Black Mirror has done the (near) impossible: giving sci-fi / horror fans a worth successor to The Twilight Zone – a series of “What If?” mind-bending stories, perfectly tailored for the digital age. Black Mirror season 4 and 5 saw the UK series officially become an international hit, thanks to Netflix, and fans are eager to get season 6 – especially while on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, even though the year 2020 has already provided plenty of great material for Balck Mirror to fill an entire season with, it seems as though creator Charlie Booker doesn’t think now is the time for the show to return.
Speaking with EW, Booker said that he’s not working on more Black Mirror right now, because the world is already bleak enough, without the show adding to viewers’ worries:
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“At the moment, I don’t know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I’m not working away on any of those [Black Mirror episodes]. I’m sort of keen to revisit my comic skill set, so I’ve been writing scripts aimed at making myself laugh.”
Not every episode of Black Mirror deals with some kind of dystopian doom and gloom scenario – many of the more recent seasons have certainly taken different approaches, exploring everything from pop-culture to gaming to modern relationships and the pitfalls of social media. That said, even though Black Mirror isn’t always about the world ending, pretty much the point of episode is to highlight something that is wrong with he world today (with technology being a the common root). At a time when all most people have is their televisions, computers, phone and tablets as sources of escape or entertainment, Black Mirror would definitely run the risk of coming off pious at a time when it would definitely be… gauche.
Black Mirror is just one sci-fi property that will have a lot to weigh and consider, both during and after the coronavirus pandemic. With the COVID-19 outbreak being both a real milestone in human history, as well as inspiration for all kinds of new and significant social, psychological, and artistic changes in the aftermath, the sci-fi genre will similarly be changed.
For now, there’s plenty of time for viewers who have no real idea what Black Mirror is about to at least get caught up. The early seasons prove to be some of the more intense stories in the anthology series, so fairly warned, from both Charlie Booker and us!
Black Mirror streams on Netflix.
