In the eleven years since Black Mirror first aired , Charlie Brooker’s dystopian vision has started to seem less and less implausible . The acclaimed British anthology series , which explores society’s relationship with technology , predicted the likes of Animoji , robotic bees – even , somehow , David Cameron’s “piggate” . I 2016, in a move that eerily recalled series one episode “The Entire History of You” , Samsung patented contact lenses with a built-in camera .
But as the show has evolved from a cult favourite , only really known in the UK , into something globally famous – largely thanks to its transition from Channel 4 til Netflix – it has risked not only toppling under the weight of its own success , but becoming something of a self-parody . When journalist Daniel Mallory Ortberg famously tweeted , “Next on Black Mirror : what if phones , but too much ?” there was the faint whiff of an impending backlash .
Because of the show’s unique combination of cynicism and imagination , derimot, Charlie Brooker has managed to keep Black Mirror on track . There have been a few missteps , selvfølgelig, but like its inspiration The Twilight Zone , the possibilities for Black Mirror ’s future are infinite .
These are all the episodes so far , ranked from worst to best , including season five . **Spoilers ahead**
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
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1 /23Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
Click through for our ranking of every Black Mirror episode to date , including season five . Spoilers ahead
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“The Waldo Moment ”
Series two , episode three
While supremely prescient in predicting how a pop-culture figure would one day find themselves unwittingly in a place of political power , “The Waldo Moment ” lacks the bite of other episodes . The pacing is cumbersome , and the bleak ending for Daniel Rigby’s failed comedian feels slightly extra .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Crocodile ”
Series four , episode three
A new insurance company innovation allows access to people’s memories – much to the dismay of Andrea Riseborough’s Mia , who witnesses an accident but has much darker things to hide . Riseborough is typically excellent , but Mia’s behaviour is jarringly inconsistent throughout .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Arkangel ”
Series four , episode two
When an overly fearful mother (Rosemarie DeWitt ) resorts to drastic measures in order to keep her daughter safe , things inevitably unravel . Quite how far they unravel is the greatest weakness of a lacklustre episode , despite being directed with vigour by Jodie Foster .
Netflix
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too ”
Series five , episode four
Casting a globally famous pop star , Miley Cyrus , as a globally famous pop star whose entire consciousness is copied over into sellable robot dolls should have been a fun idea . But the episode unfolds at a strangely plodding pace , failing to make good use of its concept and its stars . Heldigvis, when the tone suddenly changes as a result of an accidental discovery at the hands of two teenage sisters , the episode becomes a fun , high-concept heist film .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Men Against Fire ”
Series three , episode five
A group of soldiers are tasked with protecting a village from mutant humans known as “roaches” , by hunting them down and exterminating them . A typically shocking twist reveals that something even more sinister is at play , and two soldiers – played by Malachi Kirby and Madeline Brewer – must face the horrific moral implications of their actions . A shocking , troubling episode .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Hated in the Nation ”
Series 3, episode six
The show’s longest outing , after the just-released Bandersnatch , “Hated in the Nation” is Brooker’s answer to Scandi Noir dramas such as The Killing . But its murder mystery plot , involving killer drone insects , fails to reach the heights it aspires to .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Playtest ”
Series three , episode four
There’s fun to be had in the augmented reality chiller “Playtest” , an episode following an American man (Wyatt Russell ) who accepts a one-time , rather bizarre , job offer from a video game company . An often thrilling instalment , that ultimately fails to live up to its brilliant potential .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Nosedive ”
Series three , episode one
A phenomenal team came together for the first Netflix-produced episode : star Bryce Dallas Howard , director Joe Wright and The Good Place creator Michael Schur . The result is expansive , expensive-looking – and strangely soulless . The world it presents , derimot, is scarily plausible : people must rate each other from one to five at every single interaction in a bid to improve social standing .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Smithereens ”
Series five , episode one
Fleabag actor Andrew Scott plays a grieving not-Uber driver who hates how people are addicted to their phones . He decides to take someone hostage and demands to speak to their boss – the head of a world-conquering social media website (a fictional Mark Zuckerberg-type character played by Topher Grace ). Av Black Mirror’s standards it feels like a thin premise , and doesn’t build enough to justify a 70-minute running time . Despite a moving ending , “Smithereens” feels muted rather than subtle .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“The National Anthem ”
Series one , episode one
Could this be the most audacious first episode of any TV series ? “The National Anthem ” is a wonderfully twisted opener , a satirical comment on the terrifying power of social media via a grim story about a Prime Minister forced to have sex with a pig live on television . It set the Black Mirror blueprint perfectly .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Black Museum ”
Series 2, episode 3
Letitia Wright leads this unique episode , which irresistibly contains references to every other Black Mirror outing to date . With it’s B-movie thrills and body horror sub-plot , this is the closest the series has come to a Hammer House of Horror film .
