Black Mirror – Series 1-7 Reviews

Ever since the new 7th series of Black Mirror dropped on Netflix in April, I’ve been rewatching the entire show from the beginning, as I haven’t seen the earlier series for quite a while, and never even got around to Series 6 after it launched. Consequently, I’ve been writing little reviews in my Favourites posts each month, but now I’m finally up to date, I thought I would gather everything together in one post, including my reactions to the latest series.

Black Mirror is an anthology show by Charlie Brooker, which originally started on Channel 4 before Netflix took over production from Series 3. It consists of 33 episodes of varying durations, each of which tells a standalone story (apart from the finale of the latest series, which serves as a sequel to a much earlier episode). There was also an interactive film called Bandersnatch, but that was removed on May 12 as part of a general overhaul to the streaming service. I’ve included my review from the time of its release in this post for completeness.

The various scenarios are generally set in the not-too-distant future, looking at advances in technology and media that are based in reality but pushed to their extremes. There are occasional deviations from that though, including episodes that focus purely on human psychology, take place in earlier time periods, or even stray into the supernatural.

In any case, it’s often very dark and unsettling, as well as interesting and entertaining. Even though we know the events are very unlikely to actually happen in most cases, and are sometimes in the realm of sci-fi or fantasy, they’re not entirely implausible either and tend to be quite relatable in some way. Where technology plays a key part of the story, for example, we know it could exist one day or even does already in some cases. And we’re already well aware of how manipulation and misinformation are rife in certain corners of social media, journalism and politics. Hence the show is a ‘black mirror’, exposing the dark sides of humanity and technology.

With every story being so unique in content and style, featuring a different cast every time, it’s inevitable that some are better than others, and every viewer will have their own preferences. So here are my own personal reactions to each episode, without revealing any major spoilers given that the stories often go in surprising directions that are meant to provoke thought or just shock you. I hope you find it interesting.

Contents

Series 1

  1. The National Anthem is my favourite episode from the first series. It pulls no punches as it sets the tone for the show from the outset, by placing the Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear) in a position where he has to seriously consider carrying out a despicable act to save a princess’s life.
  2. Fifteen Million Merits is about a society that is run entirely via screens that people have to interact with, and the only possibility of escape is via a talent show. It’s a good story with nice performances by the two main lead actors, but it does feel too long and slow-going at times.
  3. The Entire History Of You is better, with the interesting concept that people have implants recording everything they see and hear, so they can play back their memories at any time. It leads to increasing tensions between one couple though, where the wife is played by the wonderful Jodie Whittaker. This was 6 years before I was properly introduced to her in Doctor Who, so it was a lovely surprise to see her in this as I’d forgotten she was involved. Other people in the show have appeared in Doctor Who too of course, but she’s one of the most notable (Peter Capaldi being another example, who appears in Series 7, so I’m looking forward to seeing that when I get to it).

Series 2

  1. Be Right Back is very emotional and thought-provoking, as we see how AI could be used to generate interactive replicas of loved ones we’ve lost, by analysing everything they’ve shared and sent online. It reminds you how such advanced technology has inevitable limits.
  2. White Bear is the best in the second series. It features a lady called Victoria (Lenora Crichlow) who wakes up with no memory of who or where she is, and then comes under attack from masked hunters, while members of the public gleefully film it all on their phones without trying to help. The clever plot twist at the end puts a whole new perspective on it all.
  3. The Waldo Moment is about a cartoon character who’s popular because of how rude he is to public figures, and gets involved in the local election when its creator is reluctantly pressured to do so. But while it has occasional funny moments, it feels quite silly, and is easily the weakest of the stories in both series thus far.
  4. White Christmas is a 75-minute special that marked the final episode to air on Channel 4, and it features a couple of guys sharing stories in a remote cabin. They have communication implants instead of phones called Z-Eyes, which even let you block people in the physical world so you can’t see or hear them. Plus we learn about egg-shaped devices called Cookies, which contain digital clones of real people trained as personal assistants. It does feel a bit slow and not hugely engaging at first, but it’s worth sticking with, as it gets more interesting as it progresses, and the reveal at the end is a good payoff.

Series 3

This series was the first to be produced for Netflix, from which point it had a much larger budget. Series 1 & 2 are available on Netflix as well, but audio description is only available from Series 3 onwards unfortunately.

