Netflix has released some information about Season 6’s episodes, and the plot summaries suggest that they’ll overlook some of the dystopian and technological themes that make “Black Mirror” great. Of course, most of the descriptions are ambiguous, but it’s evident that Charlie Brooker and his team want to branch out and experiment with new concepts.
Per Insider, Brooker has described the new season as a reboot, so it might not be the “Black Mirror” of old. “I wanted to kind of reboot the show a little, and slightly move away from just focusing completely on technology by setting most of our stories in the past,” he said. That’s interesting, but this is the best time to focus on those types of stories, given that the digital world is currently at its most powerful and dystopian in real life.
No one can fault Brooker and his team for wanting to try new things. The beauty of “Black Mirror” is that every episode feels distinct, and the new ones will undoubtedly be entertaining. However, if Season 6 doesn’t embrace some of its dystopian ideas in a post-pandemic world, the show risks becoming irrelevant.