Black Mirror season 5: 'Smithereens' review – A thin premise that doesn't justify the running time

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Bauer was referenced in “Bandersnatch” in a news ticker along the bottom of the screen, another Easter egg for keen-eyed fans that proves much of the series takes place in the same universe. By Black Mirror‘s standards it feels like a thin premise, and doesn’t build enough to justify a 70-minute running time. In its finest episodes, “San Junipero” or “USS Callister”, Black Mirror has provided some of TV’s most thoughtful recent engagements with the implications of technology. You might have guessed from Brooker’s acid TV criticism that he could create nihilistic, acerbic scripts of his own, but not have suspected the humanity that has elevated Black Mirror‘s finest episodes.