Created by Charlie Booker, Black Mirror has developed into one of television’s most compelling and engaging sci-fi/horror shows. The anthology series shifts from episode to episode, exploring different settings, characters, and concepts – with the first direct sequel to an episode only occurring during season 7.
The show is typically mired in a bleak outlook on the state of humanity and the ways we use technology, with the show fusing darkly inventive concepts with the worst qualities of humanity. However, the best episodes of Black Mirror also find ways to explore the full breadth of the human experience through these stories about love, regret, and hope. Here are the ten best episodes of Black Mirror, and where to watch them all online.
10. "White Bear” (Season 2)
A good showcase of the horrifying potential of not only advanced technology but the humanity that would invent (and then abuse) it, “White Bear” is a dark exploration of crime and punishment that exemplifies what Black Mirror is about. “White Bear” focuses on Victoria, a woman who finds herself hunted by a group of ruthless hunters. The horror story shifts over time, with some devastating reveals transforming not just the narrative and the characters but the full moral of the story. “White Bear” is tragic, haunting, and thrilling all the way up to the devastating final moments of the episode. It’s an essential example of the show and what it would become as it continued, a show that’s just as much about the depths and heights of humanity as it is about the dangers of futuristic technology.
9. "Striking Vipers" (Season 5)
An engaging exploration of the lines between friendship, romance, and gender, "Striking Vipers" is one of the most emotionally interesting Black Mirror episodes. The episode focuses on estranged friends Danny and Karl, who reconnect over a fighting game. However, as the pair's online connection develops into something more romantic and sexual, both men are left pondering what this means for them – as well as what it means for Danny’s relationship with his wife, Theo.
“Striking Vipers” is an engaging drama about the fluidity and evolution of relationships and gender, wrapped up in a modern riff on the immersive effect of video games (and the impact it have on real life relationships. While it might not reach the emotional heights of its spiritual predecessor "San Junipero,” “Striking Vipers” remains an intriguing and interesting exploration of the modern human experience.
8. "The Entire History Of You" (Season 1)
One of the earliest episodes of Black Mirror, “The Entire History Of You” was a great early indicator of just how emotionally devastating the show would become. While the pig carcass of "The National Anthem" and endless videos of "Fifteen Million Merits" garnered more attention when Black Mirror season 1 debuted, “The Entire History Of You” remains one of the most devastating looks at a relationship in the show’s run. Using a device that allows people to replay memories, Black Mirror is able to explore jealousy as a cancerous aspect of a relationship. The marriage between Liam and Ffion is already suffering by the time Liam's suspicions of his wife's potential adultery, with the technology giving him the opportunity to let his worst impulses flourish. “The Entire History Of You” is a somber story of marital strife and emotional pain, with a single futuristic touch highlighting how effective Black Mirror could be at fusing character drama with sci-fi.
7. "Loch Henry" (Season 6)
A relatively modern story set in the Scottish Highlands that might be one of grimmest stories in the whole show, with Davis and Pia intending to make a documentary about his home town of Loch Home. While investigating a serial killer who made national headlines in the town decades ago, Davis steadily becomes more and more weary about what they're uncovering — with the eventual truth (and the circumstances around uncovering it) breaking his heart even as it jumpstarts his career. The riff on true crime and the truth plays more like a grounded thriller than an episode of Black Mirror, but the winding plot and gripping humanity consistent through the show are also present in “Loch Henry.” It’s a great proof that the show’s views on the worlds at large go far beyond just sci-fi conceptions. So long as the story is haunting and human, it belongs in Black Mirror.
6. “White Christmas (Special)
The ultimate example of Black Mirror as a morally bleak showcase for the depths of humanity’s flaws, “White Christmas” was the first Black Mirror special and remains one of the darkest episodes in the show. “White Christmas” has two main storylines, focusing on two different men revealing how they came to live together in a remote cabin in a snowy landscape. Played by Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall, Matt and Joe are fleshed out but made no less monstrous in the process. Both stories are grim but compelling explorations of how futuristic tech still falls prey to the same wants and impulses of modern people, underscoring the true emotional core of the show as a whole. “White Christmas” is an incredibly grim tale that never relents in its exploration of not just human faults, but the vindictive nature of even “the righteous.”
