Black Mirror was released on Netflix a couple weeks ago and like many people my girlfriend and I promptly binged it.
I had been recommended the series within days of it being released. With little details other than 'This series Black Mirror is really good' I went to town. And with almost zero expectations going I came out a much worse person. Not because of the dark, twisted worlds I had been exposed to, or the dark themes the series deals with but more because after the first two episodes I spent the rest trying to figure out the twist.
That's what's wrong. The series quickly defines itself on the cautionary perspectives of its narrative devices. The title even makes reference to it; Black Mirror being a dark reflection of the world. And it is this conceit that plays both for and against Black Mirror, because when there is a twist I am always left with an idea that has crawled inside my brain and when there isn't a twist I am left unfulfilled as if I hadn't quite seen what the world presented had to offer.
Now, I watched the Twilight Zone a few years ago but as a show that became so ingrained in pop culture because of its twist like Black Mirror, yet it never had the "narrative expectation" destruction on my brain that Black Mirror did.
And, that could be because of its size. The Twilight Zone mostly ran around 25 minutes whereas Black Mirror runs between 49 to 89 minutes. Black Mirror episodes are long, sometimes justifiably, like 'Shut up and Dance' which puts you on the edge of your seat and keeps you there for the entire length of the episode. Sometimes the episodes can drag on to never get anywhere, such as 'The National Anthem', it feels like I am trapped (not in the thrilling way) in the world. As a viewer you're forced to stew in these worlds, and in some cases it just isn't necessary. So when I feel captive in a world that fails to have an accessible conceit I spend the entire time trying to figure out the twist as if it will deliver some kind of payoff that'll redeem that last hour of story.
It's a trap I have fallen into but I admire that Charlie Brooker, as creator of the show has not fallen into the same trap I have. It shows as the creative force behind Black Mirror, that he cares about the people and characters (even though the dialogue can fall a little flat at times) more than impressing his audience with cheap thrills - something other creatives such as M. Knight Shyamalan failed to do.
Charlie Brooker envisions a world and plays with its concepts without compromising his story and I definitely admire that even if I can find some episodes a bit hit and miss.
I hope that it can continue to become stronger because it is a great show even if my mind is bent on ruining it for me, I mean, I could always not binge it instead.
Nah.