Black Mirroris a nightmarish show that, for more than a decade, has proved hard to turn away from. Each episode of the sci-fi/thriller/drama anthology series has a self-contained story and characters, as well as a unique premise that explores some sort of dark story about humanity and its relationship with technology. It takes sci-fi concepts and explores them in unique ways, with the show’s fast pacing, uncompromising nature, super dark comedy, and particularly grim storylines being some of the things that make it so memorable. It began as a British show that aired on Channel 4, but in 2016 — for its third season — it started being produced by Netflix, and it’s from there that it became popular on a truly global scale, and a show that seemingly everyone had seen, or at least heard of. With 2023 giving viewers another horrific taste of the futurewith a sixthBlack Mirrorseason, the show is once again in the spotlight. And it’s inevitable for an anthology series like this to cause fierce debates about which episode is ultimately the best, seeing as all naturally stand independent of the others — both the good and the bad.
To focus on the good, it’s safe to say thatBlack Mirrorhashad its fair share of great episodes, with many being particularly twisted and hard to forget. There’s a strong argument to be made for the Christmas special released between Seasons 2 and 3, titled “White Christmas,” being the show’s finest hour (well, an hour and 14 minutes, given its extra long runtime), with it being an anthology episode within an anthology series, having three short stories within it that all end up tying together compellingly. There’s alsoSeason 3’s famous “San Junipero,“of course, which stands out for having an engaging sci-fi premise and subverting much of the darkness and despair usually associated with the show. In the long run, having the odd moment of hope or happiness can make the grim episodes hit harder, given there’s always a slim chance things will turn out well.
Yet the expectation of misery wasn’t there at the start of the show, and it wasBlack Mirror’s first two seasons that gave it such a reputation. And few episodes can be held as responsible for establishing the stomach-churningBlack Mirrorstyle the way its first episode — and arguably its greatest — did: the infamous Season 1 opener, “The National Anthem.”
RELATED:‘Black Mirror’ Season 6: Release Window, Cast, Trailer, and Everything We Know So Far
The Premise of “The National Anthem” Is Captivating and Stomach-Churning
It’s safe to assume that most people who didn’t watchBlack Mirrorwhen it first aired were introduced to the show in a similar fashion — either by seeing discussions online or by talking to a friend/family member about it being a very dark show. It’s likely they also heard it was very good, because while not every episode ofBlack Mirroris amazing, there are plenty of iconic episodes. And so this hypothetical person — here representing everyone — pulled up Netflix or whatever other streaming service they could find the show on, and they began, as you do, with Episode 1. That first episode, “The National Anthem,” lays its cards out straight away. It’s only 45 minutes, after all, and it has a fairly eventful story to tell, with numerous moving parts and a surprisingly large cast.
In the early morning of what is supposed to be an ordinary day, British Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) is awoken and informed that a Royal princess (both characters are fictionalized) has been captured and is being held hostage. Whoever’s responsible for the kidnapping has one bizarre request that, if not followed through, will result in the princess being executed. It’s a demand that goes straight to the Prime Minister himself, and it’s that at 4 PM, he has to have sex with a pig on live television, with the act being broadcast on every station in the nation. And sothis infamous, divisive episodebegins, with various attempts to find the kidnapper or otherwise “fake” the broadcast proving futile. What starts as ridiculous soon starts to become increasingly horrifying, and the tension from things becoming less and less hopeful, minute by minute, is what makes this far-fetched and blunt premise so unexpectedly captivating and nauseating, all at once.
“The National Anthem” Sets a Clear Tone for ‘Black Mirror’
The storyline itself helps to establish whatBlack Mirroraims to do, tonally and thematically, right from the get-go. It’s an episode that might contain some humor, at least initially, for how outrageous the idea being explored is. The way it becomes less funny as it goes on is striking, and the way it begins in such a preposterous manner and then builds to ahorrifying and seemingly inevitable endingis what makes it all create such an impact. The viewer is there with the Prime Minister and his team from beginning to end. The small moments of hope that get instantly crushed are visceral and deliberately cruel. The way the news circulates because of the online world — and the way the internet ultimately ruins some moments of hope — is an early example of the show’s stance on technology. There’s an attempt to get an adult film star to perform in the Prime Minister’s place, with Callow’s head imposed on the actor’s body via special effects. But someone near the film studio where it’s set to go down recognizes the actor, tweets a photo of him, and it circulates online. The kidnapper finds out and appears to cut off one of the princess’s fingers as a warning to not try and circumvent his demands. Technology allows the kidnapper to tell the world he has the princess, as well as gives him a way to broadcast his demands, since the video is released online and circulated on sites like Twitter and YouTube. Early on, Callow and his team try to remove these videos, but the internet has made them powerless to stop the spread of such alarming information.
