At long last, the second-best anthology series of all time* is returning! Make a note in your convenient but oddly oppressive social media devices, because season six of the acclaimed Black Mirror arrvies in Australia when it hits Netflix on June 15.
Created by critic and comic Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror is—as you no doubt already know—a dystopian series built around the notion of taking technology and our relationship with it to—and frequently beyond—its logical extreme.
You’d be forgiven for thinking such a stricture would quickly limit the possibilities at hand, but no. Since its inception in 2011 on the UK’s Channel 4, the series has gone from strength to strength, with three episodes—”San Junipero”, “Bandersnatch”, and “USS Callister”—winning an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie.
Will season six repeat the trick? Hard to say. And as ever, the plot details of these upcoming five episodes are being kept under wraps, although you can scope the loglines here. But speculation is part of the fun! In one episode we could be harvesting likes and replies for anti-radiation meds, in another we might be growing babies on the blockchain for some weird reason. It’s all up for grabs on the other side of the Black Mirror.
What we can say is that the cast, as ever, is ridiculously impressive, with (deep breath) Aaron Paul, Anjana Vasan, Annie Murphy, Auden Thornton, Ben Barnes, Clara Rugaard, Daniel Portman, Danny Ramirez, David Shields, Himesh Patel, John Hannah, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Michael Cera, Monica Dolan, Myha’la Herrold, Paapa Essiedu, Rob Delaney, Rory Culkin, Salma Hayek Pinault, Samuel Blenkin and Zazie Beetz all having signed on to bring Brooker’s bleak blipverts to the screen.
Black Mirror’s longevity is impressive. You’d think Brooker would run out of inspiration at some point, but it seems our own grim moment in history supplies more grist for his creative mill than he can deal with. At this rate, we’ll still be watching even after all its bleakest predictions comes true.
*The Twilight Zone remains undefeated, and always will.
