New season of Black Mirror reflects dark side of technology

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Amanda Bruni, Design Editor

The highly anticipated wait for Black Mirror’s fourth season is finally over.

For those who have not yet seen this Netflix series, Black Mirror is a collection of sharp and suspenseful episodes, each one comprised of an original cast and plot. Unlike most Netflix or other streamed series, Black Mirror episodes can be watched in any order and viewers do not have to worry about falling behind or forgetting where they left off.

That being said, it still isn’t the most comfortable show to watch.

Most Black Mirror episodes are full of techno-paranoia, adult content, and the kind of creepiness that comes from predictions for the future of society and how humans are wired.

All three previous seasons carried out a similar theme of being dark, deep, and thought-provoking, but this season provides perhaps the most intrusive and immoral look at how far humans will go to satisfy their egos.

As far as the order in which to watch these, the best episode by far this season is “USS Calister.”

The writers for this episode somehow managed to turn a Star Trek parody into an existential crisis, and it’s brilliant. Without giving too much away, this storyline focuses on the feeling of being trapped in a walking nightmare that never ends. The ending to this one isn’t truly “happy,” although justice is definitely served to those who deserve it.

The season encompasses six episodes. Topics including a woman’s comatose consciousness being transplanted into her husband’s head, and a death row inmate being tricked into becoming a hologram where people pay to electrocute him for their pure amusement.

Additionally, an “Arkangel” child-tracking device provides mothers with the option to see and monitor their child’s entire life through an iPad. The danger comes into play as a feature to “filter” the child’s psyche ends up putting them in more danger than actually protecting them.

The rest of the season offers more intricate and bleak observations into technology and how humans, if not fully aware, can fall victim to its realistic consequences.

Fans of The Twilight Zone and sci-fi anthologies will appreciate a series such as Black Mirror. It is full of cynical and satirical visuals that leave its audience feeling that its stories are very plausible and more realistic in this modern age.