Although Black Mirror started out strong, Netflix’s iconic sci-fi anthology has to face a problem with the genre that could redefine its offerings in the next few years. There are plenty of great underrated anthology shows, but Black Mirror remains the high standard for the genre.
While Netflix’s sci-fi anthology series has a few weak episodes, the show remains one of the most acclaimed in its genre, and for good reason. Black Mirror’s prescient, perceptive critiques of the ways in which humanity interacts with new technology make the series a dystopian masterpiece.
However, even Black Mirror’s best episodes can’t protect the show from a problem that is rapidly becoming a major issue for the Netflix series and every other upcoming sci-fi show. As technology catches up with and, in many cases, even outpaces science fiction, it is not clear where genre classics like this Netflix hit can go next.
Black Mirror Was Meant To Be A Cautionary Tale
When Black Mirror began as a Channel 4 production back in 2011, the blackly comic satire was intended to be a cautionary tale about the ways that misusing new technologies could lead people to indulge the worst sides of themselves. Indeed, many of the best episodes of Black Mirror continued to thoughtfully engage with this throughout its run.
The show invented imagined technologies like memory recording implants, features that allowed people to “Block” others in real life, and elaborate virtual realities that could be utilized for a variety of purposes. In each instance, Black Mirror played with audience expectations, often pointing out the benefits of these technologies before highlighting their drawbacks.
By the time most episodes ended, viewers were left devastated and thoroughly put off purchasing whatever life-altering gadgets or technological innovations had seemed so appealing only an hour earlier. Of course, the show also had more optimistic episodes where technology played a part in bettering the lives of its users.
Perhaps the most idealistic instance of this comes in Black Mirror’s “San Junipero,”, a rare upbeat outing where innovative technology brings people closer together instead of tearing their lives apart. Episodes like this ensured the Netflix series never felt predictable, but, sadly for the writers of Black Mirror, reality proved pretty unpredictable, too.
Technology Is Advancing Faster Than We Can Predict
In recent years, technological advancements have occurred at a rate that even the most open-minded science fiction writers would have struggled to predict. From the rise of AI to emerging developments in biotechnology, there is a plethora of new scientific changes that outstrip even some of Black Mirror’s most outlandish episodes.
This could prove to be bad news for the series, which imagines technologies that could well exist before an episode airs. Perhaps as a result of this issue, Black Mirror season 6’s “Demon 79” took a stab at supernatural horror instead of sci-fi. This was intended to broaden the remit of the series, but the effort was in vain.
“Demon 79” didn’t resonate with viewers and critics as well as the show’s creators had hoped, although this writer thought it was an underrated outing. As a result, season 7 returned its focus to more straightforward science fiction, and this made it all the more obvious that the gap between imagined and observable science is vanishingly small.
Black Mirror Will Have To Reinvent Itself
To maintain the show’s power, Black Mirror will need to keep abreast of developing technologies and incorporate real-life innovations into its plotting. Already, Black Mirror season 7’s best episodes attempted this, but the relentless pace of modern scientific development still leaves the series in a tricky catch-22.
Black Mirror shouldn’t start imagining increasingly unlikely, outlandish sci-fi scenarios just to try and outwit reality, as these are likely to be less emotionally resonant for viewers. However, the show also can’t tone down its focus on new tech, lest the series end up feeling old hat in comparison to real-life events.
Science Fiction Still Matters
As evidenced by the many upcoming cyberpunk TV shows that dot 2026’s release schedule, there is still a major audience for sci-fi stories. Viewers want to see their favorite shows imagine a different future, and want to explore the many unpredictable ways that emerging technologies will reshape their lives.
That said, shows like Black Mirror undeniably face a major challenge in this era. It is tough for anyone to keep up with all the scientific innovations of recent years, and Black Mirror needs to not only understand them and their implications, but also predict the next ones. It is an unenviable task by any metric.
Netflix’s 7-Part Sci-Fi Show Is Past Its Prime, But It’s Still Worth A Binge
One breakout season of this anthology Netflix show has yet to be topped years later, the even the low points are top-tier sci-fi TV.
Fortunately, Black Mirror has repeatedly proven that the show can manage this delicate balance. Whether it is humanizing technology itself in episodes like “Hang the DJ” or sharing unsettling stories that don’t even rely on fictional technology like “Shut Up and Dance,” Black
Mirror has consistently held an unflattering mirror to our technology-obsessed society and can continue to do so going forward.
- Release Date
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December 4, 2011
- Network
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Channel 4, Netflix
- Showrunner
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Charlie Brooker
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
