I know, I know. This isn’t the first time someone has metaphorically yanked your arm and yelled “you HAVE to watch this show!” and it certainly won’t be the last. But this isn’t some funny sitcom or a mainstream and predictable display. This is a dark, twisted, fictional series that messes with your morale and really makes you think about the world you will soon live in.
"Black Mirror" is set in the near future, in a slightly technologically advanced UK. The series explores dark humor and satirical motifs that mirror (pun intended) social and psychological patterns that have or could happen to first world countries. There is a constant, underlying theme every time; each episode revolves around the use and abuse of technology or the manipulation by mass media. The show really picks apart how society’s infatuation with technology can distort even the most goodhearted of people. Here are a few chilling episode synopses.
A new technological device implanted behind your ear allows you to record and play back everything your eyes see. Never doubt a memory when you can simply watch it again and again. And again.
They say a person truly dies when they are forgotten. Well, unless you decide to have their Internet activity gathered and analyzed to create a replica of their conscience so that you can still talk to them. Then there’s the option of getting it a synthesized flesh body, too.
What do you do when a member of the royal family is kidnapped and you’re the prime minister? What about when the ransom is to have you fornicate with a pig on live national television?
Don’t worry, these aren’t spoilers. There’s a twist in every episode that’ll leave you reeling, much like, you guessed it, the "Twilight Zone." So far there are two seasons, three episodes each, and a special Christmas episode (with Jon Hamm!). But don’t fear, "Black Mirror" is set to renew for a third season on Netflix, as announced back in September 2015.
The series is critically acclaimed, and even won the award for Best TV Movie/Miniseries at the International Emmy Awards back in 2012. I think it’s enough to say that "Black Mirror" is a pretty damn excellent masterpiece of a show.
If you like fictional conundrums that make you question your faith in humanity and technology, then pop your peepers on over to Netflix right now. You won’t regret it.
