David Bianculli

Instead, it draws from our shared experiences in real life with real technology. Black Mirror has been around since 2011, and by now it's built up its own familiar technology and look. So when it sets a show in the near-present just a few years away, it doesn't have to keep reinventing the futuristic wheel.

Characters in many different episodes use the same immersive technology to play games or step into movies and photos. And there's even a streaming company like Netflix that pops up, under a different name, as it did last season. Common People stars Chris O'Dowd and Rashida Jones as Mike and Amanda, a happily married couple. Happily, that is, until a medical trauma leaves her brain dead.

Characters in many different episodes use the same immersive technology to play games or step into movies and photos. And there's even a streaming company like Netflix that pops up, under a different name, as it did last season. Common People stars Chris O'Dowd and Rashida Jones as Mike and Amanda, a happily married couple. Happily, that is, until a medical trauma leaves her brain dead.

Characters in many different episodes use the same immersive technology to play games or step into movies and photos. And there's even a streaming company like Netflix that pops up, under a different name, as it did last season. Common People stars Chris O'Dowd and Rashida Jones as Mike and Amanda, a happily married couple. Happily, that is, until a medical trauma leaves her brain dead.

Tracy Ellis Ross, a sales representative for a new high-tech company, offers him a chance to revive his wife's brain functions by connecting her to a cloud-based service that can use its massive database to keep her functioning. Of course he signs up, especially since the life-saving service is offered at a low introductory rate.

Tracy Ellis Ross, a sales representative for a new high-tech company, offers him a chance to revive his wife's brain functions by connecting her to a cloud-based service that can use its massive database to keep her functioning. Of course he signs up, especially since the life-saving service is offered at a low introductory rate.

Tracy Ellis Ross, a sales representative for a new high-tech company, offers him a chance to revive his wife's brain functions by connecting her to a cloud-based service that can use its massive database to keep her functioning. Of course he signs up, especially since the life-saving service is offered at a low introductory rate.

Things seem wonderful at first, but when the couple goes on a road trip, Amanda blacks out suddenly and almost dies because the company has revised its coverage patterns. As the company spokesperson politely explains, the couple will have to pay extra to rise to a higher tier of service. Sound familiar? Of course it does, to anyone who's subscribed to just about any streaming network.

Things seem wonderful at first, but when the couple goes on a road trip, Amanda blacks out suddenly and almost dies because the company has revised its coverage patterns. As the company spokesperson politely explains, the couple will have to pay extra to rise to a higher tier of service. Sound familiar? Of course it does, to anyone who's subscribed to just about any streaming network.

Things seem wonderful at first, but when the couple goes on a road trip, Amanda blacks out suddenly and almost dies because the company has revised its coverage patterns. As the company spokesperson politely explains, the couple will have to pay extra to rise to a higher tier of service. Sound familiar? Of course it does, to anyone who's subscribed to just about any streaming network.

But in this new medical context, it also sounds both wryly comic and extremely chilling.

But in this new medical context, it also sounds both wryly comic and extremely chilling.

But in this new medical context, it also sounds both wryly comic and extremely chilling.

TV this good is a joy to watch. And TV this thought-provoking that has you remembering and relishing it for days and weeks afterward, that's not just a joy. Black Mirror is a treasure.

TV this good is a joy to watch. And TV this thought-provoking that has you remembering and relishing it for days and weeks afterward, that's not just a joy. Black Mirror is a treasure.

TV this good is a joy to watch. And TV this thought-provoking that has you remembering and relishing it for days and weeks afterward, that's not just a joy. Black Mirror is a treasure.

You know, I was sort of quite weedy and I wore glasses and I had a terrible haircut. So all those things still felt possible in the world of the doctor. There was something about that character that I could be. Tennant was Doctor Who for five years.

You know, I was sort of quite weedy and I wore glasses and I had a terrible haircut. So all those things still felt possible in the world of the doctor. There was something about that character that I could be. Tennant was Doctor Who for five years.

You know, I was sort of quite weedy and I wore glasses and I had a terrible haircut. So all those things still felt possible in the world of the doctor. There was something about that character that I could be. Tennant was Doctor Who for five years.

We've all been there, running around the city, looking for a bathroom, but unable to find one. Yeah, a restroom we could use. A very simple free market solution is that we could just pay to use a bathroom, but we can't. On the Planet Money podcast, the story of how we once had thousands of paid toilets and why they got banned. From Planet Money on NPR, wherever you get your podcasts.