Entertainment

Every Episode Of 'Black Mirror' Ranked To Make Filling That Post-Episode Void A Little Easier

by Chrissy Bobic

David Dettmann/Netflix

Choosing the best Black Mirror episode out five seasons and various specials is arguably subjective. One fan’s favorite episode or special might be another fan’s nightmare, depending on the content. But there are some obvious masterpieces among the collection of episodes Black Mirror has produced over the years. So, I have ranked every episode of Black Mirror from the mind boggling to the stomach turning. In other words, these episodes and TV specials from Black Mirror are ranked from good to great.

I don't think there has been a poorly written or executed episode of the show to date. And even if I’m not a huge fan of the robotic dystopian wasteland that is "Metalhead" or how much "The Waldo Moment" goes off track with its message at times, I can still appreciate every single Black Mirror episode for different reasons.

In tackling technological advances and the “what ifs” of the near future or even present day society, Black Mirror caters to the fears and interests of people from all walks of life. "Arkangel" is an amped up version of a parent’s worst nightmare in pushing away their child, while "San Junipero" either comforts or further confuses those who are concerned about the afterlife.

I have seen (and struggled through) every episode of this show, and I can appreciate every one for what it represents. But I still acknowledge that some are better than others. So, without further delay, this is every Black Mirror episode ranked to help you on your next big re-watch.

23. Metalhead

Because every episode of Black Mirror is special in its own way, it’s hard to say "Metalhead" wasn't good just because it comes in last place. The concept of the episode is that robots have literally taken over and human survivors are on the run from terrifying robotic dogs.

Given the real life Boston Dynamics advancements, I see why this story fits within the Black Mirror world. But the black and white design and overall feel to the episode feels less like Black Mirror and more like a sad short film.

Jonathan Prime/Netflix

22. The Waldo Moment

"The Waldo Moment" had me fully engaged for the first half of the episode. I appreciated the rising fame of a computer animated bear who is unafraid to make social commentary on politicians and I can see how such a character would become famous in present day real life. But as the character more prominently takes center stage, it’s hard to sympathize with the man behind the curtain.

Netflix/YouTube

21. Hated In The Nation

This episode solves real life problems using technology which seems light years away rather than in the near future. "Hated in the Nation" follows a pair of detectives who investigate how robotic bees, designed to repopulate the declining bee population, have been hacked to kill people instead.

The victims are chosen by the public by adding a name after the hashtag #DeathTo on social media — and things get out of hand fast. It’s terrifying in a way that makes it seem like something similar could happen in real life — just without the robotic bees.

Laurie Sparham/Netflix

20. Crocodile

"Crocodile" is one of those episodes that stay with you long after it’s over. If you have ever embarked on a Black Mirror marathon, then you know how it feels to watch one particular episode that makes you sit in front of your blank TV for a little while afterward or immediately switch to The Office for a palate cleanser.

"Crocodile" asks how far one desperate woman will go to hide the secret that she committed accidental murder by intentionally killing all possible witnesses, including an infant. Like I said, you will need a palate cleanser after this whopper of an episode.

Arnaldur Halidorsson/Netflix

19. Men Against Fire

I dare you to watch "Men Against Fire" without feeling like there's an empty hole inside of you afterward. The episode is about soldiers who fight a foreign enemy known as "roaches" who look like alien creatures. But they only look this way because of an implant in the soldiers’ heads to help them kill foreign people in the country more easily and without guilt.

It feels like a clear metaphor to show the needless killing or capture of immigrants in foreign countries and it’s another doozy.

Laurie Sparham/Netflix

18. The National Anthem

The first episode of the entire series created by Charlie Brooker, who is a UK native, is about what would happen if the British Prime Minister was blackmailed into having sex on live TV with a pig in exchange for the safe return of a member of the royal family.

Spoiler alert —the fictional Prime Minister does have sex with a pig to completion and the princess is returned to her family, but it turns out she was released before he even had to commit the sexual act on TV.

Netflix/YouTube

17. Be Right Back

Like the technology in other episodes, I feel like the one in "Be Right Back" is decades away from being close to a reality. But you can't help wondering "what if" when a woman finds comfort in a synthetic body made to look like her deceased boyfriend, uploaded with his personality and voice based on his social media presence.

