“San Junipero” follows two women as they develop an intimate relationship across subsequent nightclub visits in the fictional San Junipero, but the episode’s twist shows that San Junipero is a simulated reality for the dead and elderly, designed to make the transition more peaceful. It’s not the first Black Mirror episode to touch upon the afterlife, nor the last, but it does feel singular to the rest of the show. The very best episodes, meanwhile, make us rethink everything - especially the ways in which our own cracked screens have changed our lives.įor a series that provides a bleak, unflinching look at the biggest questions of humanity, “San Junipero” is one of its brightest creations.

For, while every season features a burst of new ideas from Brooker, the great episodes are the ones where the twist doesn’t just change the tone or direction of the story, but make us totally rethink what we were watching. Key to our ranking strategy was recognizing the qualities that define Black Mirror as a series: the twists and the terror, plus the drama and even laughs that occur in between. At that point, the budgets got a little bigger and the casts got a lot more American (though every season still centers British talent in a few episodes), as Brooker’s focus also began to expand in ways that have helped the show find its current longevity.Ĭonsequence is using the premiere of Black Mirror’s sixth season as an excuse to look back at the show in full (so far) and evaluate what’s come up until now. Installments of the anthology series veer from romantic comedy to blackest horror with glee, episodes typically unified by an askew take on technology and its role in our lives - though creator Charlie Brooker hasn’t always felt compelled to hold to that brief, as the show’s most intriguing moments often reveal.īlack Mirror has undergone some significant changes over the years, primarily following Season 2, when the show was acquired by Netflix. After 12 years, six seasons, 26 regular episodes, and two specials, it remains impressive that Black Mirror continues to find new stories to tell.

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