section_path: Reception/Critical response
section_name: Critical response
paragraph_text: Critical response
  
  Black Mirror has been met with critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the seven series received ratings of 98%, 87%, 86%, 85%, 66%, 78%, and 89%. "White Christmas" received an 89% rating and Bandersnatch received a 73% rating. Metacritic, assigning scores from series three onwards, gave ratings of 82, 72, 66, 68 and 74. Bandersnatch holds a 61 rating on Metacritic.
  
  Series one garnered praise. David Sims of The A.V. Club gave the first episode—"The National Anthem"—an A rating, viewing each character decision and plot revelation as natural. Jim Goodwin of Bleeding Cool complimented the acting. Also, the episode received 145 complaints to the television regulatory body Ofcom, the eighth-largest figure for the year. Reviewing "Fifteen Million Merits", Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek extolled the romance between Bing and Abi, as well as the production quality, music and acting. Sam Richards of The Telegraph rated it four stars, praising the "acerbic humour". Critical reaction to "The Entire History of You" was more mixed. Sims believed that Liam's actions escalated too quickly, but found the central premise of memory recording plausible. Richards thought that the memory technology was not necessary to the story, but James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly said that the episode's execution was "sophisticated and flawless".
  
  The series two opener, "Be Right Back", received critical acclaim. Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy rated it four stars, praising the characters and emotionality, but criticising the ending. Flickering Myth ' s Luke Owen lauded the acting of Hayley Atwell as Martha and Domhnall Gleeson as Ash, as well as the directing. "White Bear" was well-received, with Simon Cocks of Screen Anarchy and Sims praising the plot twist and Tuppence Middleton 's role as Jem. However, Lambie criticised the passiveness of the main character, Victoria. "The Waldo Moment" was considered the worst Black Mirror episode of the series by a number of reviewers, and criticised for poor writing and characterisation. "White Christmas" garnered positive reception, including praise of the acting and the connections between narrative threads by The A.V. Club ' s Zack Handlen and The Independent ' s Ellen Jones.
  
  The third series received positive reception. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian and Emily St. James of Vox rated it four stars. Writing in Vulture, Jen Chaney analysed that it had an increased variety in setting and tone, as well as longer episodes. Chaney found that four episodes are "very good to great", while the other two are "merely decent". Lee praised "Nosedive" and "San Junipero" for their cinematography, acting, increased budget and narrative ambition. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair reviewed the episodes as "all engrossing in their way", but thought "Men Against Fire" had the weakest premise and production quality. St. James wrote that the series was, as with previous series, equal parts "brilliant,... pretty good, and... kinda stupid", praising "San Junipero" but finding that other episodes should have been shorter and were "constrained" in their shared social media theme.
  
  The production and acting in series four were praised, as were some episodes. Writing in Variety, Sonia Saraiya commented that four of the six episodes explore human consciousness inside technology. She viewed "Black Museum" as a demonstration of the series's flaws, with its artificial consciousness technologies, use of violence and storylines that require characters to "be stupid and/or evil". However, Saraiya said that the production and acting was "beautiful" and praised "USS Callister" and "Metalhead" for diverging from Black Mirror ' s "typical austere futurism". Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic identified the same theme and praised "USS Callister" and "Hang the DJ", but saw the writing as the biggest weakness of the series. Similarly, The Sydney Morning Herald ' s Brad Newsome praised the series's casting, and highlighted "USS Callister" as well-directed and well-acted.
  
  Reception to Bandersnatch and series five was more ambivalent. Linda Holmes of NPR praised Bandersnatch ' s technical design but criticised the narrative and the repetition of scenes. Holmes said that the audience are not given a reason to care about the main character, Stefan. In The Guardian, Lucy Mangan rated the fifth series four stars, finding that the episodes are disparate in content but share "a new air of calm authority" that could reflect "an increasing confidence" of the producers. Lucy Pavia of the Evening Standard said that the episodes "still pack a punch", with "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" as the highlight. However, Hugh Montgomery of the BBC said that the programme's "variable quality is more starkly evident than ever" with "one good episode to two middling-to-bad ones". Montgomery praised "Striking Vipers" as "among the finest and most soulful" episodes. Additionally, Vulture ' s Kathryn VanArendonk reviewed that though they are well-produced and well-acted, the instalments lack suitable premises.
  
