Have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently? If you don’t have any desire to do so, not to worry, there’s a better, darker mirror on Netflix – Season Four of Black Mirror has been on stream for a couple of weeks.
Again, the new series is controversial. As before, all the episodes (6) are projections into the future and the terrible things that technology might do to us – if we allow it to.
Episode 1, ‘USS Callister’ is an homage to Star Trek in which the talented Jesse Plemons plays a control freak who becomes master of his own, simulated universe. While he lords it over this new world, a whole cast of characters is struggling to get out! Directed by Tobey Haynes, this episode muses on what people would actually be willing to do, if given the means to control other human beings.
‘Arkangel’ is a twisted episode in which a mother experiments with a tracking device and uses it to block out anything she thinks is inappropriate for her daughter. There is a brilliant performance from Rosemarie DeWitt, as the anxious mother. Jodie Foster, the first female director on the show, provides a tight focus on the mother-daughter relationship. The story is terrifying and the ending leaves you shocked.
Most people agree that ‘Hang the DJ’ is the strongest episode. It’s a love story (sort of) like ‘San Junipero’ in Season 3: this time two people are looking for love with what Tinder could turn into in future. But what happens if the app matches you to the wrong partner?
Some episodes, such as ‘Metalhead’, are not so strong, but overall Season 4 meets the high expectations we have come to associate with Black Mirror.
The show’s main goal is to make you realise that the technology which helps us in so many ways, can also destroy us if taken too far. Mankind hardly ever knows how to control it without first being overwhelmed by it – that’s what you’ll see in the new series of Black Mirror.
