A new season of "Black Mirror" is always something of an occasion, especially since Netflix opportunistically scooped up the sci-fi-ish anthology series in 2015. Coming four years after Season 5, the latest batch bats roughly two out of five in terms of memorable episodes in a run that tilts more heavily toward horror, and falls short of feeling like everything the acclaimed show is cracked up to be.
Accentuating the positive, "Joan is Awful" is an almost instant classic. The episode features Annie Murphy as Joan, a human-resources worker with a big dull job and an equally bland boyfriend, who suddenly discovers that her life appears to be getting reenacted, in almost real time, on everyone鈥檚 favorite streaming service, something called "Streamberry."
The "why" of that turns out to be exceedingly clever, if not quite as much the how, but the show being television, Joan is understandably conflicted about being played by Salma Hayek Pinault, who dives into the role with juicy abandon. Nor is it an accident that "Joan" best exemplifies the show鈥檚 trademark unease about technology and how it might be contorting our lives.
The runner-up, "Beyond the Sea," is the longest of the episodes at 80 minutes, and possesses an out-there sci-fi element that recalls "2001: A Space Odyssey," involving a pair of astronauts (Aaron Paul and Josh Hartnett) who can project their consciousness back to Earth, allowing them to interact with their wives and families. When an unforeseen event occurs at home, it alters the dynamics of their relationship, which can be very, very awkward on a two-man mission whose viability relies on both fulfilling their roles.
The quality drops markedly beyond that, with "Mazey Day" featuring a conflicted paparazzi (Zazie Beetz) who begins pursuing a famous actress and bites off more than she bargained for; "Loch Henry," in which a pair of young aspiring filmmakers (Samuel Blenkin and Myha鈥檒a Herrold) return to the former鈥檚 Scottish home town, where she learns of a sordid past that propels them into the world of true crime; and "Demon 79," easily the weirdest and most polarizing of the bunch, in which a quiet sales clerk (Anjana Vasan) is the unlikely conduit chosen by a bureaucratic demon (Paapa Essiedu) to save the world from annihilation.
As usual, producer Charlie Brooker handles the writing chores (teaming with Bisha K Ali on "Demon 79"), and the episodes are generally both playful and provocative, including the aforementioned poke at the platform that feeds it.
Still, "Black Mirror" has distinguished itself as, at its best, "The Twilight Zone" for our times, adept at tapping into the apprehensions associated with issues like social media, gaming and artificial intelligence, among other modern distractions and conveniences.
The new season strikes a few glancing blows on that front, but otherwise appears content to be creepy without being consistently distinctive in a way characteristic of its best installments.
Brooker remains an astute observer of the modern age, with a sharp ear for the current nexus of pop culture, politics and technology. But where "Black Mirror" once felt bracing and new, the latest season only occasionally rises to the level that would vault it to the top of one鈥檚 Streamberry 鈥 er, sorry, Netflix 鈥 watch list.
The five-episode sixth season of 鈥淏lack Mirror鈥 premieres June 15 on Netflix.
A Quebec mother of six, once detained in northeast Syria, has died while waiting for repatriation. The Canadian woman was known only by her initials F.J.
The federal government allowed 30-year mortgage amortizations for first-time homebuyers purchasing new builds in August, and the new rules are set to expand in December to everyone looking to buy a newly-constructed home.
Jack Jones, a Grammy-winning crooner known for 'The Love Boat' television show theme song, has died. He was 86.
A former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model鈥痠s alleging鈥痶hat former President Donald Trump groped her in the 1990s, in what she believes was an attempt to show off for Jeffrey鈥疎pstein.
Crews removed approximately 50 tonnes of 'fatbergs' from the sewer system in Richmond, B.C., earlier this month, according to Metro Vancouver.
A Montreal man is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the stabbing death of a woman at a park in Ottawa鈥檚 south end on Thursday.
