I love Black Mirror. Its been one of the best shows on TV since it began. (Can we call it TV now?) Not every episode is perfect. But its always entertaining and thought provoking. Its never lazy or formulaic. Its always imaginative and provocative.

What I don't understand is that it seems people are quite down on Season 5 and I don't get why. Sure, I would not say any of them are as good as the very best episodes like San Junipero, White Christmas, Shut Up and Dance etc. But also I wouldn't say any of them are as bad as the worst.

Smithereens was the best of the three IMO. Andrew Scott was superb as always. And the story was heart-wrenching. But its the Miley Cyrus episode that seems to be coming under fire the most. Now I'm no Miley fan, but I thought she equipped herself well in this and was perfectly cast. One thing people seem to be saying is that this episode 'Rachel, Jake and Ashley Too' was cliche and a trite portrayal of the music business. All I would say to that (and I work in the music business), is that those criticisms come from people who have forgotten the idea of a metaphor. Yes, if the story was just saying Rock is real and Pop is contrived then that would be both a lazy cliche and inaccurate. But to assume that you would have to ignore that Charlie Brooker is never that simplistic and never that lazy as a writer. So think harder, dig deeper and perhaps you will find more than meets the eye. This series is not, never has been nor never will be for lazy viewers.