Black Mirror

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.