To celebrate the arrival of the latest season of Black Mirror coming to Netflix this Thursday, here is a list of the top 5 episodes of this mind-bending sci-fi anthology series.
5. Nosedive
In a dystopian future where ratings have taken over, people can rate the people they encounter, which affects how others perceives them, to the extent where it determines their chances of buying a house or even getting invited to an event. Things go horribly wrong for Lacie, the main character of this episode, when she accepts a wedding invitation with the possibility of increasing her rating.
Lacie is one of Black Mirror‘s unluckiest characters, which makes the episode so memorable. Collider assumes that this episode is probably well-liked by audiences due to the similarities of the rating system to likes on social media, and how it can determine someone’s worth.
4. The Entire History of You
Perhaps one of the most devastating Black Mirror stories involving a relationship. The Entire History of You follows lawyer, Liam, as he gets suspicious of his wife following zealous interaction between her and a friend of hers at a dinner party. In a world where everyone has the ability to record their audio-visual senses due to a specific implant, people have the ability to rewatch their memories. This ability soon begins to cause a lot of distrust between the couple and sends Liam into madness. The episode remains intense throughout which makes it both an exhilarating and horrifying watch.
3. Shut Up and Dance
Since when did people start covering their webcams on their laptops? Before Shut Up and Dance, it was undoubtedly a thing, but this bleakly sarcastic episode definitely encouraged people to adopt safety measures. Alex Lawler, a teenager, is blackmailed by a hacker who caught him masturbating on camera. However, he quickly comes into contact with other hacker victims who all have secrets of their own. As the hacker’s victims get more and more desperate, the situation escalates quickly, coming to a horrible conclusion that will cause you to have nightmares about the things you don’t want your friends and family to know.
2. White Christmas
White Christmas is Black Mirror‘s 2014 Christmas special. The White Christmas episode, starring Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall, is widely regarded as one of the best Black Mirror episodes. The two main technologies in the episode are “cookies” and “blocking,” which allow people to silence someone in real life and only see them as a blurry, gray silhouette. Cookies are digital reproductions of humans kept inside an object and utilized as personal assistants. The episode showcases the haunting effects of blocking someone in how Hamm’s character is unable to communicate with his daughter and ex-wife after being blocked.
1. Hang the DJ
As bleak as Black Mirror is, Hang the DJ is often regarded as the only feel good episode in the show’s catalogue. The episode centres around a dating service that arranges introductions between users for a predetermined period of time. Although they are matched, Frank and Amy agree not to look up their relationship’s expiration date on the dating app. From this point on, things get worse because Amy thinks they are locked inside a simulation that the app has created. Although the premise for this episode is not as extreme or out-there as some of the episodes, it easily tops this list due to its stellar performances from its cast.
The latest season of Black Mirror is set to release this Thursday on Netflix.
Also see: Cast members announce that Blood and Water season 4 is officially in production
