Black Mirror has been by far, my favorite series in decades comparable only to The Twilight Zone and of course, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Black Mirror managed to surpass BOTH for me which is no small feat, combining both sci-fi and mystery with an ongoing theme of strange curiosity that evokes both imagination and emotion. I found myself quite literally on the edge of my seat with each and every episode, ruminating over each episode that graced my screen after watching and anxiously anticipating the next episode - and series - with disappointment and feeling a great void when they were over. This was true with each and every episode from series 1 through series 4. I am still ranking this series as a whole an 8 out of 10 which would have been a strong 10 without reservation had it not been for series 5. Now, we reach series 5 and I'm more confused than disappointed. I'll explain... While there have been only 3 episodes thus far in the 5th season, they all seem to have an ongoing theme of absurdity. Well, almost uselessness. The 1st episode is interesting but way too far-fetched and predictable than remotely possible which is the key element in what creates good mystery and sci-fi in the first place. This episode, it's just silliness. And, if you happen to have strong core values you may want to view this before showing it to your children. Even my husband who is a die-hard sci-fi addict found it not only absurd but revolting, just FYI, and we are absolutely open-minded and accepting of alternative lifestyles and views. The second episode is a regurgitated lesson from back in 2010 and is equally predictable. The 3rd episode is definitely sci-fi approved however there was way under zero mystery and was more predictable than the first 2 episodes. I will say though, that the addition of the altered 90's lyrics from 25 years ago was a nice touch. It's as though they shoved Charlie Brooker (who I admire greatly) into a closet and said "You have 3 days, come up with 3 episode stories." They're terrible. And, to a certain degree they have all been done before. I won't mention how or where as this would create spoilers. The directing was awful. So, what happened?