In the final part of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5's Jon Woodward and Joseph Loiero look at how some cities are trying to rein in the chaos.
In early 2018, Amanda and Sunil started chatting, messaging back and forth on Instagram, introducing themselves and talking a little about their lives. Fast forward to August 2018, the couple got engaged on vacation in Thailand and a year later, after Amanda moved to India, got married.
Most people have accumulated a pile of data -- selfies, emails, videos and more -- on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
A Montreal man is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the stabbing death of a woman at a park in Ottawa鈥檚 south end on Thursday.
An infant has died and a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were pulled from a burning home in the city's west end overnight.
Crews removed approximately 50 tonnes of 'fatbergs' from the sewer system in Richmond, B.C., earlier this month, according to Metro Vancouver.
An animal rights group is calling on the Calgary Humane Society and Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to launch investigations into a semi-truck crash in Calgary on Tuesday that left 17 cows dead.
An unusual item was found parked at the bottom of the historic Rideau Canal as Parks Canada drained the water this week 鈥 electric scooters.
Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the Villeray鈥擲aint-Michel鈥擯arc-Extension borough.
Israeli strikes killed 36 people, many of them children, in Gaza and three journalists in Lebanon on Friday, as worries grew about supply shortages in Gaza and international pressure for a ceasefire mounted.
As the International Criminal Court's top prosecutor sought war crimes charges this year against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over actions in Gaza, he was engulfed in a very different personal crisis playing out behind the scenes.
Tropical Storm Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 82 people dead in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to scramble for more rescue boats to save thousands of terrified people, who were trapped, some on their roofs.
North Korean troops are poised to be deployed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine as early as this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Friday.
An Indiana woman who pleaded guilty to neglect after a rat attacked her 6-month-old son and left him with disfiguring injuries has been sentenced to probation, weeks after her husband received a lengthy prison term.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gasc贸n on Friday will recommend that a judge resentence the Menendez brothers 鈥 a decision that was the culmination of a review that came after defence attorneys said in 2023 they had new evidence pointing to abuse by their father.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat, but has not disappeared.
A Quebec mother of six, once detained in northeast Syria, has died while waiting for repatriation. The Canadian woman was known only by her initials F.J.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure from within his own caucus to step aside, former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she is open to returning to politics.
Ontario says it will not allow international students in medical schools beginning in the fall of 2026.
Quebec's health department says it will be ready to meet the expected demand for advanced applications for medical assistance in dying when it begins accepting those requests next week.
A Colorado man has filed the first lawsuit against McDonald鈥檚 relating to its E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders that, so far, has led to at least 49 illnesses across 10 states, including one death.
Most people have accumulated a pile of data -- selfies, emails, videos and more -- on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
London Ont. born astronaut and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen spoke with thousands of high school students across the country today about the upcoming Artemis II mission.
Diverse firefly species lit up the night during the late Mesozoic period, scientists have confirmed.
Jack Jones, a Grammy-winning crooner known for 'The Love Boat' television show theme song, has died. He was 86.
A new organization that aims to help people struggling with addiction officially launched in Ottawa Thursday, named after the late Matthew Perry.
Argentina's police raided the Buenos Aires hotel where ex-One Direction singer Liam Payne stayed before dying last week after falling from a third-floor balcony, a government official said Thursday.
Natural gas producers in Western Canada have white-knuckled it through months of depressed prices, with the expectation that their fortunes will improve when LNG Canada comes online in the middle of next year.
Iceland鈥檚 economy is outperforming most European peers after the nationwide introduction of a shorter working week with no loss in pay, according to research released Friday.
It's a dream for many Canadians, trying to save up enough money for a down payment on their very first home. That was also the dream for the Esmeralda family, a family of five with two dogs who currently live in a Scarborough apartment building.
In early 2018, Amanda and Sunil started chatting, messaging back and forth on Instagram, introducing themselves and talking a little about their lives. Fast forward to August 2018, the couple got engaged on vacation in Thailand and a year later, after Amanda moved to India, got married.
