Since its debut in 2011, Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror has been a modern-day version of The Twilight Zone.
Brooker’s stories don’t tend to be morality tales like Rod Serling’s iconic series, but the parallels between the two shows are uncanny.
This is a show where more often than not, people suffer because of the choices they’ve made. But those impactful endings are why Black Mirror has such a passionate following.
Before you catch Season 7 on Netflix, check out these five great Black Mirror episodes and revisit the series at its best.
“Arkangel” (Season 4, episode 2)
How far would you go to protect your child from harm? In “Arkangel,” Marie (Rosemarie DeWitt) has her daughter, Sara (Aniya Hodge), implanted with experimental technology that gives her full access to Sara’s senses and control of her actions.
The problem with Marie is that she doesn’t know when to quit. When Sara becomes a teenager, Marie uses the implant again. And that leads to a very bad outcome.
“Hated in the Nation” (Season 3, episode 6)
Kelly Macdonald in Black Mirror. Netflix
If you follow British television at all, then you know there are plenty of detective shows in the United Kingdom. “Hated in the Nation” starts like a lot of those stories as Detectives Karin Parke (Kelly Macdonald) and Blue Coulson (Faye Marsay) investigate why individuals targeted on social media have been killed in inexplicable ways.
Because of the nature of these crimes, there’s more than one murderer to blame for these deaths. The consequences are also suitably harsh for anyone who took part. The online mob thought they were immune from consequences, and they find out the hard way that they are not.
“Playtest” (Season 3, episode 2)
Prey director Dan Trachtenberg helmed “Playtest,” an episode that centered on a man named Cooper (Wyatt Russell) who is running from his emotional pain. That’s one of the reasons he takes a paid job to test an augmented reality game.
The game in question is meant to draw upon the user’s greatest fears. In short, everything Cooper’s been running from is now directly wired into his brain, and there’s no way he can turn it off. It’s a private hell of his own creation.
“Be Right Back” (Season 2, episode 1)
Hayley Atwell gives a terrific performance as a grieving woman named Martha in “Be Right Back.” Following the death of her boyfriend, Ash (Domhnall Gleeson), Martha is so lonely that she uses a service that promises to create a new AI version of Ash based on his digital footprint.
At first, it seems like Martha has gotten her fondest wish by getting Ash back into her life. But this AI isn’t her boyfriend, no matter how much he seems like the real Ash. He’s just close enough to be disturbingly human.
“The Entire History of You” (Season 1, episode 3)
The very first episode of Black Mirror has some very unpleasant things involving the Prime Minister of England and a farm animal that make re-watching it very distasteful. But the third episode of Season 1, “The Entire History of You,” is a masterpiece.
Future Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker appeared in the episode as Ffion, the wife of Liam (Toby Kebbell). The story takes place in a future where human memories can be recorded and stored, and that’s what Liam uses to determine if his wife is having an affair with her friend, Jonas (Tom Cullen). With this technology, secrets are almost impossible to hide.
What Liam finds is a first-hand view of his shortcomings and memories that he would have been better off not knowing. The story was so impactful that Robert Downey Jr. optioned it for a movie, which has yet to be made.
Stream these episodes and Season 7 of Black Mirror on Netflix now.
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