Picking up where we left two weeks ago, let’s take a look at the best of the Black Mirror bunch. Best is, of course, extremely subjective. I’m pretty sure there will be at least one major omission and definitely one unexpected presence – but what would a top 10 be without major disagreement?
5. Metalhead (Season 4)
I know this isn’t a huge crowd favourite, but I feel like a lot of people failed to get this episode’s essence. As opposed to the others, it doesn’t build weave much of a story, and instead prefers to delve into basic human nature characteristics and decision-making processes. With its gloomy, slow-paced allure, it shows why human beings couldn’t survive in a world run by machines.
Keywords: Human beings have a big drawback.
4. Shut Up and Dance (Season 3)
This is perhaps the scaries episode of the bunch, mostly because it doesn’t exactly rely on technological advancements or dystopian scenarios. Internet security is a major concern nowadays, and many people fall victim to scammers… or worse. This brilliant hour of Black Mirror will make you feel much less safe when browsing the web in the seemingly solitary confort of your room.
Keywords: Be careful what you watch on your laptop.
3. Nosedive (Season 3)
After reading about how China is implementing its social credit, Nosedive stops being a scary potential reality, and becomes a scary reality. Should we rely on the subjective and emotion-dictated impules of others in order to make an objective assessment of another person? Should we allow or restrict their choices based on a random algorithm?
Keywords: Social credit is inherently
2. Hated in the Nation (Season 3)
This one was in a way similar to the very first episode, all the way back in Season 1. It has an environmental side, a technological side, but the most important aspect is, again, the one revolving around human nature. It shows how easy it is to ‘use’ the Internet as long as it guarantees anonymity, and likewise constitutes a fair warning about the ‘corectness’ of ‘social justice’.
Keywords: #socialjustice?
1. White Christmas (Season 2)
The longest Black Mirror episode is, in my honest opinion, also the best one. It puts a lot of effort in its initial setting – a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere – and does its best to weave three different stories into the mix, all while preserving thematic and plot interactivity between them. Some of the ideas here are so vividly showcased in terms of impact, that they become borderline terrifying. This was Black Mirror at its very best.
Keywords: What’s too easy is too hard.
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