If any of you have watched the show Black Mirror, created by Charlie Brooker, you know it’s not a show to watch when you want something light-hearted. That’s not to say it’s not incredible: in fact, I find it to be one of the most pertinent and poignant television series of our time.
The concept and structure is not entirely revolutionary; in fact, it is often described as a modern day twist on The Twilight Zone, utilizing both its anthology structure and suspenseful nature. Black Mirror maintains its consistency by having one key concept at its core: it looks at the way technology is advancing and illustrates just how bleak and twisted the effects could be. What initially made this show so terrifying is that this reality does not seem far off from the way we live now. While our reality is such that humans blindly rely on technology, Brooker’s world takes it a step further, as he sets his episodes in a not-too-distant, bleakly recognizable future. For example, “The Entire History of You” (S1E3) demonstrates a world where humans have a chip implanted in their head, in which all one’s memories are recorded for them to revisit via remote. Needless to say, Brooker creates ridiculously clever premises, making every single episode scarily believable because its concepts stem from our current day tech-mania.
Initially starting off on the U.K. network Channel 4, Black Mirror was picked up by Netflix two years after the release of Series 2, thus effectively merging the predominantly U.K. show with an American network. Naturally, transitioning from a relatively smaller British network to the multi-billion dollar Netflix will result in changes, though these changes were not necessarily blaringly obvious, as original creator and writer Charlie Brooker still remains as the main writer of all the episodes to date.
The first change is the number of episodes. With U.K. shows, often is the case where a season will only be three or four episodes long, and yet still manages to be immensely satisfying at the end. Filler episodes are not really a ‘thing’ in a lot of British shows, and sometimes seasons are aired years apart from each other, thus demonstrating that less really can be more. When Black Mirror shifted to Netflix, however, Series 3 and 4 doubled the amount of episodes. While this factor was beneficial in some ways, since we got to see more of Brooker’s concepts come to life, I felt that some of the newer episodes lacked the dense complexity of their predecessors, and that perhaps there was more episodes for the sake of marketing and profit. Personally, I found episodes like “Hated in the Nation” (S3E6) to be considerably less memorable and impactful than some of the other episodes.
The show’s opening credits start with a “buffering” logo.
Another factor is that Netflix’s hand in the portrayed content should be considered. It is unlikely that Netflix would take the risks that initial seasons of Black Mirror took, especially in consideration to the content of the series opener “The National Anthem” (S1E1). In fact, in an interview with Brooker, he revealed that some much darker content was going to be included in Series 3’s “San Junipero”, but ultimately pulled it because he thought it “too sad” [i] ; though, one has to question whether that was because Netflix likely has certain limitations when it comes to content. Because let’s face it, if Series 1 and 2 taught us anything, it seems evident that Brooker is not often concerned about whether his content is “too sad” (here I have “White Bear” [S2E2] and “White Christmas” [S2E4] in mind). While there’s no particular evidence on the matter of censorship, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if Netflix ultimately axes some of Brooker’s content if they decide it oversteps certain boundaries. I don’t know too much about content rules for British television., but U.K. shows have generally been known to be more raw and unfeigned than U.S. shows (discounting anything HBO), and less altogether flashy. And while a bigger budget is certainly nothing to complain about, it might be due to the larger-scale production value that the U.S. episodes give off a more ‘clean-cut’, staged, commercialized, Hollywood feel. Series 1 and 2, predominantly set in Britain, revolve around very British contexts, use British humour and slang, focus on British politics, and utilize British scenery. All these factors contribute to an atmosphere that only U.K. shows have, whereas the contrast of using American actors and setting certain episodes in America are considerably stark. The themes employed in Series 3 and 4 are also notably different from the first two. Where 1 and 2 were inherently British in nature, 3 and 4 more explicitly explore topics such as war, the military, social media, video games, and helicopter parenting, topics which seem to be typically tied to North American culture. Even “USS Callister” (S4E1) is a direct nod to the popular American show Star Trek.
Lastly, there is a shift in the way shock factor is executed in some of the later episodes in comparison to the preliminary. Redditors note that the “subtle” and more “psychological” nature of the U.K. episodes are not always as present in the U.S. episodes, and feel that sometimes the American characters come off as “inauthentic”[ii]. As well, episodes like “Crocodile” (S4E4) have received somewhat negative reviews, in which many critics state the episode is gratuitous in its horror and desolation. Black Mirror initially made its memorable impact by being horrifying in more cerebral ways, as opposed to utilizing horror for horror’s sake, so episodes like “Crocodile”, “Men Against Fire” (S3E5), “Playtest” (S3E2) and arguably even “Arkangel” (S4E2) deviate from that subtlety.
Regardless of the differences there may be between the first and second half of Black Mirror, though, it is still a thoroughly unique and incredibly nuanced show. While some episodes may be slightly less popular, memorable, or ‘true to the series’, this may just be due to personal preferences. Brooker ultimately maintains a consistently shocking and impossibly mind-altering show. Black Mirror never fails to surprise, terrify, and excite me in increasingly new ways. More importantly, the show causes me to ponder humanity’s existence in ways I didn’t think to be possible.
Sound off below to let me know whether you agree or disagree with any of these comparisons!
~ Z ~
Fun fact: Brooker named the show “Black Mirror” because when a screen – be it phone, TV, or any other visual device – is turned off, it appears to be a literal black mirror. Mind. Blown. [iii]
My Favourite Episodes: “White Bear” (S2E2), “White Christmas” (S2E4), “The Entire History of You” (S1E3), “San Junipero” (S3E4), “USS Callister” (S4E1), “Black Museum” (S4E6)
[i] http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/black-mirror-san-junipero-scene-too-sad-to-air.html
[ii] https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmirror/comments/59642q/thoughts_on_british_episodes_vs_american_episodes/
[iii] https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a14587741/why-black-mirrors-called-black-mirror/
