The world has changed a lot since “Black Mirror” premiered in 2011; mostly as the lines between fact and fiction blur. The sci-fi show from Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones became shorthand for our bleakest and most dystopic realities, whether that was a caricature rising to the highest office in the nation, technology used to monitor and manipulate human behavior, or alternate realities and artificial intelligence.
With Season 6 now on Netflix — its prescience and potency somewhat in question — IndieWire had to revisit the existing episodes and our previous ranking. Comparing installments of an anthology series like this one is inherently tricky, even if there is a certain “We’re all doomed” throughline present in most. (Season 5 is notably more optimistic, something we’ll chalk up to “the ‘San Junipero’ Effect”).
Arranging the episodes by quality also doesn’t guarantee the ideal viewing order, but IndieWire’s list naturally punctures defeatism with hope. We don’t recommend binge-viewing, but if you want to journey back through “Black Mirror,” allow us to guide you through the hits.
With editorial contributions by Hanh Nguyen and Liz Shannon Miller.
27. “The Waldo Moment”
This wasn’t the most innovative or surprising of the bunch, and lacks that oomph that comes with the recognition that the story parallels our own lives in eerie fashion. That said, the tale of how a crude blue cartoon bear ran for office and actually did well despite common sense became far more relevant once Donald Trump began campaigning for the presidency. The idea of an entertainer with no political experience who could win people over by insulting opponents and misbehaving hit just too close to home. The night Trump was actually elected, the “Black Mirror” Twitter account even commented, “This isn’t an episode. This isn’t marketing. This is reality.” As with many other “Black Mirror” episodes, it skewered a particular aspect of our society with laser-sharp focus, thought it loses steam in the end, getting too caught up in the storyline of an ousted artist instead.
26. “Mazey Day”
An episode that peaks early with an Amerie needle drop and heads downhill gradually, this is the first of two Season 6 installments that really stretch the idea of what this show is. Zazie Beetz stars (and does her best to elevate) a chapter about a down-on-her-luck paparazzo in the mid-2000s who manages to put herself in a position for a life-changing payday. Deep down, there’s the potential for this to say as much as it thinks it does about celebrity and ambition and the cannibalistic nature of the entertainment industry. But by the time this episode gets to its big payoff — after treading through tortured metaphors, some prime coincidencing, and some insufferably written roommates and co-workers — it’s almost more frustrating that the show used one of its last genuine surprises on a paper-thin premise.
25. “Crocodile”
Charges of misanthropy are often unfairly leveled at “Black Mirror.” There’s a distinct difference between telling stories of characters experiencing distinct trauma and fictionalizing pain simply to manipulate an audience. But “Crocodile” is the closest the show has ever come to the latter, laden with enough dead and psychological suffering that the episode itself becomes little more than an endurance test. Sometimes the inevitability of a character’s fate works in this show’s favor, but watching one woman systematically remove all barriers between her and the cozy, murder-suppressing life she’s created for herself is a slow-motion wreck that the show is usually far better than. The episode’s strongest assets, a pair of performances from Oscar nominated star Andrea Riseborough and the thankless role-elevating Kiran Sonia Sawar, are enough to keep you watching to the end, but only barely.
24. “ArkAngel”
While “Black Mirror” has evolved over the years, every season makes sure to include a few basic “How would this technology affect a key human relationship?” installments. Thus, in Season 4 Jodie Foster directed this nuanced look at a single mother and the daughter she’s able to monitor all too closely thanks to technology. While narratively, it’s a relatively predictable storyline (who would have thought it’d be a bad idea for a parent to be able to see everything their teenager is up to?), the performances are great, especially Rosemarie DeWitt as the mother just trying to hold on.
23. “Men Against Fire”
Between Malachi Kirby (still criminally under-recognized for his work in the 2016 remake of “Roots”), Michael Kelly, and Madeline Brewer, this is a classic example of “Black Mirror” having a talent for casting the stars of tomorrow. However, while one of the smartest aspects of “Men Against Fire” is its choice of subject matter — not nearly enough attention is paid to both the modern state of warfare as well as its aftermath for those who participate — the ways in which “Men Against Fire” explores the potential use of technology in combat end up veering alarmingly over the top.
