Thoughts on Black Mirror Season 4 (Spoilers)

I'm curious what other people thought of the season and how you'd rank the episodes. Spoilers below:

1. Black Museum
2. Hang the DJ
3. Arkangel
4. Metal Head
5. Crocodile
6. USS Callister

I thought the top 3 episodes I have listed were great/classic Black Mirror in their themes and plots. I would've liked Metal Head better without the final reveal that they all died for some teddy bears. I get that it was probably for her dying nephew (or little kid they knew), but still... that's dumb. Much like Playtest last season, sometimes the show needs to stop when it's ahead. Playtest would be my favorite episode of the entire series without that final, lame twist. It was cool to see a more realistic and probable take on Terminator though. Crocodile felt weird, like someone was trying to do the Coen Brothers but something was missing and off, but I was entertained and interested while watching it. USS Callister on the other hand felt too long and was boring in some spots. I think seeing the real world more often probably would've help. It wasn't a bad episode, just the weakest to me. The easter eggs and certain episodes being in the same universe was more apparent this season. Sounds like Black Museum and San Junipero are in the same world.

You ranked the uss calister episode as the worst? Opinions are crazy.

As soon as that person wakes up in the...i dunno, room? And is super confused, i shit my pants. The idea that a person with all their prior knowledge ends up in a place like that is straight terrifying.

1. USS Callister
2. Crocodile
3. Metalhead
4. Black Museum
5. Hang the DJ
6. Arkangel

I think they all had interesting ideas but I found most of the conclusions disappointing.

I loved Metalhead until that final reveal and while it didn't ruin the episode it made me laugh in the worst possible way. And I found the conclusions to all of them kind of bad to disappointing. The only episode I genuinely enjoyed top to bottom I'd say was Hang the DJ. USS Callister was fun, but I felt like it was disjointed as hell once it became about the entities escaping the program.

Black Mirror is such a weird show. I feel like I have unfairly high expectations for it because it's totally fine yet every season I find more disappointing than the last. Meanwhile, it's better than most things out there.

This sums up Black Mirror for me

My ranking:

1. Hang the DJ
2. Black Museum
3. Arkangel
4. USS Callister
5. Metalhead
6. Crocodile

Seeing as San Junipero and Hang the DJ are my 2 favourite episodes, I don't think Black Mirror is really for me. I feel each episode has a good premise, but they take it to far and go for a cheap shock at the end or ask for a sudden leap in logic.

1. USS Callister - For better or worse, this is the San Junipero of this season - the episode that a lot of people will love but some people will understandably hate. My only real complaint is that it's a bit too long.
2. Crocodile - A solid Coen-like crime story with unwitting fumbling criminal eventually meeting their end through a nearly impossible series of unrelated events - the very tail end maybe crossing the line into being too crazy and convoluted. Really enjoyed the setting and the way this episode was shot.
3. Hang The DJ - Not the most sophisticated episode by any means, but it was very nice and fun - sometimes that's enough. Great performances from the two leads and some of the best humor of any episode in the series.
4. Arkangel - A decent episode but it feels a bit too familiar and by the numbers - this is basically the blueprint for a Black Mirror episode.
5. Black Museum - A lot of fan service in here, maybe too much. This episode is disjointed by design, but I don't think the end is a big enough payoff to justify the long meandering path it takes to get there.
6. Metalhead - I appreciate that this show is willing to try out different things, but this experiment didn't do it for me. There's nothing here to sink your teeth into conceptually. A woman running from an Aibo for an hour doesn't leave me with much to ponder after the fact.

@chaser324:To me, Hang the DJ has a lot more in common with San Junipero than USS Callister, since they're both love stories about different kinds of digital consciousness and there's a happy ending, which isn't common on this show. Callister isn't a love story and the ending isn't that happy, since they're stuck in the game and going to have to be on guard the entire time they exist, plus it's only a matter of time before the servers go down due to a sequel, the studio shutting down, or whatever. There's always been divisive episodes with this show, I've been recommending the show to people for years now and I always say skip the first episode, since it's not a good indication of the show itself (it's not sci-fi) and sex with a pig would make most people I know run from the show, but obviously there are plenty of people who love the first episode. A lot of the hate for San Junipero I saw was people thinking the episode was too PC or SJW, which I disagree with.