  1. Nosedive takes the obsession with social media to a higher level, with people rating each other for things they do in real life as well as online. Each person’s average score then determines how they’re treated by others, and the products and services they can access. So it becomes quite the obsession for people like Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard), whose performance is very believable as her rating spirals out of control.
  2. Playtest takes a while to really get going, but gets increasingly intense once it does, as Cooper (Wyatt Russell) tries to earn some money by playing an augmented reality horror game, which literally gets inside his head to capitalise on his darkest fears. And it’s pretty good, keeping you guessing with several twists right up to the end.
  3. Shut Up And Dance involves technology that is already widely used today, which makes it all the more unnerving. Many people like myself have had fake emails trying to blackmail them in the past. But what if it were real and you had to carry out orders to keep your secrets safe? That’s the position teenager Kenny (Alex Lawther) finds himself in, as the demands get more and more sinister and dangerous. So it’s another good story.
  4. San Junipero, which won 2 Emmys and other awards, is a very sweet love story between two women – Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) – who have quite different personalities. I’m not into romantic films generally, but being Black Mirror there’s a unique slant on it here, as we learn that San Junipero is a virtual world that people can visit at any time while alive, and then permanently reside in after death. So it is enjoyable, as the two ladies have wonderful chemistry, the soundtrack includes some classic 80s hits, and the tone is unusually positive for a Black Mirror story.
  5. Men Against Fire is all too relevant in today’s climate of increasing prejudice and misinformation, as a soldier called Stripe (Malachi Kirby) is part of a unit hunting down mutated beings called Roaches, only to learn the truth about them when his brain implant malfunctions. It’s not as exciting as some of the other stories perhaps, but it is deliberately disturbing and thought-provoking.
  6. Hated In The Nation focuses on detective Karin Parke (Kelly Macdonald) and young computer expert Blue (Faye Marsay, who has just played DS Misha in Adolescence). They’re investigating the murder of a journalist who had become widely despised after comments she wrote about a disability activist, but are horrified to discover the high-tech method in which she was killed, and it becomes a race against time to stop others suffering the same fate. So it’s a very tense and exciting episode, practically a feature film at 90 minutes long, again with good insights into social media and more big twists.

Series 4

  1. USS Callister – Here a group of people are taking part in a highly realistic and immersive virtual game, set on a spaceship like in Star Trek. However, when Nanette (Cristin Milioti) starts work at the software company and finds herself trapped in the game, it becomes clear there’s something much more sinister going on. It’s not the first time that the show has done a digital cloning story, but this takes it to another level and is very good. It’s also the first story to get a sequel, as the last story in Series 7.
  2. Arkangel – Single mother Marie (Rosemarie DeWitt) signs up her new daughter Sara for a trial of a special implant, which allows her to track Sara’s location, spy on what she’s seeing and hearing, monitor her health, and even censor images and sounds that are causing Sara distress. As Sara grows up, however, such parental interference becomes more and more of a problem, and it’s another well-told story as we see things unravel.
  3. Crocodile – Here we follow Mia (Andrea Riseborough), who had been in a car 15 years earlier when her drunk friend Rob (Andrew Gower) had accidentally killed a cyclist, and she’d helped him to dispose of the body. When Rob tracks her down and brings it up again, it sets off a devastating chain of events as she takes increasingly desperate measures to stop the truth coming out, especially given the memory-accessing technology an investigator is using. The twist at the end is quite silly, but it does bring the story to a suitable conclusion. So it’s not the best episode of the series, but it’s still good overall.
  4. Hang The DJ – This takes dating apps to another level, with people forced to live in an environment where their hand-held devices pair them with various strangers, dictating how long they spend together and analysing the outcomes, before it decides who their perfect lifelong companion is. But what if you disagree with the algorithm? Can AI really know best? It doesn’t make for the most thrilling story to watch, but it’s nevertheless intriguing to see how it unfolds.
  5. Metalhead – This episode sees a trio of friends breaking into an abandoned warehouse to steal a box, the contents of which aren’t revealed until the end. However, the building is guarded by highly intelligent dog-like robots, one of which kills two of the group, forcing Bella (Maxine Peake) to go on the run with the bot in hot pursuit. It’s enjoyably tense, and it doesn’t feel too dragged out as it’s the second shortest Black Mirror story at just 41 minutes. It’s also filmed in black and white, which makes it feel a bit like an old horror film, and emphasises the lonely, desolate landscape that Bella is trapped in.
  6. Black Museum – While waiting for her car to recharge at a remote petrol station, a lady called Nish (Letitia Wright) explores a nearby building called the Black Museum, run by a man called Rolo Haynes (Douglas Hodge). It holds a variety of artefacts that have been involved in unusual crimes, including some that are fun little Easter egg callbacks to old Black Mirror episodes. Rolo tells Nish a couple of stories, the first about a device that allows you to feel the physical sensations of others, and the other about the ability to transplant the consciousness of a comatose patient into another person’s head. And then there’s one more story when he shows her the central attraction of the museum, which is where we get the big twist, bringing everything together very well. So it’s an interesting trilogy of well-connected stories.

