(IMAGE SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black Mirror)

It’s kind of an obvious, even cliché statement to call Black Mirror a modern, British Twilight Zone, but it’s a pretty good starting point to talk about it and why it’s so resonant with a lot of people. For one thing, the stand-alone format of each episode means it isn’t bound by any overarching aspects it has to keep addressing (besides the implications of technology), and it makes every episode feel like it takes place in its own world. It leaves the audience with basically no idea what they’re in for, and in a world increasingly defined by seasons upon seasons of episodes all interwoven together as in most dramas nowadays, and movies trying to connect themselves up into elaborate franchises, it’s refreshing to actually have a show which you can watch in any order and never feel like you’re missing something.

Furthermore, the variety means it appeals to a lot more audiences than most shows tend to, and that’s kinda reflected in the sorts of episodes people like more than perhaps any other show I can think of. It’s able to work from the groundwork of genres from dystopian futures, to romantic character drama, to horror flicks, to political intrigue, with ease, and the writing frequently rises to the occasion far more than you’d expect for a show taking so much onto its plate.

As a result of how hard it is to articulate a simple explanation of why the show works so well, I’ve decided to talk about my personal favourite episodes from each series and try and explain why what they show about the series is so resonant.

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Fifteen Million Merits

The second episode of series 1, Fifteen Million Merits is the story of Bing, who lives in a world where people work for merits to earn their way, with the ultimate goal of getting on the performance show Hot Shot and impress a panel of judges and an audience of millions.

It’s worth admitting right off the bat Fifteen Million Merits is a bit of an odd premise- dystopian future meets reality TV- because depending on how you look at it, reality TV is either a dead format or a dominant one, given that one of its biggest stars is now ruling the free world with an (albeit rusty) iron fist. That said, even looking back, it doesn’t change the fact reality TV is and was a very pervasive format with a rather nasty set of tendencies to it.

The way Hot Shot defines people’s view of the world and their desires is genuinely striking, helping forward a desire for humiliation and objectification of people the audience doesn’t know or care about, to the point it basically sets up people to go into an insanely unforgiving environment that sends them into subjugation. It’s also pretty much shown to have created a sort of race to the bottom in terms of people’s tastes in entertainment; I particularly love how this is indicated through the guy on the exercise bike next to Bing watching a pandering, unfunny comedy show to distract him from how restricted his life is.

In particular, the final sequence of Bing getting on the show, threatening to kill himself and turning into a sort of controlled opposition with his own TV spot, claiming to push an agenda he doesn’t give a damn about in reality, is striking, a comment on the limits of freedom of expression and the extent to which radicalism has to be sacrificed for palatability if you want a mass audience.

 You can definitely make the argument it’s unoriginal, but to me, tying a dystopian future into things which are recognizably part of contemporary culture is one of the most striking ways to do it. Well worth a watch for anyone who likes their dystopian drama stories.

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 The Waldo Moment

The third episode of series 2, The Waldo Moment centres around a British by-election where a late-night comedy mascot achieves enormous success and notoriety by aggressively bad-mouthing serious politicians and building up an anti-establishment storm on the back of an agenda of almost nothing at all.

People always seem to be confused when I say I like this episode a lot. Admittedly, it might be partly because of personal reasons (I study politics, I really enjoy topical satirical comedies like Last Week Tonight and South Park, and the ways satire is interpreted is a topic which interests me a lot), or because of how specific the story is (how many sci-fi fans know or care about how UK Parliament by-elections work?), but probably the most striking thing is that it’s barely a dystopia at all. Less than five years after this episode, Waldo has become a political norm.

But to me, that’s what makes the episode so good. Replace Nigel Farage with a talking blue bear, immigration with dick jokes, and the EU with attacking ‘career politicians’, and it’s basically the last four years of British politics in a nutshell. The writers saw all the signs, and thought it could only really happen in the form of sci-fi- and then reality turned out to be just as bleak.

Admittedly, that it’s so close to home might be another reason it’s reviled, but to me it’s interesting. For one thing, Waldo strikes me as a more appealing rejection of the status quo than Farage, since he doesn’t base his rhetoric on xenophobia so much as on a scatological but mostly harmless (at first) sense of humour. Watching him makes me see why so many people went for the UKIP agenda or for Drumpf in a way I didn’t really do before.

It’s also striking in that it shows the dangers of mockery for mockery’s sake. Laughing at politicians is all well and good, but if you’re not trying to offer a coherent alternative, you shouldn’t be in politics. Overall, while sci-fi and politics is a weird cocktail and it’s fair enough if it isn’t your thing, if it is, you’re in for a treat.