A Toronto man who only recently checked a Lotto 6/49 lottery ticket he bought back in June is now $2.5 million richer.
Within a year of dating, 31-year-old Siara Rouzer crossed a major relationship milestone. The guy she was seeing was no longer a boyfriend but her partner.
A Sherpa teenager who's won mountaineering celebrity as the youngest person ever to summit the world's 14 highest peaks called for Sherpas to be recognized as athletes and expedition leaders as well as porters and guides.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winning goal 1:26 into overtime, and the Winnipeg Jets remained unbeaten this season with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Broadway vs. Hollywood has produced the starriest Series in decades, if not ever.
A town in southern Alberta will be one of the first to let golf carts be driven on select roads as part of a provincial pilot program.
An increased risk of fire has prompted the recall of thousands of Honda hybrid vehicles in Canada.
A senior executive for Volkswagen in China has been deported for allegedly using cocaine and marijuana while on vacation in Thailand, according to Chinese authorities and German media reports.
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.
Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
An evacuation order for six properties in the hard-hit North Vancouver neighbourhood of Deep Cove has been lifted, the district says.
Elections BC is expected to provide a breakdown Friday of the number of uncounted mail-in and absentee ballots in each of British Columbia's 93 ridings, potentially making clearer the outcome of the weekend's nail-biting vote.
Bear Grease is an all-Indigenous production that blends the 1978 original hit with adding cultural elements through fashion, music and humour. The musical blends 1950s sound with traditional drumming, flute and hip-hop elements.
An infant has died and a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were pulled from a burning home in the city's west end overnight.
Ontario says it will not allow international students in medical schools beginning in the fall of 2026.
The federal government allowed 30-year mortgage amortizations for first-time homebuyers purchasing new builds in August, and the new rules are set to expand in December to everyone looking to buy a newly-constructed home.
The Alberta legislature is set to reconvene on Monday and the Danielle Smith government will be providing more details about its plans for the session.
An animal rights group is calling on the Calgary Humane Society and Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to launch investigations into a semi-truck crash in Calgary on Tuesday that left 17 cows dead.
The Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Campaign is launching Oct. 25, aiming to raise money to support Canada鈥檚 veterans and their families.
A Montreal man is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the stabbing death of a woman at a park in Ottawa鈥檚 south end on Thursday.
An unusual item was found parked at the bottom of the historic Rideau Canal as Parks Canada drained the water this week 鈥 electric scooters.
Hundreds of OC Transpo bus trips have been cancelled this week due to a 鈥渄ecrease in fleet availability and increased congestion鈥 on Ottawa鈥檚 roads, according to the transit service.
A man and a woman are dead after a house fire west of the Island of Montreal in the municipality of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the Villeray鈥擲aint-Michel鈥擯arc-Extension borough.
A new tree-planting pilot project in Plateau-Mont-Royal is drawing criticism for eliminating parking spaces in a borough already facing limited parking, as well as for its cost.
Some Edmonton public school support staff walked off the job Thursday morning, after the province stepped in on Wednesday to prevent strike action.
The man who cut up the body of his grandson's mother is going to prison after the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned his previous sentence.
The mild spell will continue through the weekend and into early next week.
The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.
Gas prices dropped slightly in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick overnight, while there was no change on Prince Edward Island for the second week in a row.
The Halifax Regional Municipality will soon be home to three new schools that will replace aging infrastructure and meet the new demands of the communities.
The Manitoba man who brutally murdered his partner and two young children stood in court, voice wavering, and apologized for his actions that ended the lives of three people he said he loved very much.
Manitoba鈥檚 police watchdog is investigating after an RCMP officer shot a suspect who allegedly stole a vehicle and tried to carjack another vehicle.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat, but has not disappeared.
