Black Mirroris a British anthology series that started on Channel 4 in the U.K. After gaining popularity in North America, the series moved to Netflix, and the streamer has been its home since the 2014 special “White Christmas.” Now in its seventh season, the middle seasons ofBlack Mirrorwere a weak point, with the best episodes of the series hailing from the first four seasons.
The beauty of the show is that beyond some clever Easter Eggs throughout, each episode is a compartmentalized story with a different cast, setting, and theme about the worst-case future scenario of technological dependence. A few episodes stand are the most essential ones to get a good idea of what the show is all about.
Black Mirror
10“Black Museum”
Season 4, Episode 6 (2017)
BeforeLetitia Wrightwas a known name in North America, she starred in this deeply troubling episode ofBlack Mirror, one ofthe most disturbing shows on TV. She’s Nish, a young woman who visits a place called Black Museum. The owner Rolo Haynes (Douglas Hodge) keeps relics from a time when he was developing experimental medical technology. None of them were mass produced because something always went devastatingly wrong. With one, for example, he created a technology that would allow a doctor to feel his patient’s pain so he could make a proper diagnosis. But the doctor started to enjoy the pain so much that he killed a homeless man to feel it and ended up comatose.
Nish is most interested, however, in the main attraction, a sentient hologram of a man who was executed for murder. Like a sick game, visitors can pull a lever to execute him again and again, then receive a clone souvenir. The big reveal in the end is shocking and heartbreaking, making this a slow-moving but deeply emotional episode.
9“Shut Up And Dance”
Season 3, Episode 3 (2016)
Another that ranks among the most disturbing episodes of the series, viewers don’t truly understand what’s going on until the very end, which is typically par for the course with the show. Kenny (Alex Lawther) is a young man pleasuring himself in front of the camera on his computer when a hacker taps in and threatens to release the footage unless he follows his very specific instructions. These instructions lead Kenny to have to do heinous things, putting himself in harm’s way.
It’s unclear why Kenny is would go to such lengths to prevent the footage from being released. Yes, it would be embarrassing, but is it really worth his life? Based on how the story ends with one ofthe bestBlack Mirrorplot twists, it is. And it’s a twist many viewers didn’t see coming, or at least didn’t want to believe.
8“White Christmas”
Special (2014)
The first version of the series under Netflix’s tutelage,Jon Hammbecame the first known U.S. actor to star in the series in “White Christmas,” thescariest episode ofBlack Mirror. Matt (Hamm) is with Joe (Rafe Spall) in a remote cabin. Joe is confused why he’s there and Matt explains that the technology called Z-Eyes, implants that replace phones, got both of them into hot water. Joe argued with his wife over having an abortion, and in retaliation, she eventually left with her child and blocked him from physically being able to see her.
As Matt talks Joe through his reality, which he seems to be living over and over again, he begins to come to terms with what happened and it’s absolutely harrowing. It’s a futuristic form of justice with devastating consequences for those who do bad things.
7“Common People”
Season 7, Episode 1 (2025)
This episode from the latest season of the series left fans gasping. A hard-working couple trying to conceive is hit with tragedy when wife Amanda (Rashida Jones) passes out and it’s discovered that she has a brain tumor and is in a coma. Her husband Mike (Chris O’Dowd) meets with Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross) from a start-up called Rivermind that promises to be able to bring Amanda back to life. The simply implant a synthetic replacement where the damaged part of her brain is, and it’s connected to the company’s cloud. Then, he pays a nominal monthly subscription.
But what seems like a life-saving procedure turns horrifying when Amanda starts randomly spitting out ads or has a seizure when they leave the coverage zone. As Mike is encouraged to upgrade to different new tiers of subscriptions, he resorts to desperate measures to make money to pay for it. What other choice does he have? Skewering corporate subscription culture, baiting customers, and even online torture porn, the episode is social commentary in the most shocking way. The end of the episode is one ofthe most emotional moments in season 7.
6“Nosedive”
Season 3, Episode 1 (2016)
Opening the third season, “Nosedive” was the first episode following the Christmas special to feature a name American actor.Bryce Dallas Howardis Lacie, a young woman living in a future world run by social credits. Every interaction people have with one another is rated through eye implants and mobile devices. This ranges from a rideshare driver to a coffee shop clerk, co-worker, friends, even random people that pass by on the street. A person’s overall rating is directly tied to their socioeconomic status. That means a bad rating could prevent someone from buying a plane ticket, renting a home, even getting a raise or a job.