Bandersnatch

A year after the end of Series 4, the interactive special Bandersnatch was released, where you got to choose your own path through the story, resulting in lots of different possible outcomes. Sadly it was recently taken down, as part of Netflix’s general cull of their interactive content. But for completeness, here’s the review I wrote after it came out in December 2018.

Set in 1984, it’s about a young guy named Stefan, who is developing a video game based on an old choose your own adventure book. And, just like those old books, you’re regularly asked to make decisions about what he does, with only 10 seconds to decide. A few early choices are designed to get you used to the concept and have relatively minimal impact (though there are one or two callbacks to them later). And a few choices are eventually forced upon you in some way, with good reason.

But most decisions have a major impact, affecting the scenes and available choices that you’re presented with later on. The more you watch and try out different choices, the more you realise and appreciate that many scenes have multiple variations, some more subtle and important than others, and there are loads of different endings. There are even one or two paths that are a bit tongue-in-cheek, feeling a bit ‘meta’ and breaking the fourth wall, which are good fun. It’s all very impressive and the transitions when you make choices are seamless on a technical level. It must have been mindbending to write and film it all.

The overall story, if you make it through to one of the main endings, is about 90 minutes, but there’s over 5 hours of footage to find altogether. Each time your story does conclude, you’re given the chance to go back a bit to try something else, but you’re often still limited by the choices you made earlier (and the film neatly and concisely recaps the route you’ve taken to remind you). So if you want to see everything, you will need to go back to the beginning and take different paths sometimes. You can fast forward through the scenes you’ve seen before, of course, though as soon as you make a new choice you’ve never done before, keep watching normally from that point, as many later scenes that seem familiar will have changed in some way.

So I really enjoyed trying everything out, it was pretty addictive. And I was very pleased with myself that I found most of the different endings. Someone has already, of course, produced a flow chart of all the different paths, and by checking that I was happy to discover that I’d found most things, there was just one path with a couple of variations that I’d missed, so I was able to find that. So I think I’ve pretty much seen everything now, perhaps apart from one or two other minor variations during the story that I’m not so concerned about.

So I do recommend it. It’s not for the faint of heart, it is very dark and does get quite disturbing in parts, as is the norm for Black Mirror. There is some strong language and parts where it can get a little bit gory. But if you don’t mind that, it’s wonderful. It’s also worth noting that there is audio description available, which is great. It doesn’t read out the choices to you, admittedly, so perhaps that could be improved in future. I don’t know if things like Voiceover will already read the options on mobile devices or computers. But the fact that they have recorded audio description for all the footage is appreciated.

Series 5

Series 5 dropped on Netflix 6 months after Bandersnatch, and consisted of just 3 episodes, as Charlie Brooker didn’t want people to wait too long for them.

  1. Striking Vipers – Old friends Danny (Anthony Mackie) and Karl (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) are reunited over a modern version of an old video game they enjoyed together 11 years earlier. This time, however, it’s a very realistic and immersive VR simulation that even lets them feel physical sensations. So when they inhabit their attractive virtual characters Lance (Ludi Lin) and Roxette (Pom Klementieff), they soon discover they can enjoy much more than just fighting together. But it messes with their heads and relationships in real life.
  2. Smithereens – Rideshare driver Chris is played brilliantly here by Andrew Scott, who was already well known to me and millions of others as Moriarty in Sherlock, alongside his many other TV and film roles. Chris picks up a guy called Jaden (Damson Idris) from outside the offices of Smithereen, a social media company like Twitter, and takes him hostage, demanding to speak to CEO Billy Bauer (Topher Grace). This causes major concern for the police in the UK and the social media bosses in America, and it’s very tense as they try to resolve the situation. The ending is somewhat predictable yet deliberately unclear, because ultimately the message relates to the addictiveness of social media and the lack of care and attention it can cause in people.
  3. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too – Pop sensation Miley Cyrus first came to prominence playing a pop star in the hugely successful Disney sitcom Hannah Montana. And now here she plays another idol called Ashley O, who’s enjoying success with her latest hit On A Roll (which Miley later released and even performed at Glastonbury). She also launches an AI robot doll for the fans in which her mind has been replicated, and lonely teenager Rachel (Angourie Rice) eagerly gets one for herself, to the cynical disapproval of her sister Jack (Madison Davenport). But things are far from rosy for the real Ashley behind the scenes, so when things take a tragic turn and the doll becomes aware of it, all hell breaks loose, with Rachel and Jack drawn in to help. So it’s quite an engaging story, particularly as Miley proves herself to be a very good actress.