The Saskatchewan Party鈥檚 planned marshals service was under the spotlight Thursday, as the NDP revealed the government paid over $40,000 for fewer than 100 hats for the new officers' uniforms.
A man is dead and two other people were injured in a two vehicle collision north of Regina on Wednesday evening.
The federal government allowed 30-year mortgage amortizations for first-time homebuyers purchasing new builds in August, and the new rules are set to expand in December to everyone looking to buy a newly-constructed home.
People in the Weber Street East and Madison Avenue North area of Kitchener may need to find an alternate route this morning as police investigate a stabbing.
Fire crews responded to a house fire in St. Clements Thursday night.
A Kitchener man has been charged with arson after playground equipment was set on fire earlier this week.
A former tire recycling company in Saskatoon is announcing additional layoffs months after a dispute with the provincial government.
The Saskatchewan RCMP is calling off its dangerous persons alert after two people were arrested in the Tobin Lake area Thursday afternoon.
The Saskatchewan Party鈥檚 planned marshals service was under the spotlight Thursday, as the NDP revealed the government paid over $40,000 for fewer than 100 hats for the new officers' uniforms.
The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.
In the final part of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5's Jon Woodward and Joseph Loiero look at how some cities are trying to rein in the chaos.
The Gathering Place board chair Peter Gregory is vowing to fight to keep the doors to the Cassells Street soup kitchen open after the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board denied their six-figure funding request.
Ther use of a search warrant on Walpole Island First Nation has netted over $500,000 in drugs. On Oct. 18, several agencies including Lambton OPP and Walpole Island Police Service responded to an address on Union Hal Road.
London police are asking for the public鈥檚 help identifying a suspect involved in a robbery on Sunday.
Eighteen months after the closure of the London Health Sciences Centre鈥檚 (LHSC) fertility clinic, its replacement is now fully operational.
The cost of living is increasing, from groceries to gas, prices are consistently going up, and now there鈥檚 controversy surrounding paying for parking at hospitals.
OPP executed a search warrant at a Midland home address.
A haunted house in the Ontario Town of Innisfil is causing a real scare for some people a week before Halloween.
The Windsor Police Service is investigating a suspicious death in south-central Windsor.
Issues include benefits, wages, working conditions, contracting out/work ownership and getting union representation for staff.
Essex County OPP are searching for the driver of a pickup truck involved in a two-vehicle collision.
Elections BC is expected to provide a breakdown Friday of the number of uncounted mail-in and absentee ballots in each of British Columbia's 93 ridings, potentially making clearer the outcome of the weekend's nail-biting vote.
With the final results of the B.C. election still pending, speculation is rampant about what concessions the Greens might ask for to prop up a potential NDP minority 鈥 and it could be a common philosophy about health care that ultimately helps forge an alliance.
As the RCMP prepare to strap cameras to the chests of front-line police officers, an expert warns they might not work 鈥 at least, not in the way some had hoped.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass deserves a better shot at becoming a significant tourism hub than the UCP government is giving it, an NDP shadow minister said as the southwestern Alberta community gears up for a coal mining plebiscite.
A three-game road trip across the prairies got off on a sour note Wednesday night as the Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the Calgary Hitmen 4-2.
A town in southern Alberta will be one of the first to let golf carts be driven on select roads as part of a provincial pilot program.
A critical piece of the Sault鈥檚 homeless outreach strategy is almost ready to hit the road.
Police seized drugs, $70,000 and a large gold chain in a drug trafficking bust earlier this month in Thunder Bay.
An annual event held in Sault Ste. Marie is back for the 29th year to ensure local kids get the winter clothing they need as the temperature dips.
Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland earlier on the weekend.
Police in western Newfoundland say a 77-year-old man visiting the province from Kansas is missing after a fire at a hotel in Deer Lake, N.L.
At 2 p.m. on Thursday, the scene at the Lions Club in Clarenville, N.L., rivalled any rowdy St. John's bar that thumps with music late on a weekend night.
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