A Spoiler-Free Guide to the Best Black Mirror Viewing Order (2024)

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It’s been nearly four years since we got our dose of eye-opening science fiction from Black Mirror. Fortunately for viewers who’ve enjoyed the inventive storytelling of the show thus far, despite its often-bleak tone, a sixth season is coming back to Netflix this June. And the star-studded show promises to be fresher than ever.

The British anthology series has served as a cautionary tale against technology and its endless potential to disrupt modern society. Often, Black Mirror depicts a dystopian nightmare where innovations like virtual and augmented realities, biological implants, and artificial intelligence control our daily lives.

The episodes introduce tech that may still be years away from mass production, but what makes Black Mirror so effectively terrifying is how close to reality it can be. Many aspects of our lives are already being influenced by all sorts of technologies. You don’t need to look further than social media to realize we’re already living in a “Nosedive-esque” world where we ascribe value to a person based on their online clout.

Every standalone episode explores a different scenario, so you don’t have to watch them in order. If you’re still a stranger to the weird, cold, yet thought-provoking world of Black Mirror, take your pick among three different ways to view the series.

Based on the Release order

The easiest way to view the anthology series is by its release order. There are five seasons and an interactive movie so far, all of which are available for streaming on Netflix. While we all agree that not every episode is as brilliant as the rest, watching by release order is a good way to observe how the show progresses with every season.

Seasons 1 and 2 have very dark visuals that emphasize the bleakness of its present society. “Fifteen Million Merits,” for example, used an almost exclusively gray palette to highlight the mundane existence of its characters. If the overall point of that entry is to drive home how dreary capitalism makes life unless you decide to sell out, point taken. The earlier episodes are contextually disturbing from start to finish and create a sustained effect of dread that’s underscored by its equally dark cinematography.

On the other hand, “Nosedive” and most of the episodes that follow are more technicolor, even fun. And it’s not only because Black Mirror jumped ship to Netflix, which Americanized the entire series as well. The latter episodes typically set up an ideal society first, like “San Junipero” and “Hang the DJ,” before exploring its potential pitfalls.

Based on the Genre

Every Black Mirror episode features a technological advancement. Some are set way into the future where it’s possible to physically block a person from existence so you don’t have to engage with them or download a digital Alexa-fied clone of yourself. There are a few episodes that feel more aligned with our present days, such as “The National Anthem” and “Shut Up and Dance.” While these aren’t set in a futuristic era, they still depict an element of technology that creators want to warn us against, specifically the power and reach of the internet.

Another way to view the series is based on how its science fiction intersects with other genres. Believe it or not, there are episodes filled with romance and even laughs, though they may not always end in a fairy tale manner. It is still Black Mirror, after all.

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Still, you might want to sort the TV show into different genres, maybe pick an episode for a horror night and save another for Christmas. Here are the different subgenres you’ll find in Black Mirror:

Based on the Chronological timeline

Black Mirror is no MCU in the effort it takes to establish continuity. However, the anthology series does operate in the same universe—at least based on the few dozen Easter eggs observant viewers have spotted in different episodes.

That means there is a chronological timeline that Black Mirror episodes follow. If you haven’t seen Bandersnatch, the choose-your-own-adventure movie has the earliest known date of July 1984. It has the most callbacks of any Black Mirror release, including the White Bear symbol, the introduction of the company that created the alternate reality in “San Junipero,” as well as an important location in “Black Museum.”

Over the course of the series, episodes jump forward or backward in years. We see some of the tech reappear in other episodes, even if they’re a different version of it. For example, the MASS interface in “Men Against Fire” and the memory recording implant in “The Entire History of You” feel like earlier versions of the more mainstream Arkangel system seen in Season 4.

All of these eventually lead to what we can assume is the most futuristic of all episodes: “Metalhead.” The black-and-white episode sees the main character fighting off highly advanced robot dogs in what looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland devoid of other humans.

Though not all episodes are dated, here’s our guess of the general timeline of every Black Mirror episode:

Bandersnatch (2018 Interactive Film)
The National Anthem (S1E01)
Smithereens (S5E02)
Fifteen Million Merits (S1E02)
The Waldo Moment (S2E03)
Shut Up and Dance (S3E03)
White Bear (S2E02)
Be Right Back (S2E01)
Playtest (S3E02)
Hated in the Nation (S3E06)
Striking Vipers (S5E01)
Men Against Fire (S3E05)
Crocodile (S4E03)
The Entire History of You (S1E03)
Arkangel (S4E02)
USS Callister (S4E01)
White Christmas (2014 Christmas Special)
San Junipero (S3E04)
Black Museum (S4E06)
Rachel, Jack, and Ashely Too (S5E03)
Hang the DJ (S4E04)
Nosedive (S3E01)
Metalhead (S4E05)

Whether it’s based on the release date, the genre, or the assumed general timeline, there’s really no wrong way to watch Black Mirror before Season 6 releases. Watch the teaser below:

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