There’s no denying that Black Mirror is a TV phenomenon. Since it started in 2011, the twisted mind of Charlie Brooker has given us all sorts of nightmarish glimpses into alternate pasts, futures and present days: usually ones where our love of technology has spectacularly backfired on us.
Of course, some of those episodes hit harder than others. Whether that’s down to a timely premise, some standout acting or a particularly twisted central character, Black Mirror has given us some gems over the course of its six-season run – and some stinkers.
With season seven about to air, what better time to rank the show’s best and worst episodes, as they currently stand?
The best
5. Hang the DJ
Yes, Black Mirror episodes can be cheery. This satirical look at the modern dating scene was directed by the Sopranos’ Tim Van Patten and is a romantic (ish) take on the potential of apps like Tinder. Georgina Campbell and Joe Cole are Frank and Amy, a couple who are matched via a dating app, only to be told that they’re not right for each other. Sparks fly, there’s a techie twist, and it’s just all rather a lot of fun, actually.
4. White Bear
Gives new meaning to the words ‘living nightmare’. White Bear starts with no context at all, forcing us to watch as an unnamed woman (Lenora Crichlow) wakes up and finds herself hunted through the streets of a town, while people film her on their phones and a masked executioner shoots at her. The twist, when it comes, is worthy of some of the best horror films out there, and is a disturbingly bleak meditation on human nature and our attitude to punishment.
3. Nosedive
This was another of the show’s episodes to go viral, perhaps because of how well it predicted the phenomenon of gamifying social cachet. We’re dropped into a version of the near future where people have social media eye implants and their social standing is ‘ranked’ online based on how they interact with others.
Bryce Dallas Howard is Lacie, whose desire to digitally social climb becomes a vicious spiral that essentially destroys her. When paired with the show’s soft, pastel-hued aesthetic, the end result is something very creepy indeed.
2. USS Callister
Who could have thought that a Star Trek spinoff could get so – well, creepy? This is perhaps the most unashamedly sci-fi thing that Black Mirror has ever done, but it works wonderfully. Hollywood star Jesse Plemons turns the wattage up to play Captain Robert Daly, the heroic capain of the USS Callister spaceship.
But of course, not everything is as it seems, and the real Daly is actually a video game employee who has cloned his hated co-workers inside a video game system to torture them and seduce the work newbie, Nanette (Cristin Miloti). It’s fun, vengeful stuff, that delivers its twist early and milks it for all its worth.
1. San Junipero
This is one of Black Mirror’s most beloved episodes – and, aside from Hang the DJ, it’s one of the rare ones to give its characters a happy ending, too. In a nightclub in 1980s New York, Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) meet for the first time, sparking a heady romance. But of course, not all is at it seems: they’re actually older women, living inside a simulation, who have to decide whether to die naturally or have their consciousnesses ‘uploaded’ to live forever on the web.
It’s a poignant, sweet and heartfelt piece – given lift off by the excellent performances – that tackles death in a classically Black Mirror way. Top marks.
The worst
5. Arkangel
Something about this cautionary tale just doesn’t work, despite how interesting the premise is. Rosemarie DeWitt is Marie, a mother who signs her daughter up for a rather intrusive technological procedure to monitor her safety (and then, much more) – and of course it backfires. But despite the great acting, the show doesn’t quite make the most of its premise, or really engage with the ethics of what it’s posing. A case of wasted potential.
4. Bandersnatch
I mean, it was certainly ambitious: Black Mirror’s first ever interactive adventure, for which it filmed multiple different endings and allowed the user to ‘game’ their way through the story themselves. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work, despite Will Poulter acting his socks off as a young computer programmer who finds himself losing his grip on reality. For novelty value, it’s fun – but it’s not one to play multiple times.
3. Playtest
The twist here just doesn’t quite cut it, despite the intriguing premise. Wyatt Russell plays a US tourist/ thrill-seeker who tries out a cutting edge virtual reality horror game, only to get more than he bargained for when it starts dredging up some of his darkest fears from the depths of his psyche. But what we get isn’t really much more than a generic horror film, laden with jump scares – not especially memorable, even if the twist at the end is a good one.
2. Rachel, Jack and Ashley, Too
Whoever thought it would be a good idea to get Miley Cyrus to star in a Black Mirror episode might need a bit of a talking to. It’s not that she’s bad, per se, it’s just that her megawattage waters down the episode and detracts attention away from the storyline, which could have been a good one. She plays Ashley, a pop starlet who ends up have her consciousness cloned into one of her merch dolls.
As her teen owners battle to bring her home, the tone gets all a bit Scooby-Doo – while the plot makes absolutely no sense. Best skipped.
1. Mazey Day
Eek. Nothing about Mazey Day really works. Set in the 1990s, it follows a young paparazzo as she hunts down the scoop of a lifetime, only for the episode to veer off into truly wild, supernatural horror. I mean, the twist is unexpected, but it’s also plain silly, and the end result feels like a Black Mirror episode got put through a meat grinder and reassembled. No stakes, no character development: a whiff.
