Black Mirror season 6 review: Through the past, darkly
After a long hiatus, Charlie Brooker’s anthology returns to Netflix, tackling the corruptibility of humankind (and even dipping into yesteryear)
TV Reviews Black Mirror
One of the shining jewels in Netflix’s crown, Black Mirror’s darkly speculative musings about our not-so-distant future have always been subjected to impossibly high expectations. We’ve pored over each episode (literally, The A.V. Club has ranked all of them) in microscopic detail and analyzed every reference and Easter egg to death. Some of us have heeded its warnings. Yet, for as much as the show has been lauded, it has occasionally been subjected to unimaginative (and misinformed) criticisms over its “technology is bad” messaging.
Now, after four long years of waiting, it’s back. And the much-anticipated sixth season of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology, which premieres June 15, has absolutely zigged where you’d usually expect it to zag. (Can we get a hands up for who thought ChatGPT would be the villain of this piece?) Whereas past seasons have focused wholly on lives invaded, manipulated, and transformed by tech, however, this one deals instead with the corruptibility of humankind.
From lust to envy, pride to wrath, this is a version of Black Mirror that deals with the driving forces behind our everyday (or not so everyday) transgressions. Indeed, two of the season’s episodes—all of the installments are quietly confident in their narratives, able to take their time and focus on those tiny human moments we usually lose in favor of, say, a swarm of robotic bees (see season three’s “Hated In The Nation”)—actively strip away all of the trappings of modern tech by setting their stories in the ’70s and aughts. As such, the eponymous black mirror it holds up to our reality is pointed squarely at…well, at us.
The first episode, “Joan Is Awful,” sets us up for this unexpected tonal shift. Starring the ever-delightful Annie Murphy and Actual Salma Hayek, it spins a yarn about an average woman with above-average hair who is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a trashy new TV drama adaptation of her life, warts and all. It’s LOL-funny in places, which is always welcome. It’s engrossing, too, despite being the weakest in this new collection. (There’s a whiff of “South Park did this” that proves annoyingly difficult to ignore once you’ve made the connection.) Still, the flaws of its meandering middle come good in its wildly meta end. And its themes surrounding the ethics of privacy and media consumption are picked up deftly in the very next episode.
The second chapter in the tale, “Loch Henry,” sees a couple of bright young things (Samuel Blenkin and Myha’la Herrold) head to a sleepy Scottish town, where they plan to make a very lovely and ever so high-brow documentary about a vigilante of the natural world. Instead, they sit down for a pint with Stuart (Daniel Portman, a.k.a. Podrick Payne, aka the unsuspecting darling of Game Of Thrones’ Westerosi brothels) and quickly become obsessed with his tale of a shocking true crime that rocked the town many years ago. Too bad, then, that Stuart’s booze-guzzling dad (an almost suspiciously famous John Hannah) doesn’t want them digging over the coals of the past. It’s a twist wrapped up in a mystery that, even if it doesn’t keep you guessing until the very end, is guaranteed to fill you with a delicious sense of impending doom.
Impending doom evolves into horrified awe in “Beyond The Sea,” the third chapter of the season, which steers us away from the light and back into the darkness we’ve come to associate with the series. Set in an alternative 1969, it sees two men on a perilous high-tech mission—Josh Hartnett and Aaron Paul—who find relaxation and solace in the world of robotics. As you do. When one of them is shattered by an unimaginable tragedy, though, it’s up to the other to find a way to help their near-catatonic colleague by any means possible. Yes, the tech in this one is a poorly disguised plot device, designed to propel us towards its unforgiving final moments. Honestly, though, the story is irrelevant: The power in this piece comes from its powerhouse performances, whether that be Rory Culkin’s menacing turn, Kate Mara’s gentle warmth, or the ever-growing intensity of Paul and Hartnett.
The penultimate episode is one of our favorites, despite the fact it isn’t really focused on tech. At all, actually. Set in the aughts, it sees Clara Rugaard step into the shoes of Mazey Day, a deeply troubled starlet who finds herself hounded by paparazzi at every turn. Paparazzi such as, for example, Bo (Zazie Beetz), a woman who just wants to snap that $30,000 photo of Mazey so she can make her goddamn rent and get her obnoxious flatmate off her case for the first time in forever. As she doggedly pursues Mazey across the country, however, Bo soon realizes that there’s more to the celebrity’s downward spiral than meets the eye. The kind of more that will have you howling at your TV before the credits roll.
“Demon 79” is the very definition of saving the best til last. Again, it sends us rocketing back in time, to 1979—and, again, its focus isn’t on the evils of technology. Instead, it gives us Nida (Anjana Vasan), a lonely sales assistant who accidentally summons a discowear-clad demon on her lunch break. Serving twisted It’s A Wonderful Life vibes, it soon transpires that Paapa Essiedu’s Gaap has to earn his demonic wings, and that he will only do so if he convinces Nida to carry out three human sacrifices. Thankfully, he’s hot, charismatic AF, and has the ultimate trump card up his flared white satin sleeve: If she doesn’t get a-murdering soon, it’s end of the world time. Eep.
