, its implications fascinating, and Emma Corrin's performance is utterly enthralling.
23. Beyond the Sea (Season 6 Episode 3)
This one is a success on all fronts, but never reaches full potential as an all-timer. For example, the setting is intriguing - every episode up until Beyond the Sea had taken place in the future (ranging from 'basically present-day' to 'very sci-fi and far out'), but this one takes place in the 1960's - yet the tech and other elements imply that it's an alternate history, where things happened a bit differently. It's a fascinating idea, but they never really do all that much with it - for all intents and purposes, the story could've just taken place in the future as usual.
Aaron Paul is brilliant in the lead role, and the story is vintage "using a creative sci-fi gimmick to tell a very human story". This time, the tech that Charlie Brooker came up with involves astronauts using replicas of their bodies, so that their consciousness can visit Earth while they're on a faraway mission. The plot really goes places from there, making for an ultimately tragic story that is just classic Black Mirror.
22. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (Season 5 Episode 3)
I remember when this episode came out - I wasn't caught up with the latest seasons then, but I carefully followed the discourse around the show while avoiding spoilers. Not only did Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too get terrible reviews - it got the specific type of terrible reviews that usually means that the episode is really good. The episode was ridiculed by toxic men ranging from whiny incels to conservative "alpha male tough guys" (not to mention that "No, I swear, I respect women - I just turn into a hypercritical dramaturgy expert whenever a piece of media has a feminist angle and I need to complain about it" type).
You got all the classics: "This isn't Black Mirror anymore, this is some ultra-feminist woke bullshit", "I need every episode to be dark and bleak, this episode being bright and colorful ruined my year", "This episode looks and feels like it was made for little teenage girls" et cetera. To no one's surprise, I really enjoyed the episode - my only problem was that based on the reception, I expected more. The picture you get when reading the reviews make you think the episode will look and feel like the Barbie movie - bubblegum colors, a fun and zany vibe, et cetera. I though that would be what I was walking into, and I was ready to enjoy the hell out of it, as such an episode would be a fresh idea and ultimately on-brand for a series always experimenting with new stuff.
However, the episode is much closer to a regular Black Mirror episode than I expected - it's still fairly dark, fairly dystopian, and not all that different. It just has strong young women as the main characters, it beats the Bechdel test, and the aesthetic isn't quite as gloomy as in most episodes. So, yeah, I definitely like the episode and hate how our society treats feminist media - it would just rank much higher yet if it was more of the bright-pink femcel-fun adventure that the idiot reviewers made it out to be.
21. Striking Vipers (Season 5 Episode 1)
While Striking Vipers doesn't have as much profound stuff to say about the world as many of the show's episodes, it's a pretty brilliant character drama with the sci-fi angle being just the right framework to fuel the narrative. Two guys, who are lifelong best friends, purchase a new cutting-edge virtual reality video game - and when they become immersed in its hyper-realistic feel, they quickly get tired of fighting each other as per the game's objective, instead finding homoerotic comfort in each others' simulated bodies.
It's a wonderful character study of pent-up sexual desires, male culture and communication issues, and the virtual reality game is such a cool narrative device to help the story unfold. It would be ranked even higher, but the conclusion is a tad flat - not bad or anticlimactic, but also not the big twist or memorable finale that we get with the best Black Mirror episodes.
20. Be Right Back (Season 2 Episode 1)
Some fans have this as their #1 favorite, and it's very possible that my ranking of it would improve upon re-watch (I've only seen it once, years and years ago). From what I remember, I wasn't as crazy about it as many fans, but I still really enjoyed it - well, "enjoyed" isn't exactly the right word for such a gripping episode. It's a sentimental story about love and loss, with the sci-fi premise being alarmingly accurate (very similar tech has been introduced in the last few years), yet ultimately feeling just like a vessel for the very human story.
19. Hated in the Nation (Season 3 Episode 6)
The third season ends with an ambitious runtime and equally ambitious production values. Feeling like a feature film, Hated in the Nation is paced just right, telling an immersive story where the plot ranges from down-to-earth crime drama to some far-fetched Charlie Brooker shit with mechanical killer bees. While the episode doesn't quite have what it takes to be among my biggest favorites (the story, while making some decent points, isn't on the profound level of the best of them), it's certainly a thrilling and memorable viewing experience.
