Black Mirror

A true heir to Serling’s vision of reality taking a sharp detour into the unknown.

Season four of Black Mirror, dropping all six of its episodes on Dec. 29, absolutely continues the brilliance so evident in the previous three (all-too-short) seasons.

Stephen King described Black Mirror as “terrifying, funny, intelligent. It’s like the ‘Twilight Zone,’ only rated R.” That’s actually giving it short shrift. ... What makes the series special is how there is always one more twist that you didn’t expect in the same way there is always some implication--usually for ill--in a new invention that we didn’t think of. This new season will only add to the acclaim.

There are at least two episodes, “Arkangel” and “Crocodile,” which are very much identifiable as classic “Black Mirror” tales. But fortunately, creator Charlie Brooker has taken some big swings with other installments, and the result is proof that “Black Mirror,” as a series, has plenty of mileage left in it.

A fourth mind-blowing season of thrills and chills. [25 Dec 2017 - 7 Jan 2018, p.14]

Black Mirror is a treat for TV and a show that Netflix should pin to its front page with pride. It’s one of those dramas that you finish watching and head to your desk, determined to pen something half as good, or sit back and think: “Good lord, that’s clever.”

When the moral arguments of Black Mirror grow strident, and overbearing klaxons ring about corporate surveillance states, an episode can weigh like a ponderous cyberpunk parable, and the effect is off-putting. Still, the series’s lively futurist premises and tight production design combine to supply shocks of recognition.

So when Black Mirror began, we soon figured out the show’s main twist: there would be no happy endings. But four seasons in, the new twist is that this is not always the case. And occasionally, it’s nice not to be reminded how easy it would be to destroy ourselves.

It’s significantly better across the board [than season 3]. Brooker and company have a firmer handle on the proper architecture for each story (only one, “Crocodile,” really drags), and if the show is starting to repeat itself a bit (the last episode of this batch, “Black Museum,” is basically Black Mirror’s Greatest Hits), the execution tends to compensate for the spottiness or familiarity of the ideas.

I don’t think any of the new six measure up to the show’s early heights, but this is a strong batch of science fiction concepts, proof that Brooker has tapped an essential vein of modern living.

Interesting hypotheticals and shocking plot twists abound, but more than ever, those signatures are in service a broad argument.

More of a mixed bag than usual, with two or three standouts and the rest conceptually interesting but rather ho-hum affairs.

The three best Mirrors are “ArkAngel,” “Hang the DJ,” and “Metalhead.”

Black Mirror is most effective when it attempts to map old human behavior onto new technologies. It’s much less effective when it tries to map new technologies onto old stories.

Overall, Season 4 is a truly mixed bag, evenly split between gems and duds.

Black Mirror is decidedly mixed, managing occasionally to find brilliance but most often dwelling in the mediocre.

Season 4 is uneven. Three stories--“USS Callister,” “Black Museum” and “Hang the DJ”--are far superior to the others. There is much more graphic sex (albeit hilariously depicted in “DJ”) and violence than in past seasons.

Judging from the season’s scattershot execution, Brooker fares better charting new directions than he does falling into old habits.

There is, as ever, lots to chew over and choke on in the new episodes. But the show is less incisive than it was. ... As provocative and to the point as Black Mirror’s speculative technology is, it keeps the new episodes from exploring more flawed developments that might make for more interesting episodes.

With rotating casts and directors, anthology series are uneven by nature, and this season feels more so as Black Mirror occasionally struggles to capture the sense of surprise that was long its greatest strength.

"U.S.S. Callister" feels ambitious and boundless, a rarity for the series. On a season in which Black Mirror drifts yet further away from many viewers’ real sense of dystopia, this dispatch from deep space will remind you of science fiction’s power to cut to the very heart of modern concerns.

Too often, this season skews too heavily toward bleakness, is weak on character development, and strains so hard to shock that it ultimately frustrates more than transfixes. All six episodes, directed by filmmakers ranging from Jodie Foster to David Slade, are elevated by strong performances and incredibly detailed production design that makes the settings feel credible, even when the characters in those settings engage in behavior that isn’t.

In execution, the fourth series is remarkably patchy ... As a body of work it’s more interesting than satisfying, although "USS Callister," the standout episode, is spectacular, while "Hang the DJ" has the kind of winning optimism that made Season 3’s Emmy-winning "San Junipero" such a hit.

This is, as a whole, the least satisfying season of "Black Mirror" so far. Unlike last season, which had at least two notable peaks ("Nosedive" and "San Junipero"), season four has only one real high, and it’s somewhat telling that it’s the episode that feels the least like a chapter of "Black Mirror."

Blatancy is even worse a problem in this season of "Black Mirror" than in seasons past. The beautiful productions and performances serve to mask the fact that the stories’ twists are often cheap shots.