There is little doubt that Black Mirror Season 6 was different from its predecessors. For instance, the final episode Demon 79 was set in the titular year and didn't feature any advanced technology at all. Additionally, the finale was revealed to be a Red Mirror production.
But what exactly does Red Mirror mean? Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker explains what the Red Mirror label is all about.
Charlie Brooker Explains Black Mirror's New Red Mirror Label in Season 6
Charlie Brooker recently spoke to Vanity Fair where he discussed the new episodes of Black Mirror. The show creator confirmed that Demon 79 was the first episode he planned for Season 6 and it was always meant to be special.
"I started this season with a 'Red Mirror' story, Demon 79, which was set in the past," Brooker said. "The idea [with the 'Red Mirror' label] was to do an alternative horror companion to Black Mirror."
"But Demon 79 links back to regular Black Mirror episodes near the end," he continued. "That made me think, yeah, I can do episodes [set] in the past, so why am I locking myself into setting things in a future with lots of chrome and glass and holograms?"
Brooker explained that he always intended for episodes set in the past.
"For the Beyond the Sea episode, I’ll set it in 1969. What would that look like? And incidentally, that’s quite exciting, because it feels like a sort of lost science fiction story of the 60s," he said.
"And it means that the characters within it are behaving like people of their era, not of our era. Is there a term for that? Retrofuturistic? Psychedelic steampunk?" Brooker pondered.
He then confirmed that there was another episode that would have received a Red Mirror label.
"And then Mazey Day is set in the early noughties. That one, I flip flopped between making it a Red Mirror and a Black Mirror," Brooker said. "And then I thought, F--k it, it is Black Mirror—because otherwise we were blowing the slightly outrageous twist that happens there."
All five episodes of Black Mirror Season 6 are now streaming on Netflix.
Related: Netflix Unveils Official Trailer and Release Date for Black Mirror Season 6
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