Black Mirror: Prescient Television

Despite reading about Black Mirror for years, I had never watched the show. Then after a colleague talked about it for months (thanks Adam!) I finally caved and binge-watched all three seasons of the show on Netflix. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

The show consists of a series of stand-alone episodes set in the not-too-distant future and dissects the effect of a particular type of technology on society. From the dark and twisted mind of Charlie Brooker, the results are almost inevitably dystopian - the latest season featured one optimistic episode, "San Junipero," but in general, this show takes a fairly bleak and pessimistic view of humanity. This is the modern equivalent of The Twilight Zone, but with high production value, tight scripting, and a whole lot of eerily accurate predictions about our ability to use technology to bring each other down instead of lifting each other up.

The first two seasons aired on the UK's Channel 4 in 2011 and 2013 and consist of three episodes each with a Christmas Special that aired in 2014. But the latest season premiered on Netflix late last year, so we got six more episodes of ominous science fiction to whet our appetites. You don't have to watch in order, but if you're a fan of Easter eggs, they do sometimes contain subtle callbacks to previous episodes. And while everyone has their opinions, I personally believe the first season of the show was its strongest and is the best possible introduction. As recommended by my colleague (thanks again Adam!) it might be better to start with the second and third episodes, as they contain more of a science fiction slant and, whilst disturbing, are far less viscerally horrifying than the events that transpire in the first episode. (However, the first episode is the one that made me truly believe in the show's weird omniscience, because despite airing in 2011, it managed to refer to a British political scandal that came partially true in 2015.) The second episode, "Fifteen Million Merits," has the added bonus of starring Daniel Kaluuya, for those of you who have just watched Get Out and need to experience more of this man's incredible acting chops.

If you're not an Anglophile and are going to need a more American introduction to the show, you could do no worse than to start with the first episode of Season 3, "Nosedive," which stars Bryce Dallas Howard and was written by Rashida Jones and Mike Schur, based on a story by Charlie Brooker. It is directed by Joe Wright and features eye-popping production design, a simple but spot-on premise, and captures everything that makes Black Mirror such a tantalizing and creepy show to watch. If you're a Mad Men aficionado, you can then move on to the Christmas Special, which starred Jon Hamm, who has made a habit in recent years of showing up in British shows and being amazing.

After all of the above, I haven't even gotten to my favorite episode, "Be Right Back," which was the Season 2 opener. Starring Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson, it is beautifully shot, acted, and scripted, and will wallop you with emotional sucker punches from beginning to end. Like the best Black Mirror episodes, it is set in a world that is completely like ours, but has one form of advanced technology that is so emotionally resonant that it becomes a dangerous human liability. So follow me down the deep, dark rabbit hole of Black Mirror. Not every episode is a sure-fire hit, but when you find the one that speaks to your soul, you will never forget it.