Summary
Black Mirroris officially coming back for a Season 7 and the Netflix streamer has already teased at least a little bit about what and who will be in the next installment. It looks like there may be a chapter two of one of the most beloved episodes in the series' history. There are some rather famous faces ready to make an appearance, much in the way the show has done in the past. But there’s one way in which they could do a call back to one of its most popular tricks. However, it continues to look like a one off at this point. That’s a real missed opportunity.
Black Mirrorhas long been one of the most interesting shows on streaming precisely because of the way it presents its content. It’s not just that the stories have been original but it’s the fact that each story has managed to really stand on its own. While there are easter eggs to other episodes every now and then, every single one could also be looked at as being its own thing. Originality is the way the show made its bones. Even long before it leaned on having recognizable faces todrive eyeballs to its content. But when the producers releasedBandersnatchahead of Season 5 it was a truly unique approach that also stayed inside the aim ofBlack Mirror. And they people behind the series are missing a massive opportunity not offering up a similar experience with Season 7.
Black Mirror Season 7 Missed Opportunity
Black Mirror: Bandersnatchwasn’t just groundbreakingbecause its story was an interesting one; it was groundbreaking because it wasn’t just a story. It was an interactive movie that was essentially a Full Motion Video (FMV) game. That the interactive game was about making an interactive game was whyBandersnatchwas perfectlyBlack Mirror.
The story was a kind of choose-your-own adventure that was unlike anything any of the other shows on Netflix have even tried to do. Bandersnatch had a ton of different angels people could go to in the story, and there was even a “secret” ending to the episode. And of course, none of the endings were all that happy because it was still Black Mirror. Whilecertain outcomes were better, there was always an undertone of “dark” in the story. But that didn’t make it any less fun to play around with and see where the story took users.
That didn’t make it any less fun to play around with and see where the story took users.
It was the kind of thing that could have set a trend, and yet for some reason never caught on. And it didn’t even catch on among those incharge of theBlack Mirrorseries. It seems that despite the original seasons not benefitting from well-known, high-cost actors, the show has gone in that direction for almost every episode now. It seems to have forgotten to some degree that it was the storytelling and not the storytellers that made it what it was. And offering something likeBandersnatchup in 2025 when it returns to Season 7 could be a nice kind of way to show the program still wants to be special.
Black Mirror Should Take Advantage Of Netflix’s Interactivity
Perhaps the biggest reason, beyond just continuing to offer something that viewers can’t get anywhere else is because ofwhere people consumeBlack Mirror. It’s unlikely Bandersnatch would exist if the series were on any other server than Netflix. The company has delved deep into combining mvies and television shows with video games. The streaming service has gone out of its way to make sure that people play games that can only be accessed if they have a subscription to Netflix.Black Mirrorcould follow in those footsteps if it wanted to do so.
This isn’t something the show needs to do every year, or even every other year, but it seems like the return of the gimmick has had enough time to make people miss it.Bandersnatchwas released back in 2019. It’s been five years since this ground-breaking approach was first taken. It’s not really in the same neighborhood of being done too much. But it seems like every five years could show that the technology is there and that it can maybe even be improvedsince the first one was launched.
It’s hard not to see thatBlack Mirrorseems to havelost some of its luster. It’s possible that most of that could come from the series' recent transitionfrom science fiction to science fact. The show hasn’t seemed as outlandish and crazy as technology has started to some of the stories and the absurdity has caught up to others.
Offering up something likeBandersnatchcould rejuvenate the series because people would be looking to play the choose-your-own adventure game and then watch whatever else is on offer for the season. However, it seems as thoughBlack Mirrorhas decided that was a one-time offering and that there aren’t plans to go back to whatBandersnatchhas to offer.