The only one I liked from this season was USS Callister, there were some unbeliveable bits even within the context of it's wacky sci-fi story. Firstly I think the creator of a system that complex would have many failsafes to prevent what happend. Also why did he tell the guy where the DNA was? And why do they exist within the system without oversight?

Still, it was fun dumb well acted (Ricky Hitler from Breaking Bad killed it) and enjoyable even if the outcome was a bit predictable.

I did think Metalhead was shot well but wasnt very interesting story wise.

Checkhov's guinea pig.

In a fish tank.

Next to a blind baby.

USS Callister felt too much like a repeat of previous Black Mirror episodes, like the one with Jon Hamm and Playtest. The best Black Mirror episodes are the ones that make me cringe, in a good way, due to how close to they are to our world. Like Fifteen Millions of Merit, or The Entire History of You, where the sci-fi and scary tech exists as a frame for the contemporary drama. San Junipero is probably my favorite because of this, it kinda reminded me of Eternal Sunshine with how bittersweet it was yet nonetheless sweet.

USS Callister felt like a space opera, where it was just mindless entertainment, you have a crew of heroes fighting against and unambigiously evil tyrant who gets his comeuppance in the end.

I felt like Black Museum tied so much together, specifically your bolded part. After going down and watching Black Museum I had a better understanding and appreciation for all of Black Mirror. Every piece of it. Specifically though, the teddy bear part, I took it as likely that the Teddy Bear in reference either was the one from the Museum and the events of Metal Head were playing out much later than the events of Black Museum, or that like the one side plot, that a consciousness was inside of one of those teddy bears, likely of a loved one, which is precisely why it was so valued. Considering the characters were indicating that the person they were trying to get the bear for was going to die anyways, it felt to me like your typical Black Mirror slanted horror angle of seeing people then cherish after silly objects because the entire concept of value in these societies and what even "human" means is so lost and gone that yes they would sacrifice it all to get a teddy bear. Anyway.

I don't have a rankings as per say, because I like the show enough and each episode (from all the seasons) sometimes goes for such differing things that ranking them almost feels, sillier than even usual. That said, my favorite episode was Hang the DJ. In general I thought there was a far more positive vibe and nowhere did that come across more than with Hang the DJ. Yes I realize the "twist" that they are just AI spurned up and created in this confined space to determine the dating algorithm may seem horrific to some. But I kind of enjoyed it. Provided we know it's happening, that might not scare me as much because creating ourselves in confined spaces with rules and systems like that to me is an effective way of studying people.

Otherwise I felt that it might be the strongest season in general, I realize a lot of people are down on metal head but I liked how simplistic it was. There was some great tense moments that episode, and it reminded me of some of the previous episodes in the series that focus more on the "post" version of the highly technoligized societies you often otherwise see. As Black Museum connected a lot of the stories, it continued to reinforce the idea that some of these stories take blace before a mighty fall, and some after, and Metalhead clearly takes place after.

I decided to rank ALL the Black Mirror episodes after finishing season 4: I'll spoiler block it to save page space. Also, it was done in a GOTY style debate with my GF so this is 'our' list and not all mine. (For starters, I'd have San Junipero 4 spots higher and switch number 8 and 11 - if anybody cares :P)

I think all Black Mirror episodes have a problem with their endings. They're good, but often seem anticlimactic after an amazing first 45 minutes.

As to season 4 specifically, I liked the 2nd story in Black Museum a lot, as well as the overall location/theme of the episode. Metalhead also really worked for me. I saw it as being about the chaos of Black Friday, risking your 'life' for something meaningless. Pehaps not what Brooker intended, but an opinion.

I thought it was the weakest season yet. I didn't really like any episodes from the last season either, besides San Junipero which was one of the best TV/Movies I've ever seen. So with the exception of one standout episode I've found every episode since the series' revival pretty disappointing.

Arkangel played it's hand in the first two minutes and proceeded to pan out exactly as expected. Literally, my girlfriend and I called several specific scenes and then watched them happen.

USS Calister was fine and had some fun moments/lines, but also felt like it was both pandering and jumping the shark a bit.

Crocodile beat the fuck out of a dead horse that has been used in so many books and films for decades now.

Hang the DJ felt like a cheap attempt to cash in with the people who loved San Junipero. This is another concept that has been used in a million other places before, only now with a lazy simulation angle thrown in at the last minute. The only part I enjoyed was when Morrissey came on, and the show doesn't get credit for using a song I like.

