Black Mirror S 2, 3, and 4

- Black Mirror S2 [2013] - 77

With what is likely to be my least favorite episode in the whole series [or at least close to] in “The Waldo Moment”, the most-too-longest episode in “White Christmas”, the one who got so close but just missed the mark in “Be Right Back”, and the only genuinely thought-provoking and likely favorite overall in “White Bear”, Black Mirror S2 was a helluva ride. Looking at both this season and quickly forward into the others, I fear that episodes are going to continue to be padded out longer and longer and lose the succinct charm that short-form scifi lives and dies by, while also forgetting to be a dark reflection of our world. While “White Bear” is a great example of what I want/ expect from this show in terms of “ok, but what if…”, I think that the other episodes in this season represent exactly what I’m afraid things will turn into moving forwards: pulled punches, distended runtimes, and flat conclusions that don’t sell the commentary, but rather just continue the obvious narrative forwards. We’ll see, but, C+ overall.

- Black Mirror S3 [2016] - 78

Season three of Black Mirror starts a recurring trend of running out of ideas, but learning to use them in more and more interesting ways — we’re bound to see the “stick this tiny disk on your temple to alter your reality” device in future seasons as well — while also making its episodes entirely too long. That said, I think the series is finding its footing a little more here, despite a very rocky start. EP’s 1-3 start mediocre, get entirely pointless and boring, and then fall into what is my least favorite twist yet, due to lack of moral conflict. That said, this is a 6-episode season, and the trailing three pull this one out of a nosedive [heh] in a big way. While ep4, “San Junipero” is missing a single conversation to really pull the narrative together, it does feature interesting characters, meaningful conflicts, and engaging [if a little cheap] resolutions. “Men Against Fire” catches a lot of flak for copying an episode of The Outer Limits… but I haven’t seen it and that’s a show from the 60’s and or 90’s so… we’ll all live, and it tells another of the only genuinely thought provoking stories of the series so far. Following that, “Hated in the Nation” is a pretty uninteresting commentary due to a few missed opportunities, but is a fun mystery with some great narrative construction — a thread we’ll see in come up again in S5… not that I’m already there at time of writing or anything…

- Black Mirror S4 [2017] - 79

Starting with another of my least favorite episodes in the way too long “USS Callister”, season four of Black Mirror quickly shapes up into what I think is the strongest overall piece, despite its closing episode, “Black Museum”, only being mediocre and a little too self-serving. Within the core of the season though, we get “Crocodile”, “Hang the DJ”, and, most importantly, “Metal Head”. Yes, “Arkangel” is there as well, but that one is just “fine” and doesn’t examine its plot device enough to be truly impactful [it’s also too long]. “Crocodile” largely hangs on a stellar performance from the always enthralling Andrea Riseborough, but also tells an interesting and morally bleak story. “Hang the DJ” misses the mark on its own point a little with a tidy conclusion, but does a truly excellent job of shipping a romance that you care about within its equally tidy runtime. “Metal Head” [the lowest ranked episode of the season and bottom 3 of the entire series, according to IMDB] is going to be in my top 3 of the whole shebang for sure. It’s short, it’s interesting, and it wraps up with that “oh no…” Twilight Zone-style conclusion that I think most of this show strives for but fails to find.