18. Plaything (Season 7 Episode 4)
Ah, I have somewhat of a soft spot for this episode and would want to rank it even higher - damn you, Charlie Brooker, for making so many fantastic episodes! But, yeah - between Peter Capaldi's utterly captivating performance, the neat canonical connection to Bandersnatch and the contrast between the adorable Thronglets and the dark implications behind the endgame, there's a lot to love. Like I said, I'd like to rank it higher, but there's just no way around the fact there are somehow seventeen even better episodes out there.
17. Metalhead (Season 4 Episode 5)
Now here we have an episode that I appreciate in a very peculiar way. While not as thematically rich and complex as many Black Mirror episodes, this artistic and well-directed horror piece sticks out of the crowd in a cool, creative manner. While a full timeline of all episodes is very hard to piece out, one thing is clear - in any attempt to build a Black Mirror choronology based on what we know of the canon, Metalhead is the end of the road, the last piece of the puzzle.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, this episode is deliciously ambiguous - we don't know what caused things to go this bad, but knowing what the series has to say about the world and the implications of modern technology in the wrong hands, it's safe to say it could've been any number of things. I can't really imagine any future episode taking place after this one, and it makes the whole of Black Mirror a lot richer to know that no matter how the show eventually ends, this will always be the chronological and spiritual series finale, the final curtain where it's all headed. Dark as hell, but y'know - that's the point.
16. Fifteen Million Merits (Season 1 Episode 2)
As you're about to witness, all of the show's first season is lumped together quite closely, as I've always gone back and forth on how I rank those three episodes. Each one is brilliant in a very different way, and none of them are quite in the show's highest tier while still being very above-average television. After long consideration, Fifteen Millions Merits ended up barely losing to the other two, even though it seems like the most Veikko-coded one on paper.
I do appreciate the imaginative, far-out worldbuilding a lot, but I just never felt that the story got into its full potential. The critique of the capitalist hellscape we have by showing how ridiculous and bleak it would look if the same direction continues for long enough hits hard, but not quite as hard as the very best Black Mirror instalments. Also, Daniel Kaluuya's lead performance showcases some fantastic range.
15. The Entire History of You (Season 1 Episode 3)
Just a tad above Fifteen Million Merits we have the season one finale, which is one of the most classic, archetypical "watch this one episode to understand what the series is all about" episodes in the show's run.
We're introduced to a futuristic technology (eye implants that record what you see in everyday life), we see a brief glimpse of the fun potential and positive functions such an innovation might have on peoples' lives - and then, Charlie Brooker does what Charlie Brooker does, imagining all the frightening shit that could ruin peoples' lives if the technology is misused. Here, it's a couple going through a rough patch, and using individual memories to prove their points to the point of just being spiteful and vengeful. Quintessential Black Mirror, this one.
14. Smithereens (Season 5 Episode 2)
This utterly fascinating episode masquerades as a more-"basic"-than-average Black Mirror episode, with its lack of hi-fi sci-fi and essentially modern-day hostage thriller plot. Mind you, it's a damn fine hostage thriller, with Andrew Scott's lead performance being one of the most captivating roles in a series filled with great acting.
However, it also ends up being deeper than you'd think from the initial premise. The closing moments leave a lot up to interpretation in terms of the episode's themes and ultimate point, but there are many fascinating takeaways to be had, from "the constant overflow of terrible news has made us numb as a society, and we're in danger of starting to care less" to "who ended up dying doesn't even matter to the people in the fictional setting, because they didn't know the people involved, but we the viewers care deeply after spending just an hour with the characters, and it's a bit fucked-up that people need that personal connection in order to feel sad about a tragedy".
13. The National Anthem (Season 1 Episode 1)
What can I possibly say about the inaugural Black Mirror episode that hasn't been already said? Barely ranking above its impressive season 1 counterparts, The National Anthem is definitely the most bonkers way a television show has ever started its run. All gross-out aside, I can't help but love the episode - not just because of how objectively ballsy it was to kick the series off with "the one where the Prime Minister must f**k a pig on live television", but because it's just an exceptionally well-done hour of television.
