I was so looking forward to the new 4th season of now Netflix series., Black Mirror. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it’s somewhat in the spirt of all the incarnations of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, but for many of the episodes, such as “National Anthem” and “Nosedive” there was an element of high satire in the mold of the 1976 film, Network. But. This new season, while definitely not bad, seems derivative.  The satirical poke at Star Trek with the hapless computer programmer and part tech company owner who simulates his own Star Trek like universe seems too derivative of The Orville, Galaxy Quest, the novel Redshirts and even the psycho simulated clown in ST: Voyager (played by Michael McKean, now making a name for himself in Better Call Saul). Too many episodes deal with now overfamiliar “I got a chip in my head” plots. Jodie Foster directed episode, “Arkangel” is very well acted, but feels too much like a redo of earlier season episode “Entire History of You”, save for being a mother and daughter instead of husband and wife. I’m not done with my binge yet…so future posts might lead to “oops, some of season 4 is stunningly awesome! ” But not yet. Not bad, but if there’s a fifth Eason, no implants in the head or being trapped in a simulation please…

In any case, a future post will discuss the science of Black Mirror! stay tuned!