22. “Demon 79”
Set in the spring of 1979 against the backdrop of the general election that would bring Margaret Thatcher to power, this becomes a morality tale about weighing personal animuses and assumptions against a slippery public good. Department store employee Nida (Anjana Vasan) gets visited by a spectral figure (Paapa Essiedu) who offers her a simple instruction: kill three people or the world will end. The episode that follows is a horror exercise that swings between serious and cutesy, both in its relationship to the elastic rules it sets out for itself and the way that decade-appropriate genre touches peek through in Nida’s homicidal daydreams. It’s grisly, it’s blunt, it has Essiedu rocking that Boney M. suit without a hitch. For now, it’s a pretty forceful ending for a show still figuring out, along with us, what comes next.
21. “Shut Up and Dance”
This, let’s be clear, is an episode that plays 100 percent differently the second time you watch it as opposed to the first. And that’s with full credit given to both the oh-so-subtle hints planted in “Shut Up and Dance’s” opening minutes, as well as the extremely well-calibrated performance by Alex Lawther as Kenny, whose fear and shame prove genuinely palatable from the beginning — though it’s not clear why, until the end, he’s so desperate to play this game.
20. “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too”
Most of this chapter has the level of subtlety you’d expect from one centered around the glossy public persona of a global glam pop star. All the business with Ashley’s off-stage life feels ripped from a standard contentious relationship between loose cannon celebrity and overbearing manager. But when the focus shifts to a pair of sisters who stumble on Ashley’s latent consciousness trapped inside a mass-produced Siri/Barbie hybrid, it gives Miley Cyrus the delightful opportunity to riff on her own public perception. The divergent parts of “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” never quite coalesce, even when their motivations smashed into alignment with the force of a speeding truck. But it’s hard to imagine a time when the show was having this much fun with its own nonsense.
19. “Black Museum”
As gutsy a season finale that the show’s put forth so far, “Black Museum” is somehow both a love letter to the series and a massive grenade designed to blast it to smithereens. As a road-tripping visitor (Letitia Wright) stops into a gas station collection of technological curiosities, the accompanying trio of shorter stories make for a bizarre trip through the show’s self-contained history. Rolo Haynes (Douglas Hodge) is as good a narrator as he is an unreliable one, making for a tour guide through the show’s cemetery who delights in the twisted artifacts of his own creation. With allusions to past installments and extensions of others, it’s the “Black Mirror” equivalent of a bonus track. But what this episode truly delivers is an overwhelming sense of physical terror, the starkest example of characters wrestling with their own bodies — and even their own souls. It’s bleak enough to pacify the most masochistic technophobe, but ends with a parting message that offers the faintest bit of hope that the future isn’t as unconquerable as we might think.
18. “Joan Is Awful”
In maybe the strongest “call coming from inside the house” episode of the show so far, Brooker and director Ally Pankiw turn their attention to Joan (Annie Murphy), whose life is inverted when she finds out a streaming series is recreating her life in real time. This show has a growing tradition of episodes based around watching one person melt down as their entire perception of reality is shattered (see also: “Nosedive,” “Entire History of You”). Like those, your enjoyment of this is almost entirely dependent on how well you respond to the one track it sets itself and stays on for almost its whole runtime, Salma Hayek-as-herself-subplot and some other trickery notwithstanding. Time will tell how potent this chapter ends up being outside the context of the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes, which should make for some illustrative future context. (Also, this episode does have Hayek shouting “Paragraph A can suck my dick!” so that’s not for nothing, either.)
17. “Nosedive”
Ratings, likes, comments. These aspects of today’s social economy can raise one’s morale or even business standing. In the pastel-inflected world of “Nosedive” though, every interaction and aspect of a person can be rated, and that in turn determines how you’re treated. It’s a caste system based on star ratings. As horrifying as that concept is (is there no tolerance for having a bad day or the socially challenged?), the episode’s cheery palette and occasionally light-hearted, almost heightened-reality tone undercut how relatable the world depicted is. It’s basically a “Black Mirror” rom-com (there’s even a wacky bridesmaid speech) and as such, it comes down to the protagonist (Bryce Dallas Howard) being true to herself, and thus finally able to unlock her potential and be free.