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San Junipero

From the weirdest choice of a favourite episode to one of the most predictable. Surprisingly, though, I didn’t single this episode out just for the nice gay vibes or the 80s stylings (although those factors definitely help its case). It’s more because, even by Black Mirror standards, this is a unique episode- still with clear dark edges to it, but a lot more charm and fun to it.

Yorkie, a woman discovering her sexuality, meets Kate, a bi woman who’s wary about commitment, and continues to track her down whenever she can, in any time period she can, in the mysterious ‘party town’ of San Junipero. Despite being very different people, the two form an intimate relationship and both come to discover a different side to themselves through it.

The twist in the tale- which I won’t spoil here- presents interesting questions about the possibilities of memory storage and what death means in the context of sci-fi. It’s also a perfect episode to show anyone who thinks Black Mirror is all ‘hurr durr technology bad’, given it actually suggests the tech involved with the characters’ lives has a positive impact, although it’s still clearly shown to be abused by people like the inhabitants of the Quagmire.

Although the back-and-forth of Kate and Yorkie’s dynamic is a little mean in places, and arguably the ending is a bit of a heel turn, they’re both depicted as having depth and good reason for their attitudes to romance, and are superbly acted throughout.

On top of that, the story structure is cleverly ambiguous as to the details of how exactly San Junipero’s time zones work and the order of the events involved. So, if you’re looking for a lesbian drama with a sci-fi twist set to a fun nostalgic backdrop, give this episode a go.

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USS Callister

Much as I (and presumably any of you reading this) love geek culture and the friendships and shared experiences which come with it, it’s pretty much undeniable that it has some pretty ugly aspects to it. It’s therefore brave and, in my opinion, very smart of this episode to pretty much take geekdom to task in a beautifully executed pastiche of Star Trek and the MMORPG format.

The episode focuses around Robert Daly, a senior technician at the head office of an MMO developer and a reclusive nerd, and the private server he uses, which is skinned to look like the universe from his favourite TV show Space Fleet with his colleagues playing the loyal crew, under pain of torment from him if they break character. After ‘recruiting’ his new coworker Nanette, she proves even more uncooperative than usual, and is determined to get out of it with the rest of the crew.

As well as providing a fun pastiche of the original series of Star Trek- the opening even has a sort of deteriorated colour effect, which is a nice touch- and some funny moments, the episode has numerous engaging themes, such as the morality of the escapism gamers tend to enjoy, the extent to which nerds are sidelined by society or just behave in unpleasant ways, the complicated relationship between geekdom and sexuality, and how much nerds actually take away the intended morality of the shows they love.

Expanding on that last point, I can definitely see why people might not take to this episode- it’s a callout of sorts to toxic fandoms that refuse to acknowledge their negative aspects, and I’m curious what my Trekkie family members would make of it if I showed them it. But nevertheless, I personally feel that puts it a cut above some other pieces of media with geeky overtones like Ready Player One or The Big Bang Theory, and even ones I really enjoy like Guardians of the Galaxy or Stranger Things, since it manages to have its cake and eat it by both indulging in and critiquing the nostalgic setting it draws from.

Whatever you’re looking for, be it cheesy sci-fi, a dark critique of everything you love or an extended joke about the ugly side of Trekkies, I can definitely recommend beaming this one up next time you’re on Netflix.

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Conclusion

It’s worth noting that just as there’s pretty much a side to Black Mirror most people will find themselves enjoying, at the same time it’s easy to find episodes or types of plot the show deals with you don’t enjoy so much. Much as I have to admit episodes like White Bear, Playtest or Men Of Fire are clever episodes with interesting themes, I just don’t find them as fun to watch as some of the less horror-themed, more political episodes.

If anything, though, that’s part of what makes the show so good in my view. It’s genuinely a ‘something for everyone’ sort of series, and most of the episodes convey their intended points rather satisfyingly, are well-acted and engagingly directed. 

For those who haven’t seen it before, and aren’t convinced they like the sound of any of the episodes I’ve recommended, I’d recommend looking up the Wikipedia list of episodes for the brief plot summaries to find one that sounds up your alley.

One thing’s guaranteed: you’re almost guaranteed to find at least one episode which just hits you right where you live and gets you thinking. Or alternatively it’ll make you miserable and hopeless, but at least feeling like someone just explained in satisfyingly intricate detail exactly why things are miserable and hopeless.