Black Mirror has become an obsession for many people. The stories are intense, intriguing and will make you think twice about the decisions we make in our everyday lives. Many, if not all of the episodes are a take on society and how intense human beings can be when pushed to their limits. That being said, we have to admit that some of the episodes can be a bit much. Not only will you cringe, but you will also wonder who in the world is coming up with this stuff. We don’t know if they have necessarily gone too far yet but we do know that they are mighty close to it. If your anxiety doesn’t flare up a bit when you watch this show than you might be one of the androids that are ever present in this series.
White Bear
White Bear was episode 2 of season 2. It focused on a woman who wakes up in a society obsessed with voyeurism. She fights her way through obstacles like being attacked and shot at by the onlookers. She meets up with a woman who is also unaffected by voyeurism and they team up to make it to a place called White Bear to destroy the transmitters and restore humanity. Surprise! Nothing is as it seems. The woman is actually a child murderer and she and her partner were sentenced to psychological torture only, her partner committed suicide before he could be punished.
The episode ends with her mind being scrubbed in order to get her ready for another round of torture. It felt way too close to something that society would do for real. Anyone else get the chills watching this episode?
National Anthem
Season 1 episode 1 starts off with a bang. A British Prime Minister is forced to perform an act of bestiality as a ransom for a princess hostage. He initially refuses to participate but once he hears his approval ratings will drop dramatically he begins to consider it. Once he performs the act the beloved princess is released. Only, she was released 30 minutes before he performed the act. The show skips ahead to a year later; the princess is pregnant and the Prime Minister’s approval ratings are through the roof. But personally his wife is disgusted by him and his life is miserable. Clearly the worst part of this episode is the act the PM has to perform but what’s more gut-wrenching is that his personal life has crumbled because of his loyalty to his country and job. That's all too real for society.
Playtest
Season 3 episode 2 hits a sore spot for gamers. It features a young man strapped for cash while traveling and choosing to basically be a guinea pig for a new gaming system. Sounds awesome right? Only, he is warned that many things can go wrong. Choosing to take the risk, he decides that the money is worth it.
He ultimately gets stuck in the game that eventually fries his brain and kills him. He had only made it 0.04 seconds into the playtest before he died while screaming out for his mother. Not only is this traumatizing it hits home like nothing else. Any gamer knows how easy it is for someone to get caught up in a game and not even realize that hours have passed. Imagine not realizing you died. He’s in a living hell.
Arkangel
Season 4 episode 2 is one of the least offensive ones on this list. However, it is still quite gut-wrenching. A mother loses her daughter one day but when she finds her she vows to never lose sight of her again. She implants her with a tracking device that allows her to see her daughters every move, track her experiences and medical information. As her daughter gets old she deactivated the account. But soon grows distrustful after her daughter lies about where she is going and reactivates it. The Arkangel system blocked out some big moments for her daughter including watching her grandfather die from a heart attack on the floor of his garage. She didn’t know how to react because she didn't understand that something bad was happening. The mother-daughter relationship breaks down for numerous reason. One being that her mom finds out she is pregnant and slips her a plan b pill without her knowledge but secrets never stay secrets.
Crocodile
Season 4 episode 3 follows a woman who will basically stop at nothing to not to jail. Can you blame her? When she was younger she was involved in an accident that killed a man. She covered it up for years until the other accomplice says he wants to come clean. She murders him.
Eventually, this murder sets off a chain of murders all in an effort to protect her from prison and keeping her with her child. All her cover ups lead to her murdering a child who she later finds out is blind and would never be able to identify her. She cries numerous time throughout the episode and with a title like "Crocodile" we can only assume the creators are referring to crocodile tears. No one who kills so much could feel any actual remorse.
The Entire History Of You
Season 1 episode 3 was the season finale and it did not disappoint. It focused on a couple who have implants in their heads that record and keep track of all your memories. As if this wasn’t a capability of humans already but they took it to an extreme level. You can replay moments as if they are videos and a lot of what happens in this episode you can use it to call out your partner’s lies. This episode is really about the breakdown of a relationship. But what makes it a tad too real is the fact that a man found out not only that his wife cheated on him; his daughter may not be his and life as he knew it was broken. It just hits too close to the heart for some people.
Be Right Back
Season 2 episode 1 brought us a very awkward boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. A pregnant woman’s partner passes away unexpectedly and she is left to deal with a heartbreak that is just way too much for her. She ends up getting a new version of her significant other made based on his social media profiles and anything they could download into him from the internet. However, things get creepy when she soon finds out that he really is just a replica. He repeats sentences, does not sleep, and shows almost no emotion unless asked. The messed up thing is she can’t bare to be around the artificial version of her significant other but still wants him around for her unborn baby. The show jumps several years into the future where the android is confined to the attic. Yet, he is allowed to have visitors on the weekend. The woman’s daughter. Why not just shut him down?
San Junipero
Season 3 episode 4 is a fan favorite and truly would not be on this list if it wasn’t for one thing. Two women meet in a club and strike up a romance but one of them disappears, this quickly turns into a cat and mouse game of one chasing the other. For all we know, she is just searching through different local clubs. What we come to find out is they are jumping into different eras. How are they doing this? Here’s the messed up part. One of the women is paralyzed and has been for the majority of her life. The other is dying. They both have the option to die and stay in this fictitious sense of reality called San Junipero. The only problem is one of them has promised her now deceased husband and daughter that she wouldn’t do it.
We won’t tell you how it ends seeing as it’s a fan favorite but it’s admittedly mind-blowing and makes you wonder: will something like that be around in the future?
Shut Up And Dance
In Season 3 episode 3 a teenage boy is being blackmailed and the audience isn’t aware as to why. We see him jumping through hoops to complete these tasks before he is exposed. He comes across another man who is also being blackmailed and they have to complete a task together. Eventually, they are instructed to fight to the death whoever survives will no longer be blackmailed and none of their secrets will come out. It doesn’t end that way because it’s Black Mirror. Both individuals get exposed to their family, friends and for one of them the police. When you find out what they were being blackmailed for it just about turns your stomach.
Black Museum
Season 4 episode 6 is another fan favorite. It features Black Panther actress Letitia Wright as a young woman taking a break from her road trip when she comes across a museum of oddities. The museum curator tells her three extremely sad and depraved stories. However, it is the last story that really catches Wright’s attention. One about a man who signed over his consciousness when he was put on death row thinking he would be able to see his wife and kids. He instead endures agony and pain for the rest of his life to the point where he is an empty shell. It’s hard to watch and if the episode wasn’t so intriguing who knows if we would be able to finish it.