After 12 years, six seasons, 26 regular episodes, and two specials, it remains impressive that Black Mirror continues to find new stories to tell. Installments of the anthology series veer from romantic comedy to blackest horror with glee, episodes typically unified by an askew take on technology and its role in our lives — though creator Charlie Brooker hasn’t always felt compelled to hold to that brief, as the show’s most intriguing moments often reveal.
Black Mirror has undergone some significant changes over the years, primarily following Season 2, when the show was acquired by Netflix. At that point, the budgets got a little bigger and the casts got a lot more American (though every season still centers British talent in a few episodes), as Brooker’s focus also began to expand in ways that have helped the show find its current longevity.
Consequence is using the premiere of Black Mirror’s sixth season as an excuse to look back at the show in full (so far) and evaluate what’s come up until now. Key to our ranking strategy was recognizing the qualities that define Black Mirror as a series: the twists and the terror, plus the drama and even laughs that occur in between. For, while every season features a burst of new ideas from Brooker, the great episodes are the ones where the twist doesn’t just change the tone or direction of the story, but make us totally rethink what we were watching. The very best episodes, meanwhile, make us rethink everything — especially the ways in which our own cracked screens have changed our lives.
— Liz Shannon Miller
Senior Entertainment Editor
28. “Men Against Fire” (Season 3, Episode 5)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
It’s not the darkness of the central twist which led to “Men Against Fire” getting ranked here at the bottom; the issue comes in the storytelling, which combines all of Black Mirror’s worst qualities (lack of subtlety, reliance on cliches, defaulting to the most cynical ending possible) with nothing redeeming in balance. Malachi Kirby delivers a commanding lead performance, and you’ll also spot The Handmaid’s Tale’s Madeline Brewer, House of Cards’s Michael Kelly, and Sarah freakin’ Snook from Succession in the cast. However, while the central message is important, the clunky writing and obvious twist undercut all that potential goodwill. — L.S. Miller
27. “Arkangel” (Season 4, Episode 2)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
Director Jodie Foster (for real!) gets a great performance out of Rosemary DeWitt, as the acclaimed stage actress plays a single mother who can’t resist taking advantage of sophisticated new nanny-cam technology that lets her monitor her daughter to an extreme degree. Unfortunately, it’s exactly the kind of episode Black Mirror critics often reduce the show down to: a polemic on a fictional technology being evil. In this case, the criticism is accurate. — L.S. Miller
26. “The National Anthem” (Season 1, Episode 1)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
If there’s one thing nearly all Black Mirror fans tell new viewers, it’s “skip the first episode.” Sure, having a plot that’s shocking or even gross isn’t all that uncommon for the series, but the show’s debut is a prime (and rare) example of the creators going a little too dark without having sufficiently poignant messaging to justify it. It’s like throwing out the wings and just downing a bottle of the most dangerous hot sauce you can get your hands on — you’ll definitely have a reaction, but you can’t really call it a meal. — Jonah Krueger
25. “Crocodile” (Season 4, Episode 3)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
This is one of the show’s most Hitchcock-ian episodes to date — if Alfred Hitchcock could imagine a future where pizza gets delivered by remotely operated minivans, and insurance investigators have the ability to literally look at and capture your memories while investigating claims. Once again, the performances are great, with future Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough proving to be a real standout as an architect trying to cover up a dark secret from her past, only to find that trying to cover up one murder with another murder can quickly get out of hand. However, it’s an unnecessarily violent and grim story, and the surveillance tech at its center isn’t all that exciting. — L.S. Miller
24. “Smithereens” (Season 5, Episode 2)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
While Andrew Scott is increasingly getting his due as one of today’s most compelling actors, he’s a little bit lost in this relatively straightforward hostage scenario, which ends with the blunt message that… we’re all addicted to social media and our phones. Sometimes, profound revelations can come from a Black Mirror episode, but not with this one. Topher Grace going full Jack Dorsey in his portrayal of a tech company CEO is at least a little fun, though. — L.S. Miller
23. “Mazey Day” (Season 6, Episode 4)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
At just 40 minutes, “Mazey Day” commits the crime of underutilizing star Zazie Beetz, who doesn’t get as much meat as she deserves. However, the episode does deserve huge praise for that runtime — or at least not trying to pad out this 2006-set tale of a paparazzi photographer trying to hunt down a huge payday. When not glorying in the hyper-specificity of 2006 technology (the iPod shuffle!), this one is pretty memorable for the extreme nature of its twist, which pushes Black Mirror into a whole new realm of genre storytelling… One which doesn’t quite work, when compared to some of the series’ best moments. But as an experiment, it’s at least fun to find out exactly where “Mazey Day” wants to go. — L.S. Miller
22. “The Waldo Moment” (Season 2, Episode 3)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
What was intended to be a timely satire felt outdated even before it was released. Charlie Booker imagined an election in which a cartoon bear, a Gorillaz-style avatar named Waldo, could become a popular political candidate by behaving rudely. “The Waldo Moment” takes a condescending view of voters while misjudging the rising wave of nationalism that would soon lead to Brexit and Donald Trump. But even if it hadn’t gotten identity politics flipped around with an identity-free bear, it would still fail to offer much in the way of suspense or emotional payoff, especially as the plot is well-worn and the characters are hard to invest in. “The Waldo Moment” offers nothing but bleakness, without even the consolation of being right. — Wren Graves
21. “Loch Henry” (Season 6, Episode 2)
Black Mirror (Netflix)
There’s nothing like a murder in the English countryside, is there? That’s the cheeky undercurrent of this episode, which plays as a love letter to VHS (specifically the ability to take a tape and record over the previously existing footage — a key element to the narrative). The meta aspects of this story aren’t as intense as others on this list, yet after “Loch Henry” reveals its core twist and commits fully to thriller mode, those meta aspects do help elevate the rest of the narrative to more than just a spooky country horror story… just barely. It’s maybe not the most memorable Black Mirror, but there is one small Easter egg that makes you revaluate another Emmy-winning installment (which appears much further down in this list). — L.S. Miller
