Black Mirror Season 6 Review – A mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly

Episode Guide

Joan is Awful – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Loch Henry – | Review Score – 4/5
Beyond The Sea – | Review Score – 4.5/5
Mazey Day – | Review Score – 1/5
Demon 79 – | Review Score – 3/5

Black Mirror as a concept has always been a cutting edge and scathing commentary on technology, society and politics. Over the years, the show has really refined its blade, cutting deep with episodes like Hang the DJ, Black Museum, White Christmas and White Bear.

After a lacklustre showing in season 5, topping things off with a poor episode involving Miley Cyrus, Black Mirror returns for another crack at hitting the lofty heights it was always originally capable of achieving. And while it does deliver at times, it does so in a rather polarizing manner.

Much like previous seasons, Black Mirror gathers together individual stories, centered around thought provoking, cautionary tales that, more often than not, include technology or some reference to politics. This year there are five stories to choose from, with themes ranging from radicalization, loneliness, paranoia and free will.

Episode 4 is one of the weakest of the entire show’s run and in all honesty, you’re best off just skipping that one altogether. By comparison, episode 3 feels like the Black Mirror of old.

Episode 2 includes a rather dark and twisted ending, serving as a commentary to the way we consume true crime, while episode 5 takes things in an interesting, unexpected and supernatural direction.

To say this season is a mixed bag would be an understatement. There’s a heady blend of the good, the bad and the outright ugly here, and that’s going to divide people into two camps. There have been a fair few comparisons to American Horror Story here, and that’s certainly justified, especially when you take into consideration the final two chapters. However, it’s certainly better than season 5’s lackluster effort, so there is that!

The length of the episodes here range from 40 minutes up to 1 hour and 15 minutes, although ironically the shortest chapter is by far the worst. In fact, one could argue that a lot of what’s presented in this season just doesn’t feel very Black Mirror-esque, and it’s easy to see why.

This year, the tone swings away from leaning heavily into technology to explore other areas too, namely that involving the supernatural which is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there’s still a lot of scathing social commentary, but contrastingly, it doesn’t do it with quite the same intense focus on tech and gadgets.

The editing and soundtrack are still both absolutely solid and some of the acting is excellent too. However, if you compare what’s here to the early seasons, namely that of seasons 2 through to 4, nothing here touches those lofty heights. And that’s really the biggest take away with season 6.

Black Mirror season 6 is not necessarily bad, but it’s also not particularly great either. There’s some nice ideas in here but very little that’ll leave you reeling or thinking about what’s happened long after the credits roll. With the exception perhaps of episode 3, everything else here feels very middle of the road. They’re certainly enjoyable on their own, but collectively, it’s a mish-mash of ideas – some that work and some that definitely don’t. While it’s a tad too early to say Black Mirror has jumped the shark, if there is a season 7, it needs to be absolutely pitch perfect to quiet the naysayers.

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