In the end, she realizes it isn’t the same as having her boyfriend still alive, but she can't bring herself to destroy the lookalike synthetic man. It gives me the classic Black Mirror emptiness that somehow still keeps me coming back for more.

Netflix/YouTube

16. Smithereens

Chris, the driver for the taxi app Hitcher, which is like a variation of Uber, is grieving the loss of his wife, who's death was a result of texting and driving. He uses his job to corner one of the employees from the company he believes was responsible for the technology that leads to people being distracted by their cell phones.

While I don't agree with his methods of attacking the company, I can see how everyone’s obsession with social media, cell phones, and technology would start to get to him.

Netflix

15. Playtest

This episode is about a virtual reality game gone wrong. But instead of putting on a pair of VR glasses and headphones to immerse himself in the game, test subject Cooper agrees to have an implant placed at the base of his neck. His mother calling his cell phone, however, interferes with the technology.

Although the episode plays out as though he is playing a terrifying VR game, it is later revealed that it all happened in his mind and the implant killed him seconds after it was placed. "Playtest" will totally mess with your mind.

Netflix/YouTube

14. Shut Up And Dance

Whenever I watch an episode of Black Mirror, I try to figure out where the episode title came from. Some are more obvious, while others, like "Shut Up and Dance," might make you think. The episode is about a boy named Kenny who is manipulated via a mysterious hacker to do the hacker’s bidding or a video will be released of the boy masturbating.

At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Kenny was so desperate to "shut up and dance" like a monkey and do this hacker’s bidding because he had downloaded child pornography when he masturbated in front of his laptop.

Laurie Sparham/Netflix

13. Arkangel

After watching "Arkangel" for the first time, I wanted to rethink everything I thought I knew about parenting and protecting my kids. The episode is about an implant that helps parents sensor and watch over their children for their protection, but it draws a fine line between wanting to protect your kids and invading their privacy.

It’s a line that the mother in the episode crosses and the result is pushing her teenage daughter away permanently. For parents, the episode is scary in a totally different way.

Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix

12. Striking Vipers

In another virtual reality-based episode, "Striking Vipers" follows Danny and Karl who inadvertently strike up a romantic relationship in a virtual reality game, despite never having romantic feelings for each other in real life. Danny ends up essentially cheating on his wife with his friend via the VR game and it gets complicated.

Netflix

11. Rachel, Jack And Ashley Too

When the Miley Cyrus Black Mirror episode was released as part of Season 5, I had my concerns. She plays a singer who isn't totally happy with the way things have turned out in her personal life, so it could have had a corny Hannah Montana twist.

Instead, it shows how pop star Ashley O (Cyrus) is manipulated into continuing her career while part of her consciousness is uploaded into a holographic version to better control her. It’s one of the few Black Mirror episodes with a happy ending, so I’ll take them when I can get them.

Graham Bartholomew/Netflix

10. Bandersnatch

Bandersnatch is a movie from the Black Mirror universe rather than a standalone episode, but since it is from the series, it deserves a high ranking spot. The interactive choose-your-own-adventure Netflix movie allows viewers to decide the main character’s fate (to an extent) and it will leave you going back and changing your responses to different choices to try and get a more positive outcome.

As someone who sat in front of the TV doing this for 40 minutes after my first run of the movie ended, I can say with certainty that it’s next to impossible to get a positive outcome.

Netflix

9. USS Callister

If you ever had a thing for Star Trek, then you can appreciate the game created by gaming programmer Robert Daly in the "USS Callister" episode. In the space computer game, he uses clones of his co-workers to control them in the game simulation, whereas in real life, he is too soft spoken to stand up to the criticisms or jokes they make about him.

In the game, however, Robert controls everyone and it isn't until the clones revolt against Robert and take the in-game ship to a private server that they are out of his control. The digital universe is at their disposal and, despite still being in-game clones, they finally have free will within the game.

Jonathan Prime/Netflix

8. Black Museum

In order to understand "Black Museum," you have to have watched every Black Mirror episode until that point. But if you’re anything like me, you probably watched every season as they were released and then went back to watch them all again.

"Black Museum" contains plenty of Black Mirror Easter eggs and introduces other stories of technology gone wrong in a freak show-like museum where the evidence of the incidents are on full display.

Jonathan Prime/Netflix

7. Hang The DJ

Back in the day, I was heavily into online dating and meeting potential boyfriends on dating apps. "Hang the DJ" takes the dating algorithm idea a step farther — in which you might upload a version of yourself into the app and therefore find your perfect match. It’s another episode with a happy ending, but the twist at the end is classic Black Mirror.

Netflix

6. The Entire History Of You

This is another episode that shows how technology, though advantageous in most ways, can lead to complications between people. "The Entire History of You" features a "grain" implant that people have behind their ears which records everything from their lives so they never forget anything. They can then replay these memories on the TV or computer.

When Liam becomes suspicious of his wife’s relationship with a former fling, he goes off the deep end and forces her to show him all of her memories with the man, including a tryst she had during her marriage to Liam. By the end of the episode, Liam’s obsession has driven his family away. I dare you not to feel just as empty as he is in those final seconds.

Netflix/YouTube

5. White Christmas

"White Christmas" aired on its own between Seasons 2 and 3 and feels like a movie rather than another episode. It features a few mini stories told between two men from what appears to be the inside of a cabin. One of the men reveals he used to help people make copies of themselves to act as digital assistants.

Think Alexa, but instead of a computer following your orders, the Echo Dot has a tiny version of you inside, controlling all aspects of your home and scheduling. It will probably make you rethink every insult you have ever hurled at your non-sentient Echo.

Netflix/YouTube

4. White Bear

A woman wakes up with no memory of who or where she is, but understands that she is on the run from what appear to be bounty hunters. As she tries to find safety, people emerge on the street to film her on their cell phones.

It turns out she is regularly drugged to induce amnesia, and her flight is a sort of tourist attraction. All of this is punishment for her crimes of kidnapping and murder.

I’m not sure if the punishment has the same impact if the character doesn't know what she has done until the end of each day, but this form of crown pleasing punishment doesn't need far off technology to become a real thing — and that’s the scariest part of all.

Netflix/YouTube

3. Nosedive

"Nosedive" is basically the life we are all living now but on overdrive. The episode shows a society where your social, economical, and career statuses are literally determined by your social media ranking. The characters are forced to be present on social media and hand out high ratings to others in order to receive the same and remain in a high enough standing to continue working, have friends, and make enough money to live in their preferred neighborhoods.

We aren't at that point yet in real life, but there is already so much importance placed on Instagram likes and followers that I don't think it’s that far removed from reality.

David Dettmann/Netflix

2. San Junipero

This episode might have had one of the first truly happy endings in the series. It follows two women who at first appear to be alive in the '80s, but it is later revealed that they are elderly women who engage in an augmented reality to relive different decades as healthy, young people. "San Junipero" shows another kind of afterlife, wherein the mind is uploaded to a server to allow people to live on forever in this digital world.

Both women decide to have their minds uploaded into the San Junipero server to be together forever. It’s a romantic thought and the episode is beautifully crafted and totally nostalgic, but it makes you think about what their choice really means for them.

Laurie Sparham/Netflix

1. Fifteen Million Merits

Before Daniel Kaluuya won over the world in Get Out, he played Bing in the episode "Fifteen Million Merits." The episode is about an enclosed society of people who ride bikes to power the building and earn merits, which can be used for food, video games, or pornography. It is a technology driven world of advertisements Bing can't escape, unless he pays up some merits to do so.

In the end, Bing wins the chance to host his own show and instead of living in a box-like room, he is upgraded to another private room that is essentially the same, but bigger with more amenities. Even though he is still trapped in the same society he hates.

I can never watch the episode enough, if only because of the roller coaster of emotions. It also speaks volumes about the relative drudgery and sameness of every day life even now as people cycle through repetitive work, spending the little they earn on short-lived pleasures, and attempting to ignore annoying ads.

Most Black Mirror episodes do well in providing social commentary in a more magnified way. Some episodes might veer off track or end on a more hopeless note than some viewers, myself included at times, can handle. But overall, Black Mirror has continued to show how social media and technology has transformed society and how bad it can really get. If we let it.

Netflix/YouTube
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