The result is an eclectic collection—in both tone, genre and subject matter (as anthologies are wont to do)—and one which makes for a brilliant weekend bingefest. Sure, there’s an air of “having your cake and eating it” when it comes to the show’s dim view of streaming platforms. (At times, it feels as if Brooker has conveniently forgotten he’s in bed with Netflix.) Sure, one or two episodes are a bit longer than they need to be. And sure, the showrunner’s decision to move away from his usual musings on technological advancements might upset some of his more inflexible fans. However, there’s no denying it works. It usually works well, too.
In the very early days of Black Mirror, there was a charmingly indie feel to each episode. Nowadays, it boasts the cinematic sheen and obscenely talented casts that we’ve come to associate with Hollywood money. And, rather than allow this to dilute the impeccable satire spinning at the center of his creation, Brooker has instead used it to his advantage: more impressive world building, more room to explore the depth of human emotion, and infinitely more ambitious, thought-provoking, and moving narratives. Still, you’ll be pleased to know it hasn’t lost its playfulness: Indeed, there’s one scene, set inside a Catholic Church, that will give you the same WTF vibes that “The National Anthem” did when it was released way back when.
It’s the sort of TV that demands you put away your phone and pay attention, quite frankly. And, after the show’s divisive fifth season (which prompted many to accuse it of overstaying its welcome), we are genuinely relieved to see it back on form. Fingers crossed there isn’t still another twist to come.
Black Mirror season 6 premieres June 15 on Netflix
73 Comments
“In the very early days of Black Mirror, there was a charmingly amateurish feel to each episode.”Huh? There really wasn’t. If you think so, please direct me to anything “amateurish” like the one with Rory Kinnear as the PM.
It reminds me of the bidding war that the BBC and Netflix had over season three (I think…) because the BBC wasn’t willing to spend -that- much money for continuing the series. Netflix won out with $40 million for all of six episodes, which, based upon my recent rewatch in light of the new season, was easily one of the strongest. It gave us “Nosedive”, “Shut up and dance”, “Hated in the Nation”, and of course the Emmy winning “San Junipero”. The first two seasons were hardly half-assing it either, with “The Entire History of You”, “White Bear”, and of course the one that started it all (that you already mentioned) “The National Anthem”. I think most of the backlash has been that it’s moved from a UK-centric series (I do say that lightly) to one that has expanded its’ bounds. Just my two cents.
Yeah I was gonna pick on this too. Black Mirror has always had very high production quality, even on the lower Channel 4 budget. There’s nothing amateur about it.
Amateurish is when you don’t spend $50mil on those signature Netflix production values that somehow always manage to look more fake and cheap than a shoe-string budget BBC production.
I think by ‘amateurish’ they meant ‘British.’
I have a feeling they’re confusing amateur with mature.
That pig was clearly a first time actor…
I saw him in some other adult films 😉
The pig had a minor walk on in The Gentlemen.
nepo pig actuallyhis great grandfather was one of the Babe pigs
You had me at “Salma Hayek”.
Salma *Fucking* Hayek! She gave a Malkovich-level display of “herself”!
I’m really excited for this, especially knowing it’s back on form, but I also don’t know if I can deal with one of this show’s more depressing episodes right now. Guessing that ‘Loch Henry’ and ‘Beyond the Sea’ are the ones I’m gonna need to psychologically brace for this time round?
Yeah. I can’t get Loch Henry out of my head, and I watched 3 days ago.
On the one hand, this sounds far more exciting and interesting than the last few installments have been. On the other, it seems like Brooker has moved so far away from the original concept of the show that he may as well have just made a completely different series and called it ‘Black Mirror Presents’ or something similar.
‘A Very Special Episode of Black Mirror’
followed by The Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show
Wasn’t The Waldo Moment originally a Nathan Barley episode?
Peace and fucking, yeah?
Nah, I like that it’s following the Twilight Zone model of “it doesn’t have to be one thing every time.” Deliberately naming the zigs and zags under a different title would just cement Black Mirror’s reputation for “what if phones but bad?”
That’s literally what “Black Mirror” is referring to, though — that a phone that is turned off is black and yet reflective, hence a “black mirror”.
There are very few actual “what if phones but bad?” episodes of Black Mirror’s initial season or two and I’d say that only the more recent seasons have been guilty of fitting within that reductive mold. Now I’m finding myself wondering what the OP here considers the “original concept” for the show to be, as I don’t know if this new season’s episodes are really all that misaligned with earlier seasons’ broad premise (which I’d argue is more a tone than any sort of genre/plot stricture).
