My meager plans for the day were thwarted when I decided to check out an episode of Black Mirror. I'd heard about the show several times over the last year or so, but didn't really get serious about it until Netflix picked it up for a third season.
The show focuses on technology and how it affects our lives. Now, if you're thinking "hmm, sounds like an interesting introspective experience", buddy you're in for a ride. This show certainly gives you the social commentary that you might expect given the subject matter, but it takes that commentary and buries it into your chest, rips out your still beating heart, and hurls it against the wall. I probably should not have spent the last 12 hours binge watching the series, because my mind is all over the place right now. I gave myself about 10-15 minutes between episodes as a sort of contemplation period, but that's not enough.
I think, given the nature of the show and the relatively low amount of episodes, I might start a weekly or fortnightly in depth look at the episodes, starting with the first season. I think it will be a really beneficial exercise to dive back into the episodes, one at a time, and really dissect them and try to pick apart all the little things the show is trying to say.
It is a TV series, but each episode is a self contained story. They have the odd easter egg or reference to other episodes in many of them, but it's not necessary to watch them in order. If you're going to try it out, the holiday special White Christmas is very good. Playtest is great for horror lovers, and I just finished watching San Juperino, which was really heart warming. If you want to try to ease yourself into Black Mirror, I would reccommend San Jeperino as a good starting point, as a lot of the other episodes are very bleak. Be Right Back is perhaps my personal favourite so far (I still have two left). I cried extremely (non) manly tears.
Seriously though, you should really give the show a try. The christmas episode and season 3 are on Netflix. As for the others, you may need to resort to more, er, 'less than legitimate' ways of watching them. Series 1 and series 2 are available on iTunes, although series 1 has an episode missing it seems, if you want to spend some money to watch them legally. Because that's totally what I did. Yep, definitely watched those first two seasons in a completely legitimate and legal manner.
... Yarr matey...