It’s easy to see how this can become obsessive and lead to people presenting the best, and most fake, versions of themselves any time they are in the presence of others. It’s basically social media come to life, a stark warning about how much stock is put into things like likes, followers, and social status online, and how the people we present ourselves to be online aren’t authentic. What’s online isn’t real life, except in this devastating future world.
5“Beyond the Sea”
Season 6, Episode 3 (2023)
MarkingJohn Hartnett’s return to the spotlight, he stars in this episode alongsideAaron Paulas two astronauts in space. Thanks to new technology, they can take turns lying in a machine that transports their consciousness back home where they reside in a replica version of themselves to spend time with their families. When David (Hartnett), however, is caught in a tragic situation and unable to travel back home, Cliff (Paul) takes pity on him and allows him to visit his wife (Kata Mara) and child to get a change of scenery every now and then.
Cliff’s kindness, however, backfires in the worst possible way, and “Beyond the Sea” left viewers in tears. It’sthe scariest episode from season 6 ofBlack Mirror.
4“San Junipero”
Season 3, Episode 4 (2016)
One of the most talked about andmost important episodes from season 3 ofBlack Mirroris the sweet story about Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), two very different young women who meet in a resort town in 1987. But when Yorkie can’t find Kelly after they become intimate, she travels through time until she can locate her long-lost love. As it turns out, Kelly is dying.
But the story isn’t what it initially seems, and the truth is even more heartbreaking, yet also heartwarming at the same time. It raises questions about life and death, soulmates, what it truly means to be alive, and the separation between body and consciousness.
3“USS Callister”
Season 4, Episode 1 (2017)
The first and onlyBlack Mirrorepisode to date to get a sequel in season seven’s “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” “USS Callister” won four Primetime Emmy Awards of seven total nominations. The episode centers around a video game company where the actual creator Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) is sidelined by his pompous investor and CEO James Walton (Jimmi Simpson). As a way to get back some power that he’s too reserved to demand in the real world, he creates a mod of his game and uses a banned DNA machine to create sentient clones of his co-workers. While playing in this virtual world, he’s a tyrant who keeps then trapped, forcing them to bend to his will.
The episode is like a parody ofStar Trekand a cautionary tale about cloning, virtual reality, power, and greed. The sequel series follows the co-workers, led by Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti), as they fight back. With action sequences, colorful scenes, and wonderful effects, the episode is one of the more high-tech of the bunch, but it’s a sight to behold.
2“The Entire History Of You”
Season 1, Episode 3 (2011)
The first season was just three episodes long and ‘The Entire History of You” was the most jarring. In this future world, people have a device implanted behind their ear called a “grain” which allows them to replay memories from their entire life. No more arguing about who said what or forgetting what outfit was worn to a party. Plus, it’s easy to relive nostalgic moments, like childhood memories, in a way home movies could never do. But it’s easy to see how things can go awry.
Liam (Toby Kebbell) is at a dinner party with his wife Ffion (Jodie Whittaker) when suspicions rise about her behavior towards a friend. Getting increasingly paranoid, he takes matters into his own hands, using the “grain” to force the truth. It’s a world with constant self-surveillance masked as a useful feature, with devastating consequences.
1“Be Right Back”
Season 2, Episode 1 (2013)
Arguably the best episode of the series and one ofthe most disturbing, Martha (Hayley Atwell) is having a wonderful time with her loving boyfriend Ash (Domhnall Gleeson). But when he tragically dies in a car accident, she is gutted. She learns of a technology that can use an aggregate of someone’s entire online history, including social media posts and online communications, to create an AI version of the person. Martha is initially reluctant, but once she starts talking with “Ash” on the phone, she becomes obsessed. She upgrades to a physical android version of him so she can actually be with “him.” But Martha soon realizes that while this is Ash in body replica, even voice and general personality, it’s very different from the real thing.
“Be Right Back” asks existential questions about life and death, what really makes up the essence of a human being, and about letting go and grieving. But it’s also a warning about AI, android robots, and online oversharing. The fact that this company could use memories, favorite phrases, even inflections and personal details about Ash from what he shared online through his life and recreate “him” is frightening.
