I was late to Black Mirror, Netflix’s anthology based on the Twilight Zone. My wife and I caught up on the show during the pandemic. It launched in 2011 on the British network Channel 4 and ran for two three-episode seasons. (I’ll stick to calling them “seasons,” not the confusing term “series,” that Netflix uses.) Netflix picked up the series (see the confusion?) in 2016 with a six-episode season, followed by the same in 2017, and then a three-episode season in 2019. Four years later, they’re back with a five-episode season premiering today, June 15th.
Black Mirror tackles a variety of topics, but most episodes are set in a near future dystopia and highlight technology to comment on contemporary social issues. There’s crime fiction, psychological horror, political satire, romantic comedy, and even a space opera. Some examples of storylines include:
- A U.K. Minister is blackmailed into having sex with a pig;
- Citizens rate their interactions with people (on a 1-to-5-star scale) that determine their socioeconomic status;
- An animated cartoon Waldo places second in a U.K. election;
- A police procedural where robotic bees are the killers;
- The consequences of a hit-and-run accident;
- A Recaller device that can view another person’s memories.
Black Mirror has a stellar parade of guest actors: Daniel Kaluuya, Romhnall Gleeson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mackenzie Davis, Kelly Macdonald, Jesse Plemons, Miley Cyrus, Jon Hamm, and many more. You’ll be saying, “Where do we know that guy from?” more than a few times. Salma Hayek leads off the sixth season, with Aaron Paul, Annie Murphy, and Michael Cera also starring.
In addition to being an actor showcase, Black Mirror carries on the Twilight Zone tradition in a couple of other ways. The prescience of the storytelling is uncanny at times, such as foretelling the reach of artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Also, where both shows created some remarkable episodes, they weren’t all must-see TV. At times the themes of Black Mirror can be a little predictable, the metaphors a touch heavy-handed, and the suspense lacking. But that’s the beauty of standalone programming that can be watched in any order. You’re not locked into a long season storyline, or multiple seasons, or spin-offs, or universes. No asking yourself time and time again, “Ok, where did we leave off?” If you don’t like a particular episode, you’ll probably like the next one with its whole new plot and cast. Black Mirror foretells a future that is chilling, disturbing, and the technological conundrums it posits are terrifyingly possible.
D² Rating ◼◼◼◩☐
Trivia: Who starred in the Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”
Answer: William Shatner