There are numerous episodes (including many of their most famous episodes) about how social media is bad, and that falls into “phones are bad” because most of the reason we think phones are bad is not because they are phones in the traditional sense as tools for conveying voice but because they are used as tools to access social media.
It’s odd you’re pulling so hard for the reductive elevator pitch people use to express weariness with the show.Yes, especially with it being a sci-fi anthology show with an eye towards modern society’s relationship with technology (not just phones) there are going to be social media parallels. But there are plenty episodes about other things already, and I don’t think it dilutes anything to make something in the same sandbox that’s not a sand castle.
The last episode of the season actually does this — it literally starts with a card that says “Black Mirror Presents, A Red Mirror Film.”
Never really got into the Black Mirror concept (that PM one was just too squicky for me), but that picture will draw my click each and every time.
Selma looking good as the new April O’Neil.
Boob Pockets.
Sure – by making the only pockets in women’s clothes (a) too small to hold anything useful, and (b) located somewhere that gets pressed against from the inside so that anything in them would dig uncomfortably into flesh, the fashion industry hopes to discourage women from asking for some useful goddamn pockets please.
Those pockets are not for, ahem, the “women.”
They’re for Dr. T.
Are you smuggling a pair of thimbles or are you just happy to see me?
Because you never know when you might have to drop everything and darn a sock.
Darn it!
“That’s my motto! And that’s what these pockets are for!”
“As you do.” Didn’t know Kayleigh was a 2015 hipster hack comic.
They knew exactly what they were doing with that promotional shot of Salma.
Weren’t most of the best episodes of Black Mirror ultimately about the potential corruptibility of humankind? I’m not complaining. That just doesn’t seem like a new take. That’s seemed like a theme of just about every episode with perhaps the exception of San Junipero and Hang the DJ which are still more about people and people’s choices with the tech being a McGuffin.
Yes, the reductive “Black Mirror says technology is bad!” argument ignores the fact that almost all of the episodes are not about how technology is bad, that rather it shines a (wait for it) mirror on ourselves and our deepest human impulses and flaws, and in many cases allows or even encourages us to be bad. Basically, technology can make us worse, if we let it. Which, if you just look at (gestures at everything around us)…yeah, it’s pretty spot-on.That said, it’s funny how AI-heavy later seasons got, and yet here we are, all talking about AI now, and it sounds like this season pulls back on that idea.
Yeah, I mean, it’s Charlie Brooker. He’s been obsessed with technology for decades and buys every gadget and game. The reductive interpretation is so stale and he’s just doing classic SF, really. Commenting on today, extrapolating on trends, focusing on characters and relationships.
But I mean, it’s classic SF from the guy who did How TV Ruined Your Life. So there are preoccupations and obsessions and snappy darkness.
Charlie Brooker, man. I remember reading this dudes video game reviews in the mid 90s. Seeing his career just continuously progress has been genuinely amazing.But my fucking god, do I miss watching him rip the absolute shit out of every cunt on his WIPE shows.
In a just world we’d get new News Wipe, Games Wipe, and TV Wipe specials every year.
And the return of A Touch of Cloth. (Good to know John Hannah’s in this season of BM at least!)
Yes to missing ..wipe. I also really miss his weekly TV column in the Guardian. I bought the paper every week for just that page and basically threw the rest away.
I just finished Joan is Awful, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was a lot of LOL-level humor but it never felt over the top or forced.
Paparazzi such as, for example, Bo (Zazie Beetz), a woman who just
wants to snap that $30,000 photo of Mazey so she can make her goddamn
rent and get her obnoxious flatmate off her case for the first time in
forever.
I know a Birthday Boys rip-off when I hear it!
Today I learned Season 5 was divisive. There were only the three episodes, but I enjoyed them all, especially Striking Vipers. The only episodes I’ll skip on rewatches are The National Anthem and The Waldo Moment. The National Anthem is too realistic on the discomfort level and I never managed to get into The Waldo Moment.
Hot pockets.
Best after-school treat!
Basically confirms April O’Niel’s yellow jumpsuit would have worked on camera just fine.
***spoilers***personal ranking on first watch:
1. joan is awful – light-hearted black mirror is always nice
2. demon79
3. loch henry – the twist was too obvious but i think maybe you were supposed to know? and it was more about the characters finding out. no nevermind.
4. beyond the sea
5. mazey dayloved the san junipero references in loch henry and mazey day.
Joan Is Awful was held together by Annie and Hayak imo, I thought it was going to be a commentary on fame, and how celebrities lose autonomy to their own narrative, but became more about AI deep fake and service contracts ? I guess perhaps losing our rights to our image via all the apps we sign up to, but idk, fell short on landing it in that third act ! Church scene was great. I loved the demon one though, visually a lot of fun as well!