16. “Striking Vipers”
After four seasons of investigating different corners of the world of technology, “Striking Vipers” is a “Black Mirror” episode that felt like the first true Variation on a Theme. Bundling together ideas of digital consciousness and fateful, unexpected romance, this installment adds in its own mix of race, gender, and sexuality. Centered on the story of two longtime friends (Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who find an unexpected connection within the framework of a VR video game, “Striking Vipers” is a decades-long look at how suppressed feelings can flourish in fresh environments. Returning after also directing “San Junipero,” Owen Harris oversees another episode that’s more atmospheric than linear. Still, even when handling these complex ideas in a distinctly stylized way, there’s a lack of nuance in the telling that keeps this from being more than a story of longing grafted onto new component parts.
15. “The Entire History of You”
This isn’t so much a bad episode of “Black Mirror” as it is an episode that hasn’t aged brilliantly since Season 1, largely because it plays into all of the show’s most established tropes: Technology is bad, people are arguably worse, and the mix generally leads to genuine disappointment. It also suffers from the fact that the ability to replay every single instant of your life thanks to an embedded implant in your skull sounds like a pretty hard sell, even if its hypothetical effects on society are interesting. Bonus points, by the way, for featuring the first female Doctor of “Doctor Who,” Jodie Whittaker, in a solid supporting role.
14. “Beyond the Sea”
There’s a good portion of “Beyond the Sea” that rejects the sensational trap that “Black Mirror” can easily fall into. A grieving astronaut (Josh Hartnett) and his co-pilot (Aaron Paul) both trying to figure out how to manage life in replicas on Earth while their actual bodies are up in space.. That’s a great source of tension on its own, but as things descend into a pat, lifeless love triangle, a gentle story gets sapped of some of its power. Still, Paul in a dual (triple, depending on your logistical view?) role is worth watching by himself, even if the elements around him don’t always feel like they justify a padded-out, feature-length runtime. And however earned it feels to anyone watching, it’s one of the more vicious endings the show’s been able to pull off so far.
13. “Loch Henry”
The other of the Season 6 sly Netflix self-critiques is this treatise on true crime, following a young couple as they decide to switch gears on their documentary project and profile a Scottish town’s sordid serial killer past. It’s not a “Black Mirror” episode built on surprise (the final act is telegraphed to the point of being nearly intentional), but it’s the best of the Season 6 bunch at following through on the promise of the premise. It helps to have Myha’la Herrold and Samuel Blenkin playing both the fleeting happiness and the growing dread that their two characters face as layers of truth begin to get peeled back. Blunt in a lot of the most effective ways, “Loch Henry” is smart about being explicit right up to where it can make its point and not feel overly exploitative, a key distinction considering it’s critiquing an entire subgenre that so often gets it wrong.
12. “Smithereens”
The best episodes of “Black Mirror” feel like they couldn’t exist as part of any other series. So if there’s a problem with “Smithereens,” it’s that the tech-based motivation of a distressed rideshare driver Chris (Andrew Scott) seems shoehorned into an otherwise-gripping kidnapping tale. Both Scott and Damson Idris (as Jaden, the hostage in this international negotiation) anchor the tension here, especially when the two are confined to a car in the middle of an empty field. It’s an uncertain swirl of anger, regret, and doubt that even extends across a transatlantic satellite phone when Topher Grace’s Jack Dorsey-esque tech CEO enters the mix. “Black Mirror” has always had a fraught relationship with social media, but it’s the way Brooker slips in some insidious cell phone surveillance thread into this story that, along with Chris’ unhinged outbursts, make this the only Season 5 episode to leave the audience with a lingering sense of dread.
