Black Mirror is notorious for its commentary on technology in our world, and what happens to human nature through the use of that technology. The show is most memorable for the subtle horror/thriller tone that it takes, often starting with a fairly normal-seeming situation and turning it into something deeply unsettling by the end of the episode.
The best Black Mirror episodes are the ones that stick in your brain long after you’ve finished them, usually because of how ominous they feel. The scariest thing about Black Mirror is that while some of the situations are a bit of a stretch, most feel like they really have a basis in reality, or that it’s a place that humanity could realistically end up. Most of the Black Mirror canon can fall into that category of “fundamentally upsetting” but which episodes were the absolute creepiest? Which episodes fully tap into that very human fear about what technology is going to turn us into?
If Black Mirror wanted to set the tone for what they were trying to do and show that they weren’t afraid to get very dark with their content, they certainly succeeded with this first episode. “The National Anthem” centers around what happens when a member of the British royal family is kidnapped, and the absolutely unthinkable act that the Prime Minister (played by Rory Kinnear) is forced to do in order to save her.
This episode is impossible to forget. Its big moment is the kind of viscerally unsettling idea that is impossible to clear from one’s mind. While the technology in this episode isn’t necessarily what makes it upsetting, it definitely has one of the most unforgettable moments overall from the series.
“Black Museum” is one of those Black Mirror episodes that tells a few stories over the course of one episode, and each of these stories are chilling in their own way. This episode is the epitome of showing the viewer a piece of technology that initially seems like a good idea, until the downsides are revealed, or there is a revelation about the corruption that can occur when these pieces of tech are used for the wrong reasons.
This episode follows a young woman named Nish (played by Letitia Wright) who shows up at a museum and is given a tour by the owner Rolo (Douglas Hodge), who tells her the stories of the artifacts. Each story is more unsettling than the last, and the main attraction of the museum is the most upsetting of all: an interactive torture scene.
The way this episode is paced and rolls out information to the viewer keeps the tension high, and it skyrockets when there comes a revelation that Nish’s visit might not be entirely a coincidence.
This episode is another that rolls out the tension and the shocks slowly, which only makes them more effective by the end. “White Bear” revolves around a woman named Victoria (Lenora Crichlow) who wakes up in a strange house with no idea who she is or how she got to this place. Everyone she encounters seems to know something that she doesn’t, and she finds herself on the run from people who seem to be trying to kill her.
This episode has a shocking twist ending that makes viewers rethink everything, and it’s spine-chilling when once it’s finally revealed what’s going on. The episode almost feels a bit boring in the first two acts, but the revelations that happen by the end turn it into one of the most memorable Black Mirror episodes.
Similarly to “White Bear,” this episode has an ending that feels like an emotional gut-punch. The aduience follows the protagonist Kenny (Alex Lawther), who is blackmailed by an anonymous online source that threatens to expose his questionable online activity if Kenny doesn’t comply with their demands. The episode takes viewers through all of the things that Kenny is asked to do, and ratchets up the tension as the tasks get increasingly intense.
Again, the ending is what makes this episode so upsetting and gut-wrenching. The twist in the third act makes you rethink everything, mostly surrounding where sympathies have lied for the whole episode. The whole thing is a tense thrill-ride, and the ending doesn’t do anything to relieve that stress in the viewer.
This episode is creepy because it imagines a world in which people have the ability to “block” others in real life – so that the person they “block” just looks like a pixelated silhouette and they can’t contact each other. There is also a piece of technology called “cookies” wherein a copy of a person’s consciousness can be stored in a chip that runs a smart home.
Joe (Rafe Spall), who experiences a “blocking” from his fiancée, and Matt (Jon Hamm), who works with the cookie technology, end up in an isolated cabin together. The two men relay their stories, and some sinister truths about both of them come to life.
Again, the idea of being “blocked” by people is scary; someone is able to literally cut a person out of their life and they have no control over it. The way that this episode reveals information is masterful, and it keeps audiences on the edge of their seats and unsettled from start to finish. The tension and story arc of this episode definitely make it one of the most memorable.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply