Black Mirror - Season 6
Four years after its fifth season, Black Mirror is finally back! But was that worth the wait? Most reading this will be familiar with the principle behind Black Mirror, but just a quick summary for those who don't know this series yet. Black Mirror is an anthology series, so each episode contains a stand-alone story. The technological developments in the 21st century and the (almost dystopian) consequences they could have are the common thread in this series.
The sixth season brings us five new episodes with five very different stories that, as we are used to, are of varying quality. The stories themselves are all well told and portrayed, but the best Black Mirror episodes, for me, are the ones that make me think about the technology covered in that episode. From the first five seasons, I am now used to one episode succeeding more than the other and this season is no different.
I found the strongest episodes 'Beyond the Sea' and 'Joan is Awful'. In Beyond the Sea, we see the emotional story of Cliff Stanfield (Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad) and David Ross (Josh Hartnett, Penny Dreadful) who find themselves off Earth for an extended period of time. To make this bearable, they can transfer their consciousness into a robot shell of themselves on Earth so that they can be with their loved ones and partly experience an ordinary life on Earth. However, when David's robot shell is destroyed and his loved ones are killed, the question is how the gentlemen deal with it and what the consequences are for the mission.
Joan is Awful tells the almost absurd story of Joan (Annie Murphy, Kevin Can F*** Himself) who suddenly sees her life reflected on a streaming service in which she is played by Salma Hayek (Ugly Betty). But how is it possible that what she experiences during the day is streamed as a new episode in the evening and what does it entail if everyone suddenly has an opinion about everything you do during the day? It is up to Joan to find out how this is possible and whether this is allowed and she does not hesitate to use Salma Hayek.
The last episode of the season 'Demon 79' is the odd one out and therefore deserves some extra attention. In this episode, Nida Huq (Anjana Vasan, Killing Eve) is visited by the demon Gaap (Paapa Essiedu, Gangs of London) who tells her that she must kill three people within a certain period of time in order to prevent the coming Apocalypse. A good story, but especially special because Black Mirror is moving away from the central theme that actually plays a major role in all episodes. This episode is not about the function of innovative technology in today's society, but we see a more supernatural story in which technology plays no role whatsoever. This could be a one-off trip, but it could also be that Black Mirror is taking a new path.
The sixth season of Black Mirror was entertaining, but certainly not the best season I've seen. The best episodes of Black Mirror leave me with an oppressive feeling and haunt my head for a few days. And as gripping as I found Beyond the Sea, for example, there was no such episode, in my opinion, this season.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching the season and that is partly due to the fact that Black Mirror has dared to go more broad. Episodes that were full of humor (Joan is Awful) alternated with a tearjerker in the form of Beyond the Sea and episodes that originated in the horror genre (Mazey Day and Demon 79). It brought a wide range of stories where they even dared to bring the technological aspects into the background in some episodes. But the stories seem to have lost some of their sharpness and the question is what consequences this will have for the future of Black Mirror.
© Netflix
The sixth season brings us five new episodes with five very different stories that, as we are used to, are of varying quality. The stories themselves are all well told and portrayed, but the best Black Mirror episodes, for me, are the ones that make me think about the technology covered in that episode. From the first five seasons, I am now used to one episode succeeding more than the other and this season is no different.
I found the strongest episodes 'Beyond the Sea' and 'Joan is Awful'. In Beyond the Sea, we see the emotional story of Cliff Stanfield (Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad) and David Ross (Josh Hartnett, Penny Dreadful) who find themselves off Earth for an extended period of time. To make this bearable, they can transfer their consciousness into a robot shell of themselves on Earth so that they can be with their loved ones and partly experience an ordinary life on Earth. However, when David's robot shell is destroyed and his loved ones are killed, the question is how the gentlemen deal with it and what the consequences are for the mission.
Joan is Awful tells the almost absurd story of Joan (Annie Murphy, Kevin Can F*** Himself) who suddenly sees her life reflected on a streaming service in which she is played by Salma Hayek (Ugly Betty). But how is it possible that what she experiences during the day is streamed as a new episode in the evening and what does it entail if everyone suddenly has an opinion about everything you do during the day? It is up to Joan to find out how this is possible and whether this is allowed and she does not hesitate to use Salma Hayek.
Loch Henry is about a young couple who make a documentary about a local killer in Scotland and make a shocking discovery there. A solid story that is built up in a good way. Mazey Day, in which a young celebrity has to deal with a hit-and-run and the paparazzi who are after her, was by far the weakest episode.The best episodes of Black Mirror leave me with an oppressive feeling and haunt my head for a few days.
The last episode of the season 'Demon 79' is the odd one out and therefore deserves some extra attention. In this episode, Nida Huq (Anjana Vasan, Killing Eve) is visited by the demon Gaap (Paapa Essiedu, Gangs of London) who tells her that she must kill three people within a certain period of time in order to prevent the coming Apocalypse. A good story, but especially special because Black Mirror is moving away from the central theme that actually plays a major role in all episodes. This episode is not about the function of innovative technology in today's society, but we see a more supernatural story in which technology plays no role whatsoever. This could be a one-off trip, but it could also be that Black Mirror is taking a new path.
The sixth season of Black Mirror was entertaining, but certainly not the best season I've seen. The best episodes of Black Mirror leave me with an oppressive feeling and haunt my head for a few days. And as gripping as I found Beyond the Sea, for example, there was no such episode, in my opinion, this season.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching the season and that is partly due to the fact that Black Mirror has dared to go more broad. Episodes that were full of humor (Joan is Awful) alternated with a tearjerker in the form of Beyond the Sea and episodes that originated in the horror genre (Mazey Day and Demon 79). It brought a wide range of stories where they even dared to bring the technological aspects into the background in some episodes. But the stories seem to have lost some of their sharpness and the question is what consequences this will have for the future of Black Mirror.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
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