Black Mirror Will Continue To Make Life Bleak

Just when you were getting comfortable with your phone again — your black mirror, as we recently discovered — Black Mirror announces its plans to muck things up again. Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker's anthology series, was officially renewed for a season five, The Hollywood Reporter reports. There's no news yet as to when season five will return or how many episodes it will be, so all we can do is sit and wait for Black Mirror to ruin our lives again.

Black Mirror is notoriously cagey when it comes to announcements about the show. Season four dropped in December with only a few day's notice, just plop! More scary television, here to ruin your favorite technology.

Set just "10 minutes" into the future, Black Mirror investigates our relationship to technology. Season four, for example, took a harsh look at dating apps. In the episode "Hang the DJ," two people (Joe Cole and Georgina Campbell) fell prey to a digital dating system named 'Coach.' Without revealing too much, Coach ends up ruling their lives in a much more comprehensive way than the couple realised. It will make you consider deleting your dating app — you can also use this Coach mock-up online to see how long your IRL relationship will last. (If you've seen the episode, you know it's wise not to do it. Don't look!) Another episode entitled "Black Museum" delved into our obsession and need for pleasure — and our need to experience the pain of others. In the episode "USS Calister," the show explored consent.

Brooker's show isn't meant to freak you out, per se, but it does leave you questioning your own reality. You might say aloud, "Is this a simulation? Is my phone operating me more than I am operating it?" There's a perverse pleasure in unravelling your own status quo, and Black Mirror helps you do it. Bring it on, season five!