Black Mirror: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best
3. Shut Up And Dance
Shut Up and Dance works so well because of how much it makes you see yourself in its characters. After being introduced to Kenny, a meek teenager in a job he doesn't like and in love with a girl way out of his league, the plot kicks in when he's messaged by a hacker group. It turns out they've invaded his PC via a virus and recorded a video of him masturbating, threatening to release it to everyone he knows unless he completes a series of increasingly dangerous tasks for them.
When you're already a social outcast, a video of you jackin' it circulating around school, or being sent directly to your parents, would practically be the end of the world. With this in mind, you're fully on Kenny's side as he completes each traumatic trial, even when he's forced to fight to the death for his freedom.
Along the way you realise it's not only him who's involved in this grand game, with other characters, a serial adulterer and a pedophile, also receiving similar messages. The thing is, all of these characters have done pretty bad things, and in hindsight it seems kind of unjust that Kenny is being punished for watching porn.
A final twist reveals that he isn't quite so innocent though, and the video is circulated despite him doing everything he was told. His mother calls him, distraught, and it's then when you know something isn't quite right, but it's not until she lets out in disbelief a cry of "Kids, Kenny! You've been watching kids!?" that you get it.
The fact that you never even questioned the morals of this loathsome character delivers a gut-punch unrivalled by any other episode, and leaves you feeling ugly in ways few other TV shows can.
[JB]