Netflix’s techno-thriller series ‘Black Mirror’ is a must see
By Drew Henderson
With every technological advancement we as human beings make, we also have the potential to turn it against us. “Black Mirror” shows us what happens when it does. Originally airing in the UK, “Black Mirror” is a techno-thriller anthology series, created by Charlie Booker, and features a wide variety of A-list actors and directors. With only being, thirteen episodes, Black Mirror is a short but excellent series. Within these thirteen episodes, are all stand out stories, and essential TV, but these top five, in my opinion, are the best of “Black Mirror”.
‘Hated in the Nation’— While also being the longest “Black Mirror” episode to date, ‘Hated in the Nation’ plays as a intense game of cat and mouse, as a group in the government, is tasked with finding a serial killer, who asks the people who they want him to kill next. This story, also served to have one of the darkest twist endings in series, leaving me shocked and saddened, after the true purpose of the killer is revealed.
‘White Christmas’— The last episode to be developed by the original channel before Netflix bought the rights, ‘White Christmas’ is one of the best episodes, with a standout performance by Jon Hamm. The story begins with two men stationed at a outpost during a winter storm, as tell each other moments in their lives to pass the time. What starts as a simple story, begins to be eerie as it goes on, building tension and questioning, as to what is truly going on with these two.
‘White Bear’— While I first thought this episode was cliche at first, the episodes ending makes this a memorable and one of my favorite episodes of “Black Mirror”. The story begins with a women who has no memory of what happened before she woke up, and is chased by killers and people who seem intent on recording her misery. Overall, White Bear misleads with a tired premise, but evolves into something thought-provoking, and makes you wonder if what happens could in the show, could possibly happen in real life.
‘Playtest’— Just as White Bear subverted the stalker genre found in the episode, Playtest does the same, as a American who is backpacking across the world, finds a job to test out a new virtual reality game. While the game starts out friendly, being a set of demos to see how realistic the technology is, it then turns to horror, as the American is taken to test the true product, a virtual reality horror game, where your fears are collected and then throw at you. As the episode builds up tension with each scare and fake out, you’ll truly begin to wonder what is real, and what is the game.
‘Shut Up and Dance’— When hackers record a insensitive video of a teenager, and threaten to leak it to friends and family, one teenager must team up with a man, who is also against the clock doing the wishes of the hackers who threaten to ruin their lives. Shut Up and Dance, is a tense episode, as these people are on the clock, doing tasks that range from finding a item, to robbing a bank. But like all good Black Mirror episodes, the ending is what makes this episode a truly tense and dark story.
Even though saying there is only five great episodes to this series is a injustice, as every episode is truly different and unique, “Black Mirror” will deliver for those who like horror, science fiction, thriller, and even romance. You can look to see more stories from the series, when the fourth season of Black Mirror, launches later this year.