While very present-day and un-sci-fi for Black Mirror standards (yet another reason why it was a weird-ass choice for the 1st episode yet still somehow works), the way The National Anthem follows the scandal unfolding while switching between perspectives of the politicians, the media, law enforcement and regular citizens following the news is enthralling, to the point of being downright addictive.
12. Eulogy (Season 7 Episode 5)
Oh man. Carried by a truly captivating Paul Giamatti performance, Eulogy is a wonderfully subdued and almost small-scale episode in the grand scheme of things - yet it still resonates with some large themes. There are no grand political dynamics or high-stakes doomsday prophecies about the direction of society like we're used to with this series, as we're treated to an in-depth character exploration about a man who learns of the death of a former girlfriend (very much "the one that got away" in this instance).
Exploring a complex, well-written relationship via memories, with the tech that takes you into an old picture to help relive the moment working as a brilliant plot device, is a clever way to tell this gripping and humane story. Giamatti's layered performance keeps you guessing, with your opinions of the two characters getting more and more complex as we learn about more and more baggage from the past. And of course, because it's Black Mirror, there's a genius ending twist that hits you right in the feels.
11. Shut Up and Dance (Season 3 Episode 3)
Here we have an episode that shouldn't be ranked nearly this high on paper, when you consider the elements that generally make Black Mirror great. The sci-fi/dystopian elements are pretty much nonexistent as the story uses modern-day technology, the narrative isn't especially clever or groundbreaking (bar the ending twist, but hey, they all have that), and for the 2nd episode in a row, the "profound thematic explorations about humanity and society" aspect is below-average for the show.
That being said, it's just a great episode of television on more typical merits.
Alex Lawther and Jerome Flynn are remarkable in their roles, and the exciting high-pressure plot will keep you guessing. While the episode doesn't feel like Black Mirror in many ways and feels like it could be a part of a different show or a short film, it's so enthralling that you hardly mind. And yes, while every Black Mirror episode has that sweet ending twist, the one in this episode goes into the ending twist hall-of-fame in terms of brutality, shock value and execution.
10. Men Against Fire (Season 3 Episode 5)
And here we have the exact opposite of the previous entry in terms of great Black Mirror - the episode's weakness (why it's only 10th and not even higher) is essentially everything that Shut Up and Dance does well, as the progression of the plot and acting performances aren't all that remarkable, and it's not an especially unforgettable TV production by such merits. Similarly, its strengths (why it makes it to my top 10 despite its weaknesses) are exactly where Shut Up and Dance fell short - theme-wise, this is as profound as it gets, and at the very heart of what Black Mirror is supposed to be about.
Throughout its 7-season run, the series has introduced many creative premises where futuristic technology is used a plot device to tell a cautionary tale with an important social message. But for a pacifist like me, hardly any of them have hit quite as hard as this one: in a futuristic war, British soldiers fight against inhuman mutant-monsters, but when the installed eye implant of one soldier starts to malfunction, he learns a horrible truth: the enemies they've been killing are humans just like them, but the implants make them look like monsters in order to sell a false narrative and make shooting them easier. What makes this especially powerful is that you just fucking know that institutions like the U.S. military would, in a heartbeat, employ tech like this the very second it would be available once they knew they'd get away with it.
Dehumanizing other cultures in order to justify slaughtering them has always been one of humanity's most consistent and disgusting tendencies, whether it's Nazi Germany spending millions on anti-Jewish propaganda in the 1930's or Israel spending millions on spreading false narratives about Palestinians to justify their genocide in the last two years. Men Against Fire is an episode very true to the show's title, as it holds a mirror to humanity's actions, and the image in that mirror is dark as hell.
9. The Waldo Moment (Season 2 Episode 3)
"Black Mirror predicted the future correctly with episode X" is something you hear all the time - many parallels between the show's episodes and real-life events after those episodes have aired have been found, ranging from broad (AI deepfake news from the last few years have had quite a few similarities to the concepts from season 2's Be Right Back) to hilariously specific (I originally thought that the "The British Prime Minister has sex with a pig" storyline from the pilot was a tongue-in-cheek reference to David Cameron's "pig-gate" incident, and was floored when I discovered that the episode predates the breaking of that news story). But I think we can all agree that the king of instances where a scenario dreamt up by Charlie Brooker came to life is The Waldo Moment - where an unserious, foul-mouthed TV celebrity runs for political office and actually wins.
