Impressions of the Show 'Black Mirror' | S1.E1. -'The National Anthem'

For years now people have told me to get on board with the show 'Black Mirror'. I've always thought the show's title was clever considering it's themes, but I've never had interest in the getting on board another (already outdated) show. I am a fan of 'Mr. Robot' and enthralling dramas like 'Game of Thrones', so I thought 'Black Mirror' may be a bit too dull and dreary for my taste.

Let me say up front, I was terribly wrong. In fact, this is one of the greatest shows I have ever seen. Yes I have watched more than one episode, but I haven't seen much more than that. And in regards to my reaction, I will say that one must watch the few episodes following the pilot (as they don't change the show's tone, just the conveyance).

The brilliance of the pilot came in sections, as the episode is in four parts. One has to register moments of the show to really feel something.The eerie backdrop of modern day Earth is so creepy and stylistic on it's own, the show creates a fog around it's characters that gives off a parallel universe feel.

Each episode is different, and each story differs (although they are all relative in some sense). The comparisons and allusions to past shows like 'The Twilight Zone' and 'The Outer Limits' are completely reliable, the other-wordly feel to modern day situations is where the brilliance shines through. The pilot episode for example throws viewers right into the fire (with the protagonist).

Without giving too much away, let me say the unravel lings of this episode are brilliant. The moral teachings and relativity to our own world is quite scary: being able to see the commonalities in our world and this one created on screen is so frightening! By the end of the pilot I took a few minutes to cool down and think: there are ridiculous situations in this show, completely dramatized and absurd, yet in retrospect I could see a lot of the show's outcomes becoming our own.

'The National Anthem' will leave a terrible taste in your mouth, and it will also leave you gnawing for more episodes. It delves deep into the psyche of man, and how far one must go to secure life and position. Dignity, trust, hope....these things are so fragile, they can be tampered with easy. 'Black Mirror' is one of the greatest shows of the new era, and it deserves a watching from anyone experiencing life on the planet in this modern age. It is a shame I discovered this wonderful show so late, I feel like I've been missing such amazing things; on the bright side I have so much more to discover. Onward and upwards!

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