Black Mirror

You're reviewing the whole show here,not individual seasons or episodes. Don't give a low rating just because you didn't like Miley or the 5th series. Keep everything in context and just rate on your overall impression of Black Mirror. Carry on.

Black Mirror is one of the most original and best Mini-Series ever created. Each episode tells a different story about the modern world we live in and the technology we all love and while not all, most of them are fascinating. They are all filled with a-list stars and made by great directors. Each stand alone episode is thought provoking and filled with enough drama and suspense to keep you at the edge of your seat. While there are a few episodes that are not as good when compared to the others, most of them are fantastic. This show gets compared to The Twilight Zone a lot and while it's a pretty good comparison, I think Black Mirror is actually a lot better. It's hard to explain how incredible this show is so just go watch it.

The double entendre that is Black Mirror's name summarizes the show perfectly. The first interpretation is that the show looks inwards, at the darker aspects of humanity and society. This is done through the theme of technology, hence the second meaning. The black mirror is the screen that rules our lives.

Each self-contained episode is brilliantly crafted and produced. The stories are compelling and the acting is phenomenal. This show is not for those looking exclusively for entertainment, as the episodes leave you with a distinctly empty feeling. Although this is obviously the intent, one cannot help but wonder at the creators' bleak outlook on the world. The presence of bestiality in the first episode could very well deter some viewers, but I would remind them that the show is Twilight Zone-esque in structure as well as theme. The episodes may be watched in any order, as they are all completely independent of one another. The second episode in particular is storytelling of the highest form.

Black Mirror is disturbing in the best possible way. It unflinchingly explores the issues of society through deeply intimate stories and characters and their interactions with technology. Let me be clear, it will not leave you feeling fulfilled. Watching it was an exhausting experience that shook me deeply. The thought provoking subject matter combine with powerful, desolate stories and excellent performances to create one of the most unique and brilliant shows that I have seen. It not only holds the viewer's attention while it plays, it enthralls your thoughts long after the credits roll.

Latest series is on the rails, by the book, it almost feels like series 6 has been written by AI.

Hold on. Is that going to be the final twist - that Charlie Brooker got ChatGPT to write series 6? That would explain the lack of plot twists and the by-the-numbers predictability.

If Charlie Brooker is playing 4D chess and has willingly created a poor series 6 to make a brilliantly executed point to the suited streamer overlords that AI cannot create as well as humans, then hats off to him. I'll revise this review to an 11/10.

But if that's not the case, then what did happen between series 5 and 6?

I've been a longtime fan of Black Mirror. It had always felt like a modern Twilight Zone with a focus on the potential downsides of future technologies. With season 6 it feels like they threw the premise out the window and went with an anything goes approach to storytelling, including the supernatural. In addition, the overall quality of the writing has declined in seasons 5 and 6. The first 4 seasons of the show is among my favorite TV shows ever, but they seem to have mostly lost their touch.

It's not that the most recent seasons are irredeemable because there are some pretty good episodes, but they are nowhere near the high bar that was set by the early seasons. Don't believe me? Go watch from the beginning and it will become obvious how much the show has changed. None of the newer episodes are remotely close to the quality of "The Entire History of You", "White Bear", and "White Christmas." Even the weaker episodes of seasons 1-4 are significantly better than most of seasons 5 and 6.

I suppose it's nice to get some new episodes of Black Mirror even if it isn't what it used to be, but I was hoping for much better. Despite my misgivings about the last two seasons, I hope there ends up being a season 7 because I am a big fan of the anthology series format. Overall, I still think the show deserves a solid 8 when considering the entirety of the series to this point.