The dystopian anthology series that delves into the scarily possible complications of technology in the near future has been nothing short of entertaining and eerie for the past four seasons; new release Bandersnatch, the creepy interactive sci-fi hit, is no exception. As a die-hard Black Mirror fan who binges all seasons at least three times a year (I could watch Nosedive episode another fifty times), I have developed a ‘sixth sense’: I can pick up patterns in themes. In the past Black Mirror has released episodes based on new forms of dating, experimenting with new technology, revenge, personal credit ratings, and political impacts. What will the next lot of episodes of alternative universes unpack? We have a few ‘logical’ predictions based on trending themes, current issues, and cold, hard rumours of what season 5 might entail:
Dating reality show
Online dating has been a favoured ‘taboo’ topic for a while now. We have more dating apps than Paris Hilton has chihuahuas, and a huge amount of dating shows that feed hungry audiences strange ‘realities’ of people marrying at first sight on TV and meeting bachelorettes. Ultimately, these old traditions and values, like arranged marriages and courting, are being turned into reality TV as an ‘experiment.’ I believe Black Mirror could definitely take a twist on this concept and make it as strange and unearthly as possible. There would be weird gizmos and gadgets involved (of course), cruel systems created such as how the audience could vote off contestants, and feature behind the scenes of the reality show (similar to Unreal on Stan).
Gaming and conspiracies
I feel like Bandersnatch has given us a clue for what’s to come in Season 5; absurd games and well thought out conspiracies may be a subject of one of the episodes. Perhaps a spin-off of Riverdale’s Gryphon and Gargoyles? I trust it would be just as random. If Black Mirror were to use this concept they would definitely use anachronisms of placing the alternative universe in a vintage time and place and use sci-fi themes and technology; Black Mirror is renowned for using this technique over and over, and it works. Think Jumanji infused with artificial intelligence; who wouldn’t want to watch that? Well, apparently Netflix records data of the answers we choose in Bandersnatch, so perhaps Black Mirror will build an episode based on what they know about their audience and how we think.
Body augmentation
Cosmetic surgeries are pretty normalised in society; that alone is eerie enough for me. Seriously, just take a look at half of Netflix’s documentaries. However, whether it’s for superficial reasons or a procedure to repair the face and body after a major accident, imagine if Black Mirror was to play around with the concept? With everyone becoming bored of their appearances and having the temptation to change their look to suit trends, they would probably create an episode surrounding the idea of how we can turn into ‘human chameleons’ where we can change anything and everything about us, kind of like editing a Sim. Oh, I think I’ve just creeped myself out.
Murder
Simply put, we are obsessed with murder. A great number of documentaries, TV shows and films out there are based on solving crimes and understanding murderers. If Black Mirror could do another version of their Crocodile episode, they would show us how it’s easier to kill someone with new types of technology at our fingertips, and how it’s easier to solve a murder mystery for the same reason.
Politics
There has been talk that there will be at least some focus on politics in Season 5. However, we just don’t know any more after the creator of Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, released his comments. He told RadioTimes: “Last time I kept getting asked, ‘How do you do Black Mirror in a dystopian present?’ and I was saying, ‘Well I deliberately haven’t written an episode about Brexit, because you don’t know how that’s going to play out, so you’d have to wait and see, in a way.’ He also mentioned how perhaps they have overdone the political episodes. “Also, weirdly we’ve done a lot of those things already,” he noted. “We’ve sort of done Trump [in series two episode The Waldo Moment],” he told RadioTimes. In my opinion, Charlie Brooker won’t be able to steer away from politics and I place bets that there will be an episode with a medium to high focus on politics, corrupt governments, or other all too familiar current issues.
What do you think will happen in Season 5? Tell us in the comments below!
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