Black Mirror, the futuristic horror anthology series by Charlie Brooker, has been renewed for a seventh season. The show’s dazzling and scary omens will return once more after going through a transformation. Whereas the first seasons of the show focused more on current technologies going wrong, the latter seasons shifted toward creepier techno-apocalyptic scenarios after reality caught up with the series. Staying true to its essence, the series still managed to predict part ofHollywood’s latest troubles with AI.
As it happens with any show that has managed to live on after a couple of seasons, more traditional fans might be thinking that the end should be near. Speculation about whetherBlack Mirrorjumped the shark or not usually surfaces after the announcement of more episodes, and though some might think this has already occurred, others might be asking themselves this very same question before streaming the next episode once it premieres. Surprises can always happen, butBlack Mirror’s evolution might hint at whether a seventh season is a great idea or if it might be one too many.
Black Mirror’s Conception and Evolution
Black Mirror
Charlie Brooker’s hit series first saw the light in 2011 on Channel 4, the British free-to-air public broadcast television channel. From that year until 2013, thisdistant child ofThe Twilight Zonewas conceived to provide acute social commentary on society’s current issues, focusing on the growing use of social media, hyper-communication, and recent changes in the media. Channel 4’s rendition of the series was crowned with a TV special,White Christmas,a longer feature that carried the formula of the previous two series.
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After a long silence and the idea of closure, it was revealed that Netflix had picked upBlack Mirrorfor a comeback. Hasting’s streaming services brought the show back in 2016, honoring the original formula, with Brooker’s vision remaining mostly intact throughout the set of six episodes. Seasons 4 (2017) and 5 (2019) (with the interactiveBandersnatchspecial in 2018) evidenced that the creators of the show were more concerned about renewing the formula, with more space for sci-fi-filled worlds and experimental ideas.
Even if not every attempt was a hit, Brooker’sacknowledgment of the need to reinventthe series crystalized that the society that was first shocked with delight for the first two series had already changed deeply and would not be awed and scared equally by the same concepts.
For others, this might have been the series' jump-the-sharkmoment, but it would be a mistake to dissociate the show from the culture it comes from. As many ofBlack Mirror’screepiest predictions became true, the creators must have understood that the show’s continuity required new directions to preserve its powerful way of foretelling techno-dystopian scenarios.
Should Black Mirror Continue After Season Seven?
With a pandemic hiatus,Black Mirrorhad a curious return in 2023 with its sixth season. Despite series 6 having many elements that can be related to the show’s past, this new entry was probablythe most different one so far. The series' edgy style was still there, but Brooker abandoned the foreshadowing tone to provide sharp commentary on the streaming era’s production methods as well as creating retrofuturistic stories to reflect on modern messianic callings, paparazzi practices, and identity theft and its effects.
All in all, it was a deeply exploratory season, and despite the usual voices yearning for the classic formula, the new ideas balanced the old ones with some interesting decisions.
Now, a new series is set to premiere sooner rather than later, and concerns about continuity are being raised once more. The truth is thatBlack Mirror’s topical connection to reality defines the future of the series, as it has been since day one. A decade might not sound as much, but society’s views on themedia and technologyfrom 2011 have almost nothing to do with today’s conceptions. Even with its lower points, each new episode is still media studies material, as it sums up how technology is deeply rooted in the population’s ways of thinking and living in society.
Related:10 Black Mirror Episodes You Only Need to Watch Once
AskingBlack Mirrorto say goodbye is putting the results before the formula, as the show works as a device to reflect on society. Many fans are profoundly in love with the show’s original series, and it is hard to blame them, as episodes likeNational AnthemandThe Entire History of Youdeserve to be preserved as masterpieces in TV history.
However, Brooker and his crew’s sardonic vision made the show what it is. As long as they can still provide these creative opinions about current affairs with such fascinating imagery, it still makes sense forBlack Mirrorto continue being renewed. Sure, occasional hiatuses like the 2014–2015 or the 2020–2022 silences give the producers a breath of fresh air to think about their next steps, but they will hardly run out of material and opinions on the issues that are the core of the series as technology continues to change society in the most unexpected ways.