  The sixth series received mixed reactions, including for its historical settings and supernatural elements. Time ' s Judy Berman saw mixed success in the series's experimentation, but improvement over the fifth series. The Guardian ' s Stuart Heritage lauded the humour of "Joan Is Awful", the "successful experiment" of "Demon 79" and the social commentary of "Loch Henry". However, Leila Jordan of Paste criticised that it lacked "visions for the future". Vanity Fair ' s Richard Lawson saw it as "hurried and undercooked", repeating ideas from earlier series and lacking timely messages.
  
  Reception for the seventh season was overall positive, with many critics deeming it as an improvement over previous seasons. Brian Tallerico from Roger Ebert.com described in comparison to the prior seasons as "more artistically consistent than the last couple", also writing that "it contains one of the best chapters in the show's history". Jack Seale from The Guardian gave the season four out of five stars, writing "this warmer, more convincingly human Black Mirror is easier than ever to forgive". Writing for The Wrap, Matthew Creith commented that "the result works wonders with a talented cast and storylines that continue to impress".
  
  Criticism of Black Mirror has depicted the show as self-righteous, with obvious morals in its stories, and excessively focused on paranoia and pessimism. Norman Wilner of Now described the first three series are "rigidly formulaic" in its presentation of a worst-case scenario and a "sardonic twist", with "San Junipero" as the exception. Chris Taylor argued for Mashable that the show should be viewed more as satire than prophecy, as it employs "nightmare logic" and concepts that require suspension of disbelief. In a satirical article for The Toast, Daniel M. Lavery used the phrase "what if phones, but too much" to describe a parody episode plot. Some reviewers found that Black Mirror decreased in quality over time. Vulture said the show has had some "fantastically great" episodes but devolved with many "terrible" ones. Rolling Stone found the series's move to Netflix brought mixed results, with lessening impact from its overuse of simulated reality and transfer of consciousness. LaToya Ferguson wrote in Paste that later series saw a "creative downfall" and increasing Americanisation, with their lengthier episodes, higher-profile actors and more "polished" style not compensating for a decline in quality.
  
  Black Mirror has been met with critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the seven series received ratings of 98%, 87%, 86%, 85%, 66%, 78%, and 89%. "White Christmas" received an 89% rating and Bandersnatch received a 73% rating. Metacritic, assigning scores from series three onwards, gave ratings of 82, 72, 66, 68 and 74. Bandersnatch holds a 61 rating on Metacritic.
  
  Series one garnered praise. David Sims of The A.V. Club gave the first episode—"The National Anthem"—an A rating, viewing each character decision and plot revelation as natural. Jim Goodwin of Bleeding Cool complimented the acting. Also, the episode received 145 complaints to the television regulatory body Ofcom, the eighth-largest figure for the year. Reviewing "Fifteen Million Merits", Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek extolled the romance between Bing and Abi, as well as the production quality, music and acting. Sam Richards of The Telegraph rated it four stars, praising the "acerbic humour". Critical reaction to "The Entire History of You" was more mixed. Sims believed that Liam's actions escalated too quickly, but found the central premise of memory recording plausible. Richards thought that the memory technology was not necessary to the story, but James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly said that the episode's execution was "sophisticated and flawless".
  
  The series two opener, "Be Right Back", received critical acclaim. Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy rated it four stars, praising the characters and emotionality, but criticising the ending. Flickering Myth ' s Luke Owen lauded the acting of Hayley Atwell as Martha and Domhnall Gleeson as Ash, as well as the directing. "White Bear" was well-received, with Simon Cocks of Screen Anarchy and Sims praising the plot twist and Tuppence Middleton 's role as Jem. However, Lambie criticised the passiveness of the main character, Victoria. "The Waldo Moment" was considered the worst Black Mirror episode of the series by a number of reviewers, and criticised for poor writing and characterisation. "White Christmas" garnered positive reception, including praise of the acting and the connections between narrative threads by The A.V. Club ' s Zack Handlen and The Independent ' s Ellen Jones.
  