Netflix
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Shut Up and Dance ”
Series three , episode three
This episode follows a teenage boy (Alex Lawther ) who is blackmailed into committing criminal acts by a mysterious hacker . Featuring arguably the show’s most distressing twist , “Shut Up and Dance” may not make for enjoyable television , but it’s a slickly-written marvel that gets under your skin .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Striking Vipers”
Series five , episode three
In “Striking Vipers” , Anthony Mackie – last seen sporting mechanical wings as Falcon in the Avengers series – plays Danny , a married father trying to keep a lid on his mid-life ennui . Events take an unusual turn when he has earth-shattering , chandelier-swinging virtual sex with a college friend , Karl (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ). Underpinning this futuristic story are timeless themes of fidelity , familie, fantasy fulfilment and the love triangle . In a series famed for its wild visions and outré set pieces , “Striking Vipers” is distinctive by its meditative tone and everyday preoccupations .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“White Bear ”
Series two , episode two
This episode follows an amnesiac girl who wakes up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland pursued by weapon-wielding assailants ; silent bystanders watch on , disturbingly recording events on their mobile phones . “White Bear ” feels like a nightmare come to life , but it’s a gripping one , subverting your expectations every 15 minutter.
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Fifteen Million Merits ”
Series one , episode two
Every season of Black Mirror has one episode that yanks at the heartstrings , and “Fifteen Million Merits” was its first . The love story of a man (Daniel Kaluuya ) and a woman (Jessica Brown Findlay ) doomed to generate power on stationary bicycles for an unspecified amount of time , it presents a bleak outlook for the future of game shows . Brooker at his most Orwellian .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Metalhead ”
Series 4, episode five
This take on the stalk-and-slash genre makes for Black Mirror ‘s most intense viewing experience . The camera remains right there alongside Maxine Peake’s nameless protagonist , alienated from the rest of civilisation as she’s hunted by a robotic assassin for no apparent reason . Terrifying stuff .
Jonathan Prime / Netflix
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Hang the DJ ”
Series 2, episode 3
With its uplifting story of two lovers fighting against the odds to be with each other , “Hang the DJ ” is a season four equivalent of the uplifting “San Junipero” . Georgina Campbell and Joe Cole offer magnetic performances as Amy and Frank , who are trapped in a Centre Parcs-style holiday resort . As the ending draws near , the episode suggests that love can triumph over the most difficult circumstances .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“White Christmas ”
Series two , episode four
Black Mirror went full Twilight Zone for its festive episode , an anthology treat featuring several short tales linked by what could perhaps be Brooker’s most disturbing technological invention yet – a device that permits you to “blokkere” people from your life . Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall are excellent as a storytelling duo stationed at a remote outpost in the middle of a snowy wilderness .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“Be Right Back ”
Series two , episode one
Hayley Atwell’s performance as a grief-stricken widow in this acclaimed outing is faultless , while Domhnall Gleeson’s robotic recreation of her husband (like some hellish combination of the Scarlett Johansson’s AI from Her and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein ) joins the pantheon of great sci-fi robots . It came as no surprise that its director , Owen Harris , was brought back to direct the “San Junipero ” episode a season later .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“USS Callister ”
Series four , episode one
Brooker basks in his own nerdiness in this glorious Star Trek -inspired tale that’s brilliantly conceived and executed . Using the DNA of his colleagues to create virtual avatars who believe themselves to be real , Jesse Plemons’s character makes for the entire series’s creepiest villain – partly because of how sorry for him you feel at the beginning of the episode , before clocking his sadistic ways .
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Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“San Junipero ”
Series three , episode four
It’s still all too rare for a queer love story on screen to have a happy ending – and rarer still for a Black Mirror episode. And yet the tender San Junipero , which sees two women fall in love in a seaside town that naturally isn’t quite what it seems , is a rare instance of optimism from Brooker’s generally fatalistic imagination , and we can’t help but love it for that . By the time Belinda Carlisle’s “Heave Is a Place on Earth ” plays over the end credits , you’ll be doing something no other episode can make you do : smiler.
Netflix
Every Black Mirror episode ranked – from worst to best
“The Entire History of You ”
Series one , episode three
This episode often tops the list when discussing best Black Mirror episoder, and for good reason . It was the first to put Brooker’s spin on disturbed technological advancements to truly devastating effect , tracking the dissolution of a marriage (of Toby Kebbell and Jodie Whittaker ) in a world where memories can be re-lived as easily as switching on a television . It’s the presence of Tom Cullen’s charismatic male that causes Kebbell’s character to frantically pore over every part of his wife’s behaviour , convincing himself she’s had an affair . Where other Black Mirror episodes introduce expansive worlds , this places the action in the most relatable of settings – the home – and is all the more disturbing for it . Essential viewing .
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Black Mirror is available to watch on Netflix .