11. “Fifteen Million Merits”
As far as world-building goes, “Fifteen Million Merits” isn’t one of the strongest “Black Mirror” installments. (Why do people sign up for this new world order, exactly?) However, if you don’t question the underlying logic too hard, this is easily one of the most emotionally affecting “Black Mirror” stories. Intimately focused on Bing (played with brilliant subtlety by future “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya) as he mindlessly pedals along in this corporate environment until Abi (“Downton Abbey’s” Jessica Brown Findlay) turns his head, the dark turns this story takes are capped off by an ending that’s both surprising and all too believable.
Amidst the doom-laden premises and occasionally fatalistic approaches to future problems, “Black Mirror” can still be thrilling the further it veers from the norm. Take this monochrome, dialogue-sparse “Terminator” riff that also manages to address ideas of militarized technology, environmental repercussions and the all-encompassing drive for survival better than previous installments did. Maxine Peake anchors the entire episode on a physical and emotional level, bringing an equal amount of resolve and terror to her character’s quest to evade a murderous robotic guard dog. It’s as primal as it is minimal, but still creates a vivid hope-deprived world in black and white. From gorgeous, haunting overhead shots to a dog’s-eye view of its prey, there’s a measured way to how “Metalhead” approaches space that makes it the season’s most chilling and grounded episode, all the way down to its final reveal.
9. “Hang the DJ”
An unabashedly romantic installment that serves as something of a spiritual sequel to Season 3’s “San Junipero,” the basic concept of a relationship simulator putting avatars through the rigors of romance in order to lock down a perfect match works really well during a first viewing. When you watch a second time, knowing the twist is a bit of a bummer, but the incredibly well-cast and engaging Joe Cole and Georgina Campbell compensate well for that, forming a couple we have no doubt are a 99.8 percent match.
8. “Be Right Back”
While some of the most potent “Black Mirror” episodes focus on people trying to escape things outside of their control, this episode is proof that getting exactly what you want can be just as paralyzing. Proof that the show can do romance just as good as any darker human emotion, the unconventional love story between a woman and the replicated android version of her late husband is a consideration of what makes us human and what we are willing to sacrifice for our own version of happiness. It’s not easy to imbue a robot with just the right amount of personality to seem both loving and frightening all at once, but it’s a divide that Domhnall Gleason manages to pull off. And the overriding, conflicted nature of her life-salvaging purchase gives Hayley Atwell the chance to deliver one of the best performances in the run of the series. “Black Mirror” can weave an intricate plot if it wants, but sometimes this kind of focus on one relationship leads to the most satisfying kind of story.
7. “Playtest”
“Playtest” is the TV equivalent of explaining to someone a nightmare you’ve just had the night before. It’s usually a recipe for disaster, but occasionally you can find someone who is able to articulate the specific surreal horrors of being trapped inside an approximation of what your biggest fears might be. Watching Wyatt Russell navigate a literal house of horrors, continuously questioning the nature of the reality in front of his simulated eyes, is one of the series best examples of being trapped inside an idea as much as any physical place. The ending sense of consciousness limbo that has capped off so many other sci-fi stories may seem like an extra unnecessary layer of doom. But director Dan Trachtenberg proves once again his monster movie credentials with bringing to life all manners of misshapen creations, digital or otherwise, that would be truly terrifying if ever released into existence.
6. “Hated in the Nation”
While the theme might appear simplistic — the possibly devastating consequences of our obsession with trends on social media — the execution of this feature-length episode is nothing short of masterful. Quite honestly, we’d watch a series of Kelly MacDonald as Det. Karin Parke solving crime any day, and the initial procedural feel of this murder-mystery episode is so well done that it lulls the viewer into a sense of complacency. It’s downright seductive. The killer is not the expected psychopath, and the climax is so understated and yet so devastating that it leaves the viewer unsettled and uncertain. Add to that some nuanced and naturalistic performances, several references to the bigger “Black Mirror” universe, and a haunting soundtrack, and this is perhaps one of the most beautifully and tightly crafted episodes to date.
