Pages

1/11/18

'Black Mirror' ranking all episodes

(Updated with Season 4 episodes - First published on Dec 12, 2016)
Well, i'm finally on the 'Black Mirror' boat and i've binge-watched the whole show in two weeks, and gotta admit you were all right, it's good. And as i've talked about my fave episode, 'Nosedive', it's time to rank them all in my not so humble opinion, always.

So, below i'm listing all the eps, beginning with the ones i liked a lot and ending with the ones i liked less, that is from best to worst. Let's begin!

(Spoilers!)
3x01 Nosedive
I've already talked about it, and having watched the rest, and especially 'San Junipero' -everyone's favorite, 'Nosedive' remains my favorite. Maybe because i didn't expect nothing from it and it amazed me. And because it was wonderful, obviously.


3x04 San Junipero
I liked this ep, i have a heart, but maybe you all talked about it way too much so i expected a lot. And it was beautiful but the hype was too high even though i adored that it's the only episode that has a happy ending. Well sort of. And who doesn't want to end up in  San Junipero for the rest of eternity with their loved ones? I found that it was such a beautiful idea that i can't stop thinking about it. And maybe i have another ep that it's my #1 but this one is so close, so, so close it's practically a tie.


1x01 The National Anthem
Maybe this will surprise many as i've seen that the pilot of the show does not rank high on other people's lists but i actually liked it a lot. Maybe because it was the first one but i loved the idea and the criticism it made of society and the morbid fascination of the viewers no matter what. Something so present nowadays it's sad.

More behind the cut!


1x03 The Entire History of You
This one was a tough one. A really tough one. I think the idea of having recorded everything you experience and the possibility of re-playing it it's insane and must be a torture, so therefore i was shocked by this one. Not in a million years would i record my whole entire history, even though it's tempting to remember all the good moments, but as seen in the ep, the price is too high and controls your whole entire life. And the past is better to leave it where it belongs.


2x01 Be Right Back
This one was not only tough but creepy and it kinda remind me of 'Solaris' which if you have read the book or seen the movie (not the George Clooney one) you know it's not a good idea to bring someone back to life. In any way. If i found extremely eerie when at first the protagonist, after loosing her boyfriend, started to talk to a computer program that replied as it was him, you can imagine my shock when she ordered a full-sized doll with his appearance. And the ending, omg, i could never. As i've said, extremely creepy.


SP White Christmas
Not even in Christmas can someone have a happy ending in this show. Not even John Hamm. But well, the episode was like a Xmas tale all gone wrong and the story behind it, how the protagonist was blocked by his girlfriend when she got pregnant, only to find out years later and when she was deceased that not only the child that he believed was his and that he went to see from a distance every Christmas for years was not his child, but that she had cheated on him with her co-worker and that basically, everything had been a lie. To pay for such a high price for another person's mistake was heartbreaking. And also, that whole mind torture is someting that i find terrifying, no matter what.


3x03 Shut Up ad Dance
This might be the scariest episode when it comes to something that could happen, not in a near future but in the now. Anyone can hack our computers and see what we see, what we do, or who do we talk to and being blackmailed for it it's the most terrifying thing. And it doesn't help that no matter what you do, even when you accomplish what the blackmailers are asking you to do, you loose in the end and pay the consequences of your actions. That's something to think about because it doesn't look like fiction anymore.


4x04 Hang the DJ
Some said that 'San Junipero' was the only ep from the show that had a happy ending but 'Hang the DJ' is really the one who has it. In the modern day where dating apps seem to be the only way to meet people, this episode plays with that idea to the extreme but the result is a beautiful thing. And you end up with a smile after watching the episode, which is super rare in this show.

3x06 Hated in the Nation
Another ep that made you consider your use of the internet and especially of twitter. And contrary to 'Shut Up and Dance' i liked the consequences and the moral lessons that the episode teaches us. Anyone behind a computer screen is very brave and even cruel to write anything to anyone on the internet and that's something to think about. Ok, maybe in the ep the consequences of twitter comments are way too drastic but one has to be very careful about this.


2x02 White Bear
I have sort of mixed feelings about this episode because, even though i liked the idea at first, the resolution of the whole thing, being a sort of a punishment playground for criminals, i didn't quite like that. Not that i'm against life sentence or anything but not like that. Also, it wasn't quite explained why she committed her crime in the first place so i just didn't like that torture for anyone.


4x01 USS Callister
I expected not to like this episode at all, as i don't like 'Star Trek', but i was gladfully surprised by it. The idea of having a parallel reality where this bland boss was everything he wanted and was feared by his employees was great and funny at the same time, and the ending was really satisfying.


4x06 Black Museum
This episode was like a remix of many other eps and in wasn't bad at all. The three stories that are told in that creepy museum give you the creeps (especially the one about the doctor) and it's a nice episode to end such a bland season.


4x02 Arkangel
Directed by Jode Foster, this episode started really well but the idea wasn't developed in an interesting way. Like all the idea of parents wanting to overprotect their kids and control everything is so relevant now but after a while you could tell everything wrong that was going to happen. I liked though that in the end she lost her daughter just like she did in the park at the beginning, and all because of that controlling device.


3x02 Playtest
What i liked about this episode was the terrifying thought of our fears becoming true, like Alzheimer, as it happened to the protagonist. That's the scariest thing ever and the result of the episode was alarming as well. What a literal gamefuck. Also, always call your mom.


4x03 Cocrodile
With 'Playstest' and this ep, we enter the zone where the episodes of 'Black Mirror' have been from ok to bad. 'Crocodile' wasn't bad but it was just something we had already seen on the show so there was no surprise factor. And all that makes it uninteresting.


3x05 Men Against Fire
What happens with the eps that i liked less, like this one or maybe even 'Playtest', is that the whole concept of the episode is great, but the development of that idea takes too long and sometimes everything is boring until that last plot twist. And that's exactly what i thought of this ep.


4x05 Metalhead
This episode was so bad and so long and boring that nearly became my last favorite 'Black Mirror' ep, but then i remembered 'The Waldo Moment' and '15 Million Merits' and it wasn't insuferable as those two. The whole thing made no sense after finding out what they were looking with that box, and risking their lives for a bunch if teddy bears with no explanation at all was absurd.

2x03 The Waldo Moment
Waldo was annoying and so was this ep. Nothing more to discuss.


1x02 15 Million Merits
The idea of this episode was not bad but the ending was so meh that i didn't like anything at all. But like at all. I think it was the weakest episode ever of the show.

So, which ones are your faves? let me know!

No comments:

Post a Comment