  The third series received positive reception. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian and Emily St. James of Vox rated it four stars. Writing in Vulture, Jen Chaney analysed that it had an increased variety in setting and tone, as well as longer episodes. Chaney found that four episodes are "very good to great", while the other two are "merely decent". Lee praised "Nosedive" and "San Junipero" for their cinematography, acting, increased budget and narrative ambition. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair reviewed the episodes as "all engrossing in their way", but thought "Men Against Fire" had the weakest premise and production quality. St. James wrote that the series was, as with previous series, equal parts "brilliant,... pretty good, and... kinda stupid", praising "San Junipero" but finding that other episodes should have been shorter and were "constrained" in their shared social media theme.
  
  The production and acting in series four were praised, as were some episodes. Writing in Variety, Sonia Saraiya commented that four of the six episodes explore human consciousness inside technology. She viewed "Black Museum" as a demonstration of the series's flaws, with its artificial consciousness technologies, use of violence and storylines that require characters to "be stupid and/or evil". However, Saraiya said that the production and acting was "beautiful" and praised "USS Callister" and "Metalhead" for diverging from Black Mirror ' s "typical austere futurism". Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic identified the same theme and praised "USS Callister" and "Hang the DJ", but saw the writing as the biggest weakness of the series. Similarly, The Sydney Morning Herald ' s Brad Newsome praised the series's casting, and highlighted "USS Callister" as well-directed and well-acted.
  
  Reception to Bandersnatch and series five was more ambivalent. Linda Holmes of NPR praised Bandersnatch ' s technical design but criticised the narrative and the repetition of scenes. Holmes said that the audience are not given a reason to care about the main character, Stefan. In The Guardian, Lucy Mangan rated the fifth series four stars, finding that the episodes are disparate in content but share "a new air of calm authority" that could reflect "an increasing confidence" of the producers. Lucy Pavia of the Evening Standard said that the episodes "still pack a punch", with "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" as the highlight. However, Hugh Montgomery of the BBC said that the programme's "variable quality is more starkly evident than ever" with "one good episode to two middling-to-bad ones". Montgomery praised "Striking Vipers" as "among the finest and most soulful" episodes. Additionally, Vulture ' s Kathryn VanArendonk reviewed that though they are well-produced and well-acted, the instalments lack suitable premises.
  
  The sixth series received mixed reactions, including for its historical settings and supernatural elements. Time ' s Judy Berman saw mixed success in the series's experimentation, but improvement over the fifth series. The Guardian ' s Stuart Heritage lauded the humour of "Joan Is Awful", the "successful experiment" of "Demon 79" and the social commentary of "Loch Henry". However, Leila Jordan of Paste criticised that it lacked "visions for the future". Vanity Fair ' s Richard Lawson saw it as "hurried and undercooked", repeating ideas from earlier series and lacking timely messages.
  
  Reception for the seventh season was overall positive, with many critics deeming it as an improvement over previous seasons. Brian Tallerico from Roger Ebert.com described in comparison to the prior seasons as "more artistically consistent than the last couple", also writing that "it contains one of the best chapters in the show's history". Jack Seale from The Guardian gave the season four out of five stars, writing "this warmer, more convincingly human Black Mirror is easier than ever to forgive". Writing for The Wrap, Matthew Creith commented that "the result works wonders with a talented cast and storylines that continue to impress".
  
  Criticism of Black Mirror has depicted the show as self-righteous, with obvious morals in its stories, and excessively focused on paranoia and pessimism. Norman Wilner of Now described the first three series are "rigidly formulaic" in its presentation of a worst-case scenario and a "sardonic twist", with "San Junipero" as the exception. Chris Taylor argued for Mashable that the show should be viewed more as satire than prophecy, as it employs "nightmare logic" and concepts that require suspension of disbelief. In a satirical article for The Toast, Daniel M. Lavery used the phrase "what if phones, but too much" to describe a parody episode plot. Some reviewers found that Black Mirror decreased in quality over time. Vulture said the show has had some "fantastically great" episodes but devolved with many "terrible" ones. Rolling Stone found the series's move to Netflix brought mixed results, with lessening impact from its overuse of simulated reality and transfer of consciousness. LaToya Ferguson wrote in Paste that later series saw a "creative downfall" and increasing Americanisation, with their lengthier episodes, higher-profile actors and more "polished" style not compensating for a decline in quality.