Critical Condition: Black Mirror (S4)

Black Mirror | Netflix, from Saturday

➢ “The biggest accomplishment of the fourth season of Black Mirror, is that for the first time the dystopian speculative anthology series takes its manifold anxieties about humanity’s future and smooshes them together into a single thematic tube … Tech itself isn’t Black Mirror’s Big Bad. We are: a species prone to grandiose dreams of easier lives, embracing dubious, untested ways to get there. The show is a series of disturbing parables about how ill-equipped we are to deal with the quick and thoughtless ways we’re changing the world.” — The Atlantic.

➢ “Season four of Black Mirror, dropping all six of its episodes on Dec. 30, absolutely continues the brilliance so evident in the previous three (all-too-short) seasons …  And yes, it probably goes without saying that so little of anything ends well or, more importantly, as expected, but the trip there is still exhilarating and entertaining.” — The Hollywood Reporter.

➢ “There are at least two episodes, Arkangel and Crocodile, which are very much identifiable as classic Black Mirror tales. But fortunately, creator Charlie Brooker has taken some big swings with other installments, and the result is proof that Black Mirror, as a series, has plenty of mileage left in it.” — IndieWire.

➢ “The Netflix phase of Black Mirror has more breadth than the Channel 4 years, a bigger budget, a broader scope … The new Black Mirror season continues the anthology’s outward expansion. There are three episodes helmed by feature film directors. There’s one brilliant standout epic, a sardonic meditation on space operas which also feels like a legitimate attempt to outdo any space operas in theaters now.” — Entertainment Weekly.

➢ “The novelty of Black Mirror’s standalone episodes, like short stories in a pessimistic collection, has faded a bit. The production values are still generally fantastic, the name-brand performances are still heartbreaking, and the direction, like the writing, indicate a sophistication of thought and method. But either the world has caught up to Black Mirror or Black Mirror created the world, because now the tech dystopia is everywhere.” — Variety.