Yeah the reviewer’s preferences were pretty much the complete opposite of mine. my initial impressions.1. joan is awful2. loch henry3. demon794. mazey day5. beyond the sea.
Just watched the first episode and it was outstanding.
I’d like you all to be the first to know: “Joan is Awful” is my life story, used without my permission, and I will be suing Netflix, Annie Murphy, and Salma Hayek Pinault.
And if the AV Club does not take down this review, I’ll fucking sue them too.
Donald Trump?Is that you…?
Mazey Day features a Cadillac Escalade NOT from 2006. That shit drove me crazy.
I am just glad it is back. There was real speculation that it never would be because of some rights issues as the writers did not control the name. I am glad that “why are we being dumb when we can all make a boatload of money” won out. LOL
I have to say, in “Beyond The Sea,” they really should have put the robots in the space craft instead. Would have solve all of their problems.
I’ve gotta admit, you took the thought right out of my mind with the “almost suspiciously famous John Hannah” line.
Bo soon realizes that there’s more to the celebrity’s downward spiral
than meets the eye. The kind of more that will have you howling at your
TV before the credits roll.
What you did there, I see.
Beyond the Sea bothered me because it makes more sense to use the technology the other way around, but then there would be no story.
Also I kept asking where Mission Control was in all of it. Like did they not have to file reports with anyone? Also it might have really shown with a different actor than Aaron Paul especially someone who could do an actual impression of Josh Hartnett and seem like 2 different people. And Aaron Paul just didn’t really fit in the era. They didn’t even put a 60s wig on him
All I did during that ep was ask questions. So much stupid.
Eh, if the technology malfunctioned, you needed to make sure you had the humans in space I guess. But I get it – you could’ve probably made room for, like, 4 other non-eating robots if you didn’t need little things like OXYGEN or FOOD.
That episode was downright BAD. Just nonsense all over the place. Their alternate 1969 has the same tech except for a couple WILDLY advanced pieces of tech? Better have a twist to explain that and..no they didn’t. They just had artificial gravity! and robots you can project your consciousness to, while also having black and white TVs. WTF?
Then we get to the fact you mentioned, why not do it the other way around? Just lazy and stupid writing, if you have to do dumb stuff to make a story, your story is dumb. We continue, through the entire ep, with NO contact with any sort of ground control. Not during either of the spacewalks!!!!!! And then the one guy doesn’t think to alert them his family is in danger when he gets knocked out/back, just goes right back to watch! WTF?
No contingency for when any of this breaks. He can go into another persons unit, but for some reason in two years they can’t make him another one? It obviously doesn’t have to be that attuned to you if you can use someone else’s. Did they throw away all the blueprint? Get real stupid fast? None of it make fucking sense! Plus the Aaron Paul guy is so hot headed he throws punches over drawings. Way to endanger the mission who ever chose his psych profile! But of course, when things really get bad that same guy just stares? And that’s all they give you in 1 hour 20 minutes?
FUCK THAT.
Finally getting to watch this. Unfortunately the very first episode has Salma Hayek, the worst actress in history. Oh well…
Just finished this season, I thought it was great! Not sure where it ranks for me compared to the other ones but I think it was definitely the most consistently good. Loch Henry and Demon 79 were my faves for sure followed closely by Joan Is Awful 😛
To each their own; but dang, I found “Demon 79″ to be incredibly uninteresting and uninspired. Some nice aesthetics and vibes, sure; but ultimately a story I couldn’t care less about. In general, not a fan of drifting so away of the sci-fi formula. I’m not against innovation; but if you’re making a season with such detours from what Black Mirror was at first, at least make them shine, so the change feels justified. I must say I liked some episodes. I’ve seen reviews and it’s interesting that the episode rankings vary greatly. “Mazey Day” is almost always at the bottom, quite rightfully; but other than that, the first place is taken by any of the other 4. So I was surprised to see various reviews where “Demon 79″ is praised as the best of this season. Honestly, to me it felt too basic: some zany lines of dialogues and a playful dynamic between the two main characters isn’t enough to lift a rather tired plot, imho.But even like that, in the end I go back to what I said first: to each their own!
Whoa Ive never seen this show before now. Just finished season 6. Fun time! That final shot of Zazie Beets was fantstic. What else have Anjana Vasan been in her performance was fantastic. Although I kinda wish her episode ended at the stroke of midnight.
I liked “Beyond The Sea” I guess but man that felt unnecessarily mean spirited.
I’m new to this show but…. the last line of the article about holding a Black Mirror to society…… despite being a newbie I’m quite confident the title Black Mirror refers to a computer screen turned off. It seems obvious to me did that just go right over the AV Clubs head…?