Black Mirror

A testament to everyone involved, season 7 is home to instant classics aplenty that you'll want to devour in no time at all and will stand the test of time, standing tall against many of Black Mirror's episodic greats from seasons past.

“Black Mirror” has often been compared to “The Twilight Zone,” and the praise has never felt less hyperbolic. Few if any series are so astutely creative about the way we live now.

Further pushing the envelope and creating scenarios where surprise guest stars flourish in combative dialogue, the series gives its loyal viewership a deeper look into established premises while entangling characters in dazzling situations. Themes of corruption, technology dependence and vulnerability take center stage in a season worth the wait.

The first episode of season seven, “Common People,” is a punch straight to the gut. .... While most Black Mirror episodes offer the very opposite of catharsis, this one ["Eulogy"] leaves you with a bittersweet savor of emotional fulfillment.

One or two episodes need tightening up (I almost dozed off during Bête Noire), but overall Black Mirror remains inventive, entertaining TV.

The anthology series is putting us in a new twilight zone with its season 7 tales of technology run amok and raw emotion as the timeless driver of the human condition.

Charlie Brooker is still pulling the rug from under our feet in thrillingly ambitious ways. This is another eye-popping, brain-melting run of episodes. 

With an incredible cast, some surprisingly poignant stories, and more than one very welcome returning face, Black Mirror Season 7 successfully stands as the series' best yet in its Netflix era.

Black Mirror recaptures its dark magic in season 7, which delivers a worthy sequel to “USS: Calister” along with episodes that run the full gamut of emotions and views on technology.

This year’s feature-length finale, USS Callister: Into Infinity, is a straight continuation of season four’s fan favourite. But it’s the least interesting instalment from the new batch, because it can’t replicate the thrill, the hope, of starting without knowing whether this latest adventure will be a success. The other five offerings take that risk, and almost all get their reward.

Some episodes, as you’d expect with a potpourri, are less compelling than others but the series hits the high notes of human loss and love amid our relationship with tech and the search for life’s meaning with flashes of Brooker brilliance.

Overall, Season 7 features more hits than misses, but none of the episodes feel like they’re really trying to push the boundaries of what’s possible within the realm of Black Mirror — a notable retreat from Season 6, where installments like “Joan Is Awful,” “Mazey Day,” and “Demon 79” were a lot bolder with their choices.

It’s not a perfect season, but it feels more artistically consistent than the last couple, and it contains one of the best chapters in the show’s history.

An instinct to emotionally or morally provoke us has faded; even undeniably bleak storylines didn't leave me with that feeling I used to have to walk off. What remains is thoughtful, imaginative, and still inconsistent – but maybe most effective when it reaches for something new.

The seventh season of Black Mirror is, relatively speaking, quite good.

The ultimate mixed-bag show at this point in its run, but a show that will always be worth watching for the surprises it can still conjure — worthwhile. It’s not the things we know it can do well, but the moments when the show seems even to be surprising itself.