Metal Head had some nice tension in spots; I thought the spinning kitchen knife was real gnarly. But it also felt like it was stretched way too thin and gave me absolutely nothing to think about. This one could have been cut down to a 20-minute episode or something.

Black Museum seemed promising initially: that first story was a fun little grindhouse romp and the curator had some genuine comedic chops (I got a real Greg Proops vibe from the guy). But I can't recall any other episode that has ever fallen apart the way this one did. The second story already dragged on far too long, and then the whole hologram thing was...a stretch, to say the least.

@devise22: I considered that too, but what not make the bears look the same? I genuinely think they were trying to be cute in a "humanity's all going to die anyway, so all that really matters is the happiness of a child for a few more brief moments" kind of way.

I doubt the bears had someone's consciousness in them. They would've dropped a better clue by making them look the same or say "I love you". Even if that was the case three people dying for that would still be dumb to me. I agree with some of the comments here that the show has a hard time with endings, but I don't think that was the case so much this season. Metalhead was the only disappointing ending this season IMO, and it wasn't THAT bad. I already mentioned how would've loved Playtest without that last twist... White Christmas is another one. The punishment Jon Hamm's character gets was so random and overkill it seems like it was just there for shock value. Men Against Fire ends too ambiguous and abrupt for me.

Loved it, as usual. This series feels like it consistently nails it. Pretty much every movie I watch these days is so predictable or boring, watching Black Mirror is like.. Omg there are still good stories out there to be had and made me feel like I wasn't just a jaded, husk of a human.

The only real down I felt was the end of the Black Museum episode. I thought the short-story type bits in it were good and a fun way to explore some more ideas, but once it got to the backroom electric chair bit, I kind of checked out.

But I really liked the piece about the woman trapped in the teddy bear for whatever reason. Maybe because I'm weird in that I sometimes ponder if everything has a soul or consciousness, which in turn can make me handle it with more respect or something? So a car for example, if I neglect mine in a certain way I feel bad, or I see some video online where some idiots take a car, which may not be great but still functions and could serve someone I'm sure, and they decide to just destroy it. It comes across as torture and wasteful to me and it can really bother me. I guess we should treat things with some sort of regard or reverence. Even if you don't want to imagine an object having a thought, I could still look at it and wonder the story it could tell, where it's been, the people who made it, the history behind it etc. Some potentially fascinating journey from a spark of an idea in someones head, for whatever personal reason, through design, manufacturing, shipment, sales, and here it is.. years or decades later.. sitting in a dusty shoe box buried in my closet.

That's probably a wild tangent and I know that that isn't exactly the moral of the story there but it's what it made me think of. Feel like a crazy person writing that out, but that is what I like about Black Mirror.

Was "Crocodile" the one with the blond lady? That one was AWESOME. Was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Loved how far it went.

I went the opposite way this series. Bad Black Mirror is still good Black Mirror but rather than inventing a series of new ideas there was too much of using tech from older episodes at a different stage of their development.

USS Callister, Hang the DJ, Arkangel and Black Museum all pulling threads from White Christmas felt like there was some creative exhaustion setting in. Even the boggly eyed sex drug van guy from Arkangel looked too similar to the boggly eyed party sex suicide guy from White Christmas.

Metalhead just being a rehash of the back end of Dead Set without the fun setup was a little tedious. Never mind the teddy bear nonsense, casting Maxine Peake in an episode and not getting her to do any acting was the most shocking thing about the entire series.

This was by far my least favorite season. I still enjoyed myself here and there, but not one episode can hold a candle to the best episodes of any other season. My biggest problem is that I just didn't feel anything most of the time.

1. I really liked the first half of Crocodile until that shit just went off the rails.
2. I thought Metalhead was a neat little short. Well...not sure if 'short' is the right word, but you get my point.
3. USS Callister felt more dismissive than anything else. I feel like they setup the guy to be rather sympathetic, but they just completely drop that shit 1/3 into the episode and instead turn him into this Disney-esque villain.
4. Hang the DJ made me angry more than anything else. That episode was only ever going to go one of two ways and halfway through, it felt like they gave up trying to pretend like they weren't going to do exactly what they ended up doing.
5. Black Museum was just...meh. Kinda dragged on way too long leading up to the twist. Wasn't worth it for me.
6. Arkangel, as others have pointed out, revealed it's hand in the first few minutes. The ending was dumb.