Has Black Mirror lost its shine?

Black Mirror began as a strange (very strange, recall the pig) dystopian anthology series in the twilight hours of Channel 4’s programming schedule in late 2011.

From these humble beginnings, Black Mirror became a cult favourite, and then a global hit with its move to Netflix. It has also become a phrase ingrained in our vocabulary- used as a kind of collective relief in a shared frustration and recognition at the cruel and ridiculous- seen plastered on signs at various marches and protests in recent years.

However, every star begins to dim and the recent output from Black Mirror has received more mixed reviews. The height of adulation came with Season 3’s San Junipero. San Junipero was different from Black Mirror in that it was heart-warming and left you feeling somewhat hopeful about the salvific uses of technology. Unlike all other Black Mirror episodes to that date technology was being used to give humanity to someone who had had it stripped from them rather than vice versa. It was beautifully shit and had a great juke box soundtrack. Telling the story of a lesbian couple was a welcome addition to a TV landscape that so often does not include LGBT+ stories.

It makes sense as part of a levelling law of averages that if one episode has done so well the following just won’t compare. This seems to be the case with Black Mirror. The episodes they continue to make are of good quality but they cannot quite recreate the magic of what has come before. This is because for a show to capture us in the way Black Mirror has done in the past it has to also capture the zeitgeist. To do this requires a mixture of foresight from show runners and the luck of good timing. At times, Black Mirror seemed to be ahead of the times. At the time of release, The Waldo Moment, was seen as crudely simplified and unrealistic. People would never be enchanted by a crass cartoon blue bear politician who refuses to engage in reasonable discourse. (WARNING *POORLY ATTEMPTED SATIRE FORTHCOMING*) I guess it was unrealistic as we’d only vote for an orange one not a blue one. Queue manic laughter as I go and cry in a corner for half an hour. Others such as Nosedive, White Bear and Hated in the Nation aptly analyse how our most cruel traits play out in a public sphere just when the full extent of our love of public shaming and pretence were beginning to unfurl.

At its height, Black Mirror was both anxiety inducing and cathartic. There is some comfort in having our fears visualised and knowing others share them too. Season 5’s problem is that it is great and well-made but the stories have not captured what we are really worried about at the moment. With impending ecological collapse and political disillusionment, the possibility of a giant Miley Cyrus hologram is something I wasn’t really worried about and something that I remain to be unworried about post episode. There are elements that seem to handle some prescient topics. How virtual reality may affect sex and sexuality given the secrecy it affords for groups who feel pressure to conform to societal and cultural norms. Another episode questions whether tech companies are morally dubious for making phones and apps purposefully addictive. Big pharma is being sued for peddling addictive opioid pain relief so maybe I should sue global aspiration spurting photo album, Instagram.

These are interesting themes that seem like issues that we will see on the News in a couple months. However, neither are grabbed fully enough by the horns to generate either of the reactions (anxiety/catharsis) we want from Black Mirror to feel fully satisfied.

It’s hard to criticise a programme that I love made by someone I admire as much as Charlie Brooker. Who am I to hurl insults at a show so many people obviously work so hard on? I’m sat writing this whilst watching Loose Women eating a crunchie in my pyjamas at 2pm. However, hopefully my criticism has been measured. A show can seem to have missed the mark in some way and not be shit. Reducing it to such would be to pose a false dilemma and those are bad- I learnt so in a logic lecture in first year so you can take that with good authority. A show can be good but not be capturing a zeitgeist that would make it seminal. There are many factors at play. There’ll be a time when Black Mirror hits the storytelling jackpot again and it will be elevated in our opinion to something more than a good TV show- a mirror of sorts.