We recently ranked the 35 best sci-fi films since Blade Runner, but if TV episodes were allowed, it’d be hard to argue against the inclusion of “San Junipero,” the shining masterpiece of Black Mirror’s three-season run. At once melancholy and romantic, high-minded and narrative, it inverts the show’s normal rhythms in order to create something much more resonant. While the show’s appeal may be its sense of catharsis, “San Junipero” created something much less harrowing: an aching romance wrapped in trans-humanist ideas. You could slot it easily alongside Her and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind as one of the most important works in the post-cyberpunk era.
And to think: Ross dreamed it all up years ago, only to have its insights drowned out by canned laughter and a smirk from Chandler fucking Bing. Being ahead of your time truly is the same as failure.
The new season of Black Mirror doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but it’s scheduled to drop by the end of the year. You can catch up on both shows whenever you’d like, as the video delicately suggests, on Netflix.