As the outside world seems to get increasingly more chaotic and tangled, Netflix is thankfully there to handle everyone's need for escapism. Of course, when that escapism is Black Mirror, it's hard to shake the grim paranoia. Today, Netflix announced Black Mirror has been renewed for Season 5, so we'll be holding onto that paranoia for quite a while longer yet.
After debuting its first two seasons (and a Christmas special) on the U.K.'s Channel 4, Black Mirror was transported to Netflix for bigger episode batches, and the darkly comedic dystopian anthology has been a huge hit for the service. Because of that, fans likely weren't too worried about Black Mirror's cancellation chances, and Netflix could very well keep renewing the series for as long as creator Charlie Brooker can continue crafting such bone-chilling and disturbing tales. By the time the show ends, many of its awful tech scenarios will probably be realities. Unfortunately, we don't yet know how many of those tech scenarios we'll be seeing, as the Season 5 episode count hasn't been revealed.
Check out Netflix's announcement video below, which brings to mind many different Black Mirror episodes we've seen so far.
Each of the TV screens obviously displays moments from various Black Mirror episodes, but it's also worth noting that, instead of stating a vague release window like "Coming in 2018," the video uses "Be Right Back," which is the title of the first episode from Season 2. One wonders if that's just a fun way to note its future, or if there's a deeper meaning here. In that episode, one woman tries to bring back her dead boyfriend through artificial means, only to realize that a copy could never replace the original. So is this a sign that Black Mirror fans who desperately want more episodes will inevitably be disappointed over them not being as good as the previous installments? Nahhhh. In Charlie Brooker's cryptic imagination, we trust.
For instance, the most recent season featured some of the most interesting episodes yet. We got the pseudo-Star Trek power dynamics of "USS Callister," the black-and-white dread of "Metalhead," the quirky relationships of "Hang the DJ," the parental struggles with protection in "Arkangel," and the disturbing combo of stories at the heart of "Black Museum." While not all episodes fit all viewers' tastes, it's hard to deny the cleanness of the concepts.
Season 4 debuted in the final days of 2017, so Season 5 won't arrive until at least December, though it'll likely debut well after that, depending on how many episodes we get. In the meantime, head to our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule and our midseason premiere schedule to see everything hitting the small screen soon.
