Netflix may be paving the way for interactive television with the release of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, but the dystopian sci-fi series will be back for a more optimistic fifth season, likely by late 2019. The series has become an incredibly successful and acclaimed anthology since its premiere back in 2011, and since creator Charlie Brooker moved his technophobic story collection to Netflix just a few years ago, Black Mirror has gone on to earn Emmy awards, as well as legions of new fans willing to watch ‘Bandersnatch’ over and over again, just to see all the different endings that are possible. 

But while Black Mirror fans busy themselves with one of the more successful attempts at creating a choose-your-own-adventure-style TV show (or movie, whatever you want to call it), they’ll have to wait just a while longer for the less interactive version of the show to return. Thankfully, reports are confident that season 5 will hit Netflix before the end of 2019, and Brooker claims it will feature more episodes along the line of the Emmy award-winning ‘San Junipero.’

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In an interview with The New York Times, Brooker, along with executive producer Annabel Jones, discussed the nature and limits of interactivity in ‘Bandersnatch,’ and the challenges inherent to creating enough content and coverage to fulfill the requirements for the various roads viewers can travel down and, certainly, the numerous endings available, depending on which path the viewer takes. But, he also discussed what the future of Black Mirror will be, especially in the wake of ‘Bandersnatch.’

“We’re doing more optimistic episodes and stories, rather than just dystopian and negative ones,” Brooker said. “We want to keep the show interesting for us.”

While more optimistic episodes may keep the show interesting for Brooker and his fellow writers and producers, the shift in tone is also clearly something audiences are responding to as well. In addition to ‘San Junipero’, Black Mirror won acclaim for its Star Trek spoof and bad-fan/bad-man episode, ‘USS Callister,’ which also featured a slightly more optimistic ending than, say, something like ‘Crocodile’ or ‘Metalhead.’ Though there’s no word on when the new season is coming, officially, it will be interesting to see how fans react to its purported increased optimism and lack of interactivity. 

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Black Mirror season 5 is expected on Netflix in 2019.

Source: New York Times