Series 6

Series 6 feels a bit off-track and too experimental sometimes. A couple of episodes do centre around innovative technology, but others explore alternative avenues, even exploring the supernatural. So some of the stories, while interesting, don’t really feel like they belong to Black Mirror, and could be part of any other series really. Some of the endings don’t feel too shocking this time either. It’s still a good series on the whole, don’t get me wrong. It just feels like it’s the weakest among all of those I’ve watched so far.

  1. Joan Is Awful – Joan (Annie Murphy) is both mystified and horrified when she discovers a new drama streaming online about her own life, where she’s played by a deepfake version of Salma Hayek. Even more remarkably, it covers the events of the very day she’s just lived through, and reveals secrets that cost Joan her job and relationship. Unable to stop it by legal means, she manipulates the events of the next episode to attract the attention of the real Salma, and together they try to fight back against the streaming service. The twist that greets them isn’t too surprising, but it’s still a good ending. And overall it’s a fun episode once it gets going, with some humour amongst the drama as Joan and Salma make an amusing duo.
  2. Loch Henry – Pia (Myha’la Herrold) is taken to a remote part of Scotland by her boyfriend Davis (Samuel Blenkin), where they stay with his mother Janet (Monica Dolan). The couple are planning to make a documentary about illegal egg collecting, but when Pia learns about a much more disturbing mystery in the town, she persuades Davis that they should make a film about that instead. She isn’t prepared for what they uncover though. It doesn’t particularly feel like a Black Mirror story, because it’s a thriller that could work in many other shows, and the twist at the end is predictable. But it’s still an interesting look at how the making of a true crime documentary can impact the local community, and there are some gorgeous views of the Scottish landscape.
  3. Beyond The Sea – Cliff (Aaron Paul) and David (Josh Hartnett) are astronauts working on a space station, but by laying in a special pod, their conscious minds can be transferred to replicas of themselves down on Earth, allowing them to spend time with their families, breathe in the fresh air and so on, until they need to focus back on their space duties again. However, when tragedy befalls David’s family and his replica is destroyed, Cliff lends David the use of his replica instead, so he doesn’t feel too trapped and lonely in space. The fallout from that is somewhat predictable, but still interesting to observe as it’s very well acted. The extreme nature of the ending does feel unnecessary, but then maybe the more obvious option was deemed to be too obvious.
  4. Mazey Day – The title character of this story (played by Clara Rugaard) is an actress who disappears after committing a hit and run. So the paparazzi try hunting her down, with the promise of a huge reward for whoever gets the first picture. Bo (Zazie Beetz) manages to figure it out in the end, but thanks to underhand tactics some of her rivals also join her. However, what they encounter is completely unexpected and terrifying, and makes no real sense by Black Mirror standards. It’s an entertaining twist in its own way, but feels very out of place for this series.
  5. Demon 79 – This episode is a supernatural thriller that takes us beyond the normal boundaries of the series, and as such is given a “Red Mirror” branding to forewarn you that it’s not standard Black Mirror fare. It is certainly a strange story, but it does have some fun horror and comedy elements to it, even if it feels a bit too silly sometimes, and it has some great music from the period too. Set in the late 70s, it’s basically about a quiet girl called Nida (Anjana Vasan), who unwittingly summons a demon called Gaap (Paapa Essiedu), which takes the form of a dancer from Boney M. She then has to kill 3 people in order to prevent a total apocalypse, with Gaap urging her on despite her fear and objections. Again, the ending isn’t a particular surprise, but it is interesting to see the journey that Nida takes during the episode.

