'Black Mirror': What Is It?

Okay, so for the past month or so, I've heard and seen a bunch of people on Twitter and Instagram talking about a show called Black Mirror. I heard so much talk about it that I decided to watch it for myself, after some explanation from a friend of mine who has seen it already. The show’s first episode date was December 4, 2011 and now has four seasons, the fourth one being released back in December of 2017. It has a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has won an International Emmy Award for TV/Mini-Series.

In Black Mirror, every episode is different. Each one has its own director and a different set of actors. It reminds me of American Horror Story, but it’s every episode, not every season that is different. You could watch any episode of any season and not be lost on anything because none of it is connected plot-wise, which is something that I like about the series.

The episodes all take place at different points in the future and it's evident based on how advanced their technology is from 2018's technology. A lot of the episodes focus on the idea of their technology and the plot of the episodes go from there. The technology the people in the future have sometimes create the problem in some of the episodes.

The tech in the series are things we can only dream of having now. Bring back the dead, see through the eyes of another human, live in a real-life app closely related to Instagram, and choose where to go when you die. These ideas seem to far in the future for us, but who knows, maybe we might get something like those things soon? The writers and creators really get deep and creative with the type of technology they come up with for the series, and so it’s really interesting to see all the different ideas and how it affects the people in the universe.

A lot of the episodes screw with your head and lead you to believe something that might not be true, but then reveals everything at the end of the episode. You will finish episodes feeling happy, confused, sad, or angry. Sometimes, you might even have to watch an episode twice to fully understand it ("San Junipero," for example. I had to watch it about three times to catch on). These episodes can range anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half. But, unfortunately, there aren't twenty episodes per season. More like seven, which is quite upsetting for me since I love the entire concept of the series, and all the actors have such talent.

But, like every TV show, there are some episodes you like, and some you don't. Most of the episodes in BM I love—the way they're created is so well done and written so cleverly, you won't realize you've been tricked until the end. Overall, I think the show is fantastic and unique. I really think everyone should give it a watch at some point or another. There are some episodes I don't like too much ("Fifteen Million Merits") but that comes with any TV show. These episodes explore what happens when technology goes wrong, the consequences of doing things you shouldn't, and what happens when people are driven over the edge.

Here are some of my favorites:

• "San Junipero" (bittersweet and sad, I was in tears, but it's very confusing)
• "Be Right Back" (sad but very creepy)
• "Black Museum" (last episode of season 4. WATCH THIS LAST.)
• "Shut Up and Dance" (you shall be TRICKED!)
• "USS Callister"
• "Hated in the Nation"

My rating for Black Mirror: 8/10. Have fun watching.