Black Mirror is like a modern-day Twilight Zone (which recently came back) that likes to explore different technologies in varying levels of complexity. With 5 seasons, 22 episodes, and an interactive special called Bandersnatch, there’s a lot of different branches and stories to go through.
Some feature things that are so close to reality that it can get uncomfortable at times, while other things are so out of this (current) world that watching even the heavier themes don’t hit too close to home. In this list, we’ll be looking at 5 of these more realistic things, and 5 things that don’t make too much sense.
Realistic: Social Media Society (Nosedive)
In the first episode of Black Mirror’s third season, Nosedive depicted a world where everyone was dependent on the perception of their peers. Whether it’s something you post on social media or anyone seeing the way you treat others, the people around you could judge and rate your every move with your rating being used as a way to access things like better apartments and opportunities.
Although this seems like some farfetched future dystopia, this is actually something that China has been moving to implement. Their Social Credit System is targeted for use in 2020 and is already being tested and implemented in certain parts of the country. Under this system, those with low ratings are “blacklisted” and may lose access to their necessities and be outed as untrustworthy people.
Not Realistic: Everyone Lives A Monotonous Life In A Giant Compound (Fifteen Million Merits)
Fifteen Million Merits is set in a dystopian society where everyone (seemingly) lives in a huge compound covered in screens where the common job for most people is cycling. Although the main story is a parody of humanity’s focus on constantly seeking distraction and entertainment, the setup seems to be quite over the top and unrealistic. This world seems to be one of utter monotony and dullness, which does a good job of feeding the need that it aims toward but isn’t one of those things that we can place in today’s world.
Realistic: Hacking and Blackmail (Shut Up and Dance)
“Shut Up and Dance” told the story of Kenny who was hacked and blackmailed into following a set of increasingly intense instructions. With several twists and turns in the story bringing the viewer to the edge of their seat, the episode ends with the hacker releasing the information anyway and essentially destroying Kenny’s life, which, given the twist, may not have been such a bad thing.
This is one of those stories that are way too real, with many people having had to deal with private things being leaked to the world. Examples of these situations are the iCloud Leaks in 2014 and the emergence of revenge porn in modern times. There are people out there who would find something about someone and will definitely use it against them.
Not Realistic: Human Zoo, Memory Manipulation (White Bear)
White Bear brings a whole new meaning to the words “life sentence.” We follow Victoria Skillane on her journey to safety surrounded by people who are supposedly brainwashed to record everything on their phones. It is revealed at the end of the episode, though, that she was an accomplice to the murder of a child and that her sentence was to undergo this “adventure” every day for the rest of her life, each day ending with painful electrocutions that wipe her memories. This episode essentially makes a zoo out of a convict and involves insane torture that, hopefully, isn’t in anyone’s future.
Realistic: Bee Situation, Drones (Hated in the Nation)
The (scary) events in “Hated in the Nation” aren’t that realistic yet, but there are things in here that can be linked to things that do exist today. This episode is set in a world where Autonomous Drone Insects (ADI) were created in order to maintain some sort of balance in nature after bees went extinct. It is then discovered that the ADIs were hacked to target and kill anyone mentioned with the tag #DeathTo.
The links to the truth in this episode are the current reality of some species of bees being endangered, and the existence of drones used for photography (which seem to be getting smaller) and those used for remote artillery (by the military). These are three completely separated things, but it is interesting how Hated in the Nation put their concepts together and, in a really scary way, opened up the possibility of this becoming reality.
Not Realistic: Digital Implants (Arkangel)
Black Mirror seems to have a fascination with implants. Many episodes involve something digital being implanted in some part of a person. One of the weirder examples of this recurring detail is the child tracking and monitoring implant in the episode, Arkangel. What makes it the most unrealistic of all the “implant examples” is the fact that, with Arkangel, someone else, a parent, makes the decision to put a tracker on their child (maybe like chips in pets today), with an irreversible procedure that has them living with it their entire life.
The technology is so unrealistic and impractical that the episode’s own world had it banned. This episode shows the negative repercussions of an outrageous act when the one implanted goes through things that should be normal and unmonitored.
Realistic: Matching Algorithms (Hang the DJ)
One of the lighter episodes in all of Black Mirror, the twist in “Hang the DJ” was that everything in the entire episode was one of many simulations a dating app ran to see if two people were compatible. It’s interesting to see how the complexity of a matching algorithm was manifested here, and everything that happened before the reveal was just heartwarming and sweet.
Not Realistic: Altering Perception/Eyesight (Men Against Fire)
Another recurring element in many Black Mirror episodes is the alteration of people’s perceptions in relation to implants. “Men Against Fire” takes this to a different level by weaponizing such a modification. In this episode, soldiers are programmed through their implants to see “roaches”—mutated creatures that are actually just normal human beings—and destroy them because they are just leftovers from a previous nuclear-related war. Apart from being inhumane, it isn’t actually possible to manipulate dight the way they do here, as well as in other episodes.
Realistic: Smart Dog-like Robots (Metalhead)
Metalhead was set in a post-apocalyptic world where four-legged robotic guards, or “dogs,” overrun the world, and the main characters are survivors running for supplies for their group. The “dogs” are incredibly smart and deadly, and in usual Black Mirror fashion, the ending doesn’t turn out well for their “prey”.
Metalhead’s setup was a pretty unique concept even for Black Mirror. Series creator, Charlie Brooker, said that he came up with the concept after watching Boston Dynamics’ videos where the robot dogs get their unique look from (in particular, BigDog and Spot). Having this episode in mind now, watching the Boston Dynamics videos is kind of scary because there exists something now that actually shows what can happen if things go awry with this concept.
Not Realistic: Transfer of Full Consciousness, Extending Physical Sensations (Black Museum)
Black Museum featured a series of different scenarios, all involving technology related to human consciousness. The first story was about a doctor feeling other people’s pain, the second was about transferring a comatose person’s consciousness into a toy, and the third is on a person’s consciousness as a hologram after they’ve died.
What makes this unrealistic it the ability to seamlessly transfer entire consciousness, physical sensations, emotions, and memories, without the need for surgery or any other physical connections. Although computers are getting more powerful, it’s hard to believe that a person could die and then, essentially, be reborn as a hologram.