Series 7

This is the latest series that landed on Netflix this year, and it feels like it’s back on form again.

So here are my brief spoiler-free reviews of those episodes:

  1. Common People – This episode stars Chris O’Dowd, who I know from the sitcom The IT Crowd, but here we see him in a totally different light, and he’s very good. He plays Mike, whose wife Amanda (Rashida Jones) collapses with a brain tumour. A lady called Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross) persuades him to let her new tech firm carry out surgery to replace Amanda’s tumour with synthetic brain tissue, so she can still live a normal life. But there’s a monthly cost, and some of the pitfalls of other subscription services creep in. So it’s interesting to see the toll it takes. There is only one way to end such a story, so there isn’t a big plot twist, but it’s handled well.
  2. Bête Noire – Maria (Siena Kelly) is helping to develop unique new recipes for a chocolate company. But when a lady from her school called Verity (Rosy McEwen) gets a job with the firm, things that Maria is certain of begin to change unexpectedly, yet nobody believes her. The explanation for it is very far-fetched, but it leads to a fun showdown. It also means the episode merits rewatching, especially the first half, as once you know what’s going on and how it’s done, you’ll spot several details you paid no attention to before.
  3. Hotel Reverie – Actress Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) is thrilled to be given the opportunity to star in a remake of Hotel Reverie, a classic black and white movie from the 1940s. But it’s no ordinary remake, as it’s a virtual production featuring AI recreations of the characters, with Brandy hooked into the system so she can act alongside them, particularly in scenes with Clara (Emma Corrin). With limited studio time, however, the movie has to be completed in one go, like a play. So when the story goes off track and there are technical problems, Brandy’s life is put in danger. It’s quite a novel idea that’s executed nicely, and the romantic aspects of the story are quite sweet.
  4. Plaything – This was one of the most intriguing episodes for me, as it stars Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi, who gives a great performance as Cameron. He’s arrested for murder and admits to it, explaining it via a story from his youth in the 90s. So we see the younger Cameron (Lewis Gribben), a computer game reviewer, who steals a pre-release copy of a new simulation game called Thronglets. He gets hooked on it, as the creatures in the game have artificial intelligence and can replicate themselves, and he finds he can understand them when he takes LSD, which puts him under their control. It’s a very weird story yet surprisingly engaging. There’s even a Thronglets game you can download for real, featuring a storyline with multiple pathways and endings. I haven’t tried it myself, as I think I’d struggle to see it well enough, but it’s got very good reviews.
  1. Eulogy – An old man called Phillip (played excellently by Paul Giamatti) gets a message to say that Carol, an ex-girlfriend from many years ago, has passed away, and he’s invited to submit his own contributions to a memorial for her. He’s sent a special device that attaches to his temple, which enables him to walk around in old photos like a form of virtual reality, assisted by a guide (Patsy Ferran). But having censored all images of Carol from his old pictures, he no longer has a clear memory of what she looks like. So he goes on a very emotional journey to rediscover her, during which he finally learns why they broke up – which isn’t a shocking revelation, but it’s told well, and overall it’s a moving story about a lost love.
  2. USS Callister : Into Infinity – This marks the first time that Black Mirror has created a direct sequel to a previous story, as it follows on from the USS Callister episode in Series 4, with many of the same cast members returning. The crew of the ship are digital clones of real people, led by Nanette (Cristin Milioti), and are now free-roaming in the public version of the Infinity game, having escaped the closed-off environment they were in before. But as they’re not official players, they have to steal to get what they need, which leads to complaints and retaliations from other users. And the only way to survive is to try and access the source code to create a private virtual server for themselves. Meanwhile, the real-life Nanette becomes aware of her clone’s activities, and Infinity CEO James (Jimmi Simpson) is under threat of exposure for criminal activity, so the two of them team up to try and sort things out. It all makes for a fun story with cool visuals and big twists, and is therefore an enjoyable end to the series.

Conclusion

So that’s it, I hope you enjoyed my rundown of Black Mirror to date. It has its weaker moments for sure, but on the whole it’s been great to work my way through the stories again, as they’re very cleverly written and beautifully filmed. As and when new series come out in the future, I’ll probably just incorporate them into my monthly roundups as usual rather than updating this post, as it’ll only be one series at a time then. But we’ll see what happens. I look forward to seeing what Charlie Brooker comes up with next in any case.

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Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.