Black Mirror: 10 Character Fates Worse Than Death
5. The National Anthem - The Shame Of Bestiality
This first season opener set the dark tone of Black Mirror; given the subject matter in the episode, had it been broadcasted later in the show's run, it might have been a shark-jumping moment. But Brooker and the producers carefully positioned this episode front and first, and the dark tone of Black Mirror was set going forward.
Princess Susannah, Duchess of Beaumont has been kidnapped, and there's only one man who can get her back. The ransom demands that Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) must have sexual intercourse with a pig, live on national television, or else Susannah dies.
The whole episode tells the tale of how public pressure can whip up a frenzy that cannot be controlled. Much like the future episode "Hated In The Nation", there's something to be said in this episode about the anonymity of baiting for blood through Twitter.
Time runs out, and Michael has no other option but to comply with the demands. The whole scene is gut-wrenching, and the eventual silence of the spectating public becomes less about how horrific the ordeal is, but how shameful they were for encouraging it. But Michael's heroic "sacrifice" frees the Princess, and the sordid ordeal is over.
A year passes, and Michael is doing better than ever with his approval ratings going through the roof. But as he steps into Number 10, we see Michael's wife cannot look her husband in the eye anymore, and we realise this is never, ever going to leave the PM.