Turn this article off: power down your laptop, phone, or tablet, and you’ll be looking into your own reflection. Screenwriter Charlie Brooker named this technological phenomenon when he titled the 2011 debut of his best-known project, Black Mirror.
With seven seasons to watch and 33 unique speculative fictions to explore, Black Mirror can be difficult to approach. But you shouldn’t miss out on the incredible anthology series, so if you don’t know where to start, consider my five favorite episodes. Bring tissues, and maybe a stress ball, because the infamous plot twists aren’t just a rumor.
5. San Junipero
One of the show’s most critically acclaimed episodes, “San Junipero” holds two Emmy Awards and an innumerable number of die-hard defenders. The show’s typical twisty and shocking plotlines go down easier with a dose of neon 80s nostalgia, and thus “San Junipero” is a perfect introduction to the show.
It’s 1987, and the Smiths and the Pixies leak out of the doors of disco clubs in the youthful beach town San Junipero. Unaccustomed to the lifestyle, a reserved young woman, Yorkie, crosses paths with the magnetic Kelly and begins to pine after her throughout San Junipero’s club scene. But how can love grow in a town that isn’t all it seems on the surface, between two women who aren’t who they say they are? “San Junipero” starts sweet, and spirals into a sci-fi commentary on love, memory, and death: the first queer episode of Black Mirror, and perhaps still the most optimistic.
4. Black Museum
When we discuss great performances on Black Mirror, Letitia Wright as Nish is certainly high on the list. “Black Museum” is a fun spin on a typical episode; it’s an anthology within an anthology. The title “Black Museum” is pulled from the UK’s Crime Museum at Scotland Yard — if you’ve heard of the nausea of Hollywood’s Museum of Death, you get the idea.
“Black Museum” follows Nish as she gets a tour of a roadside museum curated by a Rolo Haynes. Exhibits include a neural implant hairnet, a toy monkey, and a certain interactive technology that will cut the episode wide open. Tension builds and plots get darker as we venture deeper into the museum, and viewers will be left wondering if it’s morally wrong to let the next episode play, and be entertained by the suffering of the next batch of characters. If you’re looking to explore an almost meta commentary on voyeurism and the commodification of Black pain, give “Black Museum” a try.
3. Common People
“Common People” comes from the most recent Black Mirror season, and thus boasts an impressive casting of Rashida Jones and Chris O’Dowd. The episode got two Emmy Nominations, perhaps due to its masterful use of a plotline that feels remarkably possible in our current world.
Amanda and her husband Mike have their normal, middle-class existence shaken to the core when Amanda is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Mike’s fear for his wife’s life leads them to Rivermind Technologies, a private scientific-medical company that is developing synthetic brain tissue powered by a reinvention of cell service. Amanda undergoes the procedure to replace her cancerous tissue with the company’s development — free for her status as an early user, but requiring a monthly subscription fee. Happiness devolves into humiliation at the hands of a medical system that’s pay-to-win, and “Common People” pushes Mike and Amanda to their breaking point, if only to see how much they can pay before they snap.
2. White Christmas
Possibly the most iconic Black Mirror episode of all time, “White Christmas” won an International Emmy Award and contains a strong performance from Jon Hamm. Much like “Black Museum,” this episode features a few vignettes of a dystopian world that knit together in unexpected ways to deliver a gut-punch conclusion.
I’ll try to grab your attention without revealing too much: you have to throw yourself at “White Christmas” headfirst. Two estranged roommates share stories of woe from their past, which center around the brain-implant technology of this universe. These implants can put a flirt-coach in your head, livestream your romantic evening to a paying audience, or physically “block” someone by turning them into a muted gray blur in your eyes. Technology has also advanced to create virtual versions of a person’s consciousness: cookies. As the roommates’ personal stories begin to connect in mysterious ways, twists will come about that viewers will never forget.
1. Beyond The Sea
Incredible performances from Aaron Paul, Josh Hartnett, and Katie Mara ground “Beyond the Sea,” my favorite Black Mirror episode of all time. I find myself wishing this script was converted into a stand-alone film, but really, Black Mirror is where this retro-futuristic gem of suspense belongs.
It’s 1969, the year of the Apollo 11 moon landing, except this world is unlike ours. Space travel has already progressed, and two astronauts have undertaken a six-year mission to space; they pilot a two-man ship and collect data about the effects of deep space on their bodies. Rather than spending six years in isolation, the men receive robot-bodies that are left on Earth, and they are able to transfer their consciousness to their replica. But what will happen when one astronaut’s robot-body experiences a horrific crime, leaving him unable to escape space? The episode becomes a psychological study in isolation, grief, and masculinity, and you will never be able to predict where the next twist will lead.
Plug Back In
Once you dive into Black Mirror, it’s almost impossible to get out. The promise of fresh stories and twists every episode is delicious, and the series doesn’t have many misses among its large collection of episodes. If you run through my top five, you can check out my ongoing ranking of all of the episodes, or just scroll at random and pick the first episode you land on: you can’t go wrong with these mini-doses of dystopia.