Yeah, Brooker more or less predicted Trump with this episode, although there obviously are some differences (for example, the character Waldo is a cartoon, and the position he ends up in is much smaller-scale than "leader of the free world", because real life post-2016 has been more dystopian than anything Charlie Brooker could've imagined). In any case, The Waldo Moment is a brilliant satire, touching on the silliness of certain political systems and the symbiotic relationship between cynicism and populism.
8. Black Museum (Season 4 Episode 6)
Oh, hell yeah. I'm glad that the series never did a full "let's tie every separate story from the anthology together" episode, as it would inevitably feel cheesy and take away from the individual nature of the stories. But, as little easter eggs from early on have confirmed that these stories do have some relation to each other via interesting connections, it's neat that we got Black Museum, which will hopefully remain the closest we ever get to a 'crossover episode'.
While the main story is a thing of its own, the subplots and background imagery connects to almost every preceding episode, with many of these instances being wonderfully subtle and clever. It helps understand the timeline and relationships between all the fictional tech in the series a bit better. Still, the main star is the episode's main plot, spearheaded by Letitia Wright's sledgehammer performance and that unforgettable ending twist. This is the episode that the overrated White Christmas wishes it was.
7. Joan Is Awful (Season 6 Episode 1)
I have a passionate, undying love for movies written by Charlie Kaufman, so it tracks that the easily Kaufman-iest episode of Black Mirror is one of my big favorites. In Joan Is Awful, the plot starts out pretty crazy (a woman finds a new TV show that is somehow based on her life, with the pilot episode recounting stuff that happened to her that very day but just acted out by someone playing her) - and only escalates further and further into meta madness from there. I love every minute of this creative clusterfuck, down to the occasional absurd humor and the smart jabs at the way digital consent works in the post-post-information age.
6. San Junipero (Season 3 Episode 4)
San Junipero is many things - a clever and imaginative science fiction story, an artistic blend of stylistic music and visual choices, and a delightfully fresh escape from the general doom-and-gloom side of the show with its bright colors and ultimately wholesome plot. Above all else, however, it's a love story, and a damn great one at that. Whether you like the show otherwise or not, this electrifying blast of lesbian love is one Black Mirror episode that everyone could benefit from watching.
5. Hang the DJ (Season 4 Episode 4)
While I try to proudly own my opinions and not be an elitist, there are times when the opinion I'd like to have is slightly different from the opinion I do have. This is a prime example: one season after San Junipero, the show tried the "against-all-odds uplifting love story within a cool sci-fi premise" thing again, and this time the romance was about a straight couple - and, as much as I hate to admit this as a queer person with strong opinions about heteronormativity in Hollywood, I just can't help it. I like this one slightly more. Believe me, I'm more upset about it than anyone.
But, yeah. Hang the DJ is an ingeniously written episode, with a plot that keeps you guessing until we get to that sweet payoff of a culmination. It's some of the best-written sci-fi in the series, with the emotionally raw human story complementing the mind-bending elements with delight.
4. USS Callister: Into Infinity (Season 7 Episode 6)
Ah, I love me a blockbuster sequel. It fills me with joy that the one and only time that Black Mirror did a direct sequel to an earlier episode, it was for my (spoiler alert for the rest of the list) favorite episode of the series. Into Infinity's biggest strengths have hilariously little to do with what Black Mirror is all about: it's legitimately fun to see the familiar characters from USS Callister again, the story continues in an enthralling fashion, and the high-budget production values and gargantuan runtime make it feel like a large-scale blockbuster movie.
That being said, it's also pretty great by traditional Black Mirror merits - there's imaginative technology, cool science fiction elements, and some dark-as-hell messages about humanity and society amidst all the authentically fun fan service.
3. Common People (Season 7 Episode 1)
I surprised myself by ranking the premiere of the newest season this highly - it's such a typical Black Mirror episode that you'd think it would be outdone by many of the out-there unique ones. But, the thing is, Common People is for this show what The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis is for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Stress Relief for The Office. It's not one of the best because it's groundbreakingly different within the show's mythos; it's one of the best because it's the archetypical episode for the series, the one that showcases what the series is about at its core the best. It does what every good Black Mirror episode is supposed to do, in a manner more flawless than hardly any.
The premise is relatively straightforward: a woman with a fatal illness signs up for a futuristic service called Rivermind, that uses technology to prolong her life by replacing her excised brain tissue with synthetic tissue powered by their server. She and her husband sign up, with the system working on a solid-sounding subscription basis. Then, in one of the most accurate, scathing bullseye critiques of capitalism that I've ever seen, the service starts to ramp up its prices in a thoroughly evil and depressingly realistic manner, introducing costly upgrades that become more and more mandatory as they deliberately make the un-upgraded version harder and harder to live with.
When you get to the point of in-human ads, the episode feels spooky and painful in just the most Black Mirror way, as the concept feels simultaneously wild and creative yet also very close to home in a "yeah, humanity will 100% be doing this fucking bullshit about 20 years from now" sense. Profound stuff, man.
2. Nosedive (Season 3 Episode 1)
Ah, the social media episode. Black Mirror is, more or less, always poignant with its cautionary tales about society's direction with regard to technology - but rarely has the target been hit and obliterated as thoroughly as in Nosedive. As a Community fan, I feel like I should call this episode overrated because (and this is true) Community did the concept first, which is pretty crazy. But, I gotta say - Black Mirror did it even better. Community may be my favorite series of all time, but with regard to the individual "what if we had a social media platform where we rate people, and your average rating as a person affects your social status" episodes, App Development and Condiments walked so that Nosedive could run.
I'm not as vehemently anti-social media as some people (hi, Dad!) - I think a lot of good comes with them, like an opportunity for lonely people to find communities, or a gateway for people with brainwashed upbringings to gain access to a broader worldview. However, I am very critical about the gazillions of downsides that social media admittedly has, from hate-feeding algorithms and addictive qualities to the downright pandemic of misinformation that's hurting our society in so many ways. Now, this episode only tackles a fraction of those problems with its concise story, but that's often the best strategy for socially poignant storytelling - with this individual example of social media going too far, Nosedive manages to say a lot about the broader subject, serving as food for thought for any given viewer. Truly important storytelling.
1. USS Callister (Season 4 Episode 1)
I know, big shocker - the Star Trek spoof/tribute episode is my favorite. I swear, that's not my primary reason - naturally, the familiar aesthetic and pop culture references do help, but really, that's a tiny part of what makes USS Callister into a masterpiece of television. When you peel back beneath the surface, you find more and more layers to why I love this episode so much - it's about the brilliant cast providing excellent acting performances even more than the Star Trek vibe, but it's about the insanely well-written characters even more than that, but if you go even deeper it's really about the creative and cleverly told story, but really it's about the genius sci-fi premise that allows that story to flourish.
And beyond all of that, you find the ultimate truth - while not the most typical Black Mirror episode, the season 4 premiere still is extremely Black Mirror at its core. Some dark truths about humanity are explored via the story of Robert Daly (played in a tour-de-force performance by Jesse Plemons), a complex, realistic and ultimately frightening character whose concept is so very Black Mirror - it's not that the futuristic technology in itself wrecks him, but rather he has the potential for evil deep within, and the use of futuristic tech is what assists to him getting there.
Therefore, the central theme can be seen as "power corrupts" or "we need to stop the incels" or "we need to figure out a way to prevent people from becoming incels in the first place" or any number of things really. In any case, it's a magnificent case of telling a deeply humane story with a lot to say about the human psyche via an imaginative sci-fi premise - and isn't that what Black Mirror is all about?
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a peculiar post: I'm ranking the same 33 episodes again, but by a different criteria. You see, my mom has a taste in movies&TV that is very different from my own: things she doesn't like include violence, overly dark/upsetting stories, complex sci-fi, and particularly weird/experimental narratives. So, I've often figured that she would dislike Black Mirror with an impressive passion, and this gave me a hilarious idea: ranking the episodes of Black Mirror by how much my mom would hate them. So, that'll be next week's post!