5. "Bandersnatch" (Special)
One of the most ingenious and time-consuming episodes of Black Mirror, “Bandersnatch” is a feature-length choose-your-own-adventure that pushes the boundaries of the fourth wall in several scenes. Focused on a game developer in the 1980s who is attempting to adapt a similar book into a video game, “Bandersnatch” explores the ramifications of choice on several levels as the game designer begins to bend the laws of his universe and uncovers truths about his past. At the core of the show, “Bandersnatch” offers multiple branching paths that allow the viewer to experiment and create their own ideal episode of the show. “Bandersnatch” might not be the best episode of the show, but its pure ambition and inventive approach to storytelling makes it the most impressive entry in the show.
4. "USS Callister" (Season 4)
Equal parts love letter to the original Star Trek and a condemnation of the power fantasies engineered by fans, “USS Callister” is split between two planes of existence: in one, Robert Daly is the underappreciated game designer on the sci-fi MMO Infinity. In the world of the game, he’s the captain of his own spaceship, which is crewed by digital clones of his co-workers. Abusing and torturing their digital avatars for his own amusement, Daly is one of the most unsettling characters in Black Mirror, with the performance bolstered by a pitch-perfect Jesse Plemons. The episode is also quietly one of the show’s funniest episodes, especially when the focus shifts to the crew of the titular spaceship as they struggle to find a way to escape Daly’s clutches. The rare Black Mirror episode that also gets to have some fun alongside the horror, “USS Callister” is a stand-out episode of the show.
3. “USS Callister: Into Infinity” (Season 7)
The first direct sequel in Black Mirror’s history, “USS Callister: Into Infinity” is an exciting and entertaining expansion of the prior episode that thematically builds on the moral core of the first one (that also remains pretty funny). Now surviving as rogue pirates in the digital space of Infinity after the death of Daly in both the digital and physical worlds, the crew of the USS Callister find themselves targeted by Daly’s former partner Walton when he realizes they could lead to evidence of his illegal operations in building the game. Expansive in a way that other sci-fi franchises could only dream of, “Into Infinity” knows how to balance character comedy and drama with larger questions about what qualifies as a living being in a digital space and the dangers of unchecked power in petty hands.
2. "Eulogy" (Season 7)
A heartbreaking retrospective on regret and memory, “Eulogy” might just be the single most bittersweet episode in the whole show. Bolstered by an awards worthy performance by Paul Giamatti, "Eulogy" focuses on a man named Phillip who learns his old flame Carol has passed away. After agreeing to share memories of Carol for her funeral, Phillip is forced to explore his failed relationship with Carol and come to terms with the pain (and love) they caused for one another over the years. A painfully vulnerable episode of Black Mirror, “Eulogy” doesn’t try to soften the emotional blows that Phillip takes. However, the episode ends with an acknowledgement and embrace of love lost being better than love never claimed, delivering one of the most emotionally powerful sequences in the entire show.
1. "San Junipero" (Season 3)
The single best episode of Black Mirror is also easily the most romantic and heartfelt, a shift from the frequently dour subject matter and storylines of the show. “San Junipero” initially seems lille a period-piece romance between two women in the 1980s. However, the technology at play is eventually revealed to be a way for lost companions to be reunited and for young long to be given a fresh chance. Bolstered by amazing performances and some of the best writing in the whole show, “San Junipero” is the exemplification of what Black Mirror can be. While the frightening episodes tend to be the most memorable, “San Junipero” proves Black Mirror can be emotionally rich beyond the unnerving frights and dark comedy of other episodes in the show.
