Entertainment
Where To Start Watching Black Mirror, Don’t Begin With The First Episode
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
Since the first moment Black Mirror premiered worldwide on Netflix, the British speculative fiction series has offered commentary on the direction of technology based on modern trends. This futurist fantasy-on-film has had seven abbreviated seasons of three to six episodes each, as well as a few special episodes and an interactive movie.
With so much content, most people would start with the first episode and watch through it in sequence. Black Mirror is an anthology series, so the episodes are not in sequence. That means audiences can take liberties in where they begin watching.
Black Mirror’s First Episode May Not Be The Best Place To Start
The first episode of Black Mirror, “National Anthem,” is a standout episode that effectively establishes the show’s dystopian themes. It features an unconventional plot that forces an international politician to embarrass himself on television in exchange for the life of a beloved public figure.
It sets up the types of moral questions the show might be expected to tackle as it progresses, dropping audiences into a not-too-distant London: familiar enough to be London but far enough in the future to be noticeable. However, the rest of the first season jumps around in time, bringing different levels of technology with each episode.
Why You Should Start Watching Black Mirror With White Christmas
White Christmas” was a special made as the show’s farewell to the UK’s Channel 4 after the broadcaster cancelled it, but before Netflix picked it up. It stars Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall as two coworkers stationed in a remote winter cabin on Christmas Day, discussing the world they left behind in the snow. As the episode unfolds, sinister truths begin to emerge about both men and their relationship with the technology closer to town.
The episode itself is an anthology of three stories that showcase numerous potential technologies, from personalized AI systems to a block function that works in real life. Not every Black Mirror episode belongs to the same continuity, but many of them do, and “White Christmas” does a lot to establish the world in which they take place.
Several episodes explore a technology that stores copies of people’s consciousnesses, including “San Junipiero” and “U.S.S. Callister,” and Bryce Dallas Howard’s classic social credit episode “Nosedive” relies on the tech that enables the block function in “White Christmas.” “Black Museum,” the special that ends the show’s fourth season, builds upon the lore established by “White Christmas.”
Prior to “White Christmas,” Black Mirror is a series of six disjointed short stories that don’t seem to have any connection. “White Christmas” started to unite the show’s plot lines by giving it a foundation to build upon.
It allowed the show to deliver some of its most cutting social commentary, as well as some of its most heartfelt moments. As the last episode shown before Netflix aired the show, “White Christmas” also probably helped revive the entire series after the Channel Four cancellation. “White Christmas” really sets the viewer up for what they are going to see in Black Mirror.
The Worst Black Mirror Episode To Start With
The worst thing a new viewer can do with Black Mirror is watch “Hated in the Nation” first. This feature-length episode ends the third season and is easily one of the best in the entire show.
Black Mirror is a great show with very few episodes that fall short, and watching “Hated in the Nation” first will only ruin the whole thing by prematurely seeing the best the show has to offer. That episode should ideally be watched in order of release or in the final third of all the episodes.
All seven seasons of Black Mirror are on Netflix, and so are the specials. Bandersnatch, an interactive movie, is also on Netflix and can be explored at any time during the watching process.
