The timing of Black Mirror‘s return couldn’t be better. The sixth season of Charlie Brooker‘s anthology series has premiered on Netflix as dystopia seems more and more likely to occur due to war, wildfires, escalating financial and ecological crises, the development of AI, and, yes, a pandemic that occurs only once every century. Brooker hasn’t had such a wide selection of material to transform into a televisual horror since the start of the series.
Given how many times the creator of the program has already referenced his nightmare playbook, it was natural for viewers to anticipate that the most recent season would critique our tech-dependent culture in recognizable yet updated ways, adding to the already-stunning selection from seasons 1-5. After you’ve dipped your toe into season 6, these are the ten best episodes of Black Mirror, ranked.
10. “White Bear” (Season 2, Episode 2)
Victoria awakens with bound wrists, a headache, and medications all over the floor. On the television, a bizarre sign is flickering, but she has no memory of it. She encounters Jem outside, a young woman who says that the White Bear transmitter is where the television’s signal originates.
The majority of the populace has become voyeurs as a ruthless elite group known as the hunters kill people who are not affected by the signal, like Victoria and Jem. They approach the White Bear transmitter, which they want to destroy, after eluding a hunter. Victoria and the White Bear setup, however, are not as they seem at first. This thrilling saga is one of the best Black Mirror episodes by far.
9. “Joan is Awful” (Season 6, Episode 1)
Joan, who leads a very typical life, is astonished to learn that Salma Hayek is portraying her in a TV drama based on her life. Within hours of the embarrassing event, every embarrassing detail is portrayed. She loses her privacy, her work, and her partner as a result of these discoveries. Since there is no legal method to stop the producers from doing this, she must take extreme steps. This riveting episode is among the best episodes of Black Mirror, its twisting story and eerie plot leading the way.
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8. “The Entire History of You” (Season 1, Episode 3)
The majority of people in the future have a chip called Grain implanted that records and replays every memory. British attorney Liam Foxwell takes an earlier flight after a job interview to meet his wife, Ffion, for a dinner party with her old friends. Ffion is speaking to her buddy Jonas when he unexpectedly arrives, and Liam finds her response odd.
Then, when they are eating, he notices how she keeps her eyes on Jonas, leading him to believe they are involved romantically. In response to Liam’s questions about Jonas, his wife acknowledges having a brief romance with him in Marrakech before meeting Liam. He confronts Jonas at his home the following morning after driving there. This gripping story is undeniably one of the best episodes of Black Mirror.
7. “Hated in the Nation” (Season 3, Episode 6)
While the episode’s implementation of its seemingly straightforward theme—the potentially disastrous effects of our infatuation with social media trends—is nothing short of superb. The early procedural tone of this murder-mystery episode is so brilliantly done that it lulls the spectator into a sense of complacency. Honestly, we’d watch a series of Kelly MacDonald as Det. Karin Parke investigating crimes any day. It’s quite alluring.
The climax is so quiet and yet so devastating that it leaves the audience uneasy and uncertain. The killer is not the expected maniac. This is one of the most masterfully produced episodes. Just add some naturalistic performances, a few allusions to the larger “Black Mirror” universe, and an eerie soundtrack. With these attributes and more, “Hated in the Nation” is unquestionably one of the best episodes of Black Mirror.
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6. “Striking Vipers” (Season 5, Episode 1)
Danny and Karl, former roommates and avid gamers, revive their connection when Danny invites Karl over for his birthday. Karl is single, whereas Danny is married and has a child. Karl sends his friend a cutting-edge version of their old combat game. They choose the former personalities Roxette and Lance for the evening, and unexpectedly, after a quarrel, they have a love encounter that has an impact on their own lives and causes them to second-guess their decisions. This confusing, winding episode is thought-provokingly brilliant and clearly one of the best episodes of Black Mirror.
5. “San Junipero” (Season 3, Episode 4)
This moving chapter is a spiritual cousin of “Be Right Back,” in that it centers on a love connection and seeks to provide a resolution to mortality’s inevitability. The hope provided by “San Junipero” comes in the form of a digital afterlife, in contrast to “Be Right Back” which played on the horrors of technology approaching humans. It makes sense that this feels the most different from earlier episodes because Charlie Brooker was trying to defy expectations when he wrote it.
What should be a relatively ordinary love tale is instead made sad by the California setting in the 1980s and the moving performances by Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Strangely enough, the sci-fi elements make the plot feel more familiar rather than more foreign. Although hope isn’t always possible, aging and loneliness are both unavoidable. There’s a good reason why this specific episode of the show was honored with two Emmys. Though the idea itself is immediately compelling and moving, the concept’s unexpected optimism elevates it to a whole other level. This classic feature is one of the best Black Mirror episodes, bar none.
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4. “Demon 79” (Season 6, Episode 5)
This story, which is set in the spring of 1979 and centers on the general election that would elect Margaret Thatcher, develops into a morality play about balancing one’s own motives and presumptions against a shaky common good. Nida, a department shop employee, is visited by a ghostly person (Paapa Essiedu), who gives her a straightforward directive: kill three people, or the world will end.
The subsequent episode is a horror exercise that alternates between serious and adorable in response to the flexible boundaries it lays forward for itself and the way that decade-appropriate genre touches peek through in Nida’s homicidal daydreams. Essiedu is effortlessly rocking that Boney M. suit thanks to its gore and bluntness. This intriguing exploration is clearly one of the best episodes of Black Mirror to date.
3. “Be Right Back” (Season 2, Episode 1)
The day before they were supposed to move in together, Ash’s death in an accident leaves Martha in shock. Martha’s buddy learns about a new service that allows people to contact their (dead) loved ones at Ash’s funeral. Even though her sister thinks Martha is isolating herself by staying in the cottage, Martha is horrified and decides to do so. One day Martha discovers Sarah has enrolled her for the service after she receives a message from Ash.
When Martha learns that Ash is expecting, she initially expresses her displeasure but quickly changes her mind and starts talking to ‘Ash’ more frequently. As she becomes more at ease conversing with the artificial Ash, ‘he’ doesn’t take long to inform Martha that there is a ‘next level’ of communication that will bring the two of them closer than ever. This intriguing concept marks one of the best episodes of Black Mirror.
2. “Nosedive” (Season 3, Episode 1)
Comments, likes, and ratings. These social economic elements of today might boost one’s spirits or even professional status. However, every contact and element of a person in the pastel-hued world of “Nosedive” can be graded, and that in turn affects how you’re treated. It uses a star rating-based caste system.
The episode’s cheerful color scheme and occasionally lighthearted, almost heightened-reality tone undermine how relevant the world portrayed is, despite how terrible that concept is (is there no tolerance for having a bad day or the socially challenged?). It’s almost a “Black Mirror” rom-com (there’s even an absurd bridesmaid speech), thus the protagonist’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) ability to fully realize her potential and be free depends on her being true to herself. This fun episode is undeniably one of the best episodes of Black Mirror.
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1. “Loch Henry” (Season 6, Episode 2)
A young couple arrives in a tranquil Scottish hamlet to begin work on a refined nature documentary, but they soon become engrossed in a juicy local tale involving horrifying historical events. To make a documentary, Davis travels with his girlfriend Pia to Scotland’s Loch Henry to see his mother.
While there, they learn of the town’s tragic past, which included Davis’s policeman father and led to a complete decline in tourism. Instead, Davis and Pia plan to create a documentary about this topic. This titillating episode is clearly one of the best episodes of Black Mirror, the stunning forerunner of the show’s compelling new season.