InBlack Mirror, a central message is that technology always wins. Many of its best episodes have characters fighting against technology — much of the time, it’s futuristic — and ultimately being defeated by it, or simply giving up their struggle against it. The internet and the way it circulates messages and information is, in “The National Anthem,” an unstoppable beast. The Royal Family and the government can’t stand up against a single kidnapper who’s using the online space to his advantage. Indeed, his anthem, as it were, becomes broadcast on a national scale almost instantly, and as demonstrated by future episodes of the show, not even the most powerful organizations in Britain can combat one man and his weaponized technology.
“The National Anthem” Is a Challenge to the Audience
Black Mirroris unafraid to criticize just about everyone. Those who create harmful technologies can be villains in just about any episode, as seen explicitly as early as the show’s second episode, “Fifteen Million Merits,” whichtakes place in a more outwardly dystopian worldwhere much of the population is enslaved by a higher power within rooms covered with screens, and forced to earn “merits” as currency, usually by cycling bikes to generate electricity. Sometimes, people who use technology do so willingly, and it’s ordinary people who end up making questionable actions with the powerful devices at their disposal. This can be seen as early asthe show’s third episode, “The Entire History of You,“with its devices that let people re-watch their memories, and how it explores the ways such devices could be misused, or simply cause conflict through their very existence.
And of course,Black Mirroralso turns its judgmental gaze on the audience who chooses to watch it, with this being a direct part of “The National Anthem.” Not only does it challenge a brand-new viewer of the show to sit through an episode with such an alarming premise, but it also spends a good deal of its time on how the public in the episode reacts to the unfolding news story surrounding a Prime Minister, a princess, and a pig. Many of these “ordinary people” seem a little too eager to watch the 4 PM broadcast unfold. Subtext eventually becomes text, as the Prime Minister’s wife tells him near the episode’s halfway point: “I know people. We love humiliation. We can’t not laugh.” The viewers in the episode look on — some horrified, some curious, and some strangely excited. Anyone sticking with “The National Anthem” watches on too, and though a real-life viewer is shielded by the knowledge thatBlack Mirroris afictional show (at least usually), they’re forced to compare their act of watching the episode with the general public’s act of not turning away from their TV screens as 4 PM approaches.
‘Black Mirror’ Is Sci-Fi for Our Present
Everyone understands “The National Anthem” being bold for its premise, its shocking ending, and itsstanding withinBlack Mirroras a whole, seeing as it’s the first episode. But one of its greatest strengths, and boldest attributes, isn’t as widely discussed, and that’s the fact that thoughBlack Mirroris typically a sci-fi show, “The National Anthem” doesn’t go into the future, and nor does it depict a version of 2011 that’s wildly different from real life in the early 2010s. All the technology that allows the horrifying plot to unfold existed back when the episode aired, making it feel more plausible and down-to-earth than later episodes.Black Mirrorvery intentionally begins with an episode that’s not only a shock to the senses — and as such, a warning for what’s to come — but also with an episode that takes place in what’s recognizably the present, establishing a firm jumping-off point for the show to build on, and venture into the future with the exploration of more directly science-fiction concepts.
It has the alarming effect of telling the viewer — through what feels like the world’s most abrasive loudspeaker — that the future is now, and thatBlack Mirror’s iconic and infamous dystopia has already commenced. It’s troubling in the way it establishes that there’s no going back, and that if present-day technology can lead to such a nightmarish episode, then technology becoming more advanced will lead to more alarming episodes in the future. To some extent, that message was right, asBlack Mirrorhas gone on to provoke, shock, and disturb viewers with six seasons (and a Christmas special) worth of nightmares, and only a sliver of hope here and there. Yet the first episode always had an opportunity to be the most shocking, seeing as it was an introduction to the world ofBlack Mirroras a whole. CreatorCharlie Brookerand the others who work on the show seized that opportunity and then some, with this debut episode still holding up as one of its most jarring, unapologetic, and troubling. And since many viewers are drawn toBlack Mirrorfor its jarring, unapologetic, and troubling nature, it stands to reason that “The National Anthem” represents the show at its very best.
Black Mirroris currently available to stream on Netflix, with Season 6 set to premiere in June.