5. “White Bear”
Moral ambiguity, an ingenious change in perspective, legitimate terror: all the “Black Mirror” hallmarks in one convenient location. Even the intercredits scene tacks on another layer of understanding to a terrifying situation. Disorienting right from the start, as one young woman is thrust into a life-or-death battle with camera-equipped onlookers, “White Bear” doesn’t just save the surprises for an episode-ending reveal. Completely shifting our perceptions of this twisted game multiple times over the course of its runtime, it manages to reinvigorate some familiar tropes of zombie movies and vigilante stories while engaging our capacity for revenge. Playing with memory is part of the “Black Mirror” mission statement — watching someone being punished for something horrific when they’re the only one who doesn’t remember what for is both the show at its most fiendish and insightful.
4. “San Junipero”
This poignant installment is a spiritual cousin of “Be Right Back,” in that it has a loving relationship at its center and tries to offer a solution to inevitable mortality. While “Be Right Back” played off the horrors of technology approximating humanity, “San Junipero” offers hope in the form of a digital afterlife. Born out of Charlie Brooker trying to upend expectations, it’s no wonder that this feels the most different from other episodes.
The 1980s-era California setting and the heartbreaking performances by Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw combine to make what should be a rather prosaic love story. Oddly enough, the sci-fi twists don’t make the story feel more alien, but more relatable. Aging is inevitable, loneliness is very probable, but hope is possible. There’s a reason that this particular installment of the series won two Emmys. The concept itself is immediately intriguing and touching, but what really sets it over the top is its surprising optimism.
3. “White Christmas”
You don’t need half-formed monsters or hellish serial killers to craft the perfect on-screen nightmare. What’s scarier than having to live with yourself and precisely no one else? The cavalier way that Jon Hamm’s Matt dials up another decade of punishment in solitary confinement for his digital egg prisoner and takes a nonchalant sip of coffee is one of the most devilish on-screen actions in TV history. The prospect of being walled off in an empty cell is a brutal fate, but for a show that comments on the increasingly connected world we live in, isolation feels like even more of a punishment. Toss in the idea of eternal repetition, of being condemned to relive a single experience in that loneliness is enough to make a murderer out of the most rational, sane individual. That potential is the fuel that fires the darkest of dystopias.
2. “The National Anthem”
“So I just started ‘Black Mirror’ and, um….” “National Anthem” is an episode that launched a thousand unfinished sentences, as fearless an opening statement as any TV show has ever made. That Scene gets its share of deserved praise for sheer audaciousness, but it’s the closing sequence of the episode that really sells the idea of the show overall. It’s not just about the ways that technology can bring about mortifying circumstances, it’s the idea that absurd developments can irrevocably change the most foundational relationships in a snap. And it underlines the idea that no one is exempt. Compromising demands on our privacy and our day-to-day life are just as viable for the hospital attendants watching the drama play out on TV as it is the Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear), forced into an unthinkable spot.
1. “USS Callister”
While “Galaxy Quest” is the ultimate homage to “Star Trek” fandom, “USS Callister” delivers us a brilliant parody of the original series itself, interpreted through the psyche of an anti-social coder. The delightful sets, ridiculous scenarios, and hokey alien encounters would’ve been enough to thrill any Trekker, but the performances bring the tribute to the next level. Seriously, Jesse Plemons’ Shatner impression is so lovingly wrought that it would bring a tear to Spock’s eye. We would pay Plemons to read the Starfleet Spacefleet manual. The rest of the cast is just as game and committed, which also contributes to so many moments of levity, a precious rarity in the “Black Mirror” universe.
But what makes “USS Callister” superior to all the other episodes that have come before is its storytelling, which turns the usual formula on its head. Quite often, “Black Mirror” episodes follow a pattern: introduce the dark concept, chart an increasingly dark trajectory, brace for the inevitable bummer at the close. While a cheery ending isn’t necessary — the show is called “Black Mirror” after all — the one-note pessimism of these resolutions have become increasingly familiar. But here, the warped, misanthropic Daly (Plemons) gets the just desserts visited on many “Black Mirror” villains, carrying with it a tiny bit of optimism. Throw in genuine suspense, a heist-like storyline, and an ingenious feminist character who is able to turn the villain’s sexism on him, and you get an episode that will be hard to top. Technology isn’t all bad after all.
