FWIW, that first episode is a bit of an odd duck. I wasn’t really squicked out by it; I just found it very off-the-wall and goofy. I mean, I loved the dark, absurdist tone (and what I read as black humor), but it just wasn’t clicking for me.
Episode 2 (Fifteen Million Merits) of Season one was a bit better, but a little too obvious with its point for me. But a solid episode, just not one of my favorites.
The Entire History of You (episode 3, season 1), though, that was perfect Black Mirror for me.
The episodes are stand-alone, and you can watch them in any order. If you don’t like one, try the next one. Even with the episodes I don’t like, though, they do make me think critically about what I just watched, something I don’t do for 95% of the shows I watch. Most of my entertainment is in my brain for 30-60 minutes, then out to make room for other stuff.
Entire History of You
San Junipero
White Bear
White Christmas
I haven’t gotten to seasons 4 & 5 quite yet. There’s some supposedly excellent ones in Season 4 (Hang the DJ and Black Museum, I heard). Season 5 has had tepid reviews, though.
But you’re going to react to different themes. A lot of people love, for instance, Nosedive. It’s a critique of social media and keeping up with the Joneses via your social media popularity score. It was well done ,but I just kind of found it a bit obvious and a little too hitting-me-over-the-head with its point. But that’s me. Most people I know consider it one of the best episodes.
I haven’t seen all of them - I’m a slow watcher of this series because it can be depressing as fuck - but the ones I’ve liked so far:
[ul]
[li]The Entire History of You (season 1): memory implants mean you’ll never forget anything ever again, but neither will anyone else…[/li][li]Nosedive (season 3): taking social media likes/reputation juuuust that bit too far[/li][li]Playtest (season 3): Total Recall-eque, what’s real and what isn’t[/li][li]USS Callister (season 4): a technological genius makes digital copies of colleagues; deeply creepy[/li][li]Hang the DJ (season 4): a dating program pairs people up; two people reject its logic[/li][li]Black Museum (season 4): a creepy roadside attraction owner explains some of his exhibits[/li][/ul]
It’s not a long list, but there have only been 22 episodes across five seasons (not counting Bandersnatch).
ETA: I haven’t recommended some that are highly regarded like San Junipero because I haven’t seen them yet.
I’m curious. I have seen all the great shows on tap. The leftovers was the last great one to debut for me. Season 1 of handmaids was great. Season 2 loses me though. So we’re all looking for something good. I am looking forward to Better Call Saul, and that’s about it.
San Junipero and Hated in the Nation are my season one favs. In season two, USS Callister, Hang the DJ, and Black Museum are my favorites. I’ve watched only two episodes of season 3 and they were just OK.
Through season 4:
[ul]
[li]Fifteen Million Merits[/li][li]The Entire History of You[/li][li]Be Right Back[/li][li]White Bear[/li][li]White Christmas[/li][li]Playtest[/li][li]Shut Up and Dance[/li][li]USS Callister[/li][li]Arkangel[/li][li]Hang the DJ[/li][li]Black Museum[/li][/ul]
The first episode is one of the worst in the entire series both because it’s not terribly entertaining, but the tone and content is quite different than what makes the rest of the series great.
I think if I had to recommend one episode to introduce someone it would be either White Christmas or The Entire History of You.
Interesting. I had quite the opposite reaction. There’s very little I rewatch, but the first three seasons of Black Mirror, I watched most of the episodes at least twice, as I feel they take a couple of times to really sink in.
Several of the episodes (because they semi-share the same universe) are variations on the theme of “someday science will make it possible to torture people in Hell forever”. I agree that “White Christmas” is a well-done episode, but if you don’t like grimdark this series isn’t for you.
looked at just a little to one angle and you could say that they are exploring familiar things, and those things are our world, and it’s looking hellish in a lot of ways and maybe non hellish in very few ways…that’s what I got.
I can only think of two or three TZ episodes that I can rewatch the whole way through. Doesn’t mean that the ones I don’t want to rewatch aren’t any good, though. It’s just that once I know the “twist” (the lady is actually manniquen, pignosed people are actually beautiful, the nuclear bomb is really a false alarm, the astronauts were on Earth all along…), I’ve got to forget most of the episode for me to be moved to see it again.
Like, I loved San Juperino, but I have no interest in seeing it again anytime soon. Maybe a couple of years ago I will, once I’ve forgotten how it ends. But right now the “twist” is still fresh in my memory. The same with all the other BM episodes that I really like.
That’s what makes it particularly rewatchable for me. After you discover the “twist,” rewatching it with that knowledge in mind opens up other details (and your interpretation thereof) earlier in the episode. The second viewing is different than the first, and I find I come away with slightly different understanding of the episode after a rewatch with full plot knowledge.
Common advice is to skip the first episode and only go back to watch it if you are drawn in by the other episodes. I disagree. If you don’t think that the first episode is thought-provoking I don’t think you’ll like much of the rest either. If you think that the first episode is too disturbing you’ll likely find many others to be very disturbing also. The first episode is a litmus test - if pig fucking is some sort of line in the sand for you this show isn’t for you. It’s only pig fucking, for christ’s sake. If not like it’s child rape or something else which is similarly disturbing to contemplate.
I really do think the first episode is very different in feel from the rest. It has a black comedy/absurdist feel to it the others don’t, and (at least to me) required much more a suspension of disbelief. Looking back at my first impressions of it in threads here, I guess I didn’t mind the first episode, but it stood out as quite different than the rest (and it did end up being my least favorite of the first three.) What I expected from Black Mirror after watching the first episode is very different than what I got from the rest of the episodes. It really is a show that you have to watch a handful of episodes to get the sense if you like it or not. There are clearly people who hated the first episode, but like the series as a whole.
And, no, I didn’t care about the pig fucking. It’s just that I expected more absurd black comedy than what I got from the later episodes. That episode just tonally strikes me as different.
I find myself asking the question in the OP title often while watching the show. I have to gear myself up and be in a good place emotionally before I sit down to watch because this show can fuck you up if you go in unprepared. Hang The Dj is the last episode I’ve watched. I will go back and watch them all. . . just give me time.
And, just to be different from everyone else, one of my favorite episodes is Crocodile. Many, many hate it because they think it is intentionally cruel and the last ‘twist’ was uncalled for. But watching how that seemingly ordinary-- even exceptional by some standards-- woman becomes a monster is amazing. And that last scene as she watches her son’s school play is just, well-- one of my favorite episodes.
So I don’t leave anyone thinking I’m a cruel monster, my favorite second episode is San Juperino. What? A happy ending? In MY Black Mirror?
It has been my contention that The National Anthem was chosen to be the first episode because the makers of Black Mirror wanted to help viewers along: Can you handle the Prime Minister fucking a pig? How 'bout what watching this says about you? Then this series is for you!
