Black Mirror Season 4 Episodes Detailed—Arriving December 29

Netflix is announcing that the launch of Black Mirror season 4 is on schedule for December 29. Black Mirror is hailed by fans and critics as the spiritual successor to the legendary Twilight Zone anthology. It features six self-contained episodes tackling social issues as it pertains to anxiety surrounding social media and technology. Furthermore, the new season brings a very diverse group of episodes. All of which have individual trailers which Netflix put on their YouTube channel.

Update December 29. Netflix has premiered the latest series and the episode numbers have changed. The article has been updated below with the new episode numbers. Since it is an anthology series, watching them in order is not important anyway since each is a stand alone.

Season 4 Episode 3: Crocodile

The episode takes place in a world where people’s memories are not private. Unlike season one’s ‘The Entire History of You’, these are memories and not recordings, so it does not always hold up in terms of detail accuracy. The first episode is written by series creator Charlie Booker with direction from John Hillcoat.

Season 4 Episode 2: Arkangel

The second episode is the first to have a trailer out. Oscar award winner Jodie Foster takes on the director duties on a story written by Charlie Booker. It  revolves around the anxieties of parenthood. Parenting is far from easy, especially with the constant bombardment of media. And in usual Black Mirror fashion, technology claims to have a solution. Or so it seems.

The episode has the tagline ‘the key to good parenting is control’. As the trailer shows, the mother resorts to using a neural implant to keep track of her daughter after a short scare. Obviously, things are only going to get worse from there. Moreover, the device most likely comes with several side effects.

Season 4 Episode 4: Hang the DJ

This appears lighter in tone and more comedic in comparison to other Black Mirror episodes. It will revolve around themes of dating and sex in a world where an AI acts as a match maker. This one is also written by Charlie Booker, while vetaran TV director Tim Van Patten (Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, The Sopranos) takes directorial duties.

Season 4 Episode 1: USS Callister

The USS Callister appears to be a tongue-and-cheek homage to Star Trek. It is even lighter in tone than Hang the DJ, as it uses an extremely colourful palette. This one is written by Charlie Booker and William Bridges. The directorial duties come from Doctor Who director Toby Haynes, who knows a thing-or-two about sci-fi.

Season 4 Episode 5: Metalhead

From the colourful palette of the USS Callister, Black Mirror goes completely black and white in “Metalhead”. This episode follows a woman whose companions are victims of a mysterious “dog” attack at a warehouse. From there, what follows is an anxiety inducing chase story set against the empty post-apocalyptic landscape of the Scottish moors. This one is written by Charlie Booker with direction by director David Slade (30 Days of Night). So expect a proper suspenseful horror mini-movie.

Season 4 Episode 6: Black Museum

The episode‘s tagline states: “A lone traveller stumbles across a tourist-friendly crime museum with a shocking star attraction.” The “shocking” part there might be literal, as according to Booker, it is a museum where you can inflict pain on yourself but not terror. 

The story is by Booker with director Colm McCarthy (Peaky Blinders, The Girl with All the Gifts). From the tagline alone, it is obvious there is a twist on this one. What makes this one stand out from the rest is that it appears to be an anthology within an anthology.

All six episodes are going to premiere on the same time on December 29. Since Netflix is producing the show instead of licensing it, there is no region locks. That means that all subscribers world wide will be able to watch it at the same time.

Although, a six episode series is less than half of most shows, each episode can be feature-length. Which means they are essentially stand-